The Medium

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i5-10400F sits in the 68th percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. The closest neighbors in the database are remarkably tight: the Intel Xeon 6756E scores 14163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232 (0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277 (0.6% higher). These deltas are so small that in practical gaming terms, any of these processors would deliver nearly indistinguishable frame pacing. The Xeon 6756E and EPYC 7552 are server-class parts, yet their aggregate benchmark performance lands right beside a desktop Core i5, which suggests that for a game like The Medium, the CPU's real-world gaming throughput matters more than its intended market segment.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 holds the 61st percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rivals are surprising: the AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551 (0.5% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 scores 17509 (0.7% lower). The HD 7790 is a much older architecture, while the Radeon 780M is an integrated solution, yet their aggregate scores cluster within 1% of the RTX 4060. This implies that raw benchmark averages do not capture the full story for The Medium, which relies heavily on modern rendering features. The RTX 4060's Ada Lovelace architecture, with its dedicated RT cores and tensor cores, likely handles the game's fixed-camera horror presentation differently than those older or integrated rivals, even if their synthetic scores align.

For a player considering this combo, the data suggests that swapping the CPU to any of the four listed rivals would produce negligible changes in The Medium's performance. Similarly, the GPU could be replaced with any of its four nearest rivals and the average frame rate would shift by less than a single frame per second, based on the aggregate scores. However, the measured FPS in this game will clarify how those aggregate benchmarks translate into actual playability, which is where the real differences emerge.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database records measured FPS for this combo at three resolutions and four settings tiers. At 3840x2160 (4K), the only setting that clears the 60 FPS threshold is Low, which delivers an average of 72.2 FPS. Medium drops to 43.6 FPS, High falls to 34 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27 FPS. The verdict data confirms Low as the best playable setting at 4K, with a comfortable margin above the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves slightly. Low again leads with 89.9 FPS, but Medium also approaches playability at 58.4 FPS, just missing the 60 FPS bar. High manages 43.1 FPS and Ultra 32 FPS. The recorded verdict lists only Low as playable at this resolution, which makes sense given that Medium falls 1.6 FPS short of the target. This is a borderline case where a small settings tweak or driver update could push Medium over the line, but based on the measured data, Low is the safe choice.

At 1920x1080, the combo finds its footing. Medium delivers 67.4 FPS, clearing the threshold with a 7.4 FPS cushion, and Low reaches 109.1 FPS. High sits at 47 FPS and Ultra at 41.8 FPS. The verdict marks both Low and Medium as playable, with Medium as the best setting since it offers higher visual quality while still maintaining 60+ FPS. This means at 1080p, the user can enjoy the game's medium preset without sacrificing smoothness, but should avoid High and Ultra unless they accept sub-60 frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling patterns across resolutions and settings reveal which component dominates in The Medium. Starting at 1080p Low, the combo produces 109.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 89.9 FPS (a 17.6% reduction), and 4K Low further reduces it to 72.2 FPS (a 33.8% reduction from 1080p). These are substantial drops, but they are not proportional to the pixel count increase. The RTX 4060's 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed more heavily at higher resolutions, yet the GPU still manages to stay above 60 FPS at 4K Low.

At medium settings, the resolution scaling is steeper. 1080p Medium runs at 67.4 FPS, 1440p Medium at 58.4 FPS, and 4K Medium at 43.6 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is only 13.4%, but the gap between 1440p and 4K is 25.3%. This suggests that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting factor as resolution climbs, since the pixel workload grows faster than the CPU's frame generation capacity.

For CPU sensitivity, compare the Low preset across resolutions. The i5-10400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, and its benchmark scores show strong single-thread performance (688 in 3dmark single thread, 2541 in passmark single thread). The Medium's fixed-camera angles and horror pacing may not demand extreme CPU throughput, which is why the frame rate stays high even at 4K Low. The CPU's percentile rank of 68 suggests it has headroom for most gaming scenarios.

The GPU's role becomes clearer when examining the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 41.8 FPS, which is only 38.3% of the 1080p Low result. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 32 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, 27 FPS. These low numbers across all resolutions point to the RTX 4060 being the primary constraint at high settings, as the CPU alone would likely not cause such uniform collapse. The GPU's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are engaged heavily by The Medium's ray-traced reflections and ambient occlusion, and the 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is insufficient for Ultra settings at any resolution.

At 1080p, the CPU and GPU are more balanced. Medium runs at 67.4 FPS, showing that both components have enough headroom to handle the game's demands. At 1440p, the GPU begins to struggle, with Medium just missing 60 FPS. At 4K, only Low is viable, indicating that the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The verdict data aligns with this interpretation: playable settings shrink from two at 1080p to one at 1440p and 4K, and the best settings shift from Medium to Low as resolution increases.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 1080p with high visual quality?

