The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, ranking in the 50th percentile of tested configurations. The data shows this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming with specific settings, as 4K Ultra proves too demanding for the hardware. The pairing exhibits a clear GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures consistent frame pacing when the graphics card is not overwhelmed.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 2560x1440 with Medium settings is the sweet spot, delivering 61.2 FPS average. While 1920x1080 can reach higher frame rates (up to 116.4 FPS on Low), the 1440p Medium combination offers the best balance of visual fidelity and smooth performance. 4K is only viable on Low settings, where the average FPS drops to 77.1.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU benchmarks place it at the 82nd percentile of all processors. Its average benchmark score of 25064 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25057, 0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24993, 0.3% ahead). It trails the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 by 0.1% and the AMD EPYC 9474F by 0.2%, showing it is competitively positioned in its performance class.

Q: What is the GPU's performance ranking relative to other graphics cards?

A: The Radeon RX 6750 XT sits at the 79th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 35327 places it within 1.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (35787) and 0.9% of the AMD Radeon 880M (35646). It edges out the AMD Radeon RX 5600M by 0.2% but falls 0.3% short of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435).

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: The data indicates the opposite. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 24.7, while at 1080p Low it reaches 116.4 FPS. The massive frame rate jump when lowering resolution suggests the GPU is the limiting factor, especially at higher settings. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, appear sufficient to feed the GPU in most scenarios tested.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 840th out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it almost exactly in the middle of the pack, indicating that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is far from the bottom. The CPU's 82nd percentile and GPU's 79th percentile scores align with this mid-range overall placement.

Q: Which settings preset should users avoid?

A: Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions. The data shows 1080p Ultra averages 40.3 FPS, 1440p Ultra drops to 34.6 FPS, and 4K Ultra falls to a stutter-prone 24.7 FPS. These figures fall below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, making High or Medium presets the practical ceiling for this hardware.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 8000 series, built on Zen 4 architecture using TSMC's 4 nm process. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2943. This is crucial for The Medium, which relies on consistent frame pacing rather than pure multi-core throughput.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851. This places it at the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensure the processor can keep up with the game's data demands. However, the CPU's role appears secondary in this pairing, as the frame rate differences across resolutions point to the GPU as the primary bottleneck.

In practical terms, the CPU never appears to limit performance in the measured results. At 1080p Low, where the GPU has the least work to do, the average FPS reaches 116.4, indicating the processor can handle high frame rates. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and PassMark single-thread score of 3684 reinforce that it has ample headroom for this title's logic and physics calculations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is a substantial graphics card from the Radeon RX 6000 series, built on RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2600 MHz and game clock of 2495 MHz drive its 13.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is the dominant factor in The Medium's visual output.

The GPU's memory capacity is particularly relevant for this game. The 12 GB VRAM allows for higher resolution textures without exceeding memory limits, which is likely why Medium settings at 1440p can maintain 61.2 FPS. The 40 ray tracing cores provide hardware acceleration for the game's lighting effects, though enabling Ultra settings appears to overwhelm the GPU's overall throughput.

At the 79th percentile of all GPUs, the RX 6750 XT's average benchmark score of 35327 shows it is a solid mid-range performer. Its PassMark G3D score of 20700 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2548 indicate strong DirectX 12 performance, which The Medium leverages. The GPU's 250 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest it is a power-hungry component, but the measured results show it delivers consistent performance across the tested settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Ryzen 5 8400F and Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 840th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 50th percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU at 82nd and the GPU at 79th. The ranking suggests that while neither component is a top-tier part, their pairing provides a balanced experience for this specific title.

The combo's position implies that roughly half of tested systems perform better and half perform worse. The data shows this is not a system for maximum settings at high resolutions, but it can hold its own at more modest configurations. The 1440p Medium result of 61.2 FPS is particularly notable, as it achieves a smooth frame rate at a resolution that many users consider the current standard.

The ranking also reflects the game's demanding nature. The Medium is a horror title that uses fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments, which can be taxing on GPU resources. The fact that this combo achieves a mid-pack ranking suggests it is well-matched for the game's requirements, even if it does not excel at the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the recommended configuration is 2560x1440 with Medium settings, producing an average of 61.2 FPS. This setting combination offers the best visual quality while maintaining a frame rate above the 60 FPS threshold. For users prioritizing higher frame rates, 1920x1080 with Medium settings delivers 72.9 FPS, providing a smoother experience with only a minor resolution reduction.

For those with 4K displays, the only viable option is Low settings, which achieves 77.1 FPS. However, this requires a significant visual compromise. High settings at 1440p yields 40.4 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for action sequences. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely, as even at 1080p it only reaches 40.3 FPS, and at 4K it drops to an unplayable 24.7 FPS.

The data suggests that Medium settings are the optimal balance for this hardware. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 72.9 FPS, which is 46% higher than High settings at the same resolution. This indicates that the Medium preset reduces GPU load enough to allow the hardware to maintain smooth frame rates without sacrificing the core visual experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 116.4 FPS average, while Medium settings reach 72.9 FPS. High settings drop to 50 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40.3 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium represents a 37% performance hit, while the step from Medium to High costs another 31% of performance.

At 2560x1440, the results show a similar pattern with reduced overall numbers. Low settings average 99.8 FPS, Medium settings achieve 61.2 FPS, High settings drop to 40.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34.6 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is the standout, maintaining playability at a higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 77.1 FPS, Medium settings drop to 44.5 FPS, High settings fall to 36.7 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 24.7 FPS. The 4K results show a dramatic scaling issue, where even Medium settings cannot maintain 60 FPS, highlighting the GPU's limitations at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU bottleneck. At Low settings, performance drops from 116.4 FPS at 1080p to 77.1 FPS at 4K, a 34% reduction. At Medium settings, the drop is from 72.9 FPS to 44.5 FPS, a 39% reduction. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's rendering capacity is the limiting factor.

The scaling becomes more severe at higher settings. At High settings, performance falls from 50 FPS at 1080p to 36.7 FPS at 4K, a 27% drop, but the absolute numbers are already below the 60 FPS target. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 40.3 FPS to 24.7 FPS, showing that the GPU is overwhelmed at all resolutions with this preset.

The data suggests that 1080p to 1440p scaling is manageable, with Medium settings dropping from 72.9 FPS to 61.2 FPS, a 16% reduction. However, the jump from 1440p to 4K is more punishing, with the same settings dropping from 61.2 FPS to 44.5 FPS, a 27% reduction. This indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute resources are insufficient for 4K workloads, making 1440p the practical ceiling for this hardware.