The Medium

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 pairing in The Medium represents a configuration where a high-end GPU is paired with a capable mid-range processor. The CPU, a 6-core, 12-thread Rocket Lake part based on a 14 nm process, operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its performance profile, as measured by synthetic benchmarks, places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. This is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17189, and the Intel Core i7-1260P at 17212, showing a delta of 0% and -0.2%, respectively. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 memory with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth provide a solid foundation for gaming. In multi-threaded workloads, the processor demonstrates consistent scaling; its 3DMark score rises from 1691 with 2 threads to 5652 with maximum threads, indicating that the 12 threads are effectively utilized. For a game like The Medium, which is a horror title with fixed camera angles, the CPU load is often more about maintaining consistent frame pacing than pushing extremely high core counts. The data suggests the i5-11400F is well-suited for this task, as its single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029, is robust enough to handle the game's logic without bottlenecking the high-end GPU.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications reflect its high-end positioning. Built on the Ampere architecture with an 8 nm process, the GPU features 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It is equipped with 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a substantial 760.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU’s core clocks are set at a base of 1440 MHz and a boost of 1710 MHz, with memory running at 19 Gbps effective. With a pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s, the RTX 3080 is exceptionally powerful for rasterization. Its FP32 performance of 29.77 TFLOPS places it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787. This places it in close competition with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, which scores 36101, a delta of -0.9%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile at 35435, a delta of 1%. In The Medium, the GPU is the primary driver of visual fidelity. The game’s reliance on heavy post-processing and lighting effects means that the RTX 3080’s raw compute power and high memory bandwidth are critical for maintaining high frame rates, especially at higher resolutions and settings where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The resolution scaling data reveals a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1080p, the lowest tested resolution, the frame rates are high but show a significant drop when moving from Low to Ultra settings. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 128, which decreases to 88 at Medium, 62 at High, and 48.8 at Ultra. This substantial reduction, from 128 to 48.8, indicates that the GPU is being taxed more heavily as the settings increase, but the CPU is still capable of feeding it. Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds, but the absolute frame rates drop. The average FPS at 1440p Low is 119, dropping to 76.9 at Medium, 53.4 at High, and 41.7 at Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of about 9 FPS at Low settings, but a more pronounced reduction of about 7 FPS at Ultra settings. This suggests a shift towards GPU limitation. At 4K, the trend becomes more pronounced. The average FPS at 4K Low is 94.8, which is a significant drop from the 119 at 1440p. At 4K Medium, the frame rate is 61.4, at High it is 41.5, and at Ultra it plummets to 32.4. The difference between 1440p and 4K at Low settings is 24.2 FPS, while at Ultra, the difference is only 9.3 FPS. This compression of frame rates at higher settings and resolutions strongly indicates that the RTX 3080 is the limiting component at 4K, especially at Ultra settings, where the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth are fully saturated.

The measured FPS breakdown provides exact performance figures for each resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 128 FPS on Low settings, which is more than sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Medium setting yields 88 FPS, High yields 62 FPS, and Ultra yields 48.8 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the system is capable of maintaining high frame rates even at the highest settings, though the drop from Low to Ultra is steep. At 2560x1440, the average FPS on Low is 119, which is a slight decrease from 1080p, but still very smooth. Medium settings produce 76.9 FPS, High produces 53.4 FPS, and Ultra produces 41.7 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the system is still well-balanced, with the GPU beginning to show its limits at Ultra settings. At 3840x2160, the impact of resolution is clearly visible. Low settings average 94.8 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium settings drop to 61.4 FPS, High to 41.5 FPS, and Ultra to 32.4 FPS. The data shows that for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, players would need to use Medium settings, and for Ultra settings, the frame rate drops below 33 FPS, which is not ideal for a horror game that benefits from a consistent frame rate to maintain atmosphere. The progression from 128 FPS at 1080p Low to 32.4 FPS at 4K Ultra illustrates a 75% reduction in average frame rate, primarily driven by the GPU’s workload.

The combo ranks 552nd out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the upper third of all configurations. This ranking is a strong indicator of overall performance, but it is important to contextualize it. The RTX 3080’s individual percentile ranking of 80th and the i5-11400F’s 75th percentile suggest that this combo is well-matched, but not at the absolute top tier. The ranking of 552 out of 1689 means that roughly two-thirds of the tested combos are slower, which is a solid result for a mid-generation pairing. In comparison to other tested combos, this system’s performance is largely dictated by the RTX 3080. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 35787 is only slightly below the AMD Radeon Pro Duo’s 35860 (delta -0.2%), meaning the graphics performance is essentially on par with that older dual-GPU card. However, the CPU’s score of 17181 is on par with the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which is a mobile chip, indicating that the i5-11400F is not a top-tier desktop processor but is sufficient to avoid being a major bottleneck in most scenarios. The combination’s rank suggests that while it cannot compete with the absolute fastest systems featuring newer flagship CPUs and GPUs, it offers a strong balance of compute and graphics power for this specific title. The data indicates that the system’s performance is primarily limited by the GPU at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the significant frame rate drops at 4K, but the CPU is capable of keeping up with the RTX 3080 at all but the lowest settings and resolutions.