The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers a highly variable experience in The Medium, with performance swinging dramatically based on settings and resolution. The data shows a system capable of smooth play at lower presets, but one that struggles under maximum load at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured results, contextualizes the hardware's role, and provides clear guidance based solely on the provided benchmark data.

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

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread mobile processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 2.10 GHz and can boost up to 5.10 GHz. The CPU has a 25 W TDP and supports LPDDR5X memory over a dual-channel bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 153.6 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This processor sits in the 88th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 44466.

In synthetic workloads, the CPU demonstrates strong multi-threaded performance. It scores 2955 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 309.5 in single-core, while in Cinebench R23 it reaches 18911 multi-core and 2200.5 single-core. PassMark results show a multithread score of 36811 and a single-thread score of 4280. The processor's nearest rivals in average score are the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (44573, 0.2% higher), Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342, 0.3% lower), AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309, 0.4% lower), and Intel Core i5-13600 (44240, 0.5% lower). These deltas are minimal, indicating the CPU is essentially performance-neutral compared to its closest competitors.

Regarding The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The game's measured FPS scales heavily with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound title. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 107 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 25 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect less variance across resolutions at the same settings. For instance, moving from 1080p High (48 FPS) to 1440p High (40 FPS) to 4K High (32 FPS) shows a consistent ~20% drop per step, aligning with increased pixel-pushing demand rather than CPU saturation. The processor's 16 threads and high boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 107 FPS result at 1080p Low, which is a solid frame rate for a horror title.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for a smooth 60 FPS experience?

A: The only measured configuration that exceeds 60 FPS is 1080p Low, which averages 107 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 90 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 71 FPS. For a locked 60 FPS target, 4K Low (71 FPS) or 1440p Low (90 FPS) are viable, while 1080p Medium (67 FPS) also clears the threshold.

Q: How does the combo perform at the highest settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the system achieves 38 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. These results are below the 60 FPS threshold and indicate that Ultra presets are not playable at any resolution for a smooth experience.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting component. FPS scales inversely with resolution at every settings level. For example, at Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 67 at 1080p to 56 at 1440p to 44 at 4K, which is a pattern consistent with GPU-bound rendering. The CPU's high single-thread score of 4280 in PassMark supports its ability to handle game logic without holding back the frame rate.

Q: What is the frame time variance at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the measured minimum and maximum FPS are provided. At 1080p, the range is 57 to 77 FPS (average 67). At 1440p, it is 48 to 65 FPS (average 56). At 4K, it is 37 to 51 FPS (average 44). The spread is roughly 20 FPS at each resolution, indicating consistent frame pacing without major spikes.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combination ranks 1566 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This rank reflects its overall performance across all resolutions and settings, but the specific FPS results show it can be competitive at lower presets.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD. This is the only cost-related information available in the data.

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

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS moves from 107 at 1080p to 90 at 1440p (a 15.9% drop) and then to 71 at 4K (a 21.1% drop from 1440p). At High settings, the progression is 48 (1080p) to 40 (1440p, a 16.7% drop) to 32 (4K, a 20% drop). At Medium settings, the averages are 67, 56, and 44, representing drops of 16.4% and 21.4% respectively. At Ultra settings, the values are 38, 32, and 25, with drops of 15.8% and 21.9%.

This consistent pattern—where each resolution step reduces FPS by roughly 16-22%—is a hallmark of GPU-bound performance. The rendering load increases quadratically with pixel count, and the RTX 5070's output scales accordingly. The CPU's performance is not reflected in these deltas; if it were the bottleneck, we would see smaller FPS differences at higher resolutions because the CPU work would remain constant while the GPU work increased. Instead, the frame rate drops proportionally to the pixel count increase, confirming that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070's rasterization capabilities are the primary determinant of performance in The Medium.

The 4K to 1440p drop is consistently steeper than the 1440p to 1080p drop, which aligns with the fact that 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, while 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p. The GPU's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are likely sufficient for the texture loads, but the raw shader throughput (30.87 TFLOPS FP32) becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 1566 out of 2911 combos. This places it in the 46th percentile of all tested systems, meaning slightly more than half of the tested combos perform better overall.

