The Medium

The Medium pairs a 16-core Intel Core Ultra X7 368H with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, a combination that produces a heavily GPU-bound experience at higher resolutions. The benchmark data shows that the RTX 4090’s massive computational lead over the CPU is the dominant factor in frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K, where the processor’s role recedes into ensuring consistent frame pacing rather than pushing raw FPS. At 1080p, the CPU’s limitations become more apparent, but the overall picture is one of a system where the graphics card dictates performance ceilings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H is a mobile processor built on Intel’s Panther Lake architecture, featuring 16 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock of 2.00 GHz can boost up to 5.00 GHz, which is crucial for the single-threaded workloads that often bottleneck game logic and draw calls. The chip’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 2.5 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 18 MB L3 cache, providing a substantial pool for frequently accessed game data. In synthetic testing, the CPU scores 28,221 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,984 in single-core, indicating strong multithreaded capability and above-average single-thread performance relative to its mobile segment.

In the context of The Medium, which is a fixed-camera horror game with heavy asynchronous loading and complex scene transitions, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game’s logical state. The 16 threads are more than sufficient for the game’s engine, which typically scales well with additional cores but does not require extreme thread counts. The benchmark results confirm this hypothesis: at 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 150, which is a clear indicator that the CPU can sustain high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. However, the single-core score of 3,984 in Cinebench R23 suggests that in scenes with heavy physics or AI calculations, the CPU could become a limiting factor, though the data does not show this happening at the tested settings.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H has an average benchmark score of 40,518, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core 7 253PE (40,557, a -0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40,431, a 0.2% delta). This indicates that the CPU sits in a performance tier where minor differences in synthetic scores do not translate into meaningful FPS differences in The Medium. The processor’s 25 W TDP and BGA 2540 socket confirm its mobile design, but the benchmark data shows that its power efficiency does not compromise its ability to keep up with the RTX 4090 in this game, except at the lowest resolution and settings where the CPU’s frame generation ceiling is reached.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 583 out of 2,911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 20% of all tested systems, which is a strong result given the game’s demanding nature. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU; while the RTX 4090 is a top-tier graphics card, the CPU’s mid-range mobile status prevents this combo from reaching the absolute top tiers, which are typically occupied by desktop processors with higher single-thread performance.

The rank of 583 out of 2,911 indicates that approximately 80% of tested combos perform worse than this specific pairing. This is primarily due to the GPU’s dominance, as the RTX 4090’s 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs ensures high frame rates in most scenarios. However, the CPU’s 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs is also respectable, but it is not the top-tier performance needed to break into the top 100 combos. The benchmark data shows that the combo’s performance is more consistent at higher resolutions, where the GPU’s workload increases and the CPU’s relative contribution diminishes, allowing the RTX 4090 to fully flex its capabilities.

In practical terms, this rank means the system is well-suited for The Medium at high settings, but it will not be the absolute fastest configuration available. The data shows that the combo delivers playable frame rates at all tested resolutions and settings, with the lowest average FPS being 35 at 4K Ultra. This rank also suggests that upgrading the CPU to a higher-tier model would yield diminishing returns, as the GPU is already the primary performance driver at most settings. The delta between this combo and the top-ranked systems is likely due to CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p Low, where the RTX 4090 is underutilized and the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling pattern in The Medium clearly isolates the GPU as the dominant performance constraint. At 1080p with Medium settings, the system achieves an average of 94 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 79 FPS, a 16% decrease. At 4K Medium, the average further drops to 62 FPS, a 21.5% decrease from 1440p. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where increasing pixel count directly impacts the rendering workload. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for the game’s texture requirements, so the FPS drops are attributable to the GPU’s compute and rasterization throughput.

The data shows a steeper decline at High settings. From 1080p High (67 FPS) to 1440p High (57 FPS), the drop is 14.9%, and from 1440p High to 4K High (45 FPS), the drop is 21.1%. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions, with the CPU providing enough headroom to avoid bottlenecking even at 1080p High. The exception is at 1080p Low, where the average FPS of 150 suggests that the CPU is reaching its frame delivery limit, as the GPU is not fully saturated at such low graphical loads. This is further evidenced by the fact that the FPS at 1080p Low is 1.5 times higher than at 1440p Low (127 FPS), which is a smaller scaling factor than the resolution increase would suggest.

