The Medium

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 presents a striking asymmetry: a mid-range 13th-gen processor harnessed to the most powerful consumer GPU of its generation. Benchmark results for The Medium show this combination delivers playable frame rates across all tested resolutions, though the margin of comfort varies dramatically. The data reveals a system that can handle 4K High settings at 65 FPS but falls short of 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, suggesting the game’s heaviest preset is the sole obstacle to a flawless experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset at 3840x2160 that maintains at least 60 FPS?

A: High is the most demanding playable preset at 4K, producing an average of 65 FPS. Ultra drops to 49.2 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 bottleneck the i5-13400F at 1080p?

A: The data indicates CPU influence grows at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the gap between Low (152.9 FPS) and High (92.6 FPS) is 60.3 FPS, whereas at 4K the same preset gap is 69.8 FPS, showing that resolution scaling alters the balance between components.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested configurations?

A: This specific CPU-GPU pair ranks 153rd out of 3,724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 4.1% of all configurations in the database.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance near any other graphics cards in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 60,347 is nearly identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% delta), though those cards are not gaming-focused equivalents.

Q: What is the playable settings list at 2560x1440?

A: All four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold at 1440p. Ultra averages 66 FPS, providing the highest visual quality while remaining playable.

Q: Does the CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all processors affect 4K performance?

A: At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 49.2 FPS, which is 10.8 FPS below the playable threshold. Given the GPU's 88th percentile ranking, the CPU's lower percentile becomes a plausible limiting factor at this extreme preset.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the i5-13400F and RTX 4090 shifts predictably with resolution, but the magnitude of the shift reveals important characteristics. At 1920x1080, the frame rates across presets range from 76.1 FPS at Ultra to 152.9 FPS at Low, a spread of 76.8 FPS. This wide range suggests the GPU is the primary constraint even at 1080p, since the CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads have ample headroom for a horror title with moderate thread demands. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22,604 and single-core score of 3,191 indicate strong per-thread performance, which should not bottleneck a 150+ FPS target in most scenes.

Scaling to 2560x1440, the preset spread narrows to 77.3 FPS (from 66 to 143.3). The relative consistency of the Low-to-Ultra gap between 1080p and 1440p — 76.8 versus 77.3 — implies the GPU remains the dominant factor at both resolutions. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide massive throughput that scales well with pixel count, but the game's rendering load still grows faster than the GPU's raw compute can compensate.

At 3840x2160, the story changes noticeably. The preset spread expands to 85.6 FPS (49.2 to 134.8), and the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold. This 4K Ultra result, combined with the 1440p Ultra score of 66 FPS, shows a steep performance cliff between 1440p and 4K. The 4K Ultra average of 49.2 FPS is 16.8 FPS lower than the 1440p Ultra average, a 25.5% drop. This disproportionate penalty suggests The Medium's Ultra settings introduce rendering features — likely ray tracing or volumetric effects — that heavily tax the GPU's 128 RT cores and 16,384 shading units.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when examining the Low preset deltas. Moving from 1080p Low (152.9 FPS) to 1440p Low (143.3 FPS) costs only 9.6 FPS, while moving to 4K Low (134.8 FPS) costs another 8.5 FPS. This modest reduction across resolutions indicates the i5-13400F can feed the RTX 4090 adequately at lower settings. However, at Ultra presets, the CPU's 10-core configuration may contribute to the performance decline, as the game's increased draw calls and physics simulations demand more processor throughput that the 4.60 GHz boost clock can only partially deliver.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest raw performance. Low settings produce an average of 152.9 FPS, Medium reaches 130.1 FPS, High hits 92.6 FPS, and Ultra settles at 76.1 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 22.8 FPS, while the Medium-to-High drop is 37.5 FPS, indicating that High settings introduce a substantial rendering cost. The Ultra preset at 76.1 FPS remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving 16.1 FPS of headroom for demanding scenes.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages shift downward but maintain playability. Low produces 143.3 FPS, Medium 112.2 FPS, High 81.5 FPS, and Ultra 66 FPS. The Low-to-Medium delta is 31.1 FPS, and the Medium-to-High delta is 30.7 FPS, showing a more even distribution of performance costs across presets compared to 1080p. The Ultra result of 66 FPS provides exactly 6 FPS of margin above the playable threshold, making it a viable but not overly comfortable choice.

