The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. Across the measured 4K, 1440p, and 1080p presets, the RTX 5080’s raw power is consistently constrained by the fixed workload, while the CPU’s 16 cores and high boost clock provide ample headroom to avoid limiting frame rates. This combination ranks in the 76th percentile of all tested combos for this title, indicating solid but not top-tier performance relative to the broader database.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep performance penalty as resolution increases, confirming that The Medium is heavily GPU-bound at the settings tested. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 52 FPS at 1920x1080 to 44 FPS at 2560x1440, a 15.4% reduction, and then falls further to 35 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 32.7% reduction from the 1440p result and a 48.1% drop from 1080p. This pattern is typical of a game where pixel count directly taxes the rendering pipeline, and the RTX 5080’s 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K with the most demanding preset.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more linear but still steep. The average FPS moves from 92 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p (a 15.2% drop) and then to 61 at 4K (a 21.8% drop from 1440p). The minimum FPS at Medium settings also shows a clear trend: 78 at 1080p, 66 at 1440p, and 52 at 4K, indicating that frame pacing degrades proportionally with resolution. Low settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling, with 147 FPS at 1080p dropping to 124 FPS at 1440p (a 15.6% reduction) and then to 97 FPS at 4K (a 21.8% reduction from 1440p). These numbers suggest that even at the lowest preset, the GPU is still the limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance headroom is not being exhausted.

The resolution scaling curve implies that the RTX 5080’s 56.28 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 879.3 GTexel/s texture rate are the primary drivers of frame rate. At 4K Ultra, the 35 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while 4K Medium at 61 FPS is borderline. For a 60 FPS target, the data indicates that 1440p High at 56 FPS is slightly under, and 1440p Medium at 78 FPS is the first fully fluid option. The 1080p results are uniformly smooth across all presets, with even Ultra achieving 52 FPS, making this resolution the safe choice for maximum visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H contributes 16 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. In The Medium, a horror title that relies on fixed camera angles and scripted sequences, the CPU’s role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The benchmark scores for this processor are strong: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28221 and a single-core score of 3984. These numbers place the CPU in the 87th percentile of all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40518. The nearest rival, the Intel Core 7 253PE, scores 40557, a delta of -0.1%, indicating the Ultra X7 368H is statistically tied with its closest competitor.

The CPU’s 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 153.6 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for this game’s demands, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across resolutions at each settings level. For example, at Medium settings, the average FPS only varies by 31 FPS from 1080p to 4K (92 to 61), which is entirely attributable to GPU load rather than CPU stalls. The single-core performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3984, is particularly relevant for a game like The Medium that may have limited multi-threading. The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution, a hallmark of a GPU-limited scenario.

The processor’s 25 W TDP and Panther Lake architecture are optimized for mobile efficiency, but the performance numbers indicate it can sustain high clocks under load. The PassMark multi-thread score of 32956 and single-thread score of 4005 further corroborate that this chip has ample compute for horror titles, which typically do not stress more than a few cores. In comparative terms, the CPU’s 87th percentile ranking means it outperforms the majority of processors in the database, and its delta of 0.2% against the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (avg score 40431) shows it is firmly in the upper tier of mobile silicon.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 92 FPS average with a minimum of 78 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and leaves headroom for drops during intense scenes. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 78 FPS average (minimum 66 FPS), which remains fluid and is only 14 FPS below the 1080p result. At 3840x2160, Medium drops to 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS, which is playable but not consistently smooth. This preset appears to be the sweet spot, as it maintains a 60+ FPS average at 1440p and 1080p, while still offering a playable experience at 4K.

High settings are a step down in performance, with 1080p achieving 66 FPS, 1440p at 56 FPS, and 4K at 44 FPS. The 1440p High result is below 60 FPS, making Medium the superior choice for that resolution. Low settings are only recommended for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, as they push 1080p to 147 FPS and 1440p to 124 FPS, but the visual compromise is significant. Ultra settings are not recommended for this combination, as even 1080p only reaches 52 FPS, and 4K drops to 35 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users.

