The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers playable performance only at its lowest settings. Benchmark data shows this pairing achieves a smooth 70.4 FPS average at 1080p Low, but any increase in graphical fidelity or resolution results in a significant performance drop. The GTX 1660 SUPER, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, is the primary bottleneck, as the data indicates that the CPU has ample headroom, leaving the GPU to struggle with the game's fixed camera angles and heavy rendering loads.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where this combo achieves a consistently playable frame rate. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 70.4, while at 1440p Low, it drops to 60.1, and at 4K Low, it falls to 46.5.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at Ultra settings?

A: No. The benchmark results indicate that Ultra settings are not viable. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 26.9, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 20.2 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it is a slideshow at 15.4 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in general performance?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 14286, which places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, has an average score of 14314, meaning the GTX 1660 SUPER is 0.2% slower. Similarly, it is 0.2% slower than the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics, which scores 14315.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F powerful enough for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU appears to have sufficient processing power. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it scores 14372 in Cinebench R23 multicore, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. The performance bottleneck in this title is clearly the GPU, as the frame rates scale heavily with resolution and settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: The frame rate drops by 31.7% when moving from 1080p Medium (42.6 FPS) to 4K Medium (29.1 FPS). This significant drop indicates that the GPU is being heavily taxed by the increase in pixel count.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in multithreaded performance?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores 17189, making the Intel chip 0% slower. The Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17212, which is 0.2% faster than the i5-11400F.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the defining component in this system's performance profile for The Medium. Its Turing architecture, built on a 12 nm process, provides a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The GPU has 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs, which process the game's visual effects. However, the most critical aspect is its memory configuration: 6 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s.

The benchmark data clearly shows the GPU's limitations. At 1080p, the difference between Low (70.4 FPS) and High (32.1 FPS) settings is a 54.4% drop in performance, which is a substantial cost for higher fidelity. This pattern intensifies at higher resolutions. At 4K, the High preset yields only 20.5 FPS, and Ultra is effectively unplayable at 15.4 FPS. The GPU's performance ceiling is reached quickly, making it the primary constraint in this pairing. Its general score in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286, confirms it is a mid-range part that is outclassed by the demands of this title at higher presets.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only settings that provide a consistently playable experience are at the Low preset. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 70.4 FPS, which is a solid frame rate for a horror game. While the Medium preset at 1080p (42.6 FPS) is technically playable, it is close to the edge of what many would consider smooth, and the Low preset provides a much safer margin.

At higher resolutions, the Low preset is the only option that remains in a playable range. At 2560x1440 Low, the average FPS is 60.1, which is acceptable. However, at 3840x2160 Low, the average drops to 46.5 FPS, which is still playable but shows the GPU struggling. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data suggests that 1080p Low is the optimal choice. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as they all fall below 32.1 FPS at 1080p, which is a significant compromise to gameplay fluidity.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1489 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11.9% of all systems tested, indicating that it is a low-performing combination for this specific title. The rank reflects the GPU's inability to handle the game's demanding rendering requirements at higher settings.

This low ranking is consistent with the GPU's overall standing. The GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, but The Medium appears to be a particularly heavy workload. The 6 GB VRAM capacity and the 192-bit memory bus are likely contributing factors, as the game may require more memory bandwidth and capacity at higher resolutions. The CPU, in contrast, performs well relative to its peers, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's deficiencies in this scenario.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a solid foundation for gaming, but in The Medium, its role is secondary to the GPU. This processor features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process, offers a shared 12 MB L3 cache. The CPU's performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs.

In this game, the CPU's capabilities are not the limiting factor. The data shows that frame rates are heavily dependent on resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound tasks. The CPU's 12 threads provide ample processing power for the game's logic and physics, but the rendering pipeline is bottlenecked by the GTX 1660 SUPER. The CPU's average benchmark score of 17181 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189), confirming its competitive standing. The processor is not the reason for this combo's low ranking; the GPU is.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset is the only one to exceed 60 FPS, with an average of 70.4 FPS. The Medium preset yields 42.6 FPS, High drops to 32.1 FPS, and Ultra falls to 26.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is steep, representing a 61.8% performance loss.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset remains the most playable, with an average of 60.1 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 40.1 FPS, High to 26 FPS, and Ultra is nearly unplayable at 20.2 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 66.4%.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. The Low preset averages 46.5 FPS, which is the only playable option. The Medium preset drops to 29.1 FPS, High to 20.5 FPS, and Ultra is a slideshow at 15.4 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern: the GPU is overwhelmed by the demands of higher resolutions and settings, and the system is only viable at its lowest graphical configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The impact of resolution on performance is significant and clearly demonstrates the GPU bottleneck. Moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, the average FPS drops from 70.4 to 60.1, a 14.6% decrease. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low, the FPS drops from 60.1 to 46.5, a 22.6% decrease. The total drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 33.9%.

This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p (42.6 FPS) to 4K (29.1 FPS) is 31.7%. At High settings, the drop from 1080p (32.1 FPS) to 4K (20.5 FPS) is 36.1%. The consistent and substantial drops with each resolution increase indicate that the frame rate is almost entirely determined by the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth. The CPU is not a limiting factor, as its performance does not change with resolution. The data conclusively shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary constraint, and users should target 1080p Low for the best experience.