The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 produces a highly variable experience that hinges almost entirely on the graphics preset. The measured data shows a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at lower settings but struggles to maintain playable frame rates at the highest visual fidelity, particularly at higher resolutions. This pairing behaves as a classic mid-range setup: capable, but requiring careful settings management to hit performance targets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and exposes the GPU as the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 92.9 at 1920x1080 to 78.6 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 14.3 frames per second. Pushing further to 3840x2160 brings the average down to 60.7, meaning the jump from 1080p to 4K at Low settings costs roughly 35% of the performance. This scaling is relatively mild, indicating that at Low settings, the GPU still has headroom to spare.

The situation changes dramatically when moving to higher presets. At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 55.4 at 1080p to 49.9 at 1440p, and then plummets to 40.8 at 4K. The scaling becomes more punishing, suggesting that the increased shader and texture work is starting to saturate the GPU's capabilities. At High settings, the trend continues with 39.3 FPS at 1080p, 35.0 at 1440p, and 25.7 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K narrows in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage loss, highlighting that the RX 7600 is running out of compute resources.

The Ultra preset shows the most brutal scaling. Starting at 36.2 FPS at 1080p, it drops to 29.4 at 1440p and finally to 20.8 at 4K. The performance curve here is nearly linear with resolution, a clear sign that the GPU is completely overwhelmed. The data indicates that this combo is only truly viable at 4K when using Low settings, and that 1440p is the practical ceiling for Medium settings. For any preset above Low, 1080p remains the only resolution where the system can maintain a consistently playable experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a solid foundation for this game, but its role is secondary to the GPU in The Medium. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the processor has enough parallelism to handle the game's logic, but the benchmark results show that it is rarely the limiting factor. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and base clock of 2.60 GHz are adequate for the horror title's demands, which tend to favor single-threaded performance for engine tasks.

Looking at the CPU's synthetic benchmarks, the single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark and 2029 in Cinebench R23 suggest that the processor can feed the GPU with sufficient data in most scenarios. However, the data from the measured FPS shows that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 92.9 FPS, which is close to the CPU's practical limit for this workload, but still not a hard wall. The multicore performance, as indicated by a Cinebench R23 multi score of 14372, is more than sufficient for a game that does not typically scale perfectly across all 12 threads.

The 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181, places it in the upper-middle tier of processors. It sits within 0.2% of rivals like the Intel Core i7-1260P and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U, showing that its processing power is competitive for its generation. The CPU's 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are adequate for the game's data streaming needs, and the data confirms that the processor is not the reason for the low frame rates observed at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1150 out of 1689 combos. This places it in the 68th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly a third of configurations perform better. The ranking reflects the GPU's mid-tier positioning rather than a CPU deficiency. The RX 7600's average benchmark score of 20258 places it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 75th percentile, confirming that the graphics card is the weaker link.

The combo's rank is influenced by the fact that the GPU is only 0.6% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT and 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, according to average benchmark scores. This means the system is performing as expected for its components. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U and Intel Core i5-1240U, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of 0% and 0.2% respectively, indicating that swapping the processor for a similar-tier chip would not change the overall gaming experience in this title.

The 1150th rank out of 1689 combos suggests that this is not a top-tier setup for The Medium, but it is far from the bottom. The data shows that the combo is well-balanced for general gaming but falls behind in this specific title due to the GPU's inability to handle the game's heavy graphical effects at high presets. Users with this combo should expect performance that is representative of a mid-range 2022-era build, which aligns with the components' release dates of 2021 for the CPU and 2023 for the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's capabilities across all resolutions and settings. Starting at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 92.9 FPS, which is smooth and playable for a horror game. Medium settings drop this to 55.4 FPS, still acceptable, but High settings fall to 39.3 FPS, which is borderline for a game that benefits from consistent frame pacing. Ultra settings yield 36.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a genre that relies on atmosphere and tension.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset maintains a respectable 78.6 FPS, showing that the GPU has enough power to handle the resolution increase when settings are minimized. Medium settings produce 49.9 FPS, which is on the edge of smoothness. High settings drop to 35.0 FPS, and Ultra falls to 29.4 FPS, making both presets uncomfortable for most players. The 1440p data suggests that Medium is the highest preset that can be reasonably used, and even then, it requires some tolerance for occasional dips.

At 3840x2160, the story is grim for higher presets. Low settings achieve 60.7 FPS, which is just at the threshold of smoothness and is the only playable option at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 40.8 FPS, High to 25.7 FPS, and Ultra to 20.8 FPS, all of which are too low for a smooth experience. The 4K data clearly shows that this combo is not designed for high-fidelity 4K gaming in The Medium, and users should stick to 1080p or 1440p with adjusted settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the defining component in this setup. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, it offers a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game's textures at 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are the primary drivers of the frame rate differences seen across presets. The boost clock of 2655 MHz and game clock of 2250 MHz allow for strong performance at lower settings, but the architecture struggles when the game's shader complexity increases.

The GPU's 32 ray accelerators are not likely to be heavily utilized in this title, but the standard rasterization workload is heavy. The measured data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck in almost every scenario. At 1080p Low, the 92.9 FPS is likely close to the CPU's limit, but at 4K Ultra, the 20.8 FPS is purely a GPU limitation. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20258, places it just above the RX 7600 XT in terms of synthetic scores, but the measured game data shows that the extra memory of the XT model would likely help at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM is a concern for 4K gaming. The data shows that the 4K Low preset achieves 60.7 FPS, but the jump to Medium drops to 40.8 FPS, suggesting that the memory bandwidth or capacity is being exceeded. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is not enough to feed the GPU's compute units efficiently at high resolutions and settings, leading to the steep performance drops observed.

Settings Recommendations

The data clearly points to Low settings as the only viable option for 4K, delivering 60.7 FPS. For users targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience, 1080p Low is the best choice, offering 92.9 FPS with plenty of headroom. At 1440p, Low settings also provide a very playable 78.6 FPS, making it a strong alternative for those with higher refresh rate monitors.

For those who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, offering 55.4 FPS. This is a significant improvement in visual fidelity over Low while maintaining playable performance. The jump to High at 1080p (39.3 FPS) is not recommended, as the frame rate becomes inconsistent for a game that relies on atmosphere. Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as even at 1080p, the 36.2 FPS average is too low for a smooth experience.

At 1440p, Medium is the highest preset that remains playable, with 49.9 FPS. The performance gap between Medium and High at this resolution is substantial, indicating that the GPU is hitting a hard limit. For 4K, the data suggests that users should either stick to Low or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p with Medium settings for a better balance of quality and performance. The best overall experience per the measured rows is 1080p Medium, which provides a horror-appropriate balance of visual detail and smoothness without sacrificing the game's intended atmosphere.