The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 produces a highly resolution-sensitive experience in The Medium, with frame rates that swing dramatically depending on both the chosen resolution and the graphics preset. The measured data shows this combo ranking 831st out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the pack for this horror title. Analysis of the twelve measured FPS rows reveals a system where the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher settings, while the CPU's capability is only exposed at the lowest preset.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, particularly at the High and Ultra presets. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 51.8 FPS, which drops to 41.6 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 19.7% reduction) and further to 36.6 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 29.3% reduction from 1080p). This scaling pattern indicates that the rendering pipeline is heavily pixel-bound at these settings, with the GPU's 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus becoming progressively more strained as pixel count grows.

The Ultra preset shows an even more pronounced resolution penalty. The 1080p Ultra result of 39.3 FPS falls to 32.9 FPS at 1440p (a 16.3% drop) and then to 26.6 FPS at 4K (a 32.3% drop from 1080p). The gap between 1440p and 4K at Ultra is particularly telling, suggesting that the RTX 5060's 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 48 ROPs are insufficient to sustain the higher resolution's fill rate demands. The 4K Ultra figure of 26.6 FPS is borderline unplayable, while 1080p Ultra at 39.3 FPS is marginal for smooth gameplay.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 112.8 FPS, which is 2.9 times higher than the 4K Ultra result. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low shows only a 11.3% reduction to 100 FPS, and the 4K Low result of 77.4 FPS represents a 31.4% drop from 1080p. This pattern suggests that at Low settings, the system is transitioning from a purely GPU-bound state at 1080p to a more balanced workload at 4K, where the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads begin to play a more significant role.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, running at a base clock of 4.20 GHz with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its benchmark scores show a single-thread performance of 951 in 3dmark_single_thread and 2943 in Cinebench R23 single-core, while multi-threaded results reach 6165 in 3dmark_max_threads and 20851 in Cinebench R23 multicore. These figures place the CPU in the 82nd percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064.

The CPU's role in The Medium is most apparent when examining the Low preset results. The jump from 74.4 FPS at 1080p Medium to 112.8 FPS at 1080p Low (a 51.6% increase) suggests that the game's engine is not heavily multi-threaded, as the CPU's multicore advantage (6 cores, 12 threads) is not fully utilized. The 3dmark_16_threads score of 6091 versus the 3dmark_2_threads score of 1874 indicates that scaling beyond 2 threads provides diminishing returns, which aligns with the game's horror genre focus on atmosphere over complex simulation.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X with an average score of 25057 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 at 25099 (-0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F at 24993 (0.3% delta). These close scores indicate that the 8400F is well within the expected performance envelope for its class, though the 4 nm process node and 16 MB shared L3 cache do not provide any measurable advantage in this title's workload profile.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a GB206 chip, featuring 3840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR7 memory runs at 1750 MHz with a 128-bit bus, yielding 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2497 MHz and base clock of 2280 MHz drive its 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In benchmark tests, it achieves a Passmark G3D score of 20891 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 120785, placing it in the 73rd percentile versus all GPUs.

The GPU's influence on The Medium's performance is unmistakable. At 4K Ultra, the 26.6 FPS result represents a 71.4% reduction from the 4K Low result of 77.4 FPS. This massive gap between presets at the same resolution highlights how the game's Ultra settings impose heavy shading and texture demands that the RTX 5060's 48 ROPs and 8 GB VRAM struggle to satisfy. The 128-bit memory bus also becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the bandwidth required to feed the GPU's 3840 shading units grows proportionally with pixel count.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with an average score of 30097 (0% delta) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile at 29928 (0.6% delta). These comparisons are based on aggregate benchmark scores rather than in-game performance, but they indicate that the RTX 5060 sits in a competitive position within its performance class. The 5 nm process node and 21,900 million transistors provide adequate headroom for this title's requirements, though the 145 W TDP suggests thermal constraints are not the primary bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 831 out of 1689 tested combinations places it squarely in the middle of the database. This positioning is consistent with the individual component percentiles: the CPU at 82nd percentile and the GPU at 73rd percentile, suggesting a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outperforms the other. The rank indicates that 858 other combinations deliver higher average performance in The Medium, while 830 combinations deliver lower performance.

The middle-of-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the individual component scores. The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking is strong, but the GPU's 73rd percentile reduces the overall combination's standing. The data suggests that The Medium is more GPU-intensive than CPU-intensive, meaning the RTX 5060's middling percentile has a greater impact on the final rank than the CPU's above-average showing. The close proximity of rival scores for both components—with deltas of just 0.3% or less among the nearest competitors—reinforces that this is a tightly contested performance tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a range of results across the four presets. Low settings produce 112.8 FPS, Medium yields 74.4 FPS, High achieves 51.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 39.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 73.5 FPS, representing a 65.2% reduction in performance when moving to the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the results show 100 FPS at Low, 61.2 FPS at Medium, 41.6 FPS at High, and 32.9 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p Low result of 100 FPS is notable as the only triple-digit figure at this resolution, while the Ultra preset's 32.9 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops further: 77.4 FPS at Low, 46.8 FPS at Medium, 36.6 FPS at High, and 26.6 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results show that only the Low preset approaches playable frame rates, while Medium and above fall below 50 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 26.6 FPS is the lowest measured figure across all combinations of resolution and settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best balance for this combo. At 74.4 FPS, it provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target while maintaining visual quality above the Low preset. The High preset at 1080p drops to 51.8 FPS, which is playable but closer to the edge of smoothness. For users prioritizing frame rate, the Low preset at 1440p achieves 100 FPS, which is the highest combination of resolution and performance below the 1080p Low result.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 61.2 FPS is the only option that clears the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for this resolution. The High preset at 1440p produces 41.6 FPS, which is below the threshold and likely to result in noticeable stuttering during the game's horror sequences. At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 77.4 FPS is the only playable option, though users may find the visual compromises acceptable given the 4K detail level. The Ultra preset should be avoided entirely at any resolution, as even the 1080p result of 39.3 FPS falls short of playable standards, and the 4K result of 26.6 FPS is well below any acceptable threshold.