The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 2048th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems. This is a mid-pack result, indicating a setup that can handle the game but requires careful settings management to achieve a smooth experience. The pairing of a solid modern CPU with a mainstream GPU produces a balanced system, though the data shows that the graphics card is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2048 out of 3724 places it just past the halfway point of all tested configurations. This positioning reflects a system that is neither at the top tier nor struggling at the bottom — it sits firmly in the middle of the pack. The CPU, AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, holds a percentile of 77 among all tested CPUs, which is notably higher than the GPU’s percentile of 61 among all tested GPUs. This discrepancy suggests that the processor has more headroom than the graphics card in this pairing.

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005 on average, which is a mere 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24964) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935). It also trails the AMD EPYC 9474F by just 0.4% (25103 vs 25005). These razor-thin margins indicate that CPU performance is essentially a wash among these competitors — none holds a meaningful advantage in synthetic benchmarks.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 17639 puts it within 0.2% of the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17588). The nearest rivals are all extremely close in raw compute performance, with the Radeon Pro 560 (17551) and Radeon Pro 460 (17509) trailing by 0.5% and 0.7% respectively. This clustering means that in The Medium, the RTX 4060’s performance is defined less by raw compute and more by its architectural features like ray tracing acceleration and DLSS support, which are not fully captured in these synthetic scores.

The game’s measured FPS data reinforces this mid-pack ranking. At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 36.6 FPS, which is well below the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 1440p Ultra, it drops further to 31.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 26.2 FPS. These results are consistent with a system that ranks in the middle — capable of playable frame rates at lower settings but clearly not built for maximum fidelity at high resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear pattern: the GPU is the dominant factor in The Medium’s performance, especially as resolution increases. The CPU’s strong showing in synthetic benchmarks (77th percentile, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851) does not translate into proportional FPS gains. Instead, the RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factors at higher resolutions.

At 1080p, the scaling between settings shows the GPU’s influence. Moving from Low to Medium reduces FPS from 105.8 to 66.7, a 37% drop. Going from Medium to High cuts it further to 48.6 (27% drop), and High to Ultra brings it down to 36.6 (25% drop). This consistent degradation across each settings tier indicates that the GPU is being taxed progressively harder with each visual upgrade.

The resolution scaling tells an even clearer story. At Low settings, going from 1080p (105.8 FPS) to 1440p (91.2 FPS) costs 14% performance, and from 1440p to 4K (72.5 FPS) costs another 21%. This is a relatively gentle curve, suggesting that at Low presets, the CPU is doing more of the heavy lifting relative to the GPU. However, at High settings, the picture changes dramatically: 1080p (48.6 FPS) to 1440p (42.9 FPS) is an 12% drop, but 1440p to 4K (33.7 FPS) is a 21% drop. The GPU is clearly struggling more at higher resolutions when the visual fidelity increases.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 105.8 FPS, which exceeds what the GPU alone would likely deliver if it were the sole bottleneck. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads, boosting up to 4.70 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU adequately at this level. However, at 4K Ultra (26.2 FPS), the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor — the RTX 4060’s 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply overwhelmed by the rendering load.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions, with average FPS values provided but no minimum or maximum frame rates recorded.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 105.8 FPS average
• Medium: 66.7 FPS average
• High: 48.6 FPS average
• Ultra: 36.6 FPS average

The jump from Low to Medium is steep (39.1 FPS drop), while the subsequent steps are more gradual. This suggests that Medium settings introduce significant visual effects that heavily tax the GPU, while High and Ultra add progressively smaller increments of visual fidelity at proportionally higher costs.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably:

• Low: 91.2 FPS average
• Medium: 55.8 FPS average
• High: 42.9 FPS average
• Ultra: 31.2 FPS average

The 1440p Medium result of 55.8 FPS is particularly notable — it falls just short of the 60 FPS threshold, meaning a slight reduction in settings or resolution would be required for a locked 60 FPS experience. The gap between Low and Medium here is 35.4 FPS, slightly less than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the results show the GPU’s limits clearly:

• Low: 72.5 FPS average
• Medium: 44.1 FPS average
• High: 33.7 FPS average
• Ultra: 26.2 FPS average

The 4K Low result of 72.5 FPS is the only 4K configuration that clears the 60 FPS threshold. The drop from Low to Medium at 4K is 28.4 FPS, which is the largest absolute drop of any resolution-to-settings transition in the data. This indicates that Medium settings at 4K introduce rendering effects that the RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus cannot handle gracefully.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but with significant caveats depending on resolution and settings. Based on the 60 FPS playability threshold, the verdict is clear:

At 1920x1080, the system can play at both Low (105.8 FPS) and Medium (66.7 FPS) settings while maintaining 60+ FPS. High settings (48.6 FPS) and Ultra (36.6 FPS) fall short of the threshold, meaning a 1080p player should stick to Medium or lower for a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings (91.2 FPS) clear the 60 FPS bar. Medium (55.8 FPS) is tantalizingly close but technically below the playable threshold, while High (42.9 FPS) and Ultra (31.2 FPS) are not viable for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the system can only manage Low settings (72.5 FPS) above 60 FPS. Medium (44.1 FPS), High (33.7 FPS), and Ultra (26.2 FPS) are all well below playable levels, indicating that 4K gaming with this combo requires substantial compromises.

The data shows that this is a 1080p-oriented gaming setup for The Medium. It can handle 1080p Medium at 66.7 FPS, which is likely the sweet spot for most players. For 1440p, it’s playable but only at the lowest settings, and 4K is essentially limited to Low presets. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM appears to be the primary constraint, as the game’s higher presets likely exceed this capacity at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which delivers 72.5 FPS average. Medium settings at 4K drop to 44.1 FPS, High to 33.7 FPS, and Ultra to 26.2 FPS — all below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best 1080p setting for this system?

A: Medium settings provide the highest visual quality while maintaining 66.7 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings run at 105.8 FPS, but High (48.6 FPS) and Ultra (36.6 FPS) do not meet the playability standard.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060 scores 17639 on average, which is 0.2% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (17666) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon 780M (17588). All nearest rivals are within 0.7% of the RTX 4060’s score.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions and presets. The CPU’s strong synthetic performance (77th percentile) does not prevent FPS drops at 4K Ultra, where the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and bandwidth limitations become decisive.

Q: What is the playable FPS threshold used in this analysis?

A: The playable threshold is 60 FPS. Settings and resolutions that achieve at least 60 FPS average are considered playable.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Only at Low settings, which delivers 91.2 FPS. Medium settings at 1440p average 55.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS average is listed, along with the exact measured FPS.

1920x1080: The best playable setting is Medium, which delivers 66.7 FPS average. This provides a solid balance of visual quality and performance. Low settings run faster (105.8 FPS) but offer reduced visual fidelity.

2560x1440: The best playable setting is Low, achieving 91.2 FPS average. Medium settings at 55.8 FPS are just below the 60 FPS threshold, so Low is the only viable option for a smooth 1440p experience.

3840x2160: The best playable setting is Low, delivering 72.5 FPS average. This is the only 4K preset that clears the 60 FPS bar, but it represents a significant visual compromise for the resolution.