The Medium

The Medium presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The measured data reveals a system where the GPU's immense power is progressively constrained by resolution, moving from a CPU-bound scenario at 1080p to a more balanced GPU-bound load at 4K. This analysis walks through the FPS data to interpret what the combination of a mid-range 12th-gen processor and a top-tier 50-series graphics card means for this specific horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear and expected trend: average FPS decreases as resolution increases, but the rate of decline reveals the bottleneck dynamics. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo produces 121 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 114 FPS, a modest 5.8% reduction. However, the jump to 4K Medium yields 90 FPS, a significant 21.1% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that at 1080p, the Core i5-12400 is likely the limiting factor, as the RTX 5090 is not being fully utilized. The relatively small performance hit from 1080p to 1440p suggests the GPU is still waiting on the CPU at the lower resolution.

The scaling becomes more pronounced when examining the gap between 1440p and 4K. The substantial 24 FPS loss between these resolutions points to the GPU finally becoming the primary constraint. The RTX 5090's rendering workload at 4K is immense, and the data reflects that the graphics card is now the bottleneck. This is a classic sign of a high-end GPU paired with a more modest processor: the CPU can feed the GPU enough data at lower resolutions, but as pixel count increases, the GPU's rendering time per frame grows, making it the dominant factor. The result is that the system's performance is more sensitive to resolution changes at higher settings, where the GPU is working hardest.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured average frame rate is 90 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS recorded.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 137 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 65 FPS. This represents a 72 FPS difference, making the Low preset more than twice as fast in terms of average frame rate.

Q: What is the best-performing setting at 1080p in terms of average FPS?

A: The Low preset yields the highest average at 145 FPS. The Medium preset is the next fastest at 121 FPS, followed by High at 97 FPS and Ultra at 77 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain a playable frame rate at 4K Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 51. While this is above 30 FPS, it is below the 60 FPS target that many users consider the baseline for a smooth experience.

Q: At which resolution does the frame rate exceed 120 FPS on the Medium preset?

A: At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 121 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Medium preset surpasses the 120 FPS mark.

Q: What is the frame rate range for the 4K Medium preset?

A: The measured average is 90 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This shows a 27 FPS variance between the lowest and highest recorded frames.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this specific combination at rank 168 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This means the system performs in the top 4.5% of all configurations tested for this game. The high ranking is almost entirely attributable to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, which sits in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. The Core i5-12400, in contrast, is in the 72nd percentile for CPUs. While the CPU is by no means weak, the GPU is clearly the star of this pairing.

This ranking suggests that while the combo is exceptionally powerful, there are 167 other tested configurations that deliver higher frame rates. Those configurations likely pair the RTX 5090 with a stronger processor, such as a higher-core-count or newer-generation CPU, to reduce the CPU bottleneck observed at lower resolutions. The data implies that the i5-12400 holds the system back from achieving its absolute peak potential, particularly in CPU-bound scenarios, but the raw power of the RTX 5090 ensures the overall result is still very strong.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset leads with 145 FPS average, followed by Medium at 121 FPS. The High preset produces 97 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 77 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum of 103 FPS and a maximum of 139 FPS, indicating a 36 FPS variance.

At 2560x1440, the order remains the same. Low averages 137 FPS, Medium averages 114 FPS, High averages 82 FPS, and Ultra averages 65 FPS. The Medium preset's range is from a minimum of 97 FPS to a maximum of 131 FPS, a 34 FPS variance. The drop from Low to Medium is 23 FPS, while the drop from High to Ultra is 17 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced. Low averages 126 FPS, Medium averages 90 FPS, High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 51 FPS. The Medium preset here has a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS, a 27 FPS variance. The most significant relative drop is from Medium to High, which is a 26 FPS reduction. This clearly shows that the Ultra setting at 4K is the most demanding configuration tested, pushing the average below 60 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the user's target frame rate and resolution. For a 60 FPS experience at 4K, the Medium preset is the clear choice, as it is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS (90 FPS) while maintaining a minimum above 60 FPS (76 FPS). The High preset at 4K averages 64 FPS, which is above 60, but its minimum is not recorded, and the lower average suggests it may dip below the target more often.

For users with a 1440p display aiming for high refresh rates, the Low preset provides the best combination of speed and smoothness, with an average of 137 FPS. The Medium preset is also viable, averaging 114 FPS, and offers better visual fidelity. At 1080p, the Medium preset is a strong recommendation, as it hits 121 FPS average with a minimum of 103 FPS, ensuring a fluid experience. The Low preset at 1080p is the only one to exceed 144 FPS, making it the choice for 144Hz displays.

The Ultra preset is the least recommended across all resolutions. At 4K, it falls below 60 FPS, and at 1440p and 1080p, the significant performance cost is not justified by the marginal visual improvements over High. The data suggests that Medium or High presets offer the best balance of visual quality and performance for this title on this hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz, which can boost up to 4.40 GHz. These specifications are modest compared to the GPU it is paired with. The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257, shows it is a capable mid-range part.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p. The fact that the average FPS at 1080p Low (145) is not dramatically higher than at 1440p Low (137) or even 4K Low (126) suggests the CPU is reaching its limit. The game engine appears to be unable to fully utilize the RTX 5090's power at lower resolutions because the i5-12400 cannot process the game's logic and draw calls fast enough. This is a classic CPU bottleneck scenario. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support are sufficient, but the core count and clock speed are the primary constraints, preventing the system from achieving higher frame rates at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a flagship graphics card with a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz. This hardware is designed for extreme resolutions and high settings. The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 39650, place it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs.

In The Medium, the GPU's dominance is clear at 4K. The RTX 5090's raw compute power is the primary factor in achieving 90 FPS at 4K Medium, a result that many other GPUs could not match. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as frame rates drop significantly from 1440p to 4K. The 32 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra, ensuring no memory-related stuttering. The GPU's capability is so high that it is only fully utilized at the highest resolution, where its rendering power becomes the bottleneck instead of the CPU. This pairing demonstrates how a top-tier GPU can push a mid-range CPU to its limits, shifting the performance bottleneck based on resolution.