The Medium

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with performance scaling that clearly favors lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the combination produces solid triple-digit frame rates on Low settings, but the fixed-camera horror title becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution climbs, with 4K Ultra dipping to just 35 FPS. The data indicates this combo sits in the 67.8th percentile of all tested configurations, placing it in the upper third of systems, though the CPU's mid-range standing creates noticeable bottlenecks at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a system that transitions from CPU-limited at lower resolutions to heavily GPU-limited at higher ones. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 67 FPS at 1920x1080 to 56 FPS at 2560x1440, then plummets to 44 FPS at 3840x2160 — a total reduction of 34.3% from 1080p to 4K. The Low settings curve is similar, starting at 106 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 100 FPS at 1440p, and reaching 93 FPS at 4K, showing that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU still has substantial headroom at 1080p but begins to strain at 4K.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 89 FPS with a minimum of 75 FPS and maximum of 102 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 79 FPS (min 67, max 91), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 62 FPS (min 53, max 71). This progression shows a 30.3% decline from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings, with the minimum frame rate at 4K (53 FPS) still remaining above the 30 FPS threshold typically considered playable for a horror title.

The Ultra preset tells the most dramatic story: 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 58 FPS (93 vs 35), which is a 62.4% reduction in performance purely from graphical settings. This wide spread indicates that the RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's assets, but the GPU's compute resources become the limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The scaling pattern suggests that players targeting 4K should stick to Medium or Low settings, while 1080p users can comfortably enable Ultra with frame rates in the 50s.

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. This Comet Lake processor, built on Intel's 14 nm process, delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10,283 and a single-core score of 1,451. The 3DMark results show a clear scaling pattern: 1,350 for 2 threads, 2,560 for 4 threads, 3,929 for 8 threads, and 4,748 for 16 threads. This near-linear scaling indicates the processor's 12 threads are effectively utilized by multi-threaded workloads, though the single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1,451 in Cinebench R23 suggest modest per-core performance.

In The Medium, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the frame rate deltas across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 106 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. However, the CPU's 68th percentile standing among all processors (with an average benchmark score of 14,185) places it well below the top-tier options. The nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon 6756E (avg score 14,163, delta 0.2%), AMD EPYC 7552 (avg score 14,115, delta 0.5%), and Intel Core 7 160UL (avg score 14,232, delta -0.3%), showing the i5-10400F sits in a dense cluster of mid-range performers.

The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth are adequate for the game's data streaming, but the lack of an integrated GPU means all rendering falls to the RTX 4070. The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 support are standard for its class, and the data shows that at 1080p, the processor can feed the GPU enough frames to reach 106 FPS on Low settings. However, the gap between 1080p Low (106 FPS) and 1080p High (67 FPS) suggests the GPU is the primary constraint even at the lowest resolution, with the CPU only becoming a limiting factor in the most GPU-light scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 1,201 out of 3,724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 67.8th percentile of all systems. This ranking reflects a balanced pairing where the GPU's 81st percentile standing among all GPUs (average benchmark score of 37,648) is pulled down by the CPU's more modest 68th percentile position. The RTX 4070's nearest GPU rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (avg score 37,628, delta 0.1%), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (avg score 37,507, delta 0.4%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (avg score 38,135, delta -1.3%), indicating the desktop 4070 is well-matched against these alternatives.

The combo's rank of 1,201 suggests it outperforms roughly 2,523 other tested configurations, which aligns with the measured frame rates showing playable performance at 1080p and 1440p across most settings. The data shows the system is capable of exceeding 60 FPS at 1080p High (67 FPS) and 1440p Medium (79 FPS), which are common targets for smooth gameplay. However, the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS places this combo below the 60 FPS threshold that many users prefer, indicating that high-resolution enthusiasts would need to lower settings or consider a more powerful GPU.

