The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror game that leans heavily on atmosphere, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a playable experience across most settings, though the data shows that chasing maximum visual fidelity at high resolutions requires compromises. This pairing ranks 892nd out of 3724 tested combos for this specific title, placing it in the upper quarter of all configurations evaluated. The benchmark results indicate a system that is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K performance that is workable only when settings are adjusted downward from the absolute highest presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 892 out of 3724 tested combinations places this CPU-GPU pairing in the top 24% of all systems evaluated for The Medium. That percentile standing matters because horror titles with fixed camera angles often create uneven frame pacing, and the data suggests this combo avoids the worst of those pitfalls while not being an outlier at the very top of the charts. The rank reflects the aggregate of measured FPS across all resolution and settings combinations, and the spread between the best and worst results is wide enough to show that this is a flexible system rather than a one-trick pony.

When looking at the individual components, the CPU holds its own in synthetic benchmarks. The Intel Core i5-12400F achieves an average benchmark score of 19039, which puts it in the 73rd percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with a score of 19047 (a delta of 0%), the Intel Core 3 201E at 19056 (delta of -0.1%), the Intel Core i5-1335U at 18982 (delta of 0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 7773X at 18979 (delta of 0.3%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the i5-12400F is essentially performance-equivalent to those processors in general compute tasks. That consistency carries over to gaming, where the CPU rarely becomes a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this title.

The GPU similarly sits in a strong position. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648 and ranks in the 81st percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37628 (delta of 0.1%), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 at 37507 (delta of 0.4%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile at 38135 (delta of -1.3%), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 at 37157 (delta of 1.3%). Again, the deltas are tight, with the RTX 4070 sitting within 1.3% of these alternatives. This tells a straightforward story: the combo is mid-pack relative to the very best systems but well above average, and the measured FPS data confirms that it handles The Medium with confidence at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain why the benchmark results scale the way they do. The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with a chip designated AD104. It houses 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. For ray tracing tasks, it has 46 RT cores, and it carries 184 tensor cores for AI-accelerated workloads. The FP32 performance is rated at 29.15 TFLOPS, with FP16 matching that figure at a 1:1 ratio.

Memory capacity is a critical factor for a game like The Medium, which renders dual-reality scenes where two versions of the world can appear simultaneously. The RTX 4070 ships with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective. That 12 GB allocation proves sufficient for the measured settings in this game, as the FPS numbers do not show catastrophic drops that would indicate memory swapping. The GPU’s base clock is 1920 MHz, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and those clocks allow it to sustain the frame rates seen in the benchmark data.

The GPU’s pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s, both of which support the rendering demands of The Medium’s detailed environments. The card draws up to 200 W under load, which is modest for its performance class, and it requires a suggested 550 W power supply. The PCIe 4.0 x16 bus interface provides sufficient bandwidth to the CPU, and the dual-slot design with a 240 mm length (9.4 inches) makes it a practical fit for most mid-tower cases. In terms of API support, the GPU is rated for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, all of which are relevant for a 2021 title like The Medium that uses modern rendering features.

The benchmark scores for the GPU reinforce its position. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 3854. Geekbench results show 154858 for OpenCL and 174152 for Vulkan. Passmark tests show a G3D score of 26927, a GPU compute score of 14720, and DirectX scores of 139 for DX10, 244 for DX11, 103 for DX12, and 320 for DX9. These numbers collectively indicate a GPU that is strong in both rasterization and compute, which aligns with the measured FPS in The Medium showing that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling across settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting but essential role in this combo. It is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Core 12th Gen series, built on the Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process from Intel. The base clock is 2.50 GHz, and the boost clock reaches 4.40 GHz. It has a 65 W TDP and uses the Intel Socket 1700. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, though the benchmark data does not specify which memory type was used in the measured FPS tests.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmark results show a balanced profile. In Cinebench R23, it scores 12380 multicore and 1680 singlecore. Geekbench results are 9472 multicore and 1964 singlecore. The 3DMark threaded tests show 5895 for 16 threads, 1699 for 2 threads, 3067 for 4 threads, 4779 for 8 threads, 5912 for max threads, and 909 for single thread. Passmark tests show a multithread score of 19433, a single-thread score of 3481, and specialized tests like data compression at 233327, data encryption at 11679, floating point math at 46759, and integer math at 59995.

For The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game’s logic, which includes the dual-reality mechanic that can double the rendering workload. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is sufficient to keep the RTX 4070 from stalling, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS scales consistently when moving between Low and High settings at each resolution. The CPU’s percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs, combined with its near-identical scores to rivals like the Ryzen 5 7535HS and Core 3 201E, indicates that this processor is not a weak link. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 146 FPS, which is high enough that the CPU could theoretically become a limiting factor, but the measured results do not show any frame rate collapse that would suggest a bottleneck.

