The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a broad performance spectrum in The Medium, ranging from a highly playable 149 FPS average at 1080p Low to a demanding 35 FPS average at 4K Ultra. Analysis of the measured frames indicates that the optimal experience depends entirely on the target display resolution and the user’s tolerance for visual compromises. This combination ranks in the top quarter of tested configurations, showing clear strength at lower resolutions while progressively revealing its limits as pixel count increases.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this hardware combination indicates that the Medium preset provides the most balanced experience across all three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS, offering a comfortable margin above standard 60 FPS displays while maintaining substantial visual quality over the Low preset. The 1440p Medium result of 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum remains fluid, and even the 4K Medium score of 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum stays within a playable range for most users.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Low preset delivers exceptional frame rates: 149 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. These numbers indicate that Low settings effectively remove any potential bottleneck from the GPU, though the visual sacrifice is substantial. The High preset occupies an awkward middle ground, providing 67 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and only 44 FPS at 4K, with the latter two falling short of ideal smoothness targets. Ultra settings are only advisable for 1080p usage, where the 53 FPS average is borderline playable, while 1440p Ultra at 45 FPS and 4K Ultra at 35 FPS are too demanding for comfortable gameplay.

Benchmark results suggest that Medium is the sweet spot for this combination, particularly because it is the only preset with complete minimum and maximum frame data recorded, indicating more consistent performance. The 93 FPS average at 1080p Medium represents a 39% improvement over High settings, while maintaining far better visual fidelity than Low. At 1440p, the Medium preset’s 79 FPS average is 41% higher than High, and at 4K, Medium’s 62 FPS is 41% above High. This consistent 40% performance uplift across resolutions makes Medium the clear recommendation for the best experience per the measured rows.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT serves as the primary performance driver in this configuration, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The GPU’s memory configuration proves sufficient for The Medium even at 4K resolution, as demonstrated by the playable 62 FPS average on Medium settings at 3840x2160. The card’s clock behavior, with a base clock of 1660 MHz and boost clock of 2970 MHz, directly influences the scaling patterns observed across settings presets.

The GPU’s compute resources—4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs—determine the raw throughput available for rendering. The 48.66 TFLOPS FP32 performance translates into substantial pixel throughput, with a pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s. These specifications explain why the card can deliver 149 FPS at 1080p Low but drops to 35 FPS at 4K Ultra: the fixed pixel count at 4K requires the GPU to process four times the pixels of 1080p, and the Ultra preset adds shading complexity that taxes the 64 RT cores.

The GPU’s 304 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface position it as a high-bandwidth component, though the benchmark data shows no evidence of interface bottlenecking. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is particularly relevant for The Medium, as the game’s horror environments with detailed textures and lighting effects benefit from the generous memory allocation. The measured 4K Medium result of 62 FPS suggests the GPU has sufficient memory bandwidth and capacity to handle the game’s demands without falling back to slower system memory, which would manifest as frame time spikes.

Resolution Scaling

The performance trajectory from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern across all settings presets, characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 93 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p, a 15% reduction, and then to 62 FPS at 4K, a 33% reduction from the 1440p figure. This scaling is less steep than the theoretical pixel count increase (1440p has 1.78x the pixels of 1080p, 4K has 4x), indicating that the CPU still provides some headroom at lower resolutions.

The Low preset shows the most extreme scaling: 149 FPS at 1080p drops to 126 FPS at 1440p (15% decrease) and then to 99 FPS at 4K (21% decrease from 1440p). The relatively smaller drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings suggests that the Radeon RX 9070 XT maintains strong raw throughput when visual effects are minimized. Conversely, the Ultra preset exhibits the steepest decline: 53 FPS at 1080p falls to 45 FPS at 1440p (15% decrease) and then to 35 FPS at 4K (22% decrease from 1440p), with the lower absolute values making each step more noticeable in real-world gameplay.

The High preset follows a similar pattern to Medium, with 67 FPS at 1080p dropping to 56 FPS at 1440p (16% decrease) and 44 FPS at 4K (21% decrease). Across all presets, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs approximately 15% performance, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs approximately 21-22%. This consistent scaling indicates that the limiting component shifts gradually from CPU-bound at low resolutions to GPU-bound at 4K, with the 6-core Ryzen 5 7400F providing sufficient headroom at 1080p to let the GPU reach its full potential.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT achieves a combo rank of 631 out of 2911 tested configurations in The Medium, placing it in the 78th percentile overall. This ranking reflects strong performance, though not top-tier, indicating that while the hardware handles the game well at most settings, there are many faster combinations available. The rank of 631 out of 2911 means that roughly 78% of tested combos perform worse, positioning this setup as a solid mid-to-high performer.

