The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built around dual-reality rendering, presents a unique stress profile where the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination reveals a clear performance hierarchy. The measured data shows that this pairing is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the CPU still imposes a noticeable ceiling at 1080p. Across the board, the RTX 5090 delivers playable frame rates, but the scaling patterns indicate that the graphics card is the primary driver of performance, with the six-core processor trailing behind at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 demonstrates a classic GPU-bound curve, but with a significant caveat at the lower end. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 79.9 at 1080p to 69.0 at 1440p and further to 51.0 at 4K. This represents a 36.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K, showing that the RTX 5090 is still the limiting factor even at the highest preset, though the i5-11400F begins to show its age at 1080p.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p is relatively modest across all settings, with High preset dropping from 92.7 to 82.2 FPS (an 11.3% decrease) and Low preset falling from 124.8 to 116.4 (a 6.7% decrease). This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is constraining the GPU, preventing it from reaching its full potential. The i5-11400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to cap the frame rate around the 125 FPS mark regardless of resolution, as evidenced by the Low preset results at 1080p (124.8) and 1440p (116.4) being closer than the 4K result (108.7).

The 4K scaling tells a different story. At 4K, the RTX 5090’s raw compute power becomes the dominant factor, with the CPU overhead becoming less significant. The Ultra preset at 4K (51.0 FPS) is only 36.1% slower than at 1080p (79.9), while the Low preset at 4K (108.7) is just 12.9% slower than at 1080p (124.8). This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, with the i5-11400F providing sufficient headroom to keep the card fed.

Interestingly, the Medium preset shows the most consistent scaling across resolutions, with scores of 102.8 (1080p), 99.6 (1440p), and 92.1 (4K). The 10.4% drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium is smaller than the Ultra preset’s 36.2% drop, suggesting that Medium is the sweet spot for balancing CPU and GPU load. The data reveals that the i5-11400F’s single-thread performance, measured at 868 in 3DMark single-thread and 2029 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is sufficient to maintain playable frame rates but not enough to fully unlock the RTX 5090 at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience with this CPU-GPU combo. For users prioritizing smooth gameplay, the Low preset at 4K (108.7 FPS) offers the highest frame rate at the highest resolution, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 4K (92.1 FPS) provides a 15.3% drop from Low but likely delivers a substantially better visual experience given The Medium’s atmospheric horror aesthetic.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (99.6 FPS) is the recommended choice, as it stays above the 90 FPS threshold while offering more visual detail than Low (116.4 FPS). The High preset at 1440p (82.2 FPS) is still playable but represents a 17.5% reduction from Medium, which may not justify the visual gains in a game that relies heavily on lighting and shadow effects. The Ultra preset at 1440p (69.0 FPS) is borderline, dipping below the 70 FPS mark, which could be noticeable in fast-paced scenes.

For 1080p users, the Medium preset (102.8 FPS) is the best balance, as it stays above 100 FPS while offering more visual richness than Low (124.8 FPS). The High preset (92.7 FPS) is also viable, but the Ultra preset (79.9 FPS) falls below the 80 FPS threshold, making it less desirable for a game that can have sudden frame-time spikes during scene transitions. The data shows that the Medium preset across all resolutions provides the most consistent experience, with the smallest relative drops when moving up in resolution.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p with the Medium preset (99.6 FPS) offers the best combination of visual quality and performance. At 4K Medium (92.1 FPS), you get a slightly lower frame rate but a higher resolution, while 1080p Medium (102.8 FPS) provides the highest frame rate among Medium settings.

Q: How does the i5-11400F bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: The bottleneck is most evident at 1080p, where the Low preset reaches 124.8 FPS, but the High preset only achieves 92.7 FPS, a 25.7% difference. At 4K, the gap narrows to 17.1% (108.7 vs 92.1), indicating that the CPU’s single-thread performance (868 in 3DMark single-thread) limits the GPU’s potential at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using in The Medium?

A: Based on the measured data, the Ultra preset provides 79.9 FPS at 1080p, 69.0 FPS at 1440p, and 51.0 FPS at 4K. While playable, the 35.8% performance drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K (92.1 to 51.0) suggests that the visual gains may not justify the frame rate loss, especially in a horror game where smoothness is critical.

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

A: Yes, the RTX 5090 with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth delivers 65.9 FPS at 4K High and 92.1 FPS at 4K Medium. The Low preset at 4K (108.7 FPS) demonstrates that the card has ample headroom, though the i5-11400F’s 12 threads may cause occasional stutters in CPU-intensive scenes.

Q: How does the RTX 5090’s performance compare to its nearest rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 5090’s average benchmark score of 84306 places it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 5090 D (84241) and 0.2% ahead of the RTX 5050 Mobile (84171). It trails the NVIDIA CMP 40HX by 1.6% (85637), but these differences are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios.

Q: What preset should I use for the smoothest experience?

A: The Low preset at any resolution provides the highest frame rates (124.8 at 1080p, 116.4 at 1440p, 108.7 at 4K). However, for a balance of visuals and performance, the Medium preset is recommended, as it maintains 92.1 FPS at 4K and 102.8 FPS at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 130th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 7.7% of all configurations. This high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU’s exceptional performance, as the RTX 5090 sits in the 94th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 84306. The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 75th percentile with an average 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).

The ranking suggests that while the RTX 5090 is a top-tier card, the i5-11400F holds the combo back from reaching the absolute top tier. The CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads, paired with a 2.60 GHz base clock and 4.40 GHz boost clock, are adequate for The Medium, but the game’s fixed-camera perspective and dual-world rendering may not fully utilize the GPU’s capabilities at 1080p. The combo’s 130th rank out of 1689 indicates that there are 129 configurations that perform better, likely featuring newer CPUs with higher single-thread performance.

The gap between this combo and the top-ranked configurations is likely due to the CPU’s memory bandwidth (51.2 GB/s) and lack of integrated graphics, which is irrelevant here but the processor’s 14 nm process node and Rocket Lake architecture are older compared to the RTX 5090’s 5 nm Blackwell 2.0 design. Despite this, the combo still delivers excellent frame rates, with the 4K Medium result (92.1 FPS) being particularly strong. The ranking confirms the RTX 5090’s brute force, which can compensate for the CPU’s limitations in most scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays the dominant role in this combo, as evidenced by the performance data. The card’s 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for The Medium’s high-resolution textures and dual-reality rendering. The GPU’s base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs, deliver the raw compute power needed to maintain high frame rates.

The RTX 5090’s memory configuration is particularly relevant for The Medium, as the game’s split-screen-like presentation of two simultaneous worlds can quickly consume VRAM. The 32 GB capacity ensures that there is no memory pressure even at 4K Ultra, where the card still manages 51.0 FPS. The GPU’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than sufficient for this title, with the card’s 94th percentile ranking reflecting its top-tier status.

The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, where the i5-11400F’s 12 threads are less likely to bottleneck. The RTX 5090’s nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, has an average score of 84241 (0.1% delta), indicating that this card is at the very top of the performance stack. The GPU’s PCIe 5.0 x16 interface ensures no bandwidth limitations, and its 575 W TDP affirms its power-hungry design, though the combo’s performance suggests that this power is well-spent.

In The Medium, the RTX 5090’s role is to provide the visual fidelity and frame rates that the i5-11400F cannot achieve on its own. The GPU’s 92,200 million transistors and 750 mm² die size make it one of the most complex consumer chips ever produced, and the measured FPS data confirms that it delivers on its promise. The card’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure that it can handle the game’s modern rendering techniques, while its 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores provide headroom for future titles.