The Medium

The Medium, a horror title built around fixed camera angles and narrative-driven exploration, presents a unique load profile that balances CPU and GPU demands. This analysis examines the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700, using measured performance data to detail how this combination handles the game's visual and computational requirements across resolutions and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking for this game?

A: The data places this combination at rank 1738 out of 3724 tested combos, positioning it in the upper half of all hardware pairings benchmarked for The Medium.

Q: How much faster is the CPU than its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7H12's score of 17120. It is also 0.6% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate is 115 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average drops to 72 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's synthetic score compare to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 has a Passmark G3D score of 20974, which is 1.7% lower than the RTX 3060 Ti's average score of 16129. The RX 7700's average benchmark score is 15852.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 4K. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS drops to 34, while at 1080p High it reaches 51 FPS, showing a significant performance decline as resolution increases.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for Medium settings. At 1080p the minimum is 61 FPS, at 1440p it is 51 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 40 FPS.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 provides the graphical firepower for this system, built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock reaches 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz. These specifications translate to a pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RX 7700 achieves a Passmark G3D score of 20974, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. This score is notably close to its nearest rivals, as the data shows it is only 1.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti and 1% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 9060. The GPU also posts a Geekbench OpenCL score of 106028 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865.

For The Medium, the GPU's role is critical, particularly at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows a clear trend: at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 115 FPS, but this drops to 76 FPS at 4K with the same settings. This significant reduction indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are heavily taxed as pixel count increases. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is ample for the game's textures, but the raw compute power determines the frame rate ceiling. The GPU's performance in this game appears to align with its 58th percentile ranking, as it handles 1080p and 1440p well but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K, especially on higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. It operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The CPU has 12 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. Its synthetic performance is competitive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024.

In the broader benchmark landscape, the i5-11400F holds a 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. This places it in close contention with several rivals: it is 0.3% faster than the AMD EPYC 7H12, 0.4% slower than the Intel Core i5-12450H, and 0.6% slower than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G. The CPU's 3DMark scores show scaling, with a single-thread score of 868 and a max-thread score of 5652.

For The Medium, the CPU's role is less demanding than the GPU's. The game's fixed camera angles reduce the need for complex geometry processing, but the CPU still handles game logic and physics. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU may be a limiting factor at Low settings, where the average FPS is 115. This is because at lower resolutions, the GPU has spare capacity, and the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the steady FPS decline at 1440p and 4K. The i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this title, as the game's performance scales more with resolution than with core count.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 achieves a rank of 1738 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places the pairing in the 53rd percentile of all configurations, indicating that it performs better than a slight majority of tested systems. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 71st percentile standing and the GPU's 58th percentile standing.

The ranking suggests that this combo is well-matched for the game's requirements, but there is room for improvement. The CPU's synthetic scores are higher than the GPU's, which could imply that the CPU has headroom to support a more powerful graphics card. However, the game's performance data shows that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the combo ranks relatively well due to the CPU's strong single-thread performance, but at 4K, the GPU's limitations become apparent, potentially dragging down the overall ranking. The rank of 1738 is a holistic measure, accounting for all settings and resolutions, and it indicates that this is a middle-of-the-pack performer for The Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a wide range of frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 115, which is very playable. Medium settings reduce the average to 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. High settings yield an average of 51 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to an average of 41 FPS. This shows a clear progression where each settings tier costs a significant number of frames.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down as expected. Low settings produce an average of 97 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium settings average 61 FPS, with a minimum of 51 FPS. High settings average 43 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 34 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 15-20% reduction in average FPS across most settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is heavily taxed. Low settings average 76 FPS, which is still acceptable. Medium settings average 48 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS. High settings drop to 34 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 27 FPS. The 4K data reveals that this combo cannot maintain 60 FPS at any settings above Low, and even Low settings barely exceed 60 FPS. The step from 1440p to 4K causes a 20-25% FPS drop, indicating that the RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM and bandwidth are insufficient for high-quality 4K rendering in this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate.

For 1080p, the Medium preset offers the best balance. It provides an average of 72 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and the minimum of 61 FPS ensures that frame drops are rare. High settings at 51 FPS are playable but may feel less fluid, while Ultra at 41 FPS is not recommended for action sequences.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is again the sweet spot, yielding an average of 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 FPS. This is adequate for most players, though those seeking a locked 60 FPS may need to tweak individual settings. The Low preset at 97 FPS is overkill for this resolution, while High at 43 FPS and Ultra at 34 FPS are too low for a consistent experience.

For 4K, the data suggests that only the Low preset is viable, with an average of 76 FPS. The Medium preset at 48 FPS is borderline, but the minimum of 40 FPS could cause noticeable stuttering. High and Ultra settings are not recommended due to average frame rates below 35 FPS. Players targeting 4K should accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for better quality.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 115 at 1080p to 97 at 1440p (a 15.7% decrease) and then to 76 at 4K (a 21.6% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is consistent across all settings, though the percentage drops are slightly larger at higher presets.

This behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in this system. The CPU's performance, as measured by its synthetic scores, remains constant regardless of resolution, but the GPU's workload increases significantly with pixel count. The 4K results, in particular, show that the RX 7700's compute capabilities are stretched thin, as the average FPS at 4K High (34 FPS) is only 66% of the 1080p High result (51 FPS). The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings shows a drop from 72 FPS to 48 FPS, a 33% reduction, which aligns with the increase in pixel count from 2.07 million to 8.29 million.

The data suggests that the i5-11400F is not a bottleneck at any resolution. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU's single-thread performance is most critical, the system achieves 115 FPS, which is a strong result. As resolution rises, the GPU's limitations become the dominant factor, and the CPU's role diminishes. For players using this combo, understanding this scaling is key: the CPU has headroom for future GPU upgrades, but the current GPU limits 4K performance to Low settings for a playable frame rate.