The Medium

The Medium presents an interesting stress profile for the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the CPU still exerts a noticeable influence on top-end frame rates at 1080p. This pairing delivers a playable experience at 4K, but users targeting high refresh rates at lower resolutions will need to manage settings carefully to balance the load between the two components.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario, though with some nuance. At Low settings, the drop from 123 FPS at 1920x1080 to 111.3 FPS at 3840x2160 represents only a 9.5% reduction, which is remarkably small. This suggests that at Low settings, the game is primarily limited by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU frames, even at 4K. The RTX 4080 SUPER is so powerful that it can process the low-detail frames faster than the i5-11400F can deliver them, making the 6-core, 12-thread processor the bottleneck across all resolutions at this setting.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically as settings increase. Moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings drops performance from 88 FPS to 58.6 FPS, a 33.4% reduction. At Ultra settings, the same resolution change results in a more severe decline from 68.5 FPS to 43.2 FPS, a 36.9% drop. This widening gap indicates that at higher quality presets, the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor, which is expected given the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth being taxed by the game's visual effects. The data suggests that players on 1440p or 4K displays should prioritize GPU-bound settings, while those on 1080p might find the CPU limiting their maximum achievable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average frame rate is 58.6 FPS, which is near the 60 FPS target. However, 4K Ultra drops to 43.2 FPS, which may feel less smooth. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM is sufficient, but the i5-11400F's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 868) may limit frame pacing in CPU-heavy scenes.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At Medium settings, it achieves 98.6 FPS, and at High settings, it maintains 74.7 FPS. This resolution balances the GPU load well, allowing the RTX 4080 SUPER to stretch its legs without being bottlenecked by the CPU as severely as at 1080p.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, 0% delta) and the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212, -0.2% delta). It slightly outperforms the Intel Core i5-1240U (17141, 0.2% delta). This indicates the CPU is competitive with mobile-class processors in multithreaded workloads.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER overkill for this game?

A: Based on the data, not at 4K Ultra. The GPU scores 34245 in Passmark G3D and sits in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, but The Medium still pushes it to 43.2 FPS at max settings. This suggests the game is demanding enough to utilize the card's full capabilities, though the CPU may prevent it from reaching its full potential at 1080p.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 88 FPS. This is notably lower than the 123 FPS at Low settings, indicating a significant performance cost for the High preset. The gap between Low and High (28.5% reduction) is larger than the gap between High and Medium (13% reduction), suggesting the High preset includes some expensive visual effects.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 238th out of 1689 total combinations, placing it in the top 14.1% of all tested systems. This is a strong result, though the ranking reflects the CPU's mid-range positioning rather than the GPU's high-end performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain much of the observed performance. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for The Medium's high-resolution textures. The GPU's boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units deliver substantial compute throughput, reflected in its 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark results reinforce its strength. It scores 34245 in Passmark G3D and 246994 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the RTX 4080 SUPER is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489 vs 53610 avg score) and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086). This margin is small, indicating that in this game, the GPU's raw power is more than adequate.

The VRAM allocation is particularly relevant for The Medium, a horror title with heavy texture streaming. At 4K Ultra, the game demands significant memory, and the 16 GB capacity prevents any potential stuttering from VRAM overflow. The data shows that the GPU's role becomes more critical at higher settings, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra frame rate of 43.2 FPS being the lowest measured across all configurations. This is not a GPU deficiency but rather a reflection of the game's demanding Ultra preset, which the card handles better than most but still cannot fully saturate at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces 123 FPS at Low, 101.4 FPS at Medium, 88 FPS at High, and 68.5 FPS at Ultra. The progression shows a 17.6% drop from Low to Medium, 13.1% from Medium to High, and 22.2% from High to Ultra. The 1080p Ultra figure of 68.5 FPS is particularly telling, as it suggests the CPU is struggling to keep up with the GPU's frame generation at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates are 118.6 FPS at Low, 98.6 FPS at Medium, 74.7 FPS at High, and 55.6 FPS at Ultra. The Low setting barely drops from 1080p, confirming the CPU bottleneck at that preset. However, the High setting shows a 15.1% reduction from 1080p, indicating the GPU is starting to become a limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the results are 111.3 FPS at Low, 76.1 FPS at Medium, 58.6 FPS at High, and 43.2 FPS at Ultra. The Low setting remains remarkably high, but the Medium preset drops 22.8% from 1440p, and High drops 21.6%. The 4K Ultra figure of 43.2 FPS is the lowest of the entire dataset, but still playable for a single-player horror game that does not require competitive frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 238th out of 1689 tested combinations, which places it in the 85.9th percentile of all systems tested for The Medium. This is a solid result, but the ranking reveals an interesting imbalance. The RTX 4080 SUPER alone sits in the 88th percentile of GPUs, while the i5-11400F is in the 75th percentile of CPUs. The combo's overall ranking is closer to the CPU's percentile than the GPU's, suggesting that the processor is holding back the system from achieving its full potential.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-11400F's average score of 17181 is effectively tied with its nearest rivals, all within 0.2% of each other. This indicates that the CPU is not a performance outlier, but rather a mid-pack performer. The GPU, however, is near the top of its class, with the RX 6900 XT being the only close competitor within 0.2%. The gap between the CPU's modest ranking and the GPU's high ranking creates a system that is balanced for 1440p gaming but leaves some performance on the table at 1080p.

The measured frame rates align with this assessment. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 74.7 FPS, which is a strong result for a game with The Medium's visual fidelity. At 4K High, the 58.6 FPS average is respectable, though not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The 1080p results, capped around 123 FPS at Low, show the CPU's ceiling more clearly, as the GPU could likely push much higher if given the opportunity.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K displays, the High preset at 3840x2160 is the best choice, delivering 58.6 FPS. This is close enough to 60 FPS that most players will find it smooth, and the visual improvement over Medium (76.1 FPS) is worth the 23% performance cost. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as the 43.2 FPS average may result in noticeable frame pacing issues during fast camera movements.

For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance, providing 98.6 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 74.7 FPS is also viable for those who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, but the Medium preset's performance advantage makes it the more practical choice for consistent gameplay.

For 1080p users, the Low preset at 123 FPS is the only setting that fully utilizes the GPU's potential, but it sacrifices too much visual quality. The Medium preset at 101.4 FPS is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high frame rate while preserving a reasonable level of detail. The High preset at 88 FPS is acceptable, but the gap to Medium is small enough that most players will not notice the difference in a horror game's dark environments. The Ultra preset at 68.5 FPS should be avoided, as the CPU bottleneck prevents it from achieving the smoothness that the GPU could otherwise provide, making the visual upgrade not worth the frame rate penalty.