The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and this pairing of an Intel Core i5-10400F with an AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces a wide spectrum of results depending on how you configure it. The data shows a system that is heavily influenced by graphics settings, with the fixed-function load of the GPU determining the experience at higher presets, while the six-core Comet Lake processor holds its own at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across three resolutions and four quality presets, placing the combo’s standing within a larger database of tested hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, but with an unusual twist at the lower preset. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 107.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low only drops this to 97.7 FPS, a reduction of roughly 9%. However, jumping to 4K Low yields 96.2 FPS, which is only about 1.5% lower than the 1440p figure. This indicates that at Low settings, the game is still partially limited by the CPU’s single-thread performance, as the resolution increase does not proportionally impact the frame rate. The Intel Core i5-10400F, with its 2.90 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clock, appears to be the bottleneck here, preventing the RX 9070 from stretching its legs until the pixel count becomes extreme.

The scaling becomes more conventional when the preset is raised. At Medium settings, the frame rate drops from 85.7 FPS at 1080p to 73.9 FPS at 1440p (a 13.8% decline), and then to 58.7 FPS at 4K (a 20.6% decline from 1440p). This shows the GPU taking over as the primary limiter, with the RX 9070’s compute resources being taxed more heavily by the increased shading and texture work. The High preset follows a similar trajectory: 64.3 FPS at 1080p, 54.4 FPS at 1440p, and 43.8 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 15.4% and 19.5% respectively, indicating a steady, predictable load increase.

Ultra settings present the steepest curve. The combo manages 49.8 FPS at 1080p, but this falls to 41.9 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 33 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is less than a third of the 1080p Low figure, demonstrating how the game’s most demanding visual features scale aggressively with resolution. The data suggests that at 4K Ultra, the RX 9070 is nearly saturated, as the difference between 1440p and 4K (21.2% drop) is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p (15.9% drop). For players targeting high refresh rates, the limiting component shifts entirely to the GPU at 4K, while at 1080p Low, the CPU’s 6-core, 12-thread configuration becomes the ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for playability. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers a strong average of 85.7 FPS, which is likely the sweet spot for a smooth horror experience without sacrificing too much visual fidelity. The jump from Low to Medium costs about 21.9 FPS, but the visual upgrade in a game like The Medium is substantial, given its reliance on atmospheric lighting and shadow detail. High at 1080p drops to 64.3 FPS, which is still playable, but the 21.4 FPS penalty over Medium suggests diminishing returns for the extra graphical features. Ultra at 1080p, at 49.8 FPS, is borderline, as the average dips below the 60 FPS threshold that many players prefer for a tense, responsive experience.

For 1440p, the Medium preset again emerges as the most balanced option, with an average of 73.9 FPS. This maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while allowing the RX 9070 to render at a higher native resolution. The High preset at 1440p produces 54.4 FPS, which is a noticeable step down and may be too choppy for some, though it remains playable on a standard 60 Hz display. Low at 1440p, at 97.7 FPS, is surprisingly close to the 1080p Low result, indicating that the CPU is still the limiting factor even at this resolution, making it a viable option for competitive play if the visual compromises are acceptable.

At 4K, the situation becomes more constrained. The Low preset, at 96.2 FPS, is the only setting that delivers a high-refresh experience, and it does so with minimal loss compared to 1440p Low. Medium at 4K, at 58.7 FPS, is the highest preset that stays above 30 FPS, but it is squarely in console territory. High at 4K (43.8 FPS) and Ultra at 4K (33 FPS) are best reserved for slower-paced exploration or for users who prioritize image quality over fluidity. The data suggests that for most players, Medium is the recommended preset across all resolutions, as it offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, with the caveat that 4K Medium requires a tolerance for sub-60 FPS performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 627th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the upper third of the field, indicating a system that is more capable than the median but not at the very top of the leaderboard. The rank reflects the inherent imbalance of the pairing: the RX 9070 is a high-end GPU, but the i5-10400F, while competent, is not a flagship processor. The combo’s percentile position is likely dragged down by the CPU’s performance in the game’s CPU-bound sections, particularly at lower resolutions and settings.

