The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for this combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 in The Medium shows a steep performance curve as resolution and graphics presets escalate. At 1920x1080, the pair delivers a Low preset average of 96 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in the entire dataset. Moving to Medium at the same resolution, the average drops to 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. High settings at 1080p produce an average of 43 FPS, while Ultra falls to 34 FPS. The pattern is consistent: each step up in quality costs a significant portion of the frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the same progression shows a stricter ceiling. Low settings yield an average of 81 FPS, comfortably above the playable threshold. Medium settings average 51 FPS, with a recorded minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS, meaning the frame rate dips below 60 FPS during demanding scenes. High settings drop to 36 FPS average, and Ultra bottoms out at 29 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 30 FPS, which indicates that the Medium preset introduces a substantial rendering load that this hardware cannot consistently sustain.

The 3840x2160 results are the most demanding. Low settings still manage an average of 64 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold but with less headroom than at lower resolutions. Medium settings average 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and a maximum of 46 FPS. High settings produce only 29 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 23 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium at 4K costs 24 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 11 FPS. These figures suggest that the GPU is the primary constraint at this resolution, as the CPU has ample headroom in lower-resolution tests.

Notably, the min and max values are only recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the variance is 18 FPS (51 to 69). At 1440p Medium, the variance is 15 FPS (43 to 58). At 4K Medium, the variance is 12 FPS (34 to 46). This narrowing range as resolution increases points to the GPU becoming more consistently saturated, with fewer CPU-induced spikes or drops.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 1920x1080 with playable frame rates?

A: Yes. The data shows a Low preset average of 96 FPS and a Medium preset average of 60 FPS. The Medium preset is listed as the best playable setting at this resolution, with a minimum of 51 FPS, so it clears the 60 FPS average threshold.

Q: What is the highest resolution where the Ultra preset reaches 60 FPS?

A: None. The Ultra preset never reaches 60 FPS at any recorded resolution. The best Ultra result is 34 FPS at 1920x1080, followed by 29 FPS at 2560x1440 and 23 FPS at 3840x2160.

Q: How does the 2560x1440 Medium preset compare to the 1920x1080 Medium preset?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average is 51 FPS with a minimum of 43 FPS and a maximum of 58 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 60 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS and a maximum of 69 FPS. The resolution increase costs 9 FPS on average, and the minimum frame rate drops by 8 FPS.

Q: Is the Low preset at 3840x2160 stable enough for consistent play?

A: The average of 64 FPS is above the 60 FPS threshold, but the data does not include a minimum FPS for this configuration. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 34 FPS, which suggests that Low at 4K may have dips below 60 FPS even if the average is acceptable.

Q: Which component is more likely to bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: The 23 FPS average at 4K Ultra, combined with the GPU's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus, indicates the graphics card is the limiting factor. The CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient for lower resolutions, as shown by the 96 FPS result at 1080p Low, where the GPU is less stressed.

Q: Does the game favor a particular preset for the best balance of quality and performance at 1080p?

A: Yes, the Medium preset is the most demanding setting that stays at or above 60 FPS at 1920x1080, with an exact average of 60 FPS. The Low preset is faster but visually reduced, while High and Ultra fall below the threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU in this combination provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly. The Intel Core i5-10400F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14185. Its closest competitor is the Intel Xeon 6756E, which scores 14163, a delta of 0.2 percent. The Intel Core 7 160UL scores 14232, which is 0.3 percent higher. The AMD EPYC 7552 scores 14115, 0.5 percent lower, and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C scores 14277, 0.6 percent higher. These deltas are small, meaning all four alternatives would deliver nearly identical CPU-bound performance in The Medium at the resolutions where the CPU matters.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which scores 21153, a delta of negative 0.6 percent. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237, 1 percent lower. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20713, 1.6 percent higher. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379, 1.6 percent lower. These rivals would produce frame rates within a few percentage points of the RTX 5050 in this game, assuming the CPU remains the same.

A system pairing the i5-10400F with the RX 5600 XT would likely show slightly higher FPS in GPU-bound scenarios, given the 1.6 percent score advantage. Conversely, the RTX A4000 Mobile and HD 8970M would trail by roughly 1 to 1.6 percent, which translates to a one or two FPS difference at the frame rates recorded here. The CPU rivals are all within 0.6 percent, so swapping in the Ryzen 3 7320C or Core 7 160UL would not meaningfully change the measured results.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but only under specific conditions. According to the verdict by resolution, at 3840x2160 the only playable setting is Low, which produces an average of 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low is the only playable setting, with an average of 81 FPS. At 1920x1080, both Low and Medium are playable, with Medium being the best setting at exactly 60 FPS average. The playable threshold is defined as 60 FPS.

