The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a highly capable, if occasionally demanding, experience in The Medium. The data shows a system that excels at high refresh rates in 1080p but requires careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across the board, interpreting what the numbers mean for the balance between the CPU and GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, featuring a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its synthetic benchmark scores indicate a strong mid-range performer; it sits in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064. In The Medium, a game that relies on heavy environmental storytelling and fixed camera angles, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery. The processor’s single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 2943 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can handle the game's primary game logic and rendering calls without becoming a bottleneck.

The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 150.6 FPS, which is a frame rate that demands strong per-core performance. The 8400F's 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient for the game's threading model, as the scores show a scaling from 3563 in 4-thread tests to 6165 in max-thread tests. This indicates that the processor can effectively distribute the workload across its cores. Even at the most demanding 4K Ultra preset, the system still produces playable frame rates, suggesting the CPU is consistently able to feed the GPU with enough data. The data points to a balanced pairing where the CPU provides a solid foundation, allowing the GPU to be the primary driver of visual fidelity and resolution scaling.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the clear workhorse in this pairing. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, it offers a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is crucial for the high-resolution textures and complex shaders in The Medium. The GPU's architecture, Ada Lovelace, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, delivers a FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS. It sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283. The synthetic data shows a large gap between the CPU and GPU in raw compute, which is expected for a gaming system.

The GPU's impact is immediately visible in the frame rate scaling. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is substantial, with a drop from 150.6 FPS to 52.6 FPS. This 98 FPS gap demonstrates that the RTX 4070 is heavily engaged in processing the visual effects at higher presets. The 12 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this title, as the game was released in 2021 and does not necessarily require the absolute maximum memory capacity. The performance data suggests the RTX 4070 is the primary component determining the final frame rate, especially as resolution increases. It is a capable card that can handle the game's demands, but the settings must be tuned to match the target resolution for a consistent experience.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. Moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K at Medium settings shows a clear progression: 92.8 FPS, 80.9 FPS, and 61.9 FPS, respectively. The frame rate drops by 11.9 FPS from 1080p to 1440p, and then by another 19 FPS when moving to 4K. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the performance cost of rendering more pixels is directly reflected in the frame rate.

At High settings, the scaling is steeper. The system achieves 68.1 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 54 FPS at 1440p, and then to 44.5 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is more moderate. This suggests that at High settings, the GPU is already working hard at 1440p, and the additional pixel load at 4K has a diminishing return on frame rate. The data confirms that the RTX 4070 is the bottleneck in this configuration, as the CPU performance remains consistent across resolutions. The scaling shows that for a target of 60 FPS, 4K is only viable on Medium settings, while 1440p can handle High settings, and 1080p can approach high refresh rates on Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For a standard 60 FPS target, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1080p, Medium yields 92.8 FPS, which is well above the target and provides headroom for smoother gameplay. At 1440p, Medium delivers 80.9 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS, making it the best choice for high-fidelity gaming without sacrificing smoothness. At 4K, Medium is the only preset that breaks the 60 FPS barrier, achieving 61.9 FPS.

For users with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, the Low preset delivers an exceptional 150.6 FPS, which is ideal for competitive or fast-paced play. The High preset is a viable option for 1080p and 1440p, offering improved visuals over Medium, with frame rates of 68.1 FPS and 54 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, only achieving 52.6 FPS at 1080p and dropping to 34 FPS at 4K. Given this data, Ultra is not recommended for a consistently smooth experience, unless a lower frame rate is acceptable. The Medium preset emerges as the sweet spot, providing a significant visual uplift over Low while retaining frame rates that are highly playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination ranks 383rd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 22.7% of all tested systems, indicating a strong performance tier. This ranking is consistent with the individual component performance, as the CPU and GPU both sit in the low-80s percentile of their respective categories. The combo's performance is a reflection of a well-matched pair, where the CPU is strong enough to prevent a bottleneck, and the GPU provides the majority of the graphical firepower.

While the ranking is solid, it also shows that there are many other combinations that can outperform it, likely those featuring higher-end GPUs. The synthetic benchmark data for the GPU shows it is close to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, with a delta of -0.6%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, with a delta of -2.2%. These comparisons suggest that while the RTX 4070 is a capable card, it is not at the top of the performance hierarchy. The 383rd rank out of 1689 is a strong result, but it highlights that this combo is a high-mid-range option rather than a top-tier flagship.

Measured FPS Breakdown

This section provides a detailed look at the exact frame rates recorded for this configuration across all tested resolutions and settings.

At 1080p, the performance is consistently high. The Low preset achieves an average of 150.6 FPS, which is the highest score in this entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 92.8 FPS, representing a significant drop from Low but still providing a very smooth experience. The High preset delivers 68.1 FPS, which is ideal for a standard 60 Hz monitor. The Ultra preset yields 52.6 FPS, which is the most demanding option at this resolution and starts to show the limits of the GPU.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates scale down as expected. The Low preset remains very playable at 128.1 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 80.9 FPS, which is still excellent for 1440p gaming. The High preset achieves 54 FPS, which is just below a 60 FPS target and may require some settings tweaks for a locked 60. The Ultra preset produces 48.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sequences.

At 4K, the GPU is heavily taxed. The Low preset is the only one to achieve a high frame rate, with an average of 99.8 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 61.9 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold and is the recommended setting for 4K. The High preset drops to 44.5 FPS, which is noticeably less smooth. The Ultra preset brings the system to its knees with an average of 34 FPS, which is generally not considered smooth enough for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing.

The data clearly shows the performance envelope of this combo. The RTX 4070 is powerful enough for high-refresh-rate 1080p and solid 1440p gaming, but it requires the Medium preset to handle 4K with acceptable performance. The consistency of the frame rates across the board suggests a stable system, and the numbers provide a clear guide for users looking to optimize their settings.