The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination delivers a challenging experience in The Medium, a horror title that clearly prioritizes visual density over raw frame rates. With the CPU sitting in the 82nd percentile of all tested processors and the GPU only in the 55th, the data points to a pairing where the graphics card is the definitive bottleneck at almost every setting and resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, what it means against other tested combinations, and where you can realistically expect playable frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component across the board. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 70.5 at 1920x1080 to 58.3 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 17%, before plummeting to 47.1 at 3840x2160, which is 33% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the pixel count is the primary stressor.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced as settings increase. At Medium, the average drops from 43.8 FPS at 1080p to 38.6 at 1440p, and then to 30.6 at 4K. High settings show a similar trend: 29.3 FPS at 1080p falls to 25.5 at 1440p and 23.3 at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, starting at 25.9 FPS at 1080p and collapsing to 19.9 at 1440p and a mere 15.7 at 4K.

The fact that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K at Low settings suggests that even at the lowest quality, the GPU's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus are overwhelmed by the 4K resolution. The GTX 1660 SUPER’s 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply insufficient for the game’s dynamic camera and dual-reality rendering at high pixel counts. The data indicates that 4K is not a viable target for this combo, with even Low settings struggling to maintain 50 FPS. The playable range is firmly in the 1080p and 1440p territory, provided settings are managed carefully.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU and GPU pairing ranks 1495th out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11% of all combos, which is a clear indicator that while the hardware is functional, it is not optimized for this particular title’s demands. The rank reflects the GPU’s age and mid-range positioning, as the GTX 1660 SUPER’s average benchmark score of 14286 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT, which scores 14389 with a deltaPct of -0.7%.

The CPU, however, is a different story. The Ryzen 5 8400F’s average benchmark score of 25064 places it directly against the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores 25057 with a deltaPct of 0%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which scores 24993 with a deltaPct of 0.3%. This means the processor is providing more than enough headroom for the graphics card. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the constraint; the GPU is. The combo’s poor rank is almost entirely attributable to the GTX 1660 SUPER’s inability to keep pace with the game’s graphical load, not a lack of processing power from the 8400F. In essence, you are pairing a modern, efficient 6-core CPU with a graphics card that was already end-of-life in 2019, and the game’s performance reflects that imbalance.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?*

A: The data shows it cannot run 4K smoothly. At 3840x2160, the average FPS is 47.1 on Low, 30.6 on Medium, 23.3 on High, and 15.7 on Ultra. None of these results provide a consistently playable experience, and even the Low preset’s 47.1 FPS is below the standard 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 is the most practical resolution. The data shows a playable 70.5 FPS average at Low settings and 43.8 FPS at Medium, which is acceptable for a slow-paced horror game. 2560x1440 is also possible, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 58.3 FPS.

Q: Why is the performance so low at Ultra settings?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields only 25.9 FPS. This is because the GTX 1660 SUPER, with its 6 GB of VRAM and 1408 shading units, is overwhelmed by the game’s high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU’s 55th percentile ranking against all GPUs indicates it lacks the raw compute power for such demanding settings.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F holding back the GTX 1660 SUPER?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmark scores (e.g., 20851 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, far outperforming the GPU’s 55th percentile. The CPU is not the limiting factor; the frame rates are dictated by the GPU’s performance ceiling.

Q: How does this combo compare to others in the database?

A: It ranks 1495th out of 1689 combos for The Medium, placing it in the bottom 11%. This poor ranking is due to the GPU, which is statistically similar to older integrated graphics like the AMD Radeon Vega 11 in terms of average benchmark score, despite having dedicated memory.

Q: Is the GTX 1660 SUPER a strong GPU for modern games?

A: For this game, no. Its average benchmark score of 14286 is only slightly above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (14314), an integrated graphics solution. Its 55th percentile ranking shows it is below the median of all tested GPUs, and its end-of-life production status suggests it is not built for demanding modern titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear matrix of performance across all presets and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low averages 70.5 FPS, Medium averages 43.8 FPS, High averages 29.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 25.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 58.3 FPS on Low, 38.6 FPS on Medium, 25.5 FPS on High, and 19.9 FPS on Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. Low settings yield an average of 47.1 FPS, Medium drops to 30.6 FPS, High falls to 23.3 FPS, and Ultra is effectively unplayable at 15.7 FPS. The lack of min and max FPS data means we only have the averages, but the trend is unmistakable: the GTX 1660 SUPER loses approximately half its performance when moving from 1080p Low to 4K Low, and the higher presets exacerbate this collapse.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each step up in resolution or settings results in a significant frame rate penalty. For instance, at 1080p, switching from Low to Medium costs 26.7 FPS, while switching from Medium to High costs another 14.5 FPS. This nonlinear drop suggests that the game’s visual effects at higher presets are particularly taxing on the GPU’s limited 48 ROPs and 5.027 TFLOPS of compute power.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience for this combo is achieved by playing at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This configuration delivers an average of 70.5 FPS, which is above the standard 60 FPS target and provides a smooth, responsive experience for navigating the game’s fixed-camera angles and environmental puzzles. The next viable option is 1080p Medium, which at 43.8 FPS is playable, especially for a game that is not fast-paced, but it is noticeably less fluid.

At 2560x1440, only the Low preset is acceptable, with a 58.3 FPS average. This is a solid alternative for those with a 1440p monitor who prefer higher pixel density over visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1440p (38.6 FPS) and High at 1080p (29.3 FPS) are borderline; they are playable but will show visible stutter in scenes with heavy alpha effects or when the game renders the spirit world and the real world simultaneously.

The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely. It never reaches 30 FPS at any resolution, and the 25.9 FPS average at 1080p is a poor trade-off for the marginal visual improvements over High. The data suggests that players should treat the Low preset as the baseline for stable performance, with Medium as a stretch goal only at 1080p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, indicating it has ample processing headroom for The Medium. The game’s performance is not constrained by the CPU, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and GPU settings.

The CPU’s 16 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory (with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s) ensure that it can feed the GPU data without becoming a bottleneck. In this pairing, the 8400F is effectively idling while the GTX 1660 SUPER struggles to keep up. The benchmark results show that the CPU is comparable to the Ryzen 7 2700X, a much older processor, in average score, meaning its single-thread and multi-thread performance are more than sufficient for this title’s AI and scripting tasks.

The takeaway is that the Ryzen 5 8400F is not the issue; it is a modern, capable processor that will outlast the GPU. If you were to upgrade the graphics card in the future, the CPU would not hold back a more powerful GPU in this game, as it is already operating well above the performance level required to match the GTX 1660 SUPER’s output. The bottleneck is entirely on the graphics side, and the data confirms that the CPU’s role is to provide stable, consistent frame pacing without introducing stutter, which it does successfully.