The data shows that no preset above Low is viable at 1440p or 4K. Medium at 1440p averages 51 FPS, which falls short of the threshold. At 4K, Medium averages 40 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS. The system is therefore best suited for 1080p gaming with Medium settings, or 1440p and 4K gaming with Low settings. Users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate would need to accept sub-60 FPS performance, as Ultra never exceeds 34 FPS at any resolution.

The 1080p Medium result is the most balanced configuration, delivering exactly 60 FPS average with a minimum of 51 FPS. This gives a playable experience with moderate graphical quality. For higher resolutions, the Low preset is the only reliable option, and even then, the 4K Low average of 64 FPS leaves only 4 FPS of headroom above the threshold, which could be problematic in scenes with heavier load.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals which component carries more weight in this game. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 96 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 81 FPS, a 15 FPS decrease. At 3840x2160 Low, it drops to 64 FPS, another 17 FPS decrease. This consistent decline as resolution increases points to the GPU being the limiting factor, as the CPU workload does not change appreciably with resolution.

The preset scaling at a fixed resolution further confirms this. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 36 FPS (96 to 60), from Medium to High costs 17 FPS (60 to 43), and from High to Ultra costs 9 FPS (43 to 34). At 1440p, the same progression yields 81, 51, 36, and 29 FPS, with the Low to Medium step costing 30 FPS. At 4K, the progression is 64, 40, 29, and 23 FPS, with the Low to Medium step costing 24 FPS. The larger drops at lower resolutions suggest the GPU is less saturated there, allowing the CPU to push higher frame rates, but once the GPU becomes fully loaded, the differences narrow.

The CPU's role is more visible at the lowest preset and lowest resolution. The 96 FPS result at 1080p Low indicates that the 6-core, 12-thread processor can feed the GPU enough data to exceed 90 FPS. The single-thread benchmark score of 688 in 3DMark and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451 suggest adequate per-core performance for a game that relies on a few primary threads. At higher resolutions, the GPU's 8 GB memory and 128-bit bus become the bottleneck, as evidenced by the 23 FPS Ultra result at 4K, which is independent of CPU capability.

The Medium preset min/max data also supports this interpretation. At 1080p Medium, the range is 51 to 69 FPS, a spread of 18 FPS that indicates some scenes are CPU-limited while others are GPU-limited. At 4K Medium, the range narrows to 34 to 46 FPS, a spread of 12 FPS, showing that the GPU is more consistently the constraint. The CPU matters most at 1080p Low, while the GPU dominates at 4K and at higher presets across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 2299 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower 38 percent of all tested systems, meaning roughly 62 percent of combinations deliver better performance. Given the GPU's 66th percentile ranking and the CPU's 68th percentile ranking, the combo rank is lower than either individual component's percentile, which indicates a possible mismatch or that the game is particularly demanding on the GPU relative to the CPU's capabilities.

The rank of 2299 is not surprising given the 4K and Ultra results. The system cannot handle the game's highest settings at any resolution, and even at 1080p Medium, it only just reaches the 60 FPS threshold. The relatively low rank suggests that many other combinations, including those with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs, would outperform this pairing in The Medium. The GPU's nearest rivals, which are older or lower-tier parts, would likely rank similarly, while the CPU's rivals, which include server and mobile parts, would not change the outcome meaningfully.

The data indicates that the combo is better suited for less demanding titles or for playing The Medium at reduced settings. The 2299 rank out of 3724 is a clear signal that this is not a high-performance pairing for this specific game, even though both components are above the 50th percentile in their respective benchmark pools.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 64 FPS. This is the only setting at 4K that clears the threshold. Medium at 4K averages 40 FPS, so it is not viable.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is also Low, with an average of 81 FPS. Medium at 1440p averages 51 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold and is therefore not recommended if frame rate is the priority.

At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is Medium, with an average of exactly 60 FPS. Low is also playable with an average of 96 FPS, but Medium offers higher visual quality while still meeting the threshold. High at 1080p averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS, both below the playable mark.

For users targeting 60 FPS as a hard minimum, the 1080p Medium result has a recorded minimum of 51 FPS, so there will be occasional dips below the target. The 1440p Low setting has no recorded minimum, but the 81 FPS average provides more headroom. The 4K Low setting has an average of 64 FPS, which is close to the threshold and carries some risk of drops below 60 FPS during heavy scenes.