The Medium

The Medium is a horror title that stresses both GPU and CPU through its fixed-camera presentation and simultaneous-world rendering. For this configuration, the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER produces a wide spread of results across the four tested presets, with the data indicating that the Low preset provides the most headroom, while Ultra is only viable for those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show a clear trade-off between visual quality and smoothness. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 149.9 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combo at any resolution. The Medium preset drops to 112.4 FPS, still above the 100 FPS threshold for high-refresh displays, while High produces 76.8 FPS and Ultra falls to 61.6 FPS. For a horror game where atmosphere matters, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot at 1080p, offering a substantial improvement in detail over Low while maintaining a frame rate that is 45.9% higher than High.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low yields 146.9 FPS, Medium drops to 94.1 FPS, High to 68.3 FPS, and Ultra to 53.6 FPS. The gap between Medium and High here is 27.4%, making Medium the recommended choice for 1440p if the goal is to stay above 90 FPS. The Ultra preset at this resolution is borderline, as the 53.6 FPS average sits just below the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

For 3840x2160, the data suggests that only Low and Medium are practical. Low produces 115.6 FPS, which is excellent for 4K, while Medium drops to 72.2 FPS, still playable but with less headroom. High at 53.3 FPS and Ultra at 42.2 FPS both fall below the 60 FPS target, making them less suitable for consistent performance. The benchmark results indicate that the best experience per the measured rows is achieved by selecting Medium at 1080p or 1440p, or Low at 4K, depending on the display resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s. The GPU’s base clock is 2340 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, and its memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The shading units number 8448, with 264 texture mapping units and 96 raster output units, alongside 66 ray tracing cores and 264 tensor cores.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is dominant, as evidenced by the FPS scaling across resolutions. The data shows that at the same settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by roughly 20-25%, and from 1440p to 4K by another 25-30%. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS goes from 76.8 at 1080p to 68.3 at 1440p, a drop of 11.1%, and then to 53.3 at 4K, a further drop of 22.0%. This scaling pattern is consistent with a game that is heavily GPU-bound, particularly at higher resolutions where the 16 GB frame buffer and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are exercised.

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER’s benchmark scores support its position. It achieves a PassMark G3D score of 31811 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 223091, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA CMP 50HX with an avgScore of 49071 (deltaPct -0.7), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 at 47915 (deltaPct 1.6), the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile at 47743 (deltaPct 2), and the Intel Arc A550M at 49737 (deltaPct -2.1). The data indicates this GPU performs within a tight band of these competitors, with the CMP 50HX being nearly identical in average score.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER achieves a rank of 205 out of 1689 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the top 12.1% of all combos, indicating strong overall performance. The CPU itself sits in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 25236, while the GPU is in the 86th percentile with an average score of 48704. The combination of these two high-percentile parts produces a system that is well above average for this title.

The CPU’s nearest rivals provide context for its contribution. The Intel Core i7-13620H has an avgScore of 25201, which is 0.1% lower than the i5-13400F’s 25236. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365, a 0.5% advantage, while the AMD EPYC 9474F and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 score 25103 and 25099 respectively, both 0.5% lower. These small deltas suggest that the i5-13400F is competitively positioned in synthetic benchmarks, though the game’s actual performance will depend on how well it utilizes the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low delivers 149.9 FPS, Medium delivers 112.4 FPS, High delivers 76.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers 61.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 88.3 FPS, representing a 58.9% reduction in performance when maxing out settings. The step from Low to Medium costs 37.5 FPS, from Medium to High costs 35.6 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 15.2 FPS, showing diminishing returns as settings increase.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 146.9 FPS for Low, 94.1 FPS for Medium, 68.3 FPS for High, and 53.6 FPS for Ultra. The Low preset at 1440p is only 2.0% slower than Low at 1080p, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution for lower settings. However, the gap widens at higher settings, with Ultra at 1440p being 13.0% slower than Ultra at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 115.6 FPS for Low, 72.2 FPS for Medium, 53.3 FPS for High, and 42.2 FPS for Ultra. The 4K Low preset still delivers a playable 115.6 FPS, which is notable given the resolution’s pixel count. The Medium preset at 4K is 35.8% slower than Low, while High is 26.2% slower than Medium, and Ultra is 20.8% slower than High. The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that falls below 45 FPS, making it unsuitable for most players.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 149.9, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at 2560x1440?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 53.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS standard but still within a range some players may find acceptable.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER compare to its nearest rival in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has an avgBenchmarkScore of 48704, while its nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 50HX, scores 49071, a deltaPct of -0.7, meaning the CMP 50HX is slightly faster.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 3840x2160?

A: At 3840x2160, Low averages 115.6 FPS while Ultra averages 42.2 FPS, a difference of 73.4 FPS, meaning Ultra is 63.5% slower.

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

A: The data shows the combo ranks 205 out of 1689, and the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz are sufficient to avoid major bottlenecks, though the game appears GPU-bound at higher resolutions.

Q: What settings provide the best balance at 1920x1080?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 112.4 FPS, which is 35.6 FPS higher than High and 50.8 FPS higher than Ultra, offering a good balance of quality and performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP and a 20 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its PCIe interface is Gen 5 with 16 lanes for the CPU. It uses the Intel Socket 1700 and has no integrated graphics, meaning a discrete GPU is mandatory.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, but still relevant. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 149.9 FPS, which is close to the 146.9 FPS at 1440p Low. This small delta of 2.0% suggests that at lower settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficiently. However, at higher settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger FPS drops when increasing resolution.

The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004. Its Geekbench multicore score is 10971 with a single-core score of 2301. The 3DMark tests show 7314 for 16 threads and 960 for single thread. These numbers position the CPU in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.5% in average score, indicating that the i5-13400F is a solid mid-range performer that does not hold back the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER in this title. The data suggests that for The Medium, the CPU provides adequate headroom, with the GPU being the primary determinant of frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.