The CPU’s own benchmark scores support this interpretation. The Intel Core i5-10400F sits in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests include the AMD EPYC 7552 and the Intel Core i5-8500, with delta percentages of just 0.4% and -1.1%, respectively. This suggests that the i5-10400F is a solid mid-range performer, but it is not outpacing its peers by a significant margin. The GPU, meanwhile, is in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 34780. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA A2 and the Quadro GV100, with deltas of -0.2% and 0.3%, showing that the RX 9070 is a strong contender in its own right.

The discrepancy between the CPU’s 73rd percentile and the GPU’s 79th percentile is telling. In a game like The Medium, which is known for its fixed-camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds, the GPU load is often higher than in a typical open-world title. This means the RX 9070’s advantages are more fully utilized, but the CPU still has to keep up with the game’s logic and draw calls. The 627th rank out of 1689 suggests that while this combo is capable of delivering good frame rates, it is not optimized for the absolute highest performance tier, likely because the i5-10400F’s 14 nm Comet Lake architecture and 12 MB of shared L3 cache cannot feed the GPU fast enough in certain scenes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo’s behavior. At 1920x1080, the results range from a high of 107.6 FPS on Low to a low of 49.8 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset yields 85.7 FPS, and High yields 64.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 21.9 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 21.4 FPS, showing a nearly linear scaling with settings. The jump to Ultra costs another 14.5 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are heavier than the step from Medium to High.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates tighten. Low produces 97.7 FPS, Medium drops to 73.9 FPS, High falls to 54.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 41.9 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 23.8 FPS, which is slightly larger than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is beginning to feel the resolution increase. The gap between Medium and High is 19.5 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 12.5 FPS. The 1440p results are consistently lower than their 1080p counterparts, but the reductions are not uniform, with the Low preset losing only 9.9 FPS compared to 15.9 FPS for High.

At 3840x2160, the 4K results show the most dramatic scaling. Low averages 96.2 FPS, which is remarkably close to the 1440p Low score of 97.7 FPS. Medium drops to 58.7 FPS, High falls to 43.8 FPS, and Ultra manages just 33 FPS. The difference between 4K Low and 4K Medium is 37.5 FPS, which is a massive penalty for moving up one preset. This indicates that at 4K, the Medium preset’s additional texture and lighting effects place a significant burden on the RX 9070’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The 4K High result of 43.8 FPS is less than half of the 1080p High score, and the 4K Ultra result of 33 FPS is the lowest measured on the page.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain much of the observed behavior. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is ample for The Medium’s texture-heavy environments, even at 4K, which is why the Low preset at 4K can still achieve 96.2 FPS. The memory clock runs at 2518 MHz, translating to 20.1 Gbps effective, which is sufficient to feed the 3584 shading units without causing a memory bottleneck at lower settings.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are key to its performance. The base clock is 1330 MHz, but the card is designed to run much higher under load. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (107.6 FPS) suggests that the GPU is not the primary limiter in that scenario, as the CPU’s 4.30 GHz boost clock is likely holding the frame rate back. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU’s compute throughput becomes the deciding factor, with the 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance being fully utilized. The 56 RT cores are also relevant, as The Medium uses ray-traced reflections and shadows, which can significantly impact performance at higher presets.

The GPU’s 128 ROPS and 224 TMUs contribute to the pixel and texture fill rates of 322.6 GPixel/s and 564.5 GTexel/s, respectively. These figures support the 4K Low result, where the card can still push nearly 100 FPS because the fill rate requirements are moderate. The RX 9070’s 79th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 34780, places it above the median but not in the top tier. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA A2 and Quadro GV100, have nearly identical average scores, indicating that this is a well-balanced GPU that performs consistently across different workloads. The combination of a 4 nm process node and 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die allows for high clock speeds without excessive power draw, although the 220 W TDP and dual 8-pin connectors suggest that it is not a low-power part.