The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding workload for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is heavily influenced by both processor and graphics card capabilities, with the data showing distinct scaling behaviors that point to where the bottleneck lies. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics from the benchmark database, focusing exclusively on the provided measurements.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K is stark and consistent, demonstrating the expected shift toward GPU limitation as pixel count increases. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 83.2 at 1920x1080 to 71.6 at 2560x1440, then further to 56.6 at 3840x2160. This represents a 14% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a 21% decline from 1440p to 4K, showing that the RTX 5070 Ti still has headroom at lower resolutions. The scaling suggests that at 1080p, the system is not purely GPU-bound, as the frame rate increase from 4K to 1080p is substantial, but not as dramatic as would be seen with a weaker CPU.

The Low preset tells a more revealing story about CPU limits. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 154.3 FPS, which drops to 145.1 at 2560x1440 (a 6% reduction) and 121.3 at 3840x2160 (a 16% reduction from 1440p). The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F is becoming a limiting factor, as the GPU has less work to do and the processor’s ability to feed frames becomes more apparent. The 33 FPS gap between 1080p Low and 4K Low is larger than the gap between 1080p High and 4K High (26.6 FPS), which further emphasizes that at lower graphical loads, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more likely to constrain performance.

Ultra settings amplify the GPU’s role. The 4K Ultra average of 42.4 FPS is less than half of the 1080p Ultra score of 63.6 FPS. This 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K is the largest percentage drop among all presets, confirming that the RTX 5070 Ti’s rendering workload scales heavily with resolution. The data shows that at 4K, the system is clearly GPU-bound, as the frame rates consistently sit below 60 FPS even at High settings, while at 1080p, the combination can push well beyond 100 FPS on Medium and Low presets. The overall pattern indicates that 1440p is the sweet spot for this pairing, offering a balance where both components contribute meaningfully to the final frame rate.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, operating with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25064. This places it statistically even with the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores 25057 (a 0% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which scores 24993 (a 0.3% delta). The 8400F edges out the Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 by a tiny 0.1% margin, indicating that its multi-threaded performance is competitive with older and similarly positioned parts.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p and at lower settings. The single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 3684 in Passmark suggests that individual core performance is decent, but not exceptional. The game’s rendering at 1080p Low, which produces 154.3 FPS, likely stresses the CPU’s ability to process draw calls and game logic. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient, as the 3DMark 16-thread score of 6091 and the max-thread score of 6165 show that scaling across cores is modest, with only a small gain from 8 to 16 threads. This indicates that the game may not fully utilize all 12 threads, but the 8400F’s strong single-core performance prevents it from becoming a severe bottleneck.

The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and single-core score of 2943 further illustrate the processor’s capability. The multi-core result is significantly higher than the single-core, which is typical for a modern 6-core part. However, in gaming, the single-thread performance often matters more, and the 8400F’s scores suggest it can handle the physics and AI workloads of The Medium without dragging down the overall frame rate, especially when compared to the 0% delta with the Ryzen 7 2700X, which is an older architecture. The data implies that at 4K, the CPU is less of a factor, as frame rates drop due to GPU load, but at 1080p, the CPU’s 4.70 GHz boost clock helps maintain higher averages.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is a powerful graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2452 MHz, and it features 8960 shading units and 70 RT cores. The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 52086. This puts it in a virtual tie with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which scores 52085 (a 0% delta), while it is 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A1000 and 0.8% behind the AMD Radeon RX 7700S.

In The Medium, the RTX 5070 Ti’s memory bandwidth and capacity are critical. The game’s horror environments with detailed textures benefit from the 16 GB VRAM, ensuring that even at 4K Ultra, the card does not run out of memory, though the average FPS of 42.4 suggests that raw compute power is the limiting factor. The 43.94 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial, but the game’s demands at Ultra settings clearly outpace what the card can deliver at higher resolutions. The 4K High result of 56.6 FPS shows that dropping from Ultra to High provides a significant boost, indicating that the Ultra preset includes settings that are particularly taxing on the GPU’s shading units.

The difference between Low and High settings at 4K is stark: 121.3 FPS versus 56.6 FPS. This more than 2x performance gap highlights how much the GPU’s workload changes with preset quality. The RTX 5070 Ti’s 96 ROPs and 280 TMUs are well-utilized at lower settings, but at High and Ultra, the pixel rate of 235.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 686.6 GTexel/s become the primary bottlenecks. The card’s performance relative to the RTX 4080, a previous generation flagship, shows that it is a high-end part, yet The Medium still pushes it to its limits at 4K, confirming that the game is graphically intensive and the GPU is the dominant factor in resolution scaling.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 83.2 FPS, which is smooth for most displays, while Medium offers 116.7 FPS and Low reaches 154.3 FPS. For users with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset is the only one that approaches 144 Hz, but the jump from Medium to Low is 37.6 FPS (a 32% increase), suggesting that Medium is a better visual compromise if frame rate targets are around 100 FPS. Ultra at 1080p yields 63.6 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset provides 98.2 FPS, which is excellent for a balanced experience. High drops to 71.6 FPS, still above the 60 FPS threshold, while Low reaches 145.1 FPS for those seeking maximum smoothness. Ultra at 52.9 FPS is below 60, making it less desirable unless visual fidelity is paramount. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p is the most effective preset, as it sits comfortably above 90 FPS while maintaining a higher quality than Low.

For 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. High settings yield 56.6 FPS, which is just shy of a standard 60 FPS target, while Medium provides 75.5 FPS, a 33% improvement over High. Low achieves 121.3 FPS, but the visual downgrade may be too severe for a horror game that relies on atmosphere. Ultra at 42.4 FPS is the only preset that fails to hit 60 FPS, and the 14.2 FPS gap between Ultra and High suggests that the Ultra preset has diminishing returns. For a 4K display, Medium is the recommended preset, as it offers the best balance of quality and performance, with the 75.5 FPS average being more than sufficient for a smooth experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Medium settings achieves 98.2 FPS, which is the highest frame rate above 90 FPS at that resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium hits 116.7 FPS, but the jump to 1440p only reduces performance by 15.8%, making it a worthwhile upgrade for image quality.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a playable experience at 4K?

A: No. The measured 4K Ultra average is 42.4 FPS, which is below the standard 60 FPS target. Dropping to High raises it to 56.6 FPS, still under 60, while Medium reaches 75.5 FPS, making Medium the lowest playable preset at 4K.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its closest rivals?

A: The 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25064, which is a 0% delta from the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25057) and a 0.3% delta from the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (24993). It is also 0.1% faster than the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340.

Q: Is the RTX 5070 Ti more powerful than the RTX 4080?

A: No. The RTX 5070 Ti’s average benchmark score is 52086, while the RTX 4080 scores 52085, resulting in a 0% delta. They are statistically identical in performance.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 83.2 FPS. This is the best balance of quality and speed at 1080p, as Medium provides 116.7 FPS and Ultra drops to 63.6 FPS.

Q: Why does the Low preset show a smaller FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p than High?

A: At Low settings, the GPU load is reduced, so the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor. The 1080p Low average is 154.3 FPS, dropping to 145.1 at 1440p (a 6% decrease), while High drops 14% from 83.2 to 71.6, indicating that the GPU is more stressed at High settings.