The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for The Medium with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 covers three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 114.7 FPS, Medium reaches 73.1 FPS, High drops to 50.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 73.8 FPS, indicating that the preset selection heavily influences performance.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds with lower absolute numbers. Low averages 99.1 FPS, Medium 61.5 FPS, High 42.6 FPS, and Ultra 36.9 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 15 FPS at Low settings and about 12 FPS at Medium, while High and Ultra lose approximately 8 and 4 FPS respectively. This scaling suggests diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the most demanding presets already below the 60 FPS threshold at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low averages 78.9 FPS, Medium 48.8 FPS, High 35.5 FPS, and Ultra 28.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 30.1 FPS, and between Medium and High it is 13.3 FPS. Ultra at 4K delivers less than half the frame rate of Low at 4K. No min or max FPS values were recorded in the database, so the analysis relies entirely on average FPS figures.

The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where High and Ultra remain above 40 FPS, while 1440p High and Ultra sit in the mid-to-high 30s. At 4K, only the Low preset exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold. The progression from Low to Ultra at every resolution produces a consistent stepwise decline, with the largest single-step drop occurring between Low and Medium at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 3,724 tested CPU and GPU combinations for The Medium, this pairing ranks 1,641st. That places it in the 44th percentile of all recorded combos, meaning roughly 56 percent of tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates. The rank is based on measured FPS across all resolutions and presets, not on synthetic benchmarks.

The CPU itself sits at the 71st percentile among all processors in the database, while the GPU ranks at the 72nd percentile among all graphics cards. Both components are slightly above the midpoint of their respective pools, yet the combination lands below the median for this specific game. This indicates that The Medium is demanding enough that the pairing does not boost into the upper half of tested systems.

Comparing to other combos in the database, the 1,641st rank out of 3,724 means roughly 2,083 configurations perform better. The gap between this combo and the top performers is substantial, but the ranking also shows that a large number of systems sit below this pairing. The 60 FPS playable threshold is reached at 1080p Medium, 1440p Medium, and 4K Low, which places the combo in a workable but not exceptional position.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded FPS data reveals how the workload shifts between the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average of 114.7 FPS suggests that neither component is severely bottlenecked, but the CPU has more headroom relative to the GPU. As resolution increases to 1440p, the average at Low drops to 99.1 FPS, a 13.6 percent reduction. Moving to 4K Low further reduces the average to 78.9 FPS, a 20.4 percent drop from 1440p. This scaling indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more responsible for frame delivery as pixel count rises.

At Medium settings, the pattern is steeper. 1080p averages 73.1 FPS, 1440p drops to 61.5 FPS, and 4K falls to 48.8 FPS. The percentage losses are 15.9 percent from 1080p to 1440p and 20.7 percent from 1440p to 4K. At High settings, 1080p averages 50.7 FPS, 1440p 42.6 FPS, and 4K 35.5 FPS. The relative declines are 16.0 percent and 16.7 percent respectively. Ultra settings show 1080p at 40.9 FPS, 1440p at 36.9 FPS, and 4K at 28.1 FPS, with losses of 9.8 percent and 23.8 percent.

The CPU's role is more apparent at lower resolutions and lower presets. At 1080p Low, the 114.7 FPS average is higher than any other preset at that resolution, indicating that the GPU is not fully saturated and the CPU has sufficient throughput. The i5-11400F has 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which provides adequate single-thread performance for this title. As resolution climbs, the GPU workload increases faster than the CPU workload, shifting the bottleneck toward the RTX 5060. The 8 GB of GDDR7 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth support this interpretation, as higher resolutions demand more memory bandwidth and capacity.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset clears the 60 FPS threshold, averaging 78.9 FPS. Medium at 4K averages 48.8 FPS, High 35.5 FPS, and Ultra 28.1 FPS, all below the playable mark. At 2560x1440, both Low and Medium are playable, with Low at 99.1 FPS and Medium at 61.5 FPS. High and Ultra at 1440p average 42.6 and 36.9 FPS respectively, falling short of 60 FPS. At 1920x1080, Low and Medium are playable at 114.7 and 73.1 FPS, while High and Ultra average 50.7 and 40.9 FPS, both below the threshold.

