The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical preset. For the combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, the measured data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across the twelve tested configurations. The most balanced experience is found at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, delivering an average of 68.5 FPS, which offers a substantial improvement over the High preset’s 51.7 FPS while maintaining better visual fidelity than the Low preset’s 109.3 FPS. At higher resolutions, the frame rates become more variable, with 2560x1440 Ultra dropping to 31.7 FPS and 3840x2160 Ultra falling to 23.8 FPS, indicating that this combo is best suited for lower resolutions or more moderate settings.

Settings Recommendations

The data indicates that the optimal experience for this hardware pairing is at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. This configuration achieves an average of 68.5 FPS, which is a smooth and playable frame rate for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing. While the Low preset at 1920x1080 produces a much higher 109.3 FPS, the visual compromise is significant, and the Medium preset provides a better balance between image quality and performance.

Moving up to the High preset at 1920x1080 reduces the average to 51.7 FPS, a drop of roughly 25% from Medium. This suggests that the jump from Medium to High is costly, and the resulting visual gains may not justify the performance hit. The Ultra preset at 1920x1080 further lowers the average to 40.5 FPS, which is below the threshold for a consistently fluid experience.

For users with 2560x1440 displays, the Low preset is the only viable option for high refresh rates, achieving 89 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution produces 55.1 FPS, which is acceptable, but the High and Ultra presets fall to 42.2 FPS and 31.7 FPS respectively. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset remains playable at 73.4 FPS, while Medium (45.1 FPS), High (34.6 FPS), and Ultra (23.8 FPS) all dip below the ideal range for a responsive experience. Therefore, the recommended path is to prioritize resolution scaling and select the Medium preset at 1920x1080, or lower the resolution to 2560x1440 with Low settings for a sharper image.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. In the context of The Medium, this CPU appears to provide sufficient processing power, as the frame rate variations across settings are primarily driven by the GPU load. The benchmark results for this CPU show a strong single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark, which is crucial for handling game logic and draw calls.

The CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a 3DMark max-threads score of 5890 and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935. These figures indicate that the i5-12400 can handle background tasks and any multi-threaded game systems without becoming a bottleneck. Data from PassMark shows a multi-thread score of 18747 and a single-thread score of 3456, reinforcing the processor’s balanced performance.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, deltaPct -0.2). This placement suggests that, in synthetic benchmarks, the i5-12400 performs on par with these older i7 parts. In The Medium, this level of CPU performance is evidently not the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings, pointing to the GPU as the primary constraint.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is the decisive component in this pairing, featuring 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2460 MHz, and it operates on the Ada Lovelace architecture. The GPU’s performance in The Medium is directly reflected in the measured FPS, showing a clear decline as resolution and settings increase.

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4060 manages an average of 109.3 FPS on Low, which demonstrates its raw capability. However, the transition to Medium (68.5 FPS) and High (51.7 FPS) shows a steep performance cost, indicating that the game’s higher presets place a heavy demand on the GPU’s shading units and memory subsystem. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient at this resolution, but the data does not show a specific VRAM bottleneck, as the frame rate drops are consistent with increased pixel shading work.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS on Low is 89, but this falls to 55.1 on Medium and 42.2 on High. The trend continues at 3840x2160, where even Low dips to 73.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23.8 FPS. This pattern suggests that the RTX 4060’s 128-bit memory interface and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become a limiting factor at higher resolutions, where the data throughput demands exceed the card’s capabilities. The GPU’s average benchmark score is 23181, which places it very close to the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (23321, deltaPct -0.6), indicating that its performance is in line with that competitor.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination holds a rank of 944 out of 1689 tested combos. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all systems, suggesting that while it is not a top-tier performer, it is far from the bottom. The rank indicates that roughly 56% of tested configurations perform better, while 44% perform worse.

This ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p with adjusted settings, but struggles at 4K with higher presets. The GPU’s position in the overall market, with a percentile of 66 against all GPUs, supports this finding, as it is a mid-range card. The CPU’s percentile of 77 against all CPUs is higher, confirming that the processor is more capable than the graphics card relative to their respective markets.

The combo’s rank is likely influenced by the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions, as many higher-ranked combos would feature more powerful graphics cards. The data indicates that this specific pairing is well-balanced for 1080p gaming, but users seeking higher resolution performance would need to consider a more potent GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a consistent 60 FPS?

A: Based on the data, 1920x1080 with Medium settings is the only configuration that reliably exceeds 60 FPS with an average of 68.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (89 FPS) achieves this, while Medium (55.1 FPS) falls short.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there from Medium to High settings at 1080p?

A: The average frame rate decreases from 68.5 FPS on Medium to 51.7 FPS on High at 1920x1080, representing a reduction of approximately 24.5%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system for The Medium?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as frame rates scale directly with resolution and graphical settings. The CPU’s benchmark scores are relatively strong, and its nearest rivals perform nearly identically, indicating it is not limiting performance.

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

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset (73.4 FPS) provides a playable frame rate. The Medium preset (45.1 FPS) and High preset (34.6 FPS) are below 60 FPS, and Ultra (23.8 FPS) is not recommended.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested systems?

A: It is ranked 944 out of 1689 total tested combos, placing it in the middle-upper tier of performance for this game.

Q: What is the difference in performance between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The average frame rate drops from 89 FPS on Low to 31.7 FPS on Ultra at 2560x1440, a significant reduction that highlights the heavy cost of the Ultra preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are as follows: Low 109.3 FPS, Medium 68.5 FPS, High 51.7 FPS, and Ultra 40.5 FPS. This shows a clear and steady decline as visual fidelity increases, with the largest single-step drop occurring from Low to Medium, which reduces the frame rate by 40.8 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low 89 FPS, Medium 55.1 FPS, High 42.2 FPS, and Ultra 31.7 FPS. The pattern remains consistent, but the absolute numbers are lower, reflecting the increased pixel count. The drop from Low to Medium is 33.9 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 10.5 FPS, showing a more gradual decline at the higher end.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low 73.4 FPS, Medium 45.1 FPS, High 34.6 FPS, and Ultra 23.8 FPS. This resolution proves to be the most demanding, with even the Low preset failing to hit 90 FPS. The difference between the lowest and highest settings at 4K is 49.6 FPS, underscoring the immense strain placed on the GPU. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently delivers the highest frame rates, while the Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest, confirming that the GPU’s rendering workload is the dominant factor in determining performance.