Compared to the broader field of 3,724 combos, this ranking means the i5-10400F + RTX 4070 configuration is in the upper third of tested systems, but it is not among the top performers. The CPU's nearest rivals in the synthetic benchmark cluster (Xeon 6756E, Core 7 160UL, EPYC 7552, Ryzen 3 7320C) all have average scores within 0.6% of each other, suggesting that swapping the processor for any of these would yield minimal changes in overall system performance. The GPU's rival cluster (Tesla P4, RX Vega 56, RTX 4080 Mobile, PRO W6400) shows a similar tight grouping, with deltas ranging from -1.3% to 1.3%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 106 FPS, Medium reaches 89 FPS (min 75, max 102), High achieves 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 53 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 53 FPS, representing a 50% reduction in frame rate when enabling the highest graphical preset. This resolution provides the most consistent experience, with even the Ultra preset maintaining frame rates above 50 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales down proportionally. Low settings average 100 FPS, Medium averages 79 FPS (min 67, max 91), High averages 56 FPS, and Ultra averages 45 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 55 FPS, a 55% reduction. Notably, the 1440p Low result (100 FPS) is only 6 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result (106 FPS), suggesting the GPU still has significant headroom at this resolution with minimal graphical demands.

At 3840x2160, the system shows its limitations. Low settings average 93 FPS, Medium averages 62 FPS (min 53, max 71), High averages 44 FPS, and Ultra averages 35 FPS. The 4K Low result remains respectable, but the 4K Ultra result of 35 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. The minimum frame rate at 4K Medium (53 FPS) is notably higher than the average at 4K High (44 FPS), indicating that the Medium preset provides a better balance of visual quality and performance at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best combination of average and minimum frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 75 FPS provides a comfortable buffer above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p Medium, the minimum drops to 67 FPS, still maintaining smooth gameplay. At 4K Medium, the minimum falls to 53 FPS, which remains playable but approaches the lower bound of what most users would consider acceptable for a horror game where smooth camera movement is critical.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, provides the graphical muscle for this combo. With 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, the GPU delivers 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 21 Gbps effective, providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth across a 192-bit bus. This memory configuration is well-suited for The Medium's high-resolution textures, as evidenced by the 4K Low result of 93 FPS, which shows the memory subsystem can handle 4K assets without becoming a bottleneck.

The GPU's boost clock of 2,475 MHz and base clock of 1,920 MHz contribute to its pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s. These specifications place the RTX 4070 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37,648. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854 and Passmark G3D score of 26,927 further confirm the GPU's strong performance. The 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores provide hardware acceleration for advanced rendering features, though the measured FPS data for The Medium does not specifically isolate ray tracing performance.

The GPU's role in this combo becomes clear when examining the frame rate scaling across settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (106 FPS) and Ultra (53 FPS) is 53 FPS, while at 4K, the difference between Low (93 FPS) and Ultra (35 FPS) is 58 FPS. This consistent ~50-60 FPS gap between the lowest and highest settings indicates that the GPU's compute resources, rather than its memory or bandwidth, are the primary constraint when pushing higher graphical presets. The 200 W TDP and dual-slot design with a 1x 16-pin power connector make the RTX 4070 a manageable addition to most systems, with a suggested PSU of 550 W.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with averages ranging from 53 FPS on Ultra to 106 FPS on Low. At 1440p, the combo still delivers playable results, with Medium averaging 79 FPS and Ultra averaging 45 FPS. For 4K, only Low (93 FPS) and Medium (62 FPS) settings maintain playable frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37,648, placing it 0.1% above the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628), 0.4% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507), and 1.3% above the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (37,157). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135) by 1.3%.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The CPU's 68th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 14,185 place it in the mid-range, while the GPU sits in the 81st percentile. The 1080p results show the CPU can support up to 106 FPS on Low settings, but the gap between 1080p Low (106 FPS) and 4K Low (93 FPS) suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 79 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 91 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with minimal frame drops during gameplay.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 1,201 out of 3,724 tested combos, placing it in the 67.8th percentile of all configurations tested in The Medium.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded?

A: The highest measured average is 106 FPS at 1080p Low settings, while the lowest is 35 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. The minimum frame rate data is only available for Medium settings, showing 75 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 53 FPS at 4K.