This PC can run The Medium at 60 FPS or higher, but only at specific settings and resolutions. The most demanding preset that maintains 60 FPS is Medium at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, the Low preset is the only option that stays above 60 FPS. Users aiming for 1080p High or Ultra will need to accept frame rates in the 40 to 50 range, while 1440p High and Ultra sit in the 36 to 42 range. The data indicates that this combo is suitable for medium-quality gaming at mainstream resolutions, with 4K limited to low-quality settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-11400F provide context for CPU-bound scenarios. The AMD EPYC 7H12 has an average benchmark score of 17,120, which is 0.3 percent lower than the i5-11400F's average of 17,177. The Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17,239, 0.4 percent higher. The AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 17,278, 0.6 percent higher, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17,074, 0.6 percent lower. These processors would deliver nearly identical CPU performance in The Medium, meaning that systems built with any of these CPUs and the RTX 5060 would produce very similar FPS results.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 has an average benchmark score of 26,331. The AMD Radeon 860M scores 26,401, 0.3 percent higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 scores 26,421, also 0.3 percent higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary scores 26,553, 0.8 percent higher, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT scores 26,011, 1.2 percent lower. All four of these GPUs fall within a 1.5 percent band of the RTX 5060's average score, indicating that they would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in this game when paired with the same CPU.

Combining these rival components would yield configurations that perform essentially the same as the i5-11400F and RTX 5060 pairing. The 0.3 to 1.2 percent deltas translate to less than one FPS difference at most measured points. Users with any of these alternative CPUs or GPUs can expect the same playable settings and similar average FPS figures as recorded for this combo.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 78.9 FPS. Medium at 4K drops to 48.8 FPS, so it does not qualify. At 2560x1440, Medium is the best playable preset, averaging 61.5 FPS. Low at 1440p averages 99.1 FPS but is less demanding than Medium, so Medium represents the highest quality option that still clears 60 FPS. At 1920x1080, Medium is also the best playable preset, with an average of 73.1 FPS. Low at 1080p averages 114.7 FPS, but Medium offers better visual quality while staying comfortably above the threshold.

These settings represent the optimal balance between visual fidelity and frame rate. Users who prioritize higher quality over FPS can experiment with High or Ultra, but the measured averages fall below 60 FPS at every resolution. The data shows that Medium is the ceiling for 60 FPS gameplay at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 1080p with 60 FPS?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 114.7 FPS and the Medium preset averages 73.1 FPS. High averages 50.7 FPS and Ultra averages 40.9 FPS, so High and Ultra do not reach 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best setting for 1440p gameplay?

A: Medium is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at 2560x1440, averaging 61.5 FPS. Low averages 99.1 FPS, while High averages 42.6 FPS and Ultra averages 36.9 FPS.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Only at Low settings. The 3840x2160 Low preset averages 78.9 FPS. Medium averages 48.8 FPS, High averages 35.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 28.1 FPS, all below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 1,641st out of 3,724 tested combinations for The Medium. The CPU is at the 71st percentile and the GPU is at the 72nd percentile among all tested components.

Q: Are there other CPUs or GPUs that perform similarly?

A: The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (0.3 percent lower average score), Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4 percent higher), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (0.6 percent higher), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (0.6 percent lower). The nearest GPU rivals include the AMD Radeon 860M (0.3 percent higher), NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (0.3 percent higher), AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary (0.8 percent higher), and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT (1.2 percent lower).

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

A: The playable threshold is 60 FPS. Any preset and resolution combination averaging 60 FPS or higher is considered playable. This threshold is applied consistently across all resolutions and presets in the database.