The Medium

The Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination delivers a playable experience in The Medium, but the data shows a sharp divide between settings presets. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 91.8 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 57.7 FPS, and High falls to 40.6 FPS. The Ultra preset bottoms out at 34.9 FPS, which is below the smoothness threshold most players expect. At 1440p, the pattern holds: Low averages 77.3 FPS, Medium 49.8 FPS, High 36.9 FPS, and Ultra 30.1 FPS. The 4K results are more punishing, with only the Low preset remaining fluid at 63 FPS, while Medium drops to 38.8 FPS, High to 26.5 FPS, and Ultra to a stutter-prone 20 FPS. Given the measured data, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that consistently clears 60 FPS, making it the recommended choice for fluid gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal a clear hierarchy: the Low preset is the only reliable path to high frame rates across all resolutions. At 1080p, Low delivers 91.8 FPS, which is 34.1 FPS higher than Medium's 57.7 FPS and more than double Ultra's 34.9 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 34.1 FPS at 1080p, 27.5 FPS at 1440p, and 24.2 FPS at 4K, indicating that the Medium preset imposes a significant rendering load that this GPU struggles to sustain. For players prioritizing smooth motion, Low at 1080p is the clear winner, as it is the only preset-resolution combo that stays comfortably above 60 FPS.

The High preset offers a middle ground but fails to hit 60 FPS at any resolution. At 1080p, High averages 40.6 FPS, which is 17.1 FPS below Medium and 51.2 FPS below Low. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 1080p averaging 34.9 FPS, 1440p at 30.1 FPS, and 4K at a slideshow-like 20 FPS. Benchmark results indicate that the RX 6600 XT, which sits at the 71st percentile among all GPUs, cannot maintain playable frame rates on High or Ultra in this title. The data suggests that players with this combo should either accept the visual compromise of Low for 60+ FPS or use Medium at 1080p for a balanced 57.7 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for this CPU/GPU combo in The Medium?

A: The Low preset at 1080p is the best measured configuration, delivering an average of 91.8 FPS, which is 34.1 FPS higher than Medium at 57.7 FPS and 56.9 FPS higher than Ultra at 34.9 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Only with the Low preset, which averages 63 FPS at 3840x2160. The Medium preset drops to 38.8 FPS, High to 26.5 FPS, and Ultra to 20 FPS, none of which provide a smooth experience.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Low in terms of performance?

A: Ultra is significantly slower at every resolution. At 1080p, Ultra averages 34.9 FPS versus 91.8 FPS for Low, a difference of 56.9 FPS. At 1440p, the gap narrows slightly to 47.2 FPS, and at 4K, it is 43 FPS.

Q: Is the RX 6600 XT a strong performer relative to other GPUs?

A: The GPU sits at the 71st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27985. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, which scores 27956, a delta of 0.1 percent.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, placing it at the 75th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores 17189, a delta of 0 percent, making them effectively equal in synthetic tests.

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

A: The measured average is 49.8 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This is below the 60 FPS target but remains playable for slower-paced horror gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

In The Medium, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT ranks 1136 out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. This ranking reflects the demanding nature of the game, which appears to stress the GPU heavily. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 17181 and a 75th percentile ranking, is not the limiting factor; its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores nearly identically at 17189, a delta of 0 percent. The GPU, scoring 27985 on average and ranking at the 71st percentile, is a mid-pack performer, but its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores 27956, a delta of 0.1 percent, showing that the RX 6600 XT is competitive with older high-end cards.

The rank of 1136 out of 1689 indicates that many other combos achieve higher frame rates in this title. The data suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, but the CPU's synthetic scores are strong enough to feed the GPU adequately. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 91.8 FPS, which is respectable, but the drop to 57.7 FPS at Medium shows that the GPU's 8 GB of memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are strained by higher graphical loads. The combo's rank is a function of the game's heavy reliance on GPU compute, and players seeking higher rankings would need a more powerful graphics card, not a better CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 91.8 FPS, followed by Medium at 57.7 FPS, High at 40.6 FPS, and Ultra at 34.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 34.1 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 17.1 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 5.7 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns for each step up in quality, with the largest performance hit occurring when moving from Low to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 77.3 FPS for Low, 49.8 FPS for Medium, 36.9 FPS for High, and 30.1 FPS for Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 27.5 FPS, between Medium and High is 12.9 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 6.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 63 FPS for Low, 38.8 FPS for Medium, 26.5 FPS for High, and 20 FPS for Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 24.2 FPS, between Medium and High is 12.3 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 6.5 FPS. Across all resolutions, the Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, while the Ultra preset never exceeds 34.9 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the GPU becomes the limiting component as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 91.8 at 1080p to 77.3 at 1440p, a decrease of 14.5 FPS, and then to 63 at 4K, a further decrease of 14.3 FPS. This represents a 31.4 percent reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is still managing the load reasonably well at Low. However, at Medium settings, the drop is more severe: from 57.7 at 1080p to 49.8 at 1440p, and then to 38.8 at 4K, a total reduction of 18.9 FPS or 32.8 percent.

The High and Ultra presets show even steeper declines. High drops from 40.6 at 1080p to 36.9 at 1440p and then to 26.5 at 4K, a 34.7 percent reduction. Ultra drops from 34.9 at 1080p to 30.1 at 1440p and then to 20 at 4K, a 42.7 percent reduction. This pattern indicates that at higher settings, the GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and 8 GB capacity are insufficient to maintain frame rates as resolution increases. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is unlikely to be the bottleneck, as its performance is consistent with rivals like the Intel Core i7-1260P, which is only 0.2 percent slower. The data clearly shows that the RX 6600 XT is the limiting factor, particularly at 4K where even the Low preset barely reaches 63 FPS.