At 3840x2160, the data reveals the system's limits. Low averages 134.8 FPS, Medium 85.8 FPS, High 65 FPS, and Ultra 49.2 FPS. The High preset at 65 FPS clears the threshold by 5 FPS, while Ultra falls 10.8 FPS short. The Medium-to-High drop of 20.8 FPS is the largest single preset transition at 4K, suggesting High adds significant visual effects that strain the GPU. The Ultra preset's 49.2 FPS represents a 24.2% reduction from High, the steepest percentage drop across any resolution.

Comparing resolution scaling, the 1080p-to-1440p reduction for each preset is: Low 9.6 FPS, Medium 17.9 FPS, High 11.1 FPS, Ultra 10.1 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K reductions are: Low 8.5 FPS, Medium 26.4 FPS, High 16.5 FPS, Ultra 16.8 FPS. The Medium preset shows the largest absolute drop when moving to 4K, indicating that this setting tier has specific rendering features that scale poorly with resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score provide context for its processing capability. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25,284 (0% delta), the Intel Core 5 120 scores 25,362 (-0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25,365 (-0.3% delta). These processors would likely deliver similar frame rates in The Medium, particularly at 1080p where CPU load is highest. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25,201 (0.4% delta), completing a tight cluster of alternatives within 0.7% of the i5-13400F's 25,292 average.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are less intuitive. The Intel Arc Pro A60 matches the RTX 4090's average score of 60,347 with a score of 60,326 (0% delta), though this workstation card would not deliver comparable gaming performance in practice. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60,140 (0.3% delta), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58,657 (2.9% delta). These professional-grade alternatives share benchmark similarity but lack the RTX 4090's gaming-specific features like 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores.

In practical gaming terms, the RTX 4090's nearest rival in the database is the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M, which scores 61,896 (-2.5% delta). This suggests a system using that GPU would perform within 2.5% of the RTX 4090 in synthetic tests, though the RTX 4090's 24 GB memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide advantages in memory-heavy games like The Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 153rd out of 3,724 tested combinations, placing it in the 95.9th percentile of all configurations. This rank reflects the RTX 4090's dominance, as the GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs (higher than the CPU's 77th percentile) means the graphics card contributes more to the combo's overall standing. The rank of 153 suggests that 152 other combinations outperform this pairing, likely those with higher-end CPUs like the Core i9 or Ryzen 9 series, which would provide additional headroom for CPU-bound scenarios.

The rank's position within the top 4.1% of combos indicates that this system is well above average for The Medium. However, the 4K Ultra failure at 49.2 FPS shows that even a top-4% combo cannot fully tame the game's heaviest settings. The data implies that achieving 4K Ultra at 60+ FPS requires a CPU with higher single-thread performance, as the i5-13400F's 3,191 Cinebench R23 single-core score may limit the GPU's ability to reach higher frame rates in CPU-intensive moments.

The Verdict

The verdict is clear: this system can run The Medium at playable frame rates across all tested resolutions, but the settings ceiling varies. At 1920x1080, all four presets clear 60 FPS, with Ultra averaging 76.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, all presets also remain playable, with Ultra at 66 FPS providing a comfortable margin. At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 65 FPS and is the most demanding playable option, while Ultra falls to 49.2 FPS.

The playable settings at 4K are Low (134.8 FPS), Medium (85.8 FPS), and High (65 FPS). The 4K Medium result of 85.8 FPS offers a strong balance between visual quality and performance, while 4K High at 65 FPS sits just 5 FPS above the threshold, which could dip below 60 in demanding scenes. For the best experience, the data suggests using 4K High with the understanding that frame rate variability may occur, or 4K Medium for a more stable margin.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the best settings preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is High, with an average of 65 FPS. This provides the highest visual quality while staying 5 FPS above the playable threshold. Users seeking more headroom could select Medium at 85.8 FPS, which offers a 25.8 FPS margin above the threshold.

At 2560x1440, the best settings preset is Ultra, averaging 66 FPS. This delivers maximum visual fidelity at 1440p with a 6 FPS margin above the threshold. The Ultra preset at 1440p outperforms the High preset at 4K by 1 FPS, making it a viable high-fidelity option.

At 1920x1080, the best settings preset is also Ultra, averaging 76.1 FPS. This provides a 16.1 FPS margin above the threshold, offering both high visual quality and sufficient headroom for frame rate fluctuations during intense gameplay sequences. The 1080p Ultra result is the strongest playable outcome across all resolutions, making 1080p the recommended resolution for players who prioritize maximum visual settings.