The Medium

The Medium, a horror game released in 2021, presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB combination. Measured data shows this combo ranks 1529 out of 1689 tested systems, placing it in the lower portion of the database. The CPU, with an 82nd percentile standing, is a strong performer, while the GPU sits at the 50th percentile. The measured FPS across resolutions and settings reveals a system that struggles at higher presets, particularly at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 66.5.

Q: How does this combo rank among tested systems in The Medium?

A: It ranks 1529 out of 1689 combos.

Q: What is the CPU's average benchmark score and percentile?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25064 and sits in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The RTX 3050 4 GB has 4 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 192.0 GB/s bandwidth.

Q: What are the launch MSRPs of the CPU and GPU?

A: The CPU has a launch MSRP of $170, and the GPU has a launch MSRP of 199 USD.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows that the Low preset is the only one that delivers an average above 60 fps at 1080p (66.5). At 1440p, Low yields 54.2 fps, which is close to 60, while Medium drops to 36.8. At 4K, Low is the only setting that stays above 40 fps (42.3); Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 25 fps. For a consistent experience across resolutions, the Low preset is the recommended choice. If the user is willing to accept lower framerates, Medium at 1080p provides 37.5 fps, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game, but the data does not indicate a specific threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings. At Low, the average FPS drops from 66.5 at 1080p to 54.2 at 1440p and 42.3 at 4K. At Medium, the values are 37.5, 36.8, and 24.7 respectively. High goes from 29.2 to 25.4 to 20.7, and Ultra from 23.7 to 17.4 to 16.4. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep for Medium and High, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are stressed at higher resolutions. The pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the CPU's performance is unlikely to change with resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1529 out of 1689 tested systems in The Medium, a low position. This is surprising given the CPU's strong showing: the Ryzen 5 8400F achieves an average benchmark score of 25064, which is within 0.3 of the Ryzen 5 7500F (24993) and nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 2700X (25057). The GPU, however, sits at the 50th percentile, and its 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest for a game like The Medium. The combination of a high-performing CPU and an average GPU results in a system that is likely GPU-bound in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is built on the Ampere architecture with 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, and delivers 7.127 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The memory subsystem consists of 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. The base clock is 1545 MHz and the boost clock is 1740 MHz, with memory running at 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective). These specifications are modest for a modern game, and the 4 GB VRAM is likely a limiting factor at high resolutions. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 16.4, the lowest in the dataset, while 1080p Ultra reaches 23.7. The GPU's 90 W TDP and 250 W suggested PSU indicate a low-power design, but the performance data shows it struggles with The Medium's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 66.5 on Low to 23.7 on Ultra, with Medium at 37.5 and High at 29.2. At 2560x1440, Low delivers 54.2, Medium 36.8, High 25.4, and Ultra 17.4. At 3840x2160, Low yields 42.3, Medium 24.7, High 20.7, and Ultra 16.4. The data shows a clear progression: each step up in resolution reduces FPS, and each step up in settings also reduces FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases, from a difference of 42.8 fps at 1080p (66.5 vs 23.7) to 25.9 fps at 4K (42.3 vs 16.4). This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity are increasingly taxed at higher resolutions, while the CPU's role remains constant.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 4 (Phoenix) architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. It has 16 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory. In Cinebench R23, it scores 20851 in multicore and 2943 in single-core. Its average benchmark score is 25064, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 8400F is nearly identical to the Ryzen 7 2700X (25057) and the Ryzen 5 7500F (24993), with deltaPct values of 0 and 0.3 respectively. This indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this combo. The FPS scaling with resolution points to the GPU as the limiting factor, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested settings.