The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but the margin of comfort depends heavily on resolution and preset selection. Measured data shows this combo ranks 794th out of 3,724 tested configurations, placing it in the upper quintile of systems. The CPU holds a 77th percentile ranking among all processors, while the GPU sits at the 81st percentile, indicating a balanced pairing where neither component is an obvious bottleneck at standard gaming resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the highest preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS is Medium, delivering 61.9 FPS. This is a narrow margin above the 60 FPS threshold, so users seeking headroom should consider Low, which produces 99.8 FPS. High falls short at 44.5 FPS, and Ultra is not viable at 34 FPS.

For 2560x1440, Medium is again the best playable setting, achieving 80.9 FPS. This is a comfortable 34.8% margin over the 60 FPS baseline. Low runs at 128.1 FPS, while High drops below the threshold at 54 FPS. Ultra remains unplayable at 48.2 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the situation improves significantly. High becomes the optimal choice with 68.1 FPS, which clears the threshold by 13.5%. Medium runs at 92.8 FPS, and Low reaches 150.6 FPS. Ultra is the only preset that fails, averaging 52.6 FPS.

The pattern across resolutions shows that Ultra is consistently out of reach, while the gap between Medium and High widens as resolution decreases. At 4K, the difference between Medium and High is 17.4 FPS; at 1440p it is 26.9 FPS; at 1080p it is 24.7 FPS. This suggests the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources become the limiting factor at higher resolutions, making High preset only viable at 1080p.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data reveals a clear division of labor. From 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings, average FPS drops from 92.8 to 80.9, a 12.8% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at Medium, FPS falls from 80.9 to 61.9, a 23.5% reduction. This accelerating decline indicates that the GPU is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions, as the pixel throughput demand grows faster than the CPU’s ability to feed frames.

At Low settings, the trend is even more pronounced: 150.6 FPS at 1080p drops to 128.1 FPS at 1440p (14.9% loss) and then to 99.8 FPS at 4K (22.1% loss). The CPU’s role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 150.6 FPS — a value that suggests the Ryzen 5 8400F can handle high draw call counts without becoming the primary limiter. However, the 12-thread processor’s 3DMark scores (6,091 in 16-thread, 6,165 in max-thread) indicate it has sufficient headroom for this game’s fixed-camera horror scenes, which typically rely more on GPU effects like volumetric lighting and ray-traced reflections.

The RTX 4070’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are likely the deciding factors at 4K. The transition from Medium to High at 4K costs 17.4 FPS (28.1% loss), while the same transition at 1080p costs 24.7 FPS (26.6% loss). The relative consistency of this penalty suggests the GPU’s shading units (5,888) and ray tracing cores (46) are saturated similarly across resolutions, but the absolute frame rates at 4K fall below 60 FPS because the memory subsystem cannot sustain the bandwidth required for higher-detail textures at that pixel count.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals from the benchmark database provides context for what other hardware would behave similarly. The CPU’s closest competitor is the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which posts an average score that is 0.2% higher. In practical terms, this means the 8400F and 7500F would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, with differences well within measurement noise. The Intel Core i7-11850H and i7-13620H are also within 0.4% of the 8400F’s average score, though these are mobile processors with different thermal characteristics — they would likely sustain lower clocks in a desktop chassis comparison.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA Tesla P4 is the closest match, with a score only 0.1% higher. This is a data-center card with no display outputs, so it is not a practical alternative for gaming, but its raw compute performance indicates the RTX 4070’s rendering capabilities are well understood. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails by 0.4%, meaning it would deliver frame rates roughly 1-2 FPS lower at each setting in The Medium. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster, which would translate to approximately 1-2 FPS higher at 4K Medium — not enough to change the verdict at any resolution.

