The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales sharply with both resolution and image quality settings. For the combination of an Intel Core i5-11400F and an AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, the measured data reveals a system that is consistently capable at 1080p, increasingly strained at 1440p, and only playable at 4K when settings are aggressively reduced. The benchmark results indicate a pairing where the GPU is the primary performance arbiter at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s six cores and twelve threads provide a stable foundation that rarely becomes the limiting factor.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K has a profound impact on frame rates, underscoring the GPU-bound nature of The Medium at high visual fidelity. At the "Ultra" preset, the average frame rate falls from 39.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 32.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 18%. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, with the average plummeting to 24.6 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 25% decrease from the 1440p figure. This progressive degradation illustrates that the Radeon RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 432.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain fluid motion at 4K with the highest fidelity settings.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically when the preset is lowered to "Low." At 1080p Low, the combo achieves an average of 117.9 FPS. This falls to 96.1 FPS at 1440p, a 19% drop, and then to 73.4 FPS at 4K, another 24% reduction. The absolute frame rates at Low settings are significantly higher at every resolution, but the percentage loss from resolution scaling remains substantial. This indicates that even with reduced shader complexity, the raw pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth of the GPU are still taxed heavily by the game’s rendering engine at higher resolutions.

The data suggests a clear inflection point between 1440p and 4K. While the frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p is notable, the further step to 2160p pushes the GPU past its comfort zone. At the "High" preset, the average falls from 49.4 FPS at 1080p to 41.8 FPS at 1440p, a 15% decrease. However, moving to 4K High yields 33 FPS, a 21% drop from 1440p. This non-linear scaling confirms that the RX 6750 XT, with its 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs, is the bottleneck in this configuration. The Intel Core i5-11400F, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372, provides ample headroom to feed the GPU, meaning the performance ceiling is defined almost entirely by the graphics card’s capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the "Medium" preset offers the most balanced experience for this hardware combination, particularly for users targeting smooth gameplay. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 74.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a game of this genre. This represents a 50% improvement over the 49.4 FPS seen at High, with a visual compromise that is likely acceptable given the game’s dark, atmospheric environments. The 1080p Medium setting provides a strong margin above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended starting point for most players.

For those with 1440p displays, the Medium preset remains the only viable option for a consistently fluid experience. The average of 62.8 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is playable, but it leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 1440p, producing 41.8 FPS, is a significant step down and may result in noticeable stutter during camera transitions. Pushing to Ultra at 1440p, which yields only 32.7 FPS, is not recommended for a game that relies on slow, deliberate pacing, as the reduced frame rate can detract from the intended cinematic feel.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Ultra preset’s 24.6 FPS and High preset’s 33 FPS are both below acceptable thresholds for a smooth experience. The only playable option at 3840x2160 is the Low preset, which achieves 73.4 FPS. This requires a substantial reduction in visual fidelity, but the data shows it is the only way to approach a fluid frame rate at this resolution. The Medium preset at 4K, at 46.4 FPS, sits in a grey area; it may be tolerable for some, but the benchmark results suggest that Low is the safer choice for maintaining consistent performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the observed performance. The GPU’s boost clock of 2600 MHz and game clock of 2495 MHz provide the raw compute throughput needed for The Medium’s rendering workloads, but the card’s 12 GB memory configuration and 192-bit bus width are critical factors at higher resolutions. The memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is a limiting factor at 4K, as the game’s high-resolution textures and effects demand more data than the bus can efficiently deliver, resulting in the steep frame rate drops observed.

The GPU’s 40 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are present, but the measured data does not isolate their impact. However, the consistent frame rate declines across all presets when moving to 4K point to the GPU’s pixel fill rate and memory subsystem as the primary constraints. The card’s FP32 performance of 13.31 TFLOPS is substantial, yet it is not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with maximum settings. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with settings, but the absolute ceiling at 4K is limited by its architectural design.

The data also reveals that the GPU is not being held back by the CPU. The Intel Core i5-11400F, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 16908, is more than capable of keeping up with the GPU’s frame output. The combination of a 6-core, 12-thread processor with a 4.40 GHz boost clock ensures that the GPU receives a steady stream of draw calls. The percentiles support this, as the CPU ranks in the 75th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 79th percentile, indicating a well-matched pair where the GPU is the intended performance limiter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of presets is usable. The Low preset produces an average of 117.9 FPS, providing a high-refresh-rate experience. The Medium preset averages 74.1 FPS, while the High preset averages 49.4 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 39.9 FPS, which is the lowest 1080p result but still technically playable. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 66% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the significant cost of the game’s highest visual features.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decline across the board. Low yields 96.1 FPS, a 19% drop from 1080p. Medium produces 62.8 FPS, which is a 15% reduction from its 1080p counterpart. High drops to 41.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 32.7 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is 19 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 9.1 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s added effects are not as computationally expensive as the step from Medium to High.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a stark contrast. Low achieves 73.4 FPS, which is still a respectable average. Medium drops to 46.4 FPS, a 26% reduction from 1440p Medium. High falls to 33 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 24.6 FPS. The 4K results show that only the Low preset can maintain a frame rate above 60 FPS, and even the Medium preset falls below the 50 FPS mark. The Ultra preset’s 24.6 FPS is the worst result in the entire dataset, making it unsuitable for anything but static scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

In the comprehensive database of tested hardware combinations for The Medium, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT holds the 860th position out of 1689 total combos. This places it squarely in the middle of the pack, ranking in the 51st percentile of all tested systems. The ranking indicates that while this configuration is competent, it is not exceptional for this specific game, with many other pairings offering higher average frame rates at similar settings.

The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-range positioning in the broader benchmark landscape. The Radeon RX 6750 XT has an average benchmark score of 35327, which places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600M with a score of 35264 and a deltaPct of 0.2, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with a score of 35787 and a deltaPct of -1.3. These deltas are small, suggesting that the RX 6750 XT performs nearly identically to these other cards in synthetic tests, but the measured FPS in The Medium shows that the game’s specific workload can amplify or diminish these differences.

The CPU’s rank is similarly mid-tier. The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores 17189 with a deltaPct of 0, indicating a statistical tie. The Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17212 with a deltaPct of -0.2, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17215 with a deltaPct of -0.2. Given these near-identical CPU scores, the 860th rank in The Medium is likely determined more by the GPU’s performance characteristics than the CPU’s processing power. The data shows that this combo is a balanced, average performer, not a standout for this title.