The CPU was released on 2022-01-03 with a launch MSRP of $174, and it supports PCIe Gen 5 with 20 lanes from the CPU, though the RTX 4070 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, so that extra bandwidth is not utilized by this GPU. The lack of integrated graphics means the RTX 4070 handles all display output, which is standard for this class of system.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a clear picture of how this combo performs. At 1920x1080, the results are strong across the board. Low settings yield an average of 146 FPS, which is smooth on any display. Medium settings drop to 93 FPS on average, with a minimum of 79 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS. High settings produce 67 FPS average, and Ultra settings bring that down to 53 FPS average. The step from Low to Medium is a 53 FPS drop, which is substantial but expected given the visual quality increase. The step from High to Ultra is smaller, only 14 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds graphical features that are not as demanding as the jump from Low to Medium.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably. Low settings average 126 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive or fast-paced play. Medium settings average 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS. High settings drop to 56 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 45 FPS average. The 1440p results show that this combo is most comfortable at Medium settings, where the frame rate stays above 60 FPS on average with a minimum that does not dip too low. High settings at 1440p are borderline, with an average below 60 FPS, which may be acceptable for a slow-paced horror game but not ideal for smooth motion.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 99 FPS, which is surprisingly high for 4K and indicates the game is not excessively demanding at lower presets. Medium settings average 62 FPS, with a minimum of 53 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. High settings drop to 44 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 35 FPS average. The 4K results show that this combo can handle 4K at Medium settings with an average above 60 FPS, but the minimum of 53 FPS means there will be occasional dips below that threshold. High and Ultra at 4K are playable in the sense that the game runs, but the frame rates are low enough that the experience would feel sluggish.

The data reveals a clear pattern: the gap between Low and Medium is larger than the gap between High and Ultra at every resolution. For example, at 1080p, Low to Medium is a 53 FPS difference, while High to Ultra is only 14 FPS. This suggests that the Medium preset includes significant rendering features that are disabled in Low, while the Ultra preset adds incremental effects that have diminishing returns. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings, showing 53 FPS at 4K, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 1080p, which means the Medium preset is the only one where frame pacing data is available.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 60 FPS in 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, where the average FPS is 62 with a minimum of 53. At High settings, the average drops to 44 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 35 FPS, so 60 FPS at 4K is not achievable on those higher presets.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo if I want a stable 60 FPS?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, which keeps the frame rate above 60 at all times. At 1920x1080, even High settings average 67 FPS, though the minimum is not recorded for that preset.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in the database?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4, 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, 1.3% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, and 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6400. These deltas are all within a tight range, indicating near-identical overall performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4070 in this game?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The combo reaches 146 FPS at 1080p Low and 126 FPS at 1440p Low, which are high enough that any CPU limitation would show up as inconsistent frame times. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 19039 places it in the 73rd percentile, and its performance is within 0.3% of its closest rivals, suggesting it has ample headroom.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 146 FPS, while Ultra settings average 53 FPS. That is a difference of 93 FPS, or roughly 64% lower performance at Ultra compared to Low.

Q: Does the RTX 4070’s 12 GB of VRAM cause any issues in The Medium?

A: The measured FPS data shows no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or frame drops. The minimum FPS values recorded for Medium settings at all resolutions remain above 53 FPS, and the game runs at playable frame rates even at 4K, which suggests that 12 GB is sufficient for this title’s textures and dual-reality rendering.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to Medium settings as the sweet spot for this combo across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 93 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS, which provides a smooth experience with room to spare. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, keeping the frame rate above 60 for the majority of the time. Even at 3840x2160, Medium manages an average of 62 FPS with a minimum of 53 FPS, which is borderline but workable for a horror game where precise timing is less critical than atmosphere.

If the priority is maximum visual fidelity, Ultra settings are viable only at 1080p, where the average of 53 FPS is playable but not ideal. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 45 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 35 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for smooth motion. High settings are a middle ground, offering better visuals than Medium but with a significant FPS cost: at 1080p it averages 67 FPS, at 1440p it averages 56 FPS, and at 4K it averages 44 FPS. The High preset at 1080p is acceptable, but at higher resolutions it fails to maintain 60 FPS.

Low settings are the performance option, with averages of 146 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. These numbers are high enough to enable high refresh rate displays, but the visual quality reduction is substantial. For most players, the recommendation is to use Medium settings as the default, then adjust upward to High at 1080p if the frame rate is acceptable, or downward to Low if a higher refresh rate is needed. The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium provides the largest visual improvement relative to the FPS cost, while the jump from High to Ultra offers diminishing returns for a similar FPS penalty. This combo is best used with Medium settings at 1440p for a balanced experience, or Medium at 1080p for a higher frame rate buffer.