The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT combination delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The data indicates a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, with the most playable results found at 1080p and the Low preset, while 4K Ultra proves to be a slideshow.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic drop as resolution climbs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, confirming that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound in The Medium. At the High preset, average FPS falls from 65.1 at 1080p to 51.3 at 1440p, a decline of approximately 21%, and then further to 38.7 at 4K, representing a cumulative drop of roughly 41% from the 1080p baseline. This pattern of diminishing returns with each resolution step is typical of a system where the graphics card's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor.

The Low preset tells a more complex story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 138.5 FPS, which drops to 119.9 at 1440p (a 13% reduction) and then to 89.9 at 4K (a further 25% reduction). The relatively smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings suggests that the CPU is still providing enough headroom, but the sharp 4K decline indicates the RX 6800 XT is reaching its limits even with reduced graphical load. The Medium preset shows a nearly identical 4K result of 55.3 FPS, which is exactly the same as the 1080p Medium score of 89.9, highlighting that resolution scaling is not linear and the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a critical factor.

Ultra settings exacerbate the issue. The 4K Ultra average of 33.8 FPS is barely above the threshold for playability, and the 1440p Ultra result of 38.8 FPS is only marginally better. The data suggests that the gap between Medium and Ultra is enormous, with the 4K Ultra score being 39% lower than the 4K Medium score. The scaling behavior points to a system where the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for capacity but not for the raw compute required at higher resolutions and settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the observed performance. With a base clock of 1825 MHz and a boost clock of 2250 MHz, the card's RDNA 2.0 architecture delivers 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw power is evident in the 1080p Low result of 138.5 FPS, which shows the GPU can push high frame rates when not bottlenecked by shading complexity.

The card's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is likely why the Medium preset at 4K still manages 55.3 FPS, as the large VRAM pool prevents texture thrashing, but the 256-bit bus becomes a constraint when pixel fill rates increase. The 288 texture units and 128 ROPs are tasked with rendering the game's fixed-camera scenes, and the 648.0 GTexel/s texture rate explains why High and Ultra settings cause significant slowdowns, as these presets likely add higher-resolution textures and more complex shading.

The GPU's 72 ray tracing cores are present but do not appear to be a decisive factor in the measured results, as the game's horror atmosphere relies more on standard rasterization. The card's percentile ranking of 87 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49982, places it in the upper tier, but its nearest rival data shows it is only 0.5% ahead of the Intel Arc A550M and 2.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER. This close grouping suggests the RX 6800 XT is competitive but not dominant, which aligns with the observed FPS numbers in The Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 8400F and RX 6800 XT ranks 567 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 66th percentile of all systems tested. This is a solid mid-to-upper tier ranking, indicating that this pairing is well above average but not among the elite configurations. The rank is likely held back by the CPU, as the 8400F's 82nd percentile standing among all CPUs is lower than the GPU's 87th percentile, creating a slight imbalance where the processor cannot fully feed the graphics card in lighter scenes.

The GPU's nearest rival data shows the RX 6800 XT is only 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 in aggregate benchmarks, but those synthetic tests do not translate directly to gaming. In The Medium, the combo's rank of 567 suggests that many systems with faster CPUs achieve higher FPS at 1080p where the processor matters more, while at 4K the GPU's performance becomes the sole determinant. The 8400F's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 indicate a capable processor, but the 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.70 GHz boost clock is not a top-tier gaming chip, which explains why the combo does not crack the top 500.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most viable resolution, with the Low preset achieving 138.5 FPS and the Medium preset reaching 89.9 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset exceeds 100 FPS, while 4K tops out at 89.9 FPS on Low.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?*

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The 4K Low preset produces 89.9 FPS, while Medium drops to 55.3 FPS. High and Ultra are not recommended, with averages of 38.7 and 33.8 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F's 6 cores and 12 threads with a 4.70 GHz boost clock are sufficient for the Low preset, evidenced by the 138.5 FPS result. However, at Ultra settings, the 1080p score of 51.5 FPS is close to the 1440p Ultra score of 38.8 FPS, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor even at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB VRAM useful in this game?

