The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title released in early 2021, presents an interesting stress profile for the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination. The benchmark data places this pairing at rank 901 out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the top quarter of all systems evaluated for this specific game. This ranking suggests a well-balanced platform, though the measured frame rates reveal that the GPU is often the primary constraint, particularly at higher resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 901 out of 3724 represents the 75th percentile of all tested system configurations for The Medium. This is a strong showing, indicating that the pairing of a 12th-generation Core i5 with a Radeon RX 9000-series GPU delivers performance that outperforms roughly three-quarters of all other combinations tested. The data implies this is a capable horror gaming setup, but not an absolute top-tier one, as 900 other combos achieved higher average frame rates.

Examining the individual components provides context for this overall rank. The Intel Core i5-12400 sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 18683. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD EPYC 7643, which scores nearly identically at 18697, showing a negligible 0.1% performance difference. The i5-12400 also trades blows with the Intel Core i7-1355U and AMD Ryzen AI 5 330, both of which are within 0.7% of its score. Interestingly, the Intel Core i3-14100F is the only rival that scores lower, at 18519, a 0.9% deficit.

On the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT holds a 55th percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 13543. Its nearest rivals are surprisingly older or lower-tier cards like the AMD Radeon HD 7770M and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570, which score within 0.2% of the RX 9070 XT. This is a statistical anomaly in the aggregate benchmark data, likely reflecting a wide variance in test conditions, as the measured in-game performance tells a very different story about the card's actual capabilities.

The synergy between these two components is what matters for The Medium. The CPU's strong single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark and the GPU's dedicated hardware for handling modern rendering effects combine to produce a rank that is solidly above average, but the data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher settings, preventing the combo from climbing higher in the rankings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is the dominant component in this pairing for The Medium. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This is a critical resource for a game like The Medium, which renders dual, simultaneous worlds as part of its core mechanic. The ability to stream high-resolution textures for two distinct environments without stutter is directly tied to this memory capacity and bandwidth.

The GPU's clock speeds are also significant. The base clock is 1660 MHz, which can boost up to 2970 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2400 MHz. The high boost clock allows for substantial performance headroom when thermal and power limits permit. The measured frame rates in The Medium show the GPU's raw power scaling directly with settings. At 1080p, the jump from Low (145 FPS) to Ultra (53 FPS) is a 63% reduction in performance, indicating a heavy reliance on pixel and shader work that is characteristic of the game's fixed-camera angles and detailed environments.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 4.0, is built on a 4 nm process and contains 53,900 million transistors. It features 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs. The 64 ray accelerators are present but are not a major factor in this title's measured performance, as the data does not show a significant penalty from ray tracing effects. The FP32 performance of 48.66 TFLOPS is the theoretical ceiling for compute, and the data suggests that The Medium is able to leverage a significant portion of this capability. The GPU's percentile rank of 55 among all GPUs is misleading in this context, as its in-game performance places it as a high-end part, but the data shows it is not the absolute fastest, which is consistent with its 901st overall combo rank.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance scaling across resolutions. When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the average frame rate drops by roughly 15-16% across all settings. For example, on High settings, the system goes from 67 FPS at 1080p to 56 FPS at 1440p, a drop of 11 FPS. The same trend is visible at Medium settings, where the frame rate falls from 93 FPS to 79 FPS.

The jump from 1440p to 4K is significantly more demanding. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 56 FPS at 1440p to 44 FPS at 4K, a 21% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is increasingly the limiting factor at 4K, as the pixel count quadruples, placing a massive load on the ROPs and memory subsystem. The data shows this is a GPU-bound scenario, as the CPU's role becomes less important when the GPU is saturated.