This rank is notable given the individual hardware scores. The CPU is in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs. However, the combo's rank in this specific game is lower than either component's individual percentile. This discrepancy suggests that The Medium is a demanding title that does not reward high-end hardware proportionally. The game's horror genre often relies on fixed camera angles and pre-baked lighting, which can be less GPU-intensive than open-world titles, but the measured FPS at Ultra settings (25-38 FPS) indicates the game's engine is still heavy on the GPU.

The rank of 1566 also reflects the fact that the measured FPS values are not exceptional. At 1080p Ultra, the combo only manages 38 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Many other combos in the database likely achieve higher frame rates at this setting. However, at 1080p Low, the 107 FPS result is competitive, suggesting that the combo's rank is dragged down by its poor performance at higher settings rather than a fundamental hardware deficiency.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and frame rate target. If the goal is a consistent 60 FPS, the only setting that achieves this at 1080p is Low, which averages 107 FPS. At 1440p, Low settings average 90 FPS, also above 60. At 4K, Low settings average 71 FPS, which is still above 60.

For users who prefer Medium settings, the experience is playable but not smooth at 60 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 67 FPS with a minimum of 57 FPS, meaning there will be occasional dips below 60. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 56 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it falls to 44 FPS. These results indicate that Medium settings are only viable at 1080p for a near-60 FPS experience.

High and Ultra settings are not recommended for any resolution if smooth gameplay is desired. High settings produce averages of 48 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are worse, with 38 FPS at 1080p, 32 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are below the 60 FPS threshold and would likely result in a choppy experience in a horror game where smooth motion is critical for immersion.

The best experience per the measured rows is 1440p Low, which offers a high average frame rate of 90 FPS with a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The 1080p Low setting provides the highest FPS (107) but sacrifices resolution. For those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, 1080p Medium at 67 FPS is the highest quality preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

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

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 107 FPS average
• Medium: 67 FPS average (min 57, max 77)
• High: 48 FPS average
• Ultra: 38 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 90 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average (min 48, max 65)
• High: 40 FPS average
• Ultra: 32 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 71 FPS average
• Medium: 44 FPS average (min 37, max 51)
• High: 32 FPS average
• Ultra: 25 FPS average

The data reveals a few key patterns. First, the gap between Low and Medium settings is significant at every resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 40 FPS (107 vs 67). At 1440p, it is 34 FPS (90 vs 56). At 4K, it is 27 FPS (71 vs 44). This suggests that Medium settings introduce a substantial graphical load that the GPU struggles to handle.

Second, the difference between High and Ultra is smaller. At 1080p, the gap is 10 FPS (48 vs 38). At 1440p, it is 8 FPS (40 vs 32). At 4K, it is 7 FPS (32 vs 25). This indicates that Ultra settings are only marginally more demanding than High, but both are below playable thresholds.

Third, the Medium preset is the only one with min/max data, showing a consistent 20 FPS spread at all resolutions. This suggests that the game has stable frame pacing at Medium settings, with no severe hitches. The absence of min/max data for other presets means we cannot assess their frame time consistency, but the averages alone indicate they are not suitable for smooth play.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The GPU has 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores, with a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The GPU's pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s. It delivers 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GPU has a 250 W TDP and uses a dual-slot design with a single 16-pin power connector, requiring a 600 W power supply.

In synthetic benchmarks, the GPU scores 5077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 172660 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 178923 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its PassMark G3D score is 29137, with a GPU compute score of 15787. The GPU sits in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40377. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (40318, 0.1% lower), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (40063, 0.8% lower), AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40870, 1.2% higher), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (39568, 2% lower).

In The Medium, the GPU's performance is the dominant factor. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (25 FPS) and 4K High (32 FPS) shows that the GPU is overwhelmed by the game's rendering demands at high resolutions. The 12 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for the game's textures, as the FPS drops are more consistent with compute limitations than memory capacity issues. The GPU's 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K, but it does provide playable performance at lower settings. The boost clock of 2512 MHz is relatively modest, and the GPU's performance in this game suggests that The Medium relies heavily on raw rasterization throughput rather than the RTX 5070's ray tracing capabilities. The data indicates that users should target 1080p or 1440p with Low or Medium settings to get the most out of this GPU in this title.