The Medium

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end combination designed for demanding workloads, and its performance in The Medium reflects a system that can handle the game's fixed-camera horror across most settings. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1920x1080, the combo delivers a smooth experience at every preset, while at 2560x1440 it excels at High settings, and at 3840x2160 it remains playable up to Medium settings. The following analysis breaks down the measured results, the roles of each component, and how this pairing ranks against other tested configurations.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 60 FPS?*

A: Yes, at all three tested resolutions, but not at every preset. At 1920x1080, all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) clear 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low, Medium, and High are playable, but Ultra averages 57 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low and Medium are playable, but High averages 57 FPS and Ultra drops to 45 FPS.

Q: What is the best setting at 4K for this combo?

A: The best playable setting at 3840x2160 is Medium, which achieves an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. The High preset falls short of the 60 FPS threshold at 57 FPS, while Ultra averages only 45 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores 19047, a negligible 0% difference. The Intel Core 3 201E trails by 0.1%, while the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X are ahead by 0.3% each.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The RTX 4080 SUPER is virtually identical at 54209 (0.1% ahead), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% behind. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% ahead, respectively.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 101, with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. This indicates a stable experience well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 305th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 8.2% of all tested systems.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 becomes evident when examining performance scaling across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the GPU is less stressed, and the CPU's six cores and twelve threads handle the game's logic and fixed-camera rendering efficiently. The jump from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a drop from 146 FPS to 68 FPS, a 53% reduction, indicating that the GPU becomes more involved as graphical load increases, but the CPU still keeps the system above 60 FPS at all times.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU's role expands. The RTX 4080, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, begins to dominate performance. The average FPS at Low is 138, dropping to 101 at Medium, 72 at High, and 57 at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at High settings shows a reduction from 86 FPS to 72 FPS, a 16% drop, which is primarily attributable to the increased pixel count burdening the GPU. The CPU's contribution remains steady, as the core count and cache configuration (18 MB shared L3) are sufficient to feed the GPU at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck. The RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is pushed hard, with average FPS at Low achieving 127, Medium at 79, High at 57, and Ultra at 45. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings results in a 21% performance drop (72 to 57 FPS), and the gap between Medium and High at 4K (79 to 57 FPS, a 28% reduction) underscores how sensitive the game is to shadow quality, texture detail, and post-processing effects at high pixel densities. The CPU's 3DMark scores (e.g., 5895 for 16 threads, 909 for single-thread) suggest it maintains frame pacing, but the GPU's raw throughput dictates the final frame rate at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. The Low preset averages 146 FPS, providing a high-refresh-rate experience. Medium settings average 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, ensuring no dips below the playable threshold. High settings average 86 FPS, and even the Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, maintains an average of 68 FPS. The absence of min/max data for High and Ultra suggests a consistent frame delivery, though the averages alone confirm all presets are comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance scales predictably. Low settings achieve 138 FPS, while Medium delivers 101 FPS average, with a measured minimum of 86 FPS and maximum of 116 FPS. High settings average 72 FPS, which is still 12 FPS above the playable threshold. The Ultra preset, however, falls to 57 FPS average, dipping below 60 FPS and thus failing the playability criterion. This resolution shows a clear inflection point where the GPU's limits begin to surface under maximum graphical load.

At 3840x2160, the results are more varied. Low settings achieve 127 FPS, indicating the game scales well with reduced graphical complexity. Medium settings average 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 91 FPS, making it the only preset above the 4K threshold that remains playable. High settings average 57 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target, while Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The data reveals that the RTX 4080 can handle 4K in The Medium only when settings are moderated to Medium or below.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 can run The Medium, and the verdict by resolution is clear. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with the best setting being Ultra at an average of 68 FPS. At 2560x1440, the playable settings are High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best at 72 FPS; Ultra is not playable due to its 57 FPS average. At 3840x2160, only Low and Medium are playable, with Medium being the optimal choice at 79 FPS. The system meets the 60 FPS playable threshold in the majority of configurations, but the Ultra preset at 1440p and the High and Ultra presets at 4K fall short, requiring a reduction in settings for a smooth experience.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the Intel Core i5-12400F's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks offer similar processing power. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS matches the i5-12400F with a 0% delta, making it a direct alternative in terms of CPU-bound scenarios. The Intel Core 3 201E is 0.1% slower, while the Intel Core i5-1335U and AMD EPYC 7773X are each 0.3% faster. These processors would likely produce comparable frame rates in The Medium at 1080p, where the CPU has a more noticeable impact, though the differences are minor enough to be within margin of error.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the closest rival, with a 0.1% higher average score, meaning it would perform nearly identically in this game. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% faster, respectively. These GPUs would deliver frame rates within a few percent of the RTX 4080 across all resolutions, making them viable substitutes if the system is configured with similar CPU performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 68 FPS. This allows players to enable the highest graphical fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is High, averaging 72 FPS. This preset balances visual quality with performance, staying 12 FPS above the threshold. At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 79 FPS. This is the optimal choice for 4K, as it provides a 19 FPS buffer over the 60 FPS minimum, ensuring stable frame delivery even in demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 305th out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 8.2% of all systems tested. This high ranking is driven primarily by the GPU, which sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU, in the 73rd percentile, provides adequate support. The combination's strong performance at 1080p and 1440p, coupled with its ability to maintain playable frame rates at 4K with adjusted settings, justifies its position near the top of the rankings. The data shows that this is a well-balanced pairing for The Medium, with the GPU being the primary driver of high-resolution performance and the CPU ensuring consistent frame delivery across all tested configurations.