For a 1440p monitor, the data strongly favors Medium settings, as the 78 FPS average is 22 FPS higher than High and only 46 FPS lower than Low, while offering far better visual fidelity than Low. At 4K, Medium is the only preset that approaches 60 FPS, making it the default recommendation. The minimum FPS figures for Medium (78 at 1080p, 66 at 1440p, 52 at 4K) also indicate that frame dips are manageable, with no severe stuttering expected based on the measured data. Users seeking the highest fidelity should stick to 1080p Ultra, as the 52 FPS average is just below 60 FPS but provides the best image quality available in the measured rows.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 697th out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 76th percentile. This ranking indicates that while the system is capable, there are 696 other hardware pairings that achieve higher average frame rates in this game. The rank is likely influenced by the GPU’s performance ceiling, as the RTX 5080’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs does not translate to top-tier results in this specific title. The combination’s position in the upper quartile suggests it outperforms the majority of systems tested, but it is not among the elite performers.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the database, such as the Intel Core 7 253PE and AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, have nearly identical average benchmark scores (40557 and 40431, respectively), with deltas of -0.1% and 0.2%. This means the CPU choice is unlikely to be the differentiating factor in the combo rank. Instead, the GPU’s performance relative to its peers is more relevant. The RTX 5080’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 8060S, has an average score of 55757, a delta of 0.6%, which is slightly lower than the RTX 5080’s 56083. However, the deltaPct of 0.6% is within the margin of error, suggesting that these GPUs perform similarly in synthetic benchmarks.

The combo rank of 697 out of 2911 implies that a significant portion of the 2911 tested systems achieve higher FPS in The Medium. This is likely due to the game’s heavy reliance on GPU rasterization, where higher-end desktop GPUs or more powerful mobile variants may outperform the RTX 5080. The data shows that the RTX 5080’s 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is a limiting factor, and systems with GPUs that excel at high-resolution rasterization would rank higher. For the user, this rank provides context: the system is competent but not exceptional for this title, and frame rates will be moderate at high resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock of 2295 MHz and boost clock of 2617 MHz, combined with 10752 shading units, deliver a FP32 compute throughput of 56.28 TFLOPS. In The Medium, these specifications translate to the measured frame rates, with the GPU being the primary constraint at all resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 61 FPS, for example, is directly tied to the GPU’s ability to process 3840x2160 pixels, and the drop to 35 FPS at Ultra settings reflects the increased shading and texture work.

The GPU’s 84 RT cores and 336 tensor cores are relevant for a horror game that may use ray-traced effects, although the measured data does not specify whether such features are enabled. The passmark G3D score of 36565 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 8637 indicate strong synthetic performance, but the game-specific results show that The Medium is not particularly optimized for this GPU’s architecture. The 44 FPS average at 4K High and 56 FPS at 1440p High suggest that the GPU’s raw compute is sufficient for 60 FPS only at lower resolutions or settings.

The GPU’s memory capacity of 16 GB is ample for this title, as even 4K Ultra does not appear to exceed the memory budget based on the frame rates. The texture rate of 879.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 293.1 GPixel/s are high, but the game’s fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds may not fully utilize these capabilities. The RTX 5080’s 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083, places it in the upper tier, yet its nearest rivals in the database (AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757, AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698) are within a 0.7% delta, indicating a tight cluster of performance. This suggests that the RTX 5080 is a capable but not uniquely powerful GPU for this workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combination reveals a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 147 at Low settings to 52 at Ultra settings, with High at 66 FPS and Medium at 92 FPS (minimum 78, maximum 106). This resolution provides the widest performance envelope, allowing for both high-refresh-rate play at Low and visually rich play at Ultra, though the Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 124 at Low, 78 at Medium (minimum 66, maximum 89), 56 at High, and 44 at Ultra. The 1440p Medium result is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for this resolution. The 1440p High result of 56 FPS is 4 FPS short of a smooth experience, and the Ultra result is 16 FPS below the target. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 97 at Low, 61 at Medium (minimum 52, maximum 70), 44 at High, and 35 at Ultra. The 4K Medium result is the only one that approaches 60 FPS, while Low is surprisingly high at 97 FPS, indicating that the game scales well with reduced settings but struggles at higher presets.

Comparing across resolutions, the Medium settings show the most consistent scaling: 92 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The delta between each resolution step is 14 FPS and 17 FPS, respectively, which is a moderate drop. Low settings show a similar trend: 147 to 124 to 97 FPS, with deltas of 23 and 27 FPS. High settings drop from 66 to 56 to 44 FPS, with deltas of 10 and 12 FPS. Ultra settings are the most punishing, with 52 to 44 to 35 FPS, representing deltas of 8 and 9 FPS. The minimum FPS data for Medium settings (78, 66, 52) shows that frame dips are consistently 14 FPS below the average, suggesting stable frame pacing without severe spikes. The maximum FPS values (106, 89, 70) are 14 to 9 FPS above the average, indicating a relatively tight distribution around the mean. This data provides a clear picture: the RTX 5080 is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p with Medium settings for a 60+ FPS experience, while 4K requires Medium settings to stay near the playable threshold.