This scaling behavior has important implications for the system's balance. At 1080p, the system is likely CPU-bound in some scenes, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can feed it. This is evidenced by the 145 FPS result on Low settings, which approaches the practical limit for a 6-core, 12-thread processor. As resolution increases, the bottleneck shifts to the GPU, and the frame rates become more consistent with what the RX 9070 XT can produce. The 44 FPS average at 4K High, while playable, is not ideal for a fast-paced horror experience, suggesting that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, where the GPU can still deliver high frame rates without being completely maxed out.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this hardware combination. The most balanced experience is achieved at 1440p with the Medium preset. This configuration produces an average frame rate of 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. The minimum frame rate is the most critical metric for a horror game, as stutters can break immersion, and a 67 FPS floor ensures a largely smooth experience.

At 1080p, the Medium preset is also excellent, delivering 93 FPS on average with a minimum of 79 FPS. This is the highest frame rate with a recorded minimum that remains above 60 FPS. While the Low preset at 1080p achieves 145 FPS, the visual fidelity is likely too compromised for a game that relies on atmosphere and environmental detail. The High preset at 1080p drops to 67 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

For users with 4K displays, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the only viable option, providing 62 FPS on average with a minimum of 53 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 44 FPS, which may be too low for a comfortable experience. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it yields 53 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The performance cost of Ultra settings is not justified by the marginal visual improvements in this title. Therefore, the data strongly recommends the Medium preset as the default choice, with 1440p offering the best balance of image quality and frame rate stability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for a smooth experience?

A: The data shows that 1440p with the Medium preset is the optimal choice, delivering 79 FPS on average with a minimum of 67 FPS. This provides the best balance between visual fidelity and frame rate stability, ensuring a consistent experience without significant drops below 60 FPS.

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

A: Yes, but with limitations. At 4K, the Medium preset produces 62 FPS on average, while the High preset drops to 44 FPS and Ultra to 35 FPS. The data shows that 4K is playable only on the Medium preset, and users seeking higher visual quality should stick to 1440p.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683. It is statistically tied with the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, -0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, -0.3%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519, +0.9%) and slightly behind the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811, -0.7%).

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The data suggests that the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. This is evident from the significant frame rate drops when moving from 1440p High (56 FPS) to 4K High (44 FPS), a 21% decrease that cannot be mitigated by the CPU.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 145 FPS on average, while the Ultra preset achieves 53 FPS. This represents a 63% performance reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a massive load on the GPU, likely due to advanced lighting and shadow effects.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and is it sufficient?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory. Given the game's dual-world rendering mechanic, this capacity is more than sufficient for all tested settings and resolutions, as the data does not show any memory-related performance anomalies.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache is a key asset for gaming, as it reduces the latency of accessing frequently used data. The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks shows a strong single-thread capability, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, AI, and scene transitions. The game's fixed-camera angles mean that the CPU does not need to process complex free-roam environments, but the dual-world mechanic does require additional draw calls and memory management. The CPU's multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989, ensures that these tasks are handled without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary limiting factor in this game. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 145 FPS, which is a high frame rate that suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU's output. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's load remains relatively static. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all processors indicates it is a solid mid-to-high-range part, and its performance is more than adequate for this title, even at high frame rates. The 65W TDP also indicates that it is an efficient part, unlikely to throttle in a standard desktop chassis.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a complete breakdown of the measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12400 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination in The Medium, as provided by the benchmark data.

1920x1080:

• Low: 145 FPS average
• Medium: 93 FPS average, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 107 FPS
• High: 67 FPS average
• Ultra: 53 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 126 FPS average
• Medium: 79 FPS average, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS
• High: 56 FPS average
• Ultra: 45 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 99 FPS average
• Medium: 62 FPS average, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS
• High: 44 FPS average
• Ultra: 35 FPS average

The data reveals a consistent trend across all resolutions: the Medium preset offers the most stable experience, as it is the only setting with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, indicating a controlled frame pacing. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates but likely sacrifices too much visual detail. The High and Ultra presets show a steep performance cost, with the Ultra preset falling below 60 FPS even at 1080p. These numbers clearly illustrate the GPU's scaling with resolution and settings, confirming the recommendation for the Medium preset as the optimal choice for this hardware combination.