The limiting component analysis is straightforward: the RTX 4090 is the bottleneck at High, Medium, and Ultra settings across all resolutions. The CPU only becomes a constraint at 1080p Low, where it delivers 150 FPS, but this is still a playable frame rate. The data suggests that for optimal performance, users should prioritize GPU settings over resolution, as lowering graphical presets has a more significant impact on FPS than reducing resolution. For instance, dropping from 4K Ultra (35 FPS) to 4K High (45 FPS) yields a 28.6% improvement, while dropping from 4K High to 4K Medium (62 FPS) yields a 37.8% improvement. This indicates that the GPU’s rendering pipeline is the primary factor in determining frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 150 at Low to 53 at Ultra. Specifically, Low delivers 150 FPS, Medium delivers 94 FPS with a minimum of 80 and maximum of 108, High delivers 67 FPS, and Ultra delivers 53 FPS. This shows a clear linear progression where each step up in settings costs approximately 20-30% performance. The Medium preset’s minimum of 80 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system maintains smooth gameplay, while the Ultra preset’s 53 FPS average is still playable but with less headroom.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 127 at Low, 79 at Medium (minimum 67, maximum 91), 57 at High, and 45 at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all settings, with an average performance loss of approximately 16-18%. The Medium preset at 1440p is particularly noteworthy, as its 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum ensures a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is at the edge of playability, but it is still above the 30 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for a horror game.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS further drops to 99 at Low, 62 at Medium (minimum 53, maximum 71), 45 at High, and 35 at Ultra. The 4K Low preset’s 99 FPS is impressive, demonstrating that the RTX 4090 can handle the resolution with reduced graphical fidelity. However, the jump from Low to Medium at 4K results in a 37.4% performance penalty, indicating that Medium settings introduce significant rendering overhead. The Ultra preset at 35 FPS is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS mark across all tested scenarios, making it suitable only for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 62 FPS average and 53 FPS minimum, is the most balanced option for 4K gaming.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a flagship graphics card built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than ample for The Medium’s texture-heavy environments and high-resolution assets. The GPU’s base clock of 2235 MHz boosts to 2520 MHz, and its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance ensures that it can handle the game’s complex lighting and particle effects without breaking a sweat. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are particularly relevant for a horror game that relies on atmospheric effects, though the benchmark data does not specify whether ray tracing is enabled in the tested settings.

The GPU’s performance in The Medium is consistently high, as evidenced by its 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 60,347. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9,223 further confirms its DirectX 12 capabilities, which align with the game’s API support. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the memory usage does not appear to cause performance degradation. The GPU’s role is clearly dominant, as the measured FPS scales predictably with resolution and settings, with no signs of CPU-induced stuttering or frame drops.

Comparing the RTX 4090 to its nearest rivals, it has an average score of 60,347, which is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, a 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, a 0.3% delta). This is surprising given the architectural differences, but the benchmark data shows that these GPUs occupy a similar performance tier in synthetic tests. However, in The Medium, the RTX 4090’s real-world performance is likely superior due to its advanced feature set, though the measured FPS data does not provide comparisons to these specific rivals. The GPU’s 450 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate its high power draw, but the data shows that this power translates directly into exceptional frame rates.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 94 FPS with a minimum of 80, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium delivers 79 FPS with a minimum of 67, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate displays. At 4K, Medium delivers 62 FPS with a minimum of 53, which is just above the 60 FPS target and provides a playable experience with minimal frame drops. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot where the game’s visual quality is noticeably better than Low, but the performance cost is manageable.

For players with 1080p monitors, the High preset is also a viable option, delivering 67 FPS, which is still smooth. However, the jump from Medium to High at 1080p incurs a 28.7% performance penalty, which may not be worth the visual improvements for all users. At 1440p, the High preset’s 57 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset’s 45 FPS is below the 60 FPS target. The data suggests that 1440p users should stick with Medium to ensure a consistent experience. At 4K, the High preset’s 45 FPS and Ultra’s 35 FPS are both below the 60 FPS threshold, making Medium the only preset that offers a playable frame rate without significant compromises.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for performance gains that are only necessary at 4K Ultra. At 4K Low, the game runs at 99 FPS, but this misses the point of 4K resolution, which is to showcase high-fidelity graphics. The Ultra preset is only suitable for players with 1080p monitors who prioritize maximum visual quality, as it delivers 53 FPS, which is still playable. For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p is the recommended configuration, as it provides a 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum, ensuring that the game remains smooth and immersive without any noticeable stuttering. This combination of resolution and settings leverages the RTX 4090’s strengths while minimizing the CPU’s limitations, resulting in a balanced and enjoyable horror experience.