The Medium

The Medium presents a punishing load for the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination, with benchmark results showing a system that is consistently limited by the graphics card. The data indicates that this combo is positioned in the lower half of tested configurations, ranking 1288 out of 1689 combos, a placement that reflects the game's demanding nature rather than any specific hardware deficiency. The measured frames per second across all resolutions and settings reveal a clear pattern: this pairing is best suited for lower graphical presets to achieve acceptable performance.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 91.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 74.7 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 18.7%, and then further to 61.1 FPS at 3840x2160, which represents a 33.5% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count at higher resolutions directly translates into lower frame rates because the graphics card's shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units are saturated.

The scaling becomes even more pronounced at higher quality settings. Moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings drops the average from 38.5 FPS to 25.5 FPS, a 33.8% reduction. At Ultra settings, the same resolution change results in a fall from 29.6 FPS to 19.7 FPS, a 33.4% decline. The consistency of this percentage drop across settings suggests that the game's rendering pipeline is heavily dependent on GPU throughput, and the CPU is not a limiting factor in these scenarios. The i5-12400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to have sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at all tested resolutions, as evidenced by the relatively smooth scaling curves.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the defining component in this benchmark set, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth is a critical asset. The data shows that the GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 16.20 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, are directly reflected in the frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the card achieves 91.9 FPS, which is a playable result, but this quickly deteriorates as graphical demands increase. The boost clock of 1665 MHz and the 4864 shading units are responsible for the raw processing power, yet the game's fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments appear to place an unusual amount of stress on the card.

The GPU's performance relative to its peers is notable. In the database's aggregate benchmarks, the RTX 3060 Ti scores 25120 on average, placing it at the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700M with a score of 25180 (a 0.2% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 25235 (a 0.5% difference). This indicates that the 3060 Ti is positioned competitively within its class, but The Medium's specific rendering techniques, particularly its use of dual-world rendering where two scenes are processed simultaneously, likely amplify the memory bandwidth requirements, making the 448.0 GB/s figure a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides a solid foundation for this gaming workload, but its role is secondary to the GPU. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the processor operates at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which is sufficient to maintain frame delivery without becoming a bottleneck in the measured scenarios. The CPU's aggregate benchmark score of 19221 places it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals show it is well-matched with other mid-range processors. For instance, the Intel Core i7-8700K scores 19210, a negligible 0.1% difference, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS scores 19364, a 0.7% difference.

The processor's cache hierarchy, featuring 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3, provides adequate data locality for the game's logic. The 3DMark results show a single-thread score of 909 and a max-thread score of 5912, indicating that the CPU can handle both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded tasks. In The Medium, which is known for its use of fixed camera angles and limited on-screen action, the CPU load is likely moderate, and the data supports this by showing that frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes, which would not occur if the CPU were the limiting component.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of this combo's capabilities across twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the results range from 91.9 FPS at Low settings to 29.6 FPS at Ultra, with Medium achieving 60 FPS and High at 38.5 FPS. The 1080p Medium result of exactly 60 FPS is a notable milestone, as it aligns with standard display refresh rates, though the High and Ultra presets fall well below this threshold. At 2560x1440, the performance drops across the board: Low produces 74.7 FPS, Medium yields 45.8 FPS, High reaches 31.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 29.2 FPS. The 1440p Low setting is the only one that remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable except for the Low preset. The Low setting achieves 61.1 FPS, which is surprising given the high pixel count, but this is likely due to the significantly reduced texture and shading requirements. Medium drops to 37.7 FPS, High falls to 25.5 FPS, and Ultra produces a slideshow-like 19.7 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a performance penalty of approximately 67.7% from the best to worst preset, underscoring the GPU's inability to handle the game's highest quality settings at this resolution. The data clearly shows that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can reasonably expect to run at Medium or higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1288th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 76th percentile of all configurations. This ranking suggests that a significant majority of other hardware pairings outperform this setup in this particular game. The CPU's 77th percentile ranking across all CPUs and the GPU's 69th percentile ranking across all GPUs do not translate into a higher combo ranking, which indicates that The Medium is particularly demanding on the graphics subsystem. The game's release in 2021 and its horror genre with complex lighting and shadow effects likely contribute to this performance profile.

The ranking data, when combined with the measured FPS, tells a story of a system that is capable but not exceptional. For comparison, the CPU's nearest rivals show that the i5-12400F is competitive with older i7 models and newer mobile Ryzen parts, but this does not help in a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the RX 6700M and RX 6600, are within 0.5% of its aggregate score, yet the combo ranking suggests that the specific interaction with this game's engine is not favorable. Users with this hardware should expect to make significant compromises in settings to achieve playable frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combo is achieved at 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers exactly 60 FPS. This configuration provides a balanced visual quality while maintaining a smooth frame rate that matches standard display refresh rates. The Low preset at 1080p offers 91.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate in the entire dataset, but the visual fidelity is likely too compromised for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and detail. At 1440p, the Low preset is the only viable option with 74.7 FPS, but the drop in resolution from 1080p may not be worth the marginal improvement in image sharpness when compared to the visual downgrade from Medium to Low.

For those who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the 1080p High preset at 38.5 FPS is playable but not ideal, as it introduces noticeable stutter in fast-moving scenes. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this hardware, as even the Low preset at 61.1 FPS requires significant sacrifices in texture quality and shadow detail that diminish the game's intended visual impact. The data suggests that users should stay at 1080p and choose between Medium for a smooth experience or High for enhanced visuals at a lower frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 91.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produces an average of 61.1 FPS. At Medium, High, and Ultra settings, the frame rates fall to 37.7, 25.5, and 19.7 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the RTX 3060 Ti compare to its nearest rival in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 25120, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6700M (25180) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 (25235).

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1288 out of 1689 total tested combinations in The Medium.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60 FPS experience?

A: The only configuration that achieves exactly 60 FPS is 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The Low preset at 1080p offers 91.9 FPS, which is higher but at reduced visual quality.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not the limiting factor. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. The i5-12400F's 3DMark max-thread score of 5912 suggests sufficient processing headroom for this game's demands.