The Medium

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a solid, but nuanced, experience in The Medium. The data shows this combination is capable of clearing the 60 FPS playable threshold at all tested resolutions, but only by carefully selecting settings. At 4K, the combo averages 62 FPS on Medium settings, while at 1440p it reaches 79 FPS on Medium, and at 1080p it hits 67 FPS on High settings. However, pushing beyond these optimal presets results in a significant performance drop, making the choice of graphics settings the single most important factor for this pairing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data offers a clear picture of how this hardware scales across resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160 (4K), the RTX 4070 and i5-12400F produce an average of 44 FPS on High settings, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Dropping to Medium settings yields a much healthier 62 FPS average, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. Low settings at this resolution push performance to 99 FPS, while Ultra settings bring the average down to 35 FPS. The gap between Medium and Ultra at 4K is substantial, representing a 27 FPS difference that makes Ultra essentially unplayable for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance picture improves noticeably. High settings produce an average of 56 FPS, just shy of the 60 FPS target. Medium settings comfortably exceed it with 79 FPS average, backed by a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. Low settings jump to 126 FPS, while Ultra settings again struggle, averaging only 45 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset offers the best balance, providing a 23 FPS headroom over the playable threshold.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), this combo finally unlocks High settings as a viable option. The average FPS at High is 67, which clears the 60 FPS bar with room to spare. Medium settings deliver 93 FPS average, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS. Low settings reach 146 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 53 FPS, once again failing to reach the playable threshold. Interestingly, the data shows that at every resolution, the jump from Medium to Ultra costs roughly 30-40% of the frame rate, indicating that the Ultra preset includes effects that heavily tax the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only on Low or Medium settings. The verdict data shows 4K Medium is playable with an average of 62 FPS, while 4K Low reaches 99 FPS. High and Ultra settings at 4K fall below the 60 FPS threshold, averaging 44 FPS and 35 FPS respectively.

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

A: The best settings for 1440p are Medium, which produces an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. While Low settings reach 126 FPS, the Medium preset provides a significantly better visual experience while still maintaining a comfortable 19 FPS margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 handle 1080p Ultra settings in this game?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS drops to 53, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The High preset at 1080p averages 67 FPS, making it the highest settings option that maintains playable performance at this resolution.

Q: How does the minimum FPS compare to the average at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 79 against an average of 93, showing a 14 FPS dip. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 67 against an average of 79, a 12 FPS dip. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 53 against an average of 62, a 9 FPS dip. The data indicates that lower resolutions have larger relative drops, but all remain above the 60 FPS threshold except for the 4K minimum.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: Low settings at 1440p average 126 FPS, while Ultra settings average only 45 FPS. This represents a 81 FPS difference, showing that Ultra settings are more than twice as demanding as Low settings at this resolution.

Q: Is the 60 FPS threshold met at 4K High settings?

A: No, the 4K High preset averages 44 FPS, which is 16 FPS below the playable threshold. To achieve 60 FPS at 4K, you must use Medium settings, which average 62 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals how the balance between the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shifts across resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU has the least amount of work relative to the CPU, which is evident in the high frame rates achieved. The jump from 1080p Medium (93 FPS) to 1440p Medium (79 FPS) represents a 15% performance decrease, while the jump from 1440p Medium to 4K Medium (62 FPS) is a 21.5% decrease. This scaling pattern suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as resolution increases.

At 1080p, the CPU's role is more significant, as the i5-12400F must feed frames quickly to the RTX 4070. The 146 FPS average at Low settings indicates that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output at this resolution. However, the relatively modest 67 FPS at High settings suggests that the game's graphical effects at this preset are GPU-limited, not CPU-limited. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration of the i5-12400F, with its boost clock of 4.40 GHz, provides enough single-thread performance to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios.

At 1440p and 4K, the GPU's workload increases substantially, and the RTX 4070 becomes the dominant factor. The fact that 4K Low (99 FPS) performs better than 1080p Ultra (53 FPS) highlights that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features are extremely demanding on the GPU's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 5888 shading units. The CPU's role diminishes at higher resolutions, as the frame rate becomes increasingly tied to the GPU's rendering capabilities. The data shows that the i5-12400F is sufficient for this game, as even at 4K Medium, the combo maintains a playable average, indicating the CPU is not holding back performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-12400F, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS has an average benchmark score of 19047, which is essentially identical to the i5-12400F's average of 19039, with a delta of 0%. This suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, these two processors would deliver nearly identical performance in The Medium. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056, just 0.1% higher, indicating a negligible performance difference. The Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982, 0.3% lower, while the AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979, also 0.3% lower. None of these rivals show a meaningful performance gap, so swapping the i5-12400F for any of them would likely produce very similar frame rates in this game.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4 with an average score of 37628, just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4070's 37648. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 scores 37507, 0.4% lower, meaning it would perform nearly identically in The Medium's GPU-bound scenarios. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38135, which is 1.3% higher, suggesting it might offer a slight edge in frame rates. The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 scores 37157, 1.3% lower, indicating slightly weaker performance. For practical purposes, all of these alternatives would result in similar gameplay experiences, with differences well within a few frames per second.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 892nd out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the pairing in the top 24% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this setup: the i5-12400F provides sufficient processing power to support the RTX 4070 without creating a bottleneck, while the GPU handles the heavy lifting for this game's rendering demands.

This ranking is particularly notable because The Medium is a horror game that relies heavily on graphical fidelity, and the data shows that the RTX 4070's 12 GB memory buffer and Ada Lovelace architecture are well-suited to the game's requirements. The combo's position in the 892nd spot suggests that there are 892 configurations that perform better, but these would typically include higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090, or CPUs with more cores. For the price point and hardware class, this ranking indicates that the combination is well-matched for the game's demands.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that this PC can run The Medium, but the experience depends heavily on your target resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the verdict is straightforward: High settings are playable with an average of 67 FPS, and Low and Medium settings are also viable options, averaging 146 FPS and 93 FPS respectively. The best settings at this resolution are High, offering the best visual quality while maintaining a 7 FPS margin above the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium being the best choice. The Medium preset averages 79 FPS, providing a comfortable 19 FPS headroom. High settings at 1440p fall just short of the target at 56 FPS, while Ultra drops to 45 FPS. For 1440p gaming, this combo requires a compromise: you can enjoy Medium settings with smooth performance, but must avoid High and Ultra presets.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The playable settings are Low and Medium, with Medium producing an average of 62 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with a minimum FPS above 60, as the data shows a minimum of 53 FPS. High settings average 44 FPS and Ultra average 35 FPS, both clearly unplayable. The 4K Medium preset is the maximum this combo can handle, and it barely clears the playable threshold. Ultimately, this PC is best suited for 1080p High or 1440p Medium gaming, with 4K Medium as a demanding but achievable option.