The Medium

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER combination ranks 207th out of 1,689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 12.3% of all systems. This is a strong result for a horror title that demands both substantial GPU throughput and a responsive CPU for its fixed-camera scenes and complex lighting transitions. The data indicates this combo delivers a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra remains the only setting where the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold. The pairing is balanced, but the benchmark results show that the GPU becomes the primary constraint at higher resolutions and quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 207 out of 1,689 total tested combinations, which places it comfortably in the upper tier of systems evaluated for The Medium. This ranking reflects a well-matched pairing where neither component is a glaring bottleneck in most scenarios. The CPU sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, and the GPU at the 86th percentile among all graphics cards, indicating that the graphics card is the stronger component in this duo. Consequently, the combo's overall position in the game-specific rankings is driven more by the GPU's capabilities than the CPU's raw processing power.

When isolating the CPU's performance, the Core i5-12400 posts an average benchmark score of 19,850. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-9700, scores 19,831, a negligible difference of just 0.1%. The data shows the i5-12400 is essentially tied with the older i7-9700, and it also edges out the Intel Core i5-11600K, which scores 19,771, by a margin of 0.4%. Conversely, the Intel Core i7-8700 scores 19,894, which is 0.2% higher than the i5-12400, and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19,928, a 0.4% advantage. These tight margins suggest that the i5-12400 delivers performance that is highly competitive with these alternatives, though the game's actual frame rates will be more heavily influenced by the GPU.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 48,704. Its closest competitor, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, scores 49,071, which is 0.7% higher. The Intel Arc A550M scores 49,737, a 2.1% advantage, while the NVIDIA RTX A2000 and RTX A1000 Mobile score 47,915 and 47,743 respectively, trailing by 1.6% and 2.0%. These comparisons highlight that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is a high-tier performer, and its 86th percentile ranking confirms that it outclasses the vast majority of GPUs in the database.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides six cores and twelve threads, operating with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. For The Medium, a game that relies heavily on consistent frame pacing and dual-reality rendering sequences, the CPU's threading capabilities are relevant. The 3DMark benchmark scores show a clear scaling pattern: the processor achieves 1,692 points in the 2-thread test, 3,012 in 4-thread, 4,745 in 8-thread, and 5,890 in max-thread tests. This progression indicates that the CPU can effectively utilize additional threads, which is beneficial for the game's background simulation tasks.

However, the game's frame rate data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in most configurations. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 144 FPS, and at 1440p Low it reaches 139.9 FPS. These high frame rates indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately even at lower resolutions where CPU load is typically higher relative to GPU load. The single-thread performance, measured at 910 points in 3DMark single-thread and 2,249 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is solid but not exceptional. In the context of this game, the i5-12400's performance is sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale more dramatically with GPU settings changes than with resolution changes.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K with Medium settings, the combo achieves 75.6 FPS, and at High settings it drops to 53.8 FPS. Therefore, 60 FPS is achievable at 4K Medium, but not at 4K High or Ultra.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-9700?

A: The Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19,850, which is just 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700's score of 19,831. The performance difference is essentially negligible.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve a high refresh rate?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo hits 144 FPS. At 1440p Low, it reaches 139.9 FPS. Both resolutions allow for frame rates well above 120 FPS on lower presets.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER significantly better than the NVIDIA RTX A2000?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an average benchmark score of 48,704, which is 1.6% higher than the RTX A2000's score of 47,915. This indicates a modest performance advantage for the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 65.9 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it drops to 41.8 FPS, representing a substantial reduction of 24.1 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU's 12-thread configuration help in this game?

A: The CPU's benchmark scores show scaling from 1,692 points in the 2-thread test to 5,890 in the max-thread test, indicating good multi-thread utilization. This supports the game's background processing needs without causing frame rate drops.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo in The Medium reveal a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. Starting at 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 144 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. Moving to Medium drops the average to 110.5 FPS, while High yields 78.9 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces an average of 65.9 FPS, which is still comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 1440p, the frame rates scale down as expected. The Low preset achieves 139.9 FPS, a slight decrease from 1080p Low. Medium settings produce 93.2 FPS, and High settings result in 67.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 55.3 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold for the first time in this resolution.

At 4K, the impact of resolution is more pronounced. Low settings at 3840x2160 yield an average of 118.7 FPS, which is still very high. Medium settings drop to 75.6 FPS, and High settings fall to 53.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces the lowest frame rate in the dataset, averaging just 41.8 FPS. This data shows that the combo is capable of high frame rates at lower settings, but the Ultra preset becomes increasingly demanding at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates that the GPU is the primary limiting component, especially at higher settings. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 144 FPS at 1080p to 139.9 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of just 4.1 FPS, and then to 118.7 FPS at 4K, a further reduction of 21.2 FPS. This relatively small scaling penalty at Low settings suggests that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output, and the frame rate is not heavily constrained by resolution.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is much steeper. The frame rate falls from 65.9 FPS at 1080p to 55.3 FPS at 1440p, a drop of 10.6 FPS, and then to 41.8 FPS at 4K, a further drop of 13.5 FPS. The percentage reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is approximately 36.6%, indicating that the GPU's rendering load is scaling significantly with pixel count. This pattern confirms that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance remains constant while the GPU's workload increases.

Settings Recommendations

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p offers an excellent balance, achieving 93.2 FPS. This frame rate is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a significant visual improvement over Low settings. If the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity, the High preset at 1080p delivers 78.9 FPS, which is still smooth and offers better graphical detail than Medium. For those with a 4K display, the Medium preset is the only viable option for maintaining high frame rates, as it averages 75.6 FPS.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for regular play, as it only achieves 65.9 FPS at 1080p and fails to hit 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K. The data shows that the jump from High to Ultra costs a significant amount of performance—at 1080p, the frame rate drops from 78.9 to 65.9 FPS, a 13 FPS loss—without a proportional visual benefit. The Low preset, while providing the highest frame rates, should be reserved for competitive or high-refresh-rate scenarios, as it sacrifices too much visual quality for the modest frame rate gains seen at 1440p and 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this combo, equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2340 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications are directly reflected in the benchmark results, where the GPU achieves a Passmark G3D score of 31,811 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 223,091.

The GPU's role in The Medium is critical, as the game's frame rates are heavily dependent on the graphics card's ability to render complex scenes. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 144 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 41.8 FPS. This dramatic shift highlights the GPU's workload scaling with resolution and settings. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this game, as the minimum and maximum frame rates are not provided, but the average frame rates suggest no VRAM-related stuttering. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs supports its high-end positioning, and its performance in this game is consistent with that standing, providing playable frame rates at all but the most demanding 4K Ultra settings.