The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a solid, if not spectacular, experience in The Medium, with performance varying sharply based on resolution and preset. At 1080p, the combo clears the 60 FPS threshold at High settings, but at 4K, only the Low and Medium presets remain playable. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom at lower settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates show a clear hierarchy across the three resolutions and four presets. At 1920x1080, the lowest preset yields an average of 146.6 FPS, which drops to 94.6 FPS on Medium, 69.2 FPS on High, and 56 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, a 90.6 FPS difference, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering load even at 1080p. The High preset remains comfortably above the 60 FPS playable threshold, while Ultra falls just below it.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates scale down predictably. Low settings produce 127.8 FPS, Medium drops to 79.2 FPS, High to 53.8 FPS, and Ultra to 43.2 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 13-19% performance at each preset. Notably, the High preset at 1440p falls below the 60 FPS mark, making it unplayable by the benchmark standard, while Medium maintains a comfortable margin.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly under heavy strain. The Low preset averages 97.1 FPS, but Medium falls to 62.2 FPS, High to 44.1 FPS, and Ultra to 34.9 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe, with the High preset losing another 9.7 FPS and Ultra dropping by 8.3 FPS. Only Low and Medium presets meet the playable threshold here. The data shows no min or max FPS values for any configuration, so this analysis relies solely on average frame rates, which can mask stutter or frame-time spikes.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling between resolutions reveals a system that becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 90.6 FPS, a 61.8% drop. This large delta suggests the CPU is feeding frames fast enough at low settings, but the GPU is struggling to keep up with the increased pixel and shading work at Ultra. At 1440p, the same Low-to-Ultra gap is 84.6 FPS, and at 4K it narrows to 62.2 FPS. The shrinking absolute gap at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck, as the per-frame cost rises and the CPU's role in frame generation diminishes.

The Intel Core i5-14400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, appears more than adequate for this title. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 146.6 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game engine. However, when comparing 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the drop to 127.8 FPS is modest, suggesting the GPU is still able to handle the extra pixel count without the CPU becoming a limiting factor. The same pattern holds for Medium presets: 94.6 FPS at 1080p versus 79.2 FPS at 1440p, a 15.4 FPS difference that points to GPU scaling rather than CPU saturation.

At 4K, the CPU's influence wanes further. The 4K Low preset hits 97.1 FPS, which is still high, but the 4K Medium result of 62.2 FPS shows the GPU is working much harder. The RTX 4070, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, is the decisive factor at this resolution. The data indicates that for this game, the GPU dictates playability at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU only becomes relevant when chasing very high frame rates at 1080p Low.

Best Settings per Resolution

The most demanding preset that maintains an average of at least 60 FPS varies by resolution. At 1920x1080, the best playable setting is High, which averages 69.2 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (94.6 FPS) while still clearing the playable threshold by a comfortable 9.2 FPS. Ultra at 56 FPS is not playable by this standard.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 79.2 FPS. High falls to 53.8 FPS, which is unplayable. The jump from Medium to High costs 25.4 FPS, a steep price for the visual improvements. Medium offers a solid experience with a 19.2 FPS buffer above the threshold.

At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 62.2 FPS. This is a marginal pass, with only a 2.2 FPS buffer above the 60 FPS line. Low averages 97.1 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity. High and Ultra are both unplayable at 44.1 and 34.9 FPS, respectively. The 4K Medium result is the weakest playable configuration in the entire dataset.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the Intel Core i5-14400F is closely matched by several processors. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores 0.1% higher, while the Intel Core i9-11900 is 0.2% ahead. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS trails by 0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12800H leads by 0.5%. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in The Medium when paired with the RTX 4070.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070's nearest rivals show similar performance parity. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is 0.1% faster, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% faster. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% slower, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower. In practical terms, these differences are within the margin of error for game benchmarks, so a system with any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical FPS numbers at the same settings and resolution.

It is important to note that these rival comparisons are based on average benchmark scores, not direct game tests. The actual performance in The Medium could vary slightly due to driver optimizations or architecture-specific quirks, but the data suggests users should expect very similar results from these alternatives.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 852nd out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the top 22.9% of all configurations in the database. The rank is a composite measure that considers both CPU and GPU performance, and it reflects the system's ability to handle this specific game across the tested resolutions and presets.

Given that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, the rank is likely influenced more by the RTX 4070's capabilities than the i5-14400F's. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs both contribute to the overall position. The 852nd rank suggests that while this combo is above average, there are many higher-end configurations that would outperform it, particularly those with faster GPUs or more powerful CPUs for 1080p gaming.

The Verdict

This system can run The Medium at playable frame rates, but the ceiling depends heavily on resolution. At 1920x1080, the PC delivers a smooth experience at High settings with 69.2 FPS, and it can even reach 146.6 FPS at Low for high-refresh-rate monitors. Ultra is not playable, falling short at 56 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the system remains playable but only up to Medium settings, which average 79.2 FPS. High and Ultra presets are not viable, with 53.8 and 43.2 FPS respectively. For players with 1440p displays, Medium is the recommended target.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is more cautious. The system clears the 60 FPS threshold at Medium with 62.2 FPS, but the margin is slim. Low settings offer a much safer 97.1 FPS, but at a significant visual cost. High and Ultra are unplayable at 44.1 and 34.9 FPS.

Overall, the Intel Core i5-14400F and RTX 4070 combo is a capable 1080p and 1440p gaming machine for The Medium, with acceptable 4K performance only at reduced settings. The data shows that this game is demanding at higher presets, and users should temper their expectations for 4K Ultra. The system's 852nd rank out of 3724 combos confirms it is a solid mid-to-high-tier configuration, but not a top-tier one for this title.