The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks at position 277 out of 3,724 tested combinations for The Medium, placing it in the top 7.4% of all tested systems. This is a high-end pairing that delivers playable frame rates across most settings, though the most demanding preset at 4K resolution falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. Benchmark results indicate a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom to avoid bottlenecking at 1080p and 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 277 out of 3,724 tested combinations places this system firmly in the upper echelon of hardware pairings for The Medium. The RTX 4080's percentile ranking of 86 versus all GPUs, combined with the i5-14400F's percentile of 83 versus all CPUs, suggests a balanced configuration where neither component is drastically outclassing the other. This balance is reflected in the measured frame rates, which show consistent scaling from 1080p through 4K.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 155 FPS on Low settings, 120 FPS on Medium, 86 FPS on High, and 68 FPS on Ultra. These numbers place the combo well above the playable threshold of 60 FPS at every preset. The 4K results are more varied, with Low settings producing 127 FPS and Medium producing 79 FPS, but High drops to 57 FPS and Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The rank of 277 suggests that while this is not a top-tier configuration, it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems in this specific title.

The delta between the CPU's average benchmark score of 32,279 and the GPU's average of 54,247 indicates that the graphics card is the dominant factor in overall system performance. This is typical for a horror title like The Medium, which relies heavily on visual effects and rendering techniques rather than complex CPU-side physics or simulation.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the Intel Core i5-14400F shows extremely tight clustering with its closest competitors. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores 32,233, just 0.1% below the i5-14400F's average. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32,226, a 0.2% difference, while the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32,354, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i7-12800H trails by 0.5% with a score of 32,121. These margins are negligible in gaming scenarios, meaning users upgrading or downgrading between these processors would see virtually identical frame rates in The Medium.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the closest rival with an average score of 54,209, just 0.1% behind the RTX 4080's 54,247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54,828, which is 1.1% higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55,698, a 2.6% advantage. The AMD Radeon 8060S leads the group at 55,757, 2.7% above the RTX 4080. In practical terms, these differences translate to single-digit frame rate variations in The Medium, making the RTX 4080 SUPER the most direct alternative.

The combination of a CPU within 0.5% of its rivals and a GPU within 2.7% of its competitors means that any of these alternative pairings would produce nearly identical gaming experiences. The measured FPS data shows that the RTX 4080's performance is the primary driver of frame rates, so swapping the CPU for any of its nearest rivals would have a minimal impact on the results presented here.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU dominance. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 87 FPS (155 minus 68), which represents a 56% performance drop from the lowest to the highest preset. At 2560x1440, this gap narrows to 90 FPS (147 minus 57), a 61% drop. At 3840x2160, the spread is 82 FPS (127 minus 45), a 64% drop. This consistent degradation across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at every setting level.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when examining the frame rate differences between resolutions at the same settings. At Medium settings, the system delivers 120 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19 FPS (16%), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 22 FPS (22%). This non-linear scaling is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the increased pixel count directly impacts rendering throughput.

At Low settings, the frame rates are 155 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 127 FPS at 4K. The smaller relative differences here (5% and 14% respectively) suggest that at lower presets, the CPU begins to play a more significant role, as the GPU has more headroom to render frames quickly. The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, provide adequate processing power to keep the GPU fed even at 155 FPS.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear: this system can run The Medium at playable frame rates in most configurations. At 3840x2160, the playable settings include Low and Medium, with Medium being the best option at an average of 79 FPS. High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS threshold at 57 FPS and 45 FPS respectively.

At 2560x1440, the system achieves playable performance at High, Low, and Medium settings, with High being the best at 72 FPS. Ultra drops to 57 FPS, just below the threshold. At 1920x1080, all four settings are playable, with Ultra providing 68 FPS and Medium delivering 120 FPS.

The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that fails to reach 60 FPS, while 4K High also falls short. For users targeting 60 FPS as the minimum acceptable frame rate, the system delivers this at 1080p Ultra, 1440p High, and 4K Medium. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth are sufficient for the game's textures at all tested resolutions, but the rendering load at 4K with High or Ultra settings exceeds the GPU's capability in this title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best playable setting at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the best playable setting is Medium, which produces an average of 79 FPS with minimum and maximum values of 67 and 91 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain 60 FPS at 1440p with Ultra settings?

A: No, at 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 57 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54,209, which is 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's average benchmark score of 54,247, making them effectively identical in performance.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate recorded at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 155 FPS on Low settings. The Medium preset shows a maximum of 138 FPS with an average of 120 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at higher resolutions?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as frame rates drop by 16% from 1080p to 1440p and 22% from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings.

Q: Which resolutions support Ultra settings above 60 FPS?

A: Only 1920x1080 supports Ultra settings above 60 FPS, with an average of 68 FPS. At 2560x1440 Ultra averages 57 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra averages 45 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Medium, with an average of 79 FPS. The minimum recorded frame rate at this setting is 67 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above the threshold. High settings at 4K produce 57 FPS, which is below the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, High settings deliver an average of 72 FPS, making it the best playable option. The system also achieves 101 FPS on Medium and 147 FPS on Low, but Ultra drops to 57 FPS. The High preset provides a balanced visual quality with a 12 FPS margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, Ultra settings are playable with an average of 68 FPS. This is the only resolution where the highest preset maintains playable performance. Medium produces 120 FPS, High produces 86 FPS, and Low produces 155 FPS, all well above the threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across settings. Low settings produce an average of 127 FPS. Medium settings average 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. High settings drop to 57 FPS average. Ultra settings produce the lowest average at 45 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 22 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 12 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 147 FPS average. Medium settings average 101 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. High settings produce 72 FPS average. Ultra settings drop to 57 FPS average. The difference between Medium and High is 29 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 15 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 155 FPS average. Medium settings average 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. High settings achieve 86 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 68 FPS average. The step from Medium to High is 34 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra is 18 FPS.

The frame rate data shows that the RTX 4080 provides substantial performance headroom at lower resolutions and settings, with 1080p Low exceeding 150 FPS. The minimum frame rates recorded at Medium settings across all resolutions stay above 60 FPS, with 4K Medium showing 67 FPS, 1440p Medium showing 86 FPS, and 1080p Medium showing 102 FPS. This indicates stable performance without significant frame drops in the medium preset configuration.