A: No. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 47, which falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold. Medium settings achieve 67.4 FPS, making Medium the highest playable preset at this resolution.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p gaming with this hardware?

A: Low settings deliver 89.9 FPS at 2560x1440, which is the only playable option. Medium runs at 58.4 FPS, just 1.6 FPS short of the threshold, so players wanting higher quality would need to accept a slight frame rate deficit.

Q: Is 4K playable with the RTX 4060 and i5-10400F?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. The 4K Low preset averages 72.2 FPS, clearing the 60 FPS bar by 12.2 FPS. Medium drops to 43.6 FPS, High to 34, and Ultra to 27, none of which are playable.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 1973 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle range of the database. This position reflects the GPU's limitations at higher settings, despite the CPU's respectable 68th percentile standing.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The GPU. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 27, and the same GPU is also the limiting factor at 1440p Ultra (32 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (41.8 FPS). The CPU's performance would not explain such uniformly low results across resolutions.

Q: Does the RTX 4060 outperform its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The measured FPS data is specific to this combo, so direct comparisons are not available. However, the GPU's aggregate benchmark score of 17639 is within 0.7% of its four nearest rivals, suggesting that in synthetic tests they are nearly equivalent, but The Medium's specific rendering workload may favor the RTX 4060's modern architecture.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded averages are: Low 72.2 FPS, Medium 43.6 FPS, High 34 FPS, Ultra 27 FPS. The progression shows a steep decline as settings increase, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (28.6 FPS). From Medium to High, the loss is 9.6 FPS, and from High to Ultra, another 7 FPS. The diminishing returns suggest that the GPU's resource allocation becomes less efficient as the rendering complexity grows.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 89.9 FPS, Medium 58.4 FPS, High 43.1 FPS, Ultra 32 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 31.5 FPS, the largest in this resolution, indicating that Medium's additional effects (likely improved shadows, textures, and reflections) heavily tax the GPU. High and Ultra continue the downward trend with 15.3 FPS and 11.1 FPS drops respectively.

At 1920x1080, the averages are: Low 109.1 FPS, Medium 67.4 FPS, High 47 FPS, Ultra 41.8 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 41.7 FPS, the steepest across all resolutions, which shows that even at 1080p, the Medium preset's extra visual features cost significant performance. High and Ultra add further reductions of 20.4 FPS and 5.2 FPS, with Ultra being the least punishing step.

Comparing across resolutions, the same settings scale consistently. Low goes from 109.1 at 1080p to 89.9 at 1440p to 72.2 at 4K, a roughly linear decline. Medium goes from 67.4 to 58.4 to 43.6, with the 4K drop being disproportionately large. High goes from 47 to 43.1 to 34, and Ultra from 41.8 to 32 to 27. The pattern indicates that higher settings amplify the GPU's workload at higher resolutions, confirming the GPU-bound nature of this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 1973 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 47th percentile of all configurations. This is a middle-of-the-pack result, which aligns with the measured FPS data: the combo can play the game smoothly at 1080p Medium and at lower settings for higher resolutions, but it does not excel at high or ultra presets.

The CPU's 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs is notably higher than the GPU's 61st percentile, suggesting that the processor is the stronger component in this pairing. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the Radeon HD 7790 and Radeon 780M, have aggregate scores within 0.7%, but the RTX 4060's modern feature set (DirectX 12 Ultimate, RT cores, tensor cores) may provide advantages in The Medium that older architectures lack. However, the combo's overall rank indicates that many other configurations achieve better results, likely due to more powerful GPUs or more balanced pairings.

The rank also reflects the game's demanding nature. The Medium was released in 2021 and uses fixed-camera angles with heavy atmospheric effects, which can be punishing on GPU resources. The RTX 4060's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are adequate for 1080p gaming but become limiting at higher resolutions and settings, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run The Medium, but with significant caveats depending on resolution. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers playable performance at Medium settings with 67.4 FPS, and Low is even smoother at 109.1 FPS. The verdict data confirms these two settings as playable, with Medium being the best option for visual quality while maintaining 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, only Low settings clear the 60 FPS threshold, achieving 89.9 FPS. Medium falls short at 58.4 FPS, so players at this resolution must choose between smoothness and visual fidelity. The 1.6 FPS deficit is marginal, but the recorded data does not classify Medium as playable.

At 3840x2160, the combo manages 72.2 FPS on Low, which is playable, but all higher settings (Medium 43.6, High 34, Ultra 27) fail to reach 60 FPS. This makes 4K gaming possible only with reduced graphical features.

The overall assessment: this combo is a capable 1080p gaming setup for The Medium, a borderline 1440p option limited to Low settings, and a 4K option only at the lowest preset. The CPU provides ample headroom, but the RTX 4060's GPU performance is the deciding factor, and it cannot handle the game's higher settings at any resolution. Players seeking high or ultra visuals should consider a more powerful GPU, while those content with medium to low settings will find this combo adequate for smooth play.