The CPU’s contribution to this ranking is supported by its own benchmark standing. The Ryzen 5 7400F holds the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32750. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T at 32707 (0.1% slower), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H at 32812 (0.2% faster), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 at 32662 (0.3% slower). These extremely close margins—all within 0.3% of each other—suggest that CPU performance is not the differentiator for this combo’s game ranking.

The GPU’s percentile ranking is notably lower at 55, with an average benchmark score of 13543. The nearest GPU rivals are surprising: the AMD Radeon HD 7770M at 13536 (0.1% slower), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13515 (0.2% slower), and NVIDIA P106-090 at 13470 (0.5% slower). These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores that may not reflect gaming-specific performance, but they indicate that the RX 9070 XT’s raw compute scores place it in the middle of the pack. The combo’s strong game-specific ranking relative to its GPU percentile suggests that The Medium is particularly well-optimized for this hardware configuration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The 1440p Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum. This provides smooth gameplay with significant visual improvements over 1080p, while remaining well above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, which produce 99 FPS average at 3840x2160. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum, narrowly exceeding 60 FPS on average but dipping below in demanding scenes.

Q: How much performance does increasing from 1080p to 1440p cost?

A: Across all settings presets, the cost is approximately 15%. For example, Medium settings drop from 93 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p, while Low drops from 149 to 126 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the 149 FPS average suggests the GPU has significant headroom, indicating the Ryzen 5 7400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads may become the limiting factor. The CPU’s 4.70 GHz boost clock and 32 MB L3 cache help maintain stability.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 631st out of 2911 total combos, placing it in the top 22% of all tested setups. This is a strong result, though the GPU’s 55th percentile among all GPUs suggests there is headroom for improvement with a different graphics card.

Q: Which preset should I avoid entirely?

A: Ultra settings at 4K produce only 35 FPS average, which is not playable. Even at 1440p, Ultra achieves just 45 FPS, making it a poor choice. The 4K Ultra result represents the worst measured performance for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates show a clear progression across presets. The Low preset achieves 149 FPS average, providing maximum smoothness with minimal visual fidelity. Medium settings produce 93 FPS average with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 107 FPS, demonstrating consistent frame delivery. High settings drop to 67 FPS average, while Ultra settings deliver 53 FPS average, which may be acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings maintain 126 FPS average, still exceptionally smooth. Medium settings produce 79 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum and 90 FPS maximum, showing a slightly wider variance than at 1080p. High settings fall to 56 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 45 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the 4K resolution reveals the GPU’s limits. Low settings achieve 99 FPS average, surprisingly playable. Medium settings deliver 62 FPS average with a 53 FPS minimum and 71 FPS maximum, making it the only 4K preset with complete frame data. High settings produce 44 FPS average, and Ultra settings bottom out at 35 FPS average.

The data pattern shows that Medium is the only preset with recorded minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions, indicating that this preset was the primary testing focus. The minimum values at Medium (79 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, 53 FPS at 4K) all remain above 50 FPS, suggesting acceptable frame consistency even in demanding scenes. The maximum values (107 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, 71 FPS at 4K) show that the combo can burst to higher performance when the scene allows.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F provides the computational foundation for this combination, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture. The CPU’s base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver strong single-threaded performance for game logic and physics calculations. The 5 nm process node from TSMC helps maintain efficiency with a 65 W TDP, allowing the CPU to sustain high clocks without thermal throttling.

Benchmark results show the CPU’s capabilities: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and single-core score of 3072, with PassMark single-thread score of 3689 and multithread score of 25645. The 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms solid performance, though the nearest rivals demonstrate how competitive this segment is. The Intel Core i5-14600T scores nearly identically at 32707 (0.1% difference), while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H is only 0.2% faster.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role becomes evident when examining performance at 1080p Low settings, where the 149 FPS average suggests the GPU is not saturated. The 6-core configuration with 12 threads provides sufficient parallel processing for the game’s horror elements, which likely include complex AI and physics systems. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 support ensures that data flows efficiently to the GPU, though at 4K resolution, the GPU’s 644.6 GB/s bandwidth becomes the primary data pathway.

The CPU’s relatively recent release date and active production status suggest it benefits from modern instruction set optimizations, which may contribute to the combo’s strong game-specific ranking of 631 out of 2911. While the CPU’s aggregate benchmark scores are closely matched by several rivals, its combination with the RX 9070 XT produces particularly favorable results in The Medium, indicating that the pairing works well together without significant bottlenecks at most settings and resolutions.