The Medium

The Medium presents a demanding fixed-camera horror experience where visual fidelity directly trades against frame rate. For the tested configuration of an Intel Core i5-12400 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060, the measured data points to a clear performance ceiling at higher settings, making preset selection the single most important decision for playability.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results show that the Medium preset is the optimal balance for this hardware combination. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers an average of 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS. This is the only preset at 1080p that maintains an average comfortably above 60 FPS while keeping the frame time variance in check. The High preset at the same resolution drops to 52 FPS average, which is playable but not smooth, while Ultra falls to 41 FPS, which introduces noticeable stutter in a game that relies on atmospheric tension.

For 1440p, the Medium preset remains the best choice, delivering 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. This is right at the edge of the 60 FPS target; the minimum frame rate suggests occasional dips into the 50s, but the overall experience remains consistent. At 4K, no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K produces 48 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS, which is the highest playable option at that resolution. Low settings are the only way to get higher frame rates, hitting 76 FPS at 4K, but this sacrifices the game's visual atmosphere significantly.

The data suggests that players should prioritize the Medium preset across all resolutions. It provides the best combination of visual quality and frame rate stability. The jump from Medium to High costs roughly 28% of the average FPS at 1080p (72 to 52), while the jump from Medium to Low only gains about 61% (72 to 116) but at a severe visual penalty. The Medium preset's measured minimum frame rates (61 FPS at 1080p, 52 FPS at 1440p, 41 FPS at 4K) indicate that the engine holds up well under load without severe hitches, which is critical for a horror game where sudden frame drops ruin immersion.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060's memory configuration and clock speeds play a decisive role in The Medium's performance. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The Medium's fixed-camera scenes often render large, detailed environments, and the data shows that the 8 GB capacity is adequate at Medium settings but becomes a limiting factor at higher presets. The measured FPS drops from 72 at 1080p Medium to 52 at 1080p High, and to 41 at 1080p Ultra; this pattern suggests that texture loading and memory pressure increase sharply beyond Medium settings.

The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2497 MHz, with a base clock of 2280 MHz. The card's 3840 shading units and 120 texture mapping units are tasked with rendering the game's volumetric fog and lighting effects, which are signature features of The Medium. The benchmark data shows the GPU's compute capability is sufficient for Medium settings at 1440p, but the 4K results (48 FPS at Medium, 34 FPS at High) indicate that the card's 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is not enough to maintain smooth frame rates at higher resolutions with increased shader complexity.

The RTX 5060's 30 RT cores are present but The Medium does not appear to be a ray tracing-centric title based on the measured data; the performance scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent with a traditional rasterization workload. The GPU's 8 GB frame buffer is the more critical specification here, as the difference between Low and Medium settings at 4K (76 FPS vs 48 FPS) suggests that memory bandwidth is not the bottleneck at lower settings, but rather the shader workload. The card's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Medium settings, but the 28 Gbps effective memory speed cannot compensate for the increased data requirements of High and Ultra presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression across resolutions reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Medium, the average is 72 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it drops to 61 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it falls to 48 FPS. This represents a 15% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and then a 21% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, which indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are being taxed progressively harder as resolution increases.

The Low preset tells a similar story: 116 FPS at 1080p, 97 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 16% and 22%, respectively. This consistent pattern across presets confirms that the RTX 5060 is the primary limiting component, not the CPU. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions; if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS gaps at higher resolutions where the GPU workload increases.

The most telling data point is the 4K Ultra result of 27 FPS average. This is a 44% drop from the 4K Medium result of 48 FPS. The jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K imposes a massive shader and memory load that the GPU cannot handle. The 1440p Ultra result of 35 FPS and the 1080p Ultra result of 41 FPS show that Ultra settings are simply not viable on this hardware at any resolution, with the GPU struggling to maintain even 45 FPS. The resolution scaling data indicates that players should stick to 1080p or 1440p with Medium settings for the best experience, as the 4K Medium preset, while playable, sacrifices smoothness for resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 1670 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 55th percentile of all tested systems, meaning it outperforms just over half of the configurations in the database for this game. The ranking is moderate, reflecting the GPU's mid-range positioning and the game's demanding nature.

The combo rank is driven primarily by the GPU's performance ceiling, as the CPU is not a limiting factor in this title. The i5-12400's average benchmark score of 18683 places it in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697, 0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, 0.3% faster). This indicates that the CPU is a solid performer, but the RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 26331, which places it in the 72nd percentile among GPUs, is what holds the combo back in this particular game.

The GPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon 860M (26401, 0.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce MX550 (26421, 0.3% faster), with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT (26011, 1.2% slower) being slightly behind. This positioning explains why the combo ranks mid-pack: the RTX 5060's raw compute performance is competitive with other mid-range options, but The Medium's specific demands on memory and shading units expose its limitations. The rank of 1670 out of 3724 suggests that for this game, a system with a stronger GPU would be necessary to push into the top quartile, as the CPU's headroom is not the issue.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400's specifications are more than adequate for The Medium, and the benchmark data confirms that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in this title. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic and asset streaming.

The CPU's single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257 and 3DMark single-thread score of 910. The Medium relies on a fixed-camera perspective, which typically involves more CPU-side scene management than first-person titles, but the data shows that the i5-12400 handles this without issue. The multi-threaded performance is also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a 3DMark max threads score of 5890.

The key evidence for the CPU not being a bottleneck is the FPS scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 116 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would expose CPU limitations if they existed. The fact that the FPS scales down predictably as resolution increases (97 FPS at 1440p Low, 76 FPS at 4K Low) indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. If the CPU were struggling, we would see the 1080p Low result capped at a lower value, and the scaling between resolutions would be less pronounced. The CPU's 65W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are standard for a mid-range build, and its 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs (with an average benchmark score of 18683) confirms it is a capable partner for the RTX 5060 in this game.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use with this CPU and GPU combination?

A: The Medium preset is the optimal choice. At 1080p it delivers 72 FPS average, at 1440p it delivers 61 FPS average, and at 4K it delivers 48 FPS average. Higher presets drop below 60 FPS at all resolutions, and Low settings sacrifice too much visual quality for the frame rate gain.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K smoothly?

A: No, not at standard settings. The best 4K result is 48 FPS average with the Medium preset, which is playable but not smooth. The High preset at 4K drops to 34 FPS, and Ultra falls to 27 FPS. Low settings at 4K achieve 76 FPS, but this requires significant visual compromises.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The FPS scales consistently with resolution changes (72 FPS at 1080p Medium, 61 FPS at 1440p Medium, 48 FPS at 4K Medium), which indicates the RTX 5060 is being taxed harder as pixel count increases. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 1080p Low (116 FPS) without capping.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems in the database?

A: It ranks 1670 out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the 55th percentile. This is a mid-pack result. The CPU ranks in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU also ranks in the 72nd percentile, but The Medium's specific demands push the overall combo ranking lower.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows stable frame times. At 1080p Medium, the minimum FPS is 61, which is close to the average of 72. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 52 against an average of 61. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 41 against an average of 48. This indicates the game maintains consistent performance without severe hitches.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM on the RTX 5060 sufficient for this game?

A: The data suggests it is sufficient for Medium settings, but not for higher presets. The FPS drops significantly when moving from Medium to High (72 to 52 FPS at 1080p), which is likely due to increased memory pressure from higher resolution textures. The 4K High result of 34 FPS indicates the 8 GB frame buffer is a limiting factor at higher resolutions with higher settings.