The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title that stresses both the GPU and CPU, and the data for the Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB shows a configuration that is fundamentally limited by its graphics card at higher settings. Based on the measured frames per second (FPS) data, this combination ranks 1516th out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 10% of all configurations. The benchmark results indicate that while the CPU is capable of driving the GPU, the RTX 3050 4 GB struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 1440p and 4K with any preset above Low. The most viable path to a smooth experience is found at 1080p with Low settings, where the average FPS reaches 63.6, just above the 60 FPS threshold. Every other preset and resolution combination yields an average below 60 FPS, with the worst case being 4K Ultra at a nearly unplayable 15.2 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average FPS at 63.6, making it the only configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS mark. All other tested combinations fall below this threshold.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F and RTX 3050 4 GB combination ranks 1516th out of 1689 total combos, placing it in the 1516th percentile position, which indicates it is near the bottom of the performance spectrum for this game.

Q: Is the RTX 3050 4 GB better suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming?

A: At 1440p, the highest average FPS is 56.3 on Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS target. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 63.6 FPS, while Medium drops to 40.5 FPS. The data suggests 1080p is the only viable resolution for this card.

Q: What is the frame rate impact of moving from Medium to High settings at 1080p?

A: Moving from Medium to High at 1920x1080 reduces the average FPS from 40.5 to 31.9, a significant drop of 8.6 frames per second. This indicates that High settings impose a substantial additional load on the GPU.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189) and the Intel Core i5-1240U (17141). It trails the Intel Core i7-1260P by 0.2% and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U by 0.2%.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for any configuration?

A: The lowest average FPS in the data is 15.2, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. No minimum or maximum FPS values are provided in the measured data, only averages.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is a 4 GB GDDR6 card with a 128-bit memory bus, providing a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1545 MHz with a boost clock of 1740 MHz, and it features 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. The data reveals that this GPU is the primary bottleneck in The Medium, as the average frame rates collapse dramatically when settings are increased. At 1920x1080, the average FPS scales from 63.6 on Low to 40.5 on Medium, then 31.9 on High, and finally 20.7 on Ultra. This pattern demonstrates that the card's 4 GB VRAM and limited compute power are insufficient for the game's higher fidelity presets, which likely require more memory and processing throughput.

The 4 GB memory capacity appears particularly problematic at higher resolutions. At 2560x1440, even the Low preset only manages 56.3 FPS, while Medium drops to 36.0 FPS. When moving to 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal at any setting, with Low achieving 45.6 FPS but Medium falling to 28.2 FPS. The GPU's 7.127 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 55.68 GPixel/s pixel rate are clearly not enough to handle The Medium's rendering demands at 1440p and above. The data shows that the RTX 3050 4 GB is only adequate for 1080p gaming with reduced settings, and even then, it barely exceeds the 60 FPS target on the lowest preset.

Settings Recommendations

Based solely on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that delivers a consistently smooth experience is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces an average of 63.6 FPS. This is the sole preset across all resolutions that surpasses the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for playable performance. The next closest option is 2560x1440 with Low settings at 56.3 FPS, which is close to but still below the ideal target. For users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, 1920x1080 with Medium settings offers 40.5 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game, but the data shows a steep drop from Low.

High and Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, High yields 31.9 FPS and Ultra drops to 20.7 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The situation worsens at 1440p, where High averages 23.0 FPS and Ultra 21.1 FPS. At 4K, all presets except Low are effectively unplayable, with High at 20.8 FPS, Medium at 28.2 FPS, and Ultra at 15.2 FPS. Therefore, the data strongly suggests that users should stick to 1080p Low for the best experience, or accept a significant frame rate penalty for higher visual quality.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings. Starting at 1920x1080, the average FPS is 63.6 on Low, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 40.5, High falls to 31.9, and Ultra bottoms out at 20.7. This represents a 67.7% decrease from Low to Ultra, showing that the GPU is severely strained by the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance is uniformly lower. Low settings produce 56.3 FPS, which is a 7.3 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium averages 36.0 FPS, High 23.0 FPS, and Ultra 21.1 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 1440p is 13.0 FPS, indicating that High settings impose a heavy load. The 4K resolution at 3840x2160 shows the most extreme degradation: Low achieves 45.6 FPS, Medium 28.2 FPS, High 20.8 FPS, and Ultra 15.2 FPS. The difference between 1080p Low (63.6) and 4K Low (45.6) is 18.0 FPS, demonstrating how resolution scaling impacts the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F and RTX 3050 4 GB combination ranks 1516th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This rank places it in the bottom 10% of all configurations, with only 173 combos performing worse. The data indicates that this is a low-tier pairing for this specific game, primarily due to the GPU's limitations. The CPU's performance is respectable, with a 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs, but the GPU's 50th percentile ranking and lack of nearest rivals in the data suggest it is unremarkable. The combo's rank is heavily influenced by the GPU, as the measured FPS at 1080p Low is the only score above 60, and even that is a modest margin.

Compared to other combos, this system likely falls behind configurations with more powerful GPUs or more VRAM. The 4 GB memory capacity is a significant disadvantage, as modern horror games like The Medium often require more than 4 GB at higher settings. The rank of 1516 out of 1689 means that 89.7% of all tested combos achieve better average FPS, underscoring the need for users to stick to low settings to get acceptable performance. The data shows that this is not a combo for high-fidelity gaming, but rather a baseline setup for 1080p playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its L3 cache is 12 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU's benchmark scores show solid multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and a single-core score of 2029. Its 3DMark max threads score is 5652, and it achieves 16908 in Passmark multithread. The processor's percentile ranking is 75th among all CPUs, indicating it performs better than three-quarters of tested processors.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and the data suggests it is not the primary bottleneck. The nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (0% delta), Intel Core i7-1260P (-0.2%), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (-0.2%), showing that the i5-11400F performs on par with these alternatives. With 12 threads and a 4.40 GHz boost, the CPU is capable of handling the game's logic and physics, but the measured FPS is consistently limited by the GPU. The CPU's 65W TDP and 14 nm process node are modest, but they do not appear to cause thermal throttling in the benchmark data. Overall, the i5-11400F provides sufficient processing power for The Medium, but it cannot compensate for the RTX 3050 4 GB's insufficient graphics performance.