The Medium

The Medium pairs a fixed-camera horror aesthetic with a demanding rendering workload, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination reveals a system that is consistently playable but heavily influenced by graphics settings. The measured results show a clear hierarchy where the GPU dominates the load, with the CPU providing stable frame pacing across all tested configurations. This analysis breaks down the specific performance figures, scaling behavior, and optimal settings for this particular hardware pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in The Medium?

A: The highest recorded average is 125 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 118 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 109 FPS at 3840x2160 Low, showing that even at the lowest preset, resolution scaling has a measurable impact.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which places it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (score 54209). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% (score 54828) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.6% (score 55698).

Q: What is the performance percentile of the Core i5-11400F relative to all CPUs?

A: The processor sits in the 71st percentile among all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 17177 is 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 7H12 (score 17120) and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (score 17074), but 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-12450H (score 17239).

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM of the RTX 4080 sufficient for Ultra settings at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo produces an average of 45 FPS. This is the lowest recorded average across all settings and resolutions, indicating that while VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor per se, the rendering load at Ultra 4K pushes the GPU to its limits.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination provides the most balanced 60 FPS experience?

A: At 2560x1440 High, the system achieves 72 FPS average, which is comfortably above 60 FPS. The 3840x2160 Medium preset also delivers a playable 79 FPS average, making it the optimal 4K choice when aiming for smooth gameplay.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 compared to the RTX 4080 SUPER in this game?

A: The benchmark data for The Medium does not include direct game scores for the rival GPU. However, in synthetic tests, the RTX 4080 scores 54247 versus 54209 for the SUPER, a delta of just 0.1%, suggesting near-identical performance headroom.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary driver of frame rates in The Medium, as evidenced by the wide variance in scores across graphics presets. With a boost clock of 2505 MHz and a base clock of 2205 MHz, the GPU’s Ada Lovelace architecture (5 nm process, 45,900 million transistors) provides substantial compute resources, including 9728 shading units and 76 RT cores. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for the game’s textures at 4K.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s explain why lower settings yield massive FPS gains. At 3840x2160, moving from Ultra (45 FPS) to High (57 FPS) is a 12 FPS jump, but dropping to Medium (79 FPS) and Low (109 FPS) shows how the GPU scales with reduced shading and texture work. The CPU, with 6 cores and 12 threads at a 4.40 GHz boost, does not appear to bottleneck in any measured row, as even the lowest preset at 1080p (125 FPS) does not exceed a threshold where CPU limitations would typically appear.

The RTX 4080’s 320 W TDP and Triple-slot design indicate a high-power part, but the benchmark results show it is efficiently utilized. The GPU’s percentile rank of 86th among all GPUs, with an average score of 54247, confirms it is a top-tier part. Comparing to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% delta), the performance in this game is statistically identical, meaning any FPS differences in The Medium come down to driver or thermal variance rather than hardware capability.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, which points to the GPU being the definitive limiting component. Starting at 1920x1080, the average FPS across settings ranges from 68 (Ultra) to 125 (Low). Moving to 2560x1440, those same settings drop to 57 (Ultra) and 118 (Low). At 3840x2160, the range tightens to 45 (Ultra) and 109 (Low).

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is modest for Low settings (125 to 118 FPS, a 5.6% drop) but more pronounced for Ultra (68 to 57 FPS, a 16.2% drop). This suggests that at lower presets, the GPU has enough headroom to absorb the pixel increase, while at Ultra, the additional shading and texture loads amplify the resolution penalty. From 1440p to 4K, the drops are larger: Low goes from 118 to 109 FPS (7.6% drop), while Ultra goes from 57 to 45 FPS (21.1% drop).

This behavior indicates that The Medium is heavily GPU-bound at all resolutions. If the CPU were a constraint, we would expect the 1080p Low score (125 FPS) to be capped, but it scales down smoothly with resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS is particularly telling—it is below the 60 FPS threshold, meaning users targeting 4K must sacrifice settings. The 3840x2160 Medium preset (79 FPS) shows that a balanced approach yields playable frame rates, while High (57 FPS) sits just under 60 FPS, making it a borderline choice for VRR displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best raw performance. Low settings produce an average of 125 FPS, which is the fastest result in the entire dataset. Medium settings yield 104 FPS (min 88, max 120), High drops to 86 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 68 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 57 FPS, a 45.6% reduction, showing how much visual fidelity costs at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 118 FPS (Low), 98 FPS (Medium, min 83, max 113), 72 FPS (High), and 57 FPS (Ultra). The Medium preset’s min of 83 FPS is notably high, indicating stable frame pacing. The jump from High to Ultra is 15 FPS, which is smaller than the 18 FPS jump from Medium to High, suggesting Ultra applies diminishing returns. The Low to Medium transition is 20 FPS, the largest single-step drop, implying that the Medium preset introduces significant shadow or texture quality increases.

At 3840x2160, the results are 109 FPS (Low), 79 FPS (Medium, min 67, max 91), 57 FPS (High), and 45 FPS (Ultra). The Medium min of 67 FPS shows that even at 4K, the system avoids severe dips. The High preset at 57 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, while Ultra at 45 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced scenes. The Low to Medium drop of 30 FPS is the largest absolute difference across all resolutions, highlighting the cost of 4K rendering when enabling higher-quality textures and effects.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for The Medium, this pairing holds a rank of 532 out of 3724 combos, placing it in the top 14.3% of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the strength of the RTX 4080, which is in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, combined with a CPU in the 71st percentile. The 532nd rank indicates that while the GPU is powerful, the Core i5-11400F is not a top-tier processor, and in a game that is GPU-bound, the CPU’s lower average benchmark score (17177) does not drag down results.

The combo’s rank is likely buoyed by the 16 GB VRAM and high bandwidth, which prevent texture streaming issues at 4K. Compared to the nearest GPU rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% delta in synthetic tests), this system would perform nearly identically in The Medium, meaning the rank is representative of a high-end 4K-capable setup. The CPU’s nearest rivals—such as the Intel Core i5-12450H (0.4% higher score)—do not show up in game-specific data, but the synthetic deltas are small enough that they would not change the overall ranking significantly. For users with this combo, the data suggests they are getting a top-15% experience, with the primary limitation being the GPU at Ultra 4K rather than any CPU constraint.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target at 1920x1080, the Ultra preset (68 FPS average) is the best choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while staying above the threshold. If a higher refresh rate display is in use, the High preset (86 FPS) offers a significant boost with only a slight visual downgrade. The Medium preset (104 FPS) is overkill for 1080p, as the GPU is underutilized, so users should prioritize Ultra or High.

At 2560x1440, the High preset (72 FPS) is the sweet spot, delivering smooth gameplay with strong visuals. The Ultra preset (57 FPS) falls short of 60 FPS, making it less ideal unless VRR is available. The Medium preset (98 FPS) is excellent for high-refresh monitors, but the visual fidelity loss may not be worth it for a game like The Medium, which relies on atmosphere. For a locked 60 FPS with headroom, High is the recommended setting.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset (79 FPS) is the clear winner, offering the best balance of performance and quality. The High preset (57 FPS) is playable but risks dips below 60 FPS in demanding scenes, as the min FPS data is not available for High. The Ultra preset (45 FPS) is only suitable for slower, cinematic moments, and the Low preset (109 FPS) strips too much visual detail for a horror game where immersion matters. The Medium preset’s min of 67 FPS provides confidence in frame stability, making it the default choice for 4K gameplay.