The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower, and given its workstation orientation, it would likely fall short of the 60 FPS target at 1440p Medium. None of these rivals represent a meaningful upgrade or downgrade for this specific game; the 8400F and RTX 4070 combination sits in a performance band where small percentage differences do not alter playability outcomes.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K with high settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the measured average FPS is 44.5, which is 25.9% below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings are required to achieve 61.9 FPS at 4K.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium is the optimal choice for 2560x1440, delivering 80.9 FPS. High drops to 54 FPS, which is below the playable threshold, and Ultra is significantly lower at 48.2 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Medium settings, the drop is from 92.8 FPS at 1080p to 61.9 FPS at 4K, a 33.3% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 150.6 FPS to 99.8 FPS, a 33.7% reduction.

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

A: The GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The frame rate decline from 1440p to 4K is steeper (23.5% at Medium) than from 1080p to 1440p (12.8%), indicating the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth and compute resources become saturated first. The CPU’s 12 threads and 3DMark scores suggest it is not a limiting factor at any tested setting.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 52.6, which is below 60. At 1440p Ultra, it is 48.2, and at 4K Ultra, it is 34. The Ultra preset appears designed for higher-tier GPUs.

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

A: It ranks 794th out of 3,724 tested combinations, placing it in the 78.7th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong mid-to-upper tier position, consistent with the component-level percentiles (CPU 77th, GPU 81st).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents all measured average FPS values from the dataset. Note that minimum and maximum FPS data were not recorded for any configuration, so only average values are available for analysis.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 44.5 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 99.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 61.9 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 34.0 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 54.0 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 128.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 80.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 48.2 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 68.1 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 150.6 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 92.8 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 52.6 |

The data reveals a consistent pattern: Low settings roughly double the frame rate of Ultra at each resolution. At 1080p, Low (150.6 FPS) is 2.86 times faster than Ultra (52.6 FPS). At 1440p, the ratio is 2.66 (128.1 vs 48.2). At 4K, it is 2.94 (99.8 vs 34.0). This indicates the game’s Ultra preset imposes a disproportionately high rendering cost, likely from advanced lighting and shadow effects that stress the GPU’s ray tracing capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

This system’s rank of 794 out of 3,724 tested combinations places it in the 78.7th percentile of all configurations. To contextualize this, consider that the CPU’s percentile rank is 77 and the GPU’s is 81. The combo ranking is slightly lower than the GPU’s individual rank, suggesting that the CPU may be holding back the GPU in some scenarios, though the effect is minor given the CPU’s 77th percentile standing.

The rank distribution implies that roughly 2,930 tested combinations perform worse, while about 794 perform better. This puts the system in the upper quartile but not the top tier. For The Medium specifically, this rank aligns with the observed playability: the system can handle most presets at 1080p and 1440p, but Ultra is out of reach at all resolutions, and 4K requires dropping to Medium.

The gap between the CPU’s and GPU’s percentiles (4 points) is small enough that neither component is a clear bottleneck. However, the 4K Medium result of 61.9 FPS suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at that resolution — the CPU’s 3DMark max-thread score of 6,165 indicates it has headroom to push more frames if the GPU could render them faster.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but with important caveats. At 1920x1080, the system clears 60 FPS on High, Medium, and Low settings, with High being the best visual preset that maintains playability at 68.1 FPS. Ultra falls short at 52.6 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium is the highest playable preset at 80.9 FPS, while High (54.0) and Ultra (48.2) both fail the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, Medium is the only high-quality option at 61.9 FPS, with Low providing a more comfortable 99.8 FPS but at reduced visual fidelity.

The overall verdict is that this system is a solid 1080p and 1440p machine for The Medium, capable of delivering smooth frame rates at high visual quality. For 4K play, it requires a compromise: Medium settings yield playable performance, but the margin above 60 FPS is slim at 1.9 FPS. Users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate stability may find the 4K Medium experience acceptable, but those who demand consistent frame times should either stick to 1440p or lower the resolution to 1080p for Ultra settings, which still falls short of 60 FPS.

The data shows no configuration achieves 60 FPS at Ultra settings across any resolution, indicating that this preset is reserved for more powerful GPUs. For the majority of players, the recommended setup is 1440p Medium (80.9 FPS) or 1080p High (68.1 FPS), both of which offer a good balance of visual quality and performance headroom. The 4K Medium result of 61.9 FPS is technically playable but leaves little room for frame rate dips in demanding scenes.