A: The 16 GB VRAM likely prevents texture-related stuttering at 4K Medium, where the card still manages 55.3 FPS. However, the 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is more critical, as the performance drop from Medium to High at all resolutions suggests bandwidth constraints rather than capacity limits.

Q: What is the difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 65.1 FPS versus 51.5 FPS on Ultra, a 21% reduction. At 1440p, the gap is similar (51.3 vs 38.8 FPS), and at 4K, Ultra drops to 33.8 FPS from 38.7 FPS on High, showing diminishing returns for the extra graphical fidelity.

Q: How does this combo compare to systems with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER?

A: The RX 6800 XT is 2.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in average benchmark scores, but the actual in-game ranking depends on the CPU pairing. The data for this specific combo shows a rank of 567 out of 1689, which is competitive but not top-tier.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F plays a supporting role in this pairing, and its influence is most visible at 1080p with lower settings. The processor's Zen 4 architecture, built on a 4 nm process, delivers 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, but the 83.2 GB/s of dual-channel DDR5 memory bandwidth is sufficient to feed the GPU in most scenarios.

The CPU's benchmark scores reveal its positioning. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064. Its nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which shows a 0% delta, meaning the 8400F performs identically to that older chip in aggregate benchmarks. However, the 8400F's single-threaded performance (PassMark single-thread score of 3684) is stronger, which helps in games that rely on fewer cores.

In The Medium, the CPU's impact is muted because the game's fixed-camera angles and rendering style are heavily GPU-bound. The 1080p Low result of 138.5 FPS is not a CPU bottleneck, as the processor could likely push higher if the GPU allowed. At 1080p Ultra, the 51.5 FPS result is nearly identical to the 1440p Ultra score of 38.8 FPS, which would not be the case if the CPU were limiting. The data indicates that the 8400F provides adequate headroom, and the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in all tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution, but the data clearly favors the Low preset for high refresh rate play and Medium for balanced visuals. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 138.5 FPS, which is ideal for 144 Hz monitors, while the Medium preset's 89.9 FPS is still smooth for 60 Hz displays. The High preset at 65.1 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced scenes, and Ultra at 51.5 FPS is borderline.

For 2560x1440, the Low preset's 119.9 FPS is the only setting that clears 100 FPS, making it the recommended choice for competitive play. The Medium preset at 71.2 FPS is acceptable for most users, but High at 51.3 FPS and Ultra at 38.8 FPS are too low for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the Low preset's 89.9 FPS is the only viable option, with Medium at 55.3 FPS being marginal and High/Ultra (38.7 and 33.8 FPS) being unplayable.

The data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance at 1080p and 1440p, as it provides a significant FPS boost over High (89.9 vs 65.1 at 1080p, 71.2 vs 51.3 at 1440p) without the steep cost of Ultra. For 4K, only Low is recommended unless the user prioritizes visuals over frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with 138.5 FPS, followed by Medium at 89.9 FPS, High at 65.1 FPS, and Ultra at 51.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial (48.6 FPS), but the jump from Medium to High (24.8 FPS) and High to Ultra (13.6 FPS) is more moderate, indicating that each preset tier adds progressively less performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers: Low achieves 119.9 FPS, Medium 71.2 FPS, High 51.3 FPS, and Ultra 38.8 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with Low losing 18.6 FPS, Medium 18.7 FPS, High 13.8 FPS, and Ultra 12.7 FPS. This suggests that the GPU's compute resources scale predictably with pixel count, but the lower settings are less affected because they are less shader-intensive.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: Low 89.9 FPS, Medium 55.3 FPS, High 38.7 FPS, and Ultra 33.8 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K causes a 30 FPS drop on Low, a 15.9 FPS drop on Medium, a 12.6 FPS drop on High, and a 5 FPS drop on Ultra. The shrinking delta at higher settings suggests that the GPU is becoming saturated, and the 4K Ultra score of 33.8 FPS represents the absolute floor for this configuration. The data shows that the RX 6800 XT's 16 GB of VRAM is not the limiting factor, as even the Low preset at 4K uses significant memory, but rather the 512.0 GB/s bandwidth and 20.74 TFLOPS of compute are the primary constraints.