The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combination of an Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 sits at rank 942 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the benchmark database. The data shows a system that can handle the game at playable framerates, but only with careful attention to settings and resolution. The ranking suggests that while this pairing is far from the worst, it leaves substantial performance on the table in a horror title known for its fixed-camera angles and demanding dual-world rendering.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranking of 942 out of 1689 places this system in the 44th percentile of all tested configurations for The Medium. This is a middling result, indicating that nearly 56% of tested combos deliver higher average framerates. The position is largely shaped by the GPU's moderate standing—the RTX 4060 sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is at the 73rd percentile among all processors. The gap between the GPU's percentile and the combo's in-game rank suggests that The Medium's specific rendering demands are not fully met by this pairing. Interestingly, the RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is only 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, yet those rivals would likely struggle differently in a DirectX 12 title like this. The combo's rank implies that while the hardware is capable in synthetic tests, the game's real-world workload exposes a bottleneck that prevents the system from climbing higher in the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, which translates to 17 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost clock of 2460 MHz. These specifications are modest for a 40-series card, and the data reflects this in The Medium. At 1080p Ultra, the card produces 41.8 FPS, which is barely above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game at 1080p and 1440p, but the 128-bit memory bus limits bandwidth-heavy scenes. The pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s suggest the card can push geometry, yet the measured results show that at 4K Ultra, the average framerate collapses to 27 FPS. This indicates that the GPU's compute capabilities—15.11 TFLOPS FP32—are not the limiting factor; rather, memory bandwidth and the 48 ROPs constrain performance at higher resolutions. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support means it can handle the game's modern rendering features, but the data shows that enabling those features at high resolutions comes at a steep cost.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of settings for this combo. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 109.1 FPS, which is excellent for a horror game where smooth camera panning matters. The Medium preset drops to 67.4 FPS, still playable, while High produces 47 FPS and Ultra falls to 41.8 FPS. For a game like The Medium, where atmosphere and tension rely on consistent frametimes, the Low preset at 1080p is the safest recommendation, offering nearly double the framerate of Medium. At 1440p, Low still provides 89.9 FPS, making it the only preset at that resolution that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 58.4 FPS, which is borderline. At 4K, even Low drops to 72.2 FPS, but Medium falls to 43.6 FPS and High to 34 FPS. The data suggests that this combo is best served by the Low preset at any resolution, as the jump from Low to Medium costs roughly 38% of the framerate at 1080p and 39% at 1440p. For players prioritizing visual fidelity over framerate, the Medium preset at 1080p is the highest setting that maintains a stable 60+ FPS experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Examining the data resolution by resolution, the pattern is consistent. At 3840x2160, the average framerates are 34 FPS on High, 72.2 FPS on Low, 43.6 FPS on Medium, and 27 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show that the Low preset is the only playable option, and even then, the framerate is not ideal for a game that benefits from smooth motion. At 2560x1440, the averages improve significantly: High produces 43.1 FPS, Low delivers 89.9 FPS, Medium reaches 58.4 FPS, and Ultra manages 32 FPS. The 1440p data reveals that the Low preset is the sweet spot, offering more than double the framerate of High. At 1920x1080, the results are 47 FPS on High, 109.1 FPS on Low, 67.4 FPS on Medium, and 41.8 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p numbers show a clear tiering: Low is excellent, Medium is good, High is marginal, and Ultra is below 60 FPS. The measured data indicates that the gap between Low and Medium is consistent across all resolutions—roughly 38% to 39%—which suggests a fixed performance cost for the Medium preset's additional effects. The jump from Medium to High is smaller in percentage terms, around 30% at 1080p and 26% at 1440p, but the absolute framerates become problematic.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component. At Low settings, the framerate drops from 109.1 FPS at 1080p to 89.9 FPS at 1440p (a 17.6% decrease) and then to 72.2 FPS at 4K (a 19.7% decrease from 1440p). This relatively gentle scaling curve indicates that at Low settings, the CPU is likely the primary bottleneck, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased pixel count without dramatic framerate losses. However, at Ultra settings, the framerate drops from 41.8 FPS at 1080p to 32 FPS at 1440p (a 23.4% decrease) and then to 27 FPS at 4K (a 15.6% decrease from 1440p). The steeper drop at 1440p Ultra suggests the GPU becomes more heavily loaded, and the 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS confirms that the RTX 4060's memory bandwidth is insufficient for the game's highest quality settings at that resolution. The scaling behavior implies that the system is CPU-limited at low settings across all resolutions, but becomes GPU-limited at higher settings, particularly at 1440p and above. The 272.0 GB/s bandwidth is the likely culprit, as the game's dual-world rendering requires frequent texture streaming.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The processor's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth are modest by modern standards, but the benchmark scores show it is not a weak performer. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and single-core score of 1453 indicate a balanced processor, while the PassMark multithread score of 12115 and single-thread score of 2541 place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. In The Medium, the CPU's role becomes apparent in the Low preset results. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 109.1 FPS, which is close to the practical limit for this processor in a game that uses multiple threads for scene management. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and max-thread score of 4735 are nearly identical, suggesting the CPU does not scale beyond 12 threads, which is expected given its 6-core/12-thread configuration. The processor's performance relative to rivals is tight: it is 0.4% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7552 and 0.8% behind the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C in average benchmark score. This proximity means the CPU is unlikely to be the deciding factor in this combo's ranking; instead, the GPU's limitations at higher settings are the primary constraint.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most consistent resolution, with the Low preset achieving 109.1 FPS and the Medium preset reaching 67.4 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, delivering 89.9 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform at 4K in this game?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 72.2 FPS, but Medium drops to 43.6 FPS, High to 34 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. Only the Low preset is playable at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor?

A: At Low settings, the framerate scaling from 1080p to 4K is gentle (109.1 to 72.2 FPS), indicating CPU limitation. At Ultra settings, the steep drop to 27 FPS at 4K shows the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes the bottleneck.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 942 out of 1689 tested configurations for The Medium, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, while being 0.7% above the Intel Arc B580.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings?

A: The data shows Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, where the average framerate is 41.8 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 32 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 27 FPS.