The Medium

The Medium presents an unusual scaling pattern for the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The most striking finding is that the game is far more sensitive to graphics preset selection than to resolution, with the gap between Low and Ultra settings dwarfing the difference between 1080p and 4K. This combo ranks 112th out of 1689 tested configurations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems, but the data reveals that the RTX 4080 SUPER is often underutilized at lower settings. The benchmark results indicate a horror title that rewards GPU headroom, yet the CPU still plays a meaningful role in maintaining high frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is surprisingly modest when holding settings constant. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 152.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 124.6 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 18%. At High settings, the decline is steeper: 82.7 FPS at 1080p drops to 55.4 FPS at 4K, a 33% loss. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, falling from 67.9 FPS at 1080p to 47.8 FPS at 4K, a 30% decrease. This pattern suggests that at lower presets, the system is partially CPU-limited even at 4K, while at Ultra the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck.

The Medium setting provides the most consistent scaling behavior. At 1080p, Medium delivers 119.3 FPS, dropping to 101.1 FPS at 1440p and then to 79.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% total reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a typical GPU-bound scaling curve. The fact that Low settings at 4K (124.6 FPS) outperform Ultra at 1080p (67.9 FPS) by a factor of 1.8 indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER has substantial headroom that the Ultra preset consumes entirely. The data points to a game where resolution matters less than the quality preset, and where the limiting component shifts from the GPU at Ultra to a more balanced CPU-GPU load at Low.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER brings 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2550 MHz and base clock of 2295 MHz are high for the Ada Lovelace architecture, and the 10240 shading units provide massive compute throughput. In this game, the GPU's role is most evident at Ultra