The Medium

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but only at specific settings and resolutions. The data shows this pairing is severely constrained by the GPU at higher quality presets, with the CPU rarely becoming the limiting factor. Across all three tested resolutions, the 60 FPS threshold is only cleared at Low settings, with a single exception at 1080p Medium where the average lands exactly at 60 FPS. The benchmark results indicate a system that is fundamentally capable of running the game, but not with the visual fidelity most players would expect from a modern horror title.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the only preset that maintains a 60 FPS average is Low, which delivers 64 FPS. This is the sole playable option at 4K; Medium drops to 40 FPS, High falls to 29 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 23 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial—a 24 FPS difference—which suggests the RTX 5050’s 8 GB memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are overwhelmed once texture quality increases. For 4K, the verdict is clear: Low settings are mandatory for smooth gameplay, and even then the margin above 60 FPS is only 4 frames.

At 2560x1440, the pattern repeats. Low settings produce 81 FPS, comfortably above the threshold, while Medium falls to 51 FPS, High to 36 FPS, and Ultra to 29 FPS. The 30 FPS jump from Medium to Low indicates that the GPU’s shading units and texture units are the primary bottleneck; reducing resolution from 4K to 1440p helps, but the preset still dominates the outcome. The best playable setting at this resolution is Low, with no other option clearing 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the situation improves. Low settings hit 96 FPS, and Medium achieves exactly 60 FPS, making it the best playable preset. High drops to 43 FPS, and Ultra to 34 FPS. The fact that Medium reaches 60 FPS at 1080p but fails at 1440p (51 FPS) and 4K (40 FPS) shows a clear resolution scaling penalty. For 1080p, Medium is the highest preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, but the margin is razor-thin—any scene complexity increase could push it below the threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data strongly indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor in The Medium for this combo. The CPU, the Intel Core i5-13400F, has a passmark multithread score of 25032 and a single-thread score of 3634, placing it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (avg score 25284, delta 0%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (avg score 25365, delta -0.3%), which are within a fraction of a percent in performance. This indicates the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU at any resolution.

The GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050, has a passmark g3d score of 17326 and sits in the 66th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avg score 20713, delta 1.6%) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avg score 21153, delta -0.6%). The GPU’s 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 8 GB GDDR6 memory are the limiting factors.

Evidence for GPU dominance comes from the scaling between resolutions and presets. At Low settings, going from 1080p (96 FPS) to 1440p (81 FPS) to 4K (64 FPS) shows a 17% and 21% drop respectively—a typical GPU-bound scaling curve. However, at Medium settings, the same resolution changes produce 60, 51, and 40 FPS—a 15% and 22% drop—which is similar. But the preset scaling at a fixed resolution is steeper: at 1080p, Low to Medium is a 37% drop (96 to 60 FPS), and Medium to High is a 28% drop (60 to 43 FPS). This steep preset scaling, combined with the fact that the CPU’s benchmark scores are far above the GPU’s percentile rank, confirms that the RTX 5050 is the bottleneck. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are not stressed by The Medium’s workload; the GPU’s 2560 shading units and 32 ROPs are.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 2299 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 38% of all systems tested, which is a surprisingly low position given the hardware’s individual benchmark scores. The CPU’s 77th percentile and GPU’s 66th percentile would suggest a mid-range ranking, but the game’s demanding nature at higher presets drags the combo down.

The rank reflects the measured FPS data: at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 23 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it reaches 29 FPS. These are among the lowest scores for any modern discrete GPU. The combination’s rank is dragged down by the GPU’s inability to handle high and ultra presets at any resolution, which is a common pattern for games with heavy texture and lighting effects. The 2299 rank means that nearly 62% of tested combos perform better, including many with older or cheaper CPUs paired with stronger GPUs. This suggests that for The Medium, the GPU choice matters far more than the CPU, and the RTX 5050 is the weak link in this pairing.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in benchmark performance are the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (avg score 25284, delta 0%), Intel Core 5 120 (avg score 25362, delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (avg score 25365, delta -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (avg score 25201, delta 0.4%). All of these are within 0.4% of the i5-13400F’s average benchmark score of 25292. In practice, swapping the CPU to any of these would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, since the GPU remains the bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 5600X3D, despite being a gaming-focused chip, would not change the outcome because the game is not CPU-limited at the tested settings.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (avg score 21153, delta -0.6%), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (avg score 21237, delta -1%), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (avg score 20713, delta 1.6%), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (avg score 21379, delta -1.6%). The RX 5600 XT is the most interesting alternative—it scores 1.6% higher than the RTX 5050, which would translate to roughly a 1 FPS difference at 1080p Medium (60 FPS becomes 61 FPS) and a 1 FPS difference at 4K Low (64 FPS becomes 65 FPS). These are negligible differences. The RTX A4000 Mobile and RX Vega M GL are within 1.6% lower, meaning they would perform nearly identically. None of these alternatives would change the verdict: they all struggle at Medium and above, and all clear 60 FPS only at Low settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the data shows a steep drop-off as settings increase. Low settings average 64 FPS. Medium averages 40 FPS, with a minimum of 34 FPS and maximum of 46 FPS. High averages 29 FPS. Ultra averages 23 FPS. The 21 FPS difference between Low and Medium is the largest single-step drop in the entire dataset, indicating that Medium settings introduce a significant rendering load. The 34 FPS minimum at Medium shows that even the average is not stable—the game can dip below 30 FPS during heavy scenes.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar but with higher overall values. Low averages 81 FPS. Medium averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 43 FPS and maximum of 58 FPS. High averages 36 FPS. Ultra averages 29 FPS. The Medium preset’s maximum of 58 FPS is just below the 60 FPS threshold, meaning it never reaches playable levels even in the best-case frames. The 43 FPS minimum confirms that this preset is not viable for smooth gameplay.

At 1920x1080, the results are more encouraging. Low averages 96 FPS. Medium averages 60 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS and maximum of 69 FPS. High averages 43 FPS. Ultra averages 34 FPS. The Medium preset’s average of exactly 60 FPS is the only non-Low setting across all resolutions that meets the threshold, but the 51 FPS minimum shows that it frequently dips below 60 FPS during gameplay. The 96 FPS at Low provides a comfortable margin, but the 34 FPS at Ultra confirms that this GPU cannot handle the game’s highest quality settings at any resolution.

The Verdict

The Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 can run The Medium, but with significant compromises. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, only Low settings are playable, averaging 64 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings are playable, averaging 81 FPS. At 1920x1080, both Low (96 FPS) and Medium (60 FPS) are playable, but Medium is the best playable preset with an average of exactly 60 FPS.

For players targeting 4K, this combo requires Low settings to maintain a 60 FPS average, and the 64 FPS result leaves only a 4 FPS buffer. For 1440p, Low settings are similarly required, though the 81 FPS average provides a more comfortable margin. For 1080p, Medium settings are technically playable, but the 51 FPS minimum means the experience will not be consistently smooth. Players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate will find that High and Ultra presets are not viable at any resolution, with the best Ultra result being 34 FPS at 1080p.

The data indicates that this system is a capable 1080p machine for The Medium at lower presets, but it falls short at higher resolutions or quality settings. The GPU is the clear bottleneck, and the CPU’s strong benchmark scores do not compensate for the RTX 5050’s limitations. This combo ranks in the bottom 38% of tested systems, which aligns with the measured FPS data showing that the game’s demanding presets overwhelm the GPU. For a smooth experience, players must accept Low settings at 1440p or below, or Medium at 1080p with the understanding that frame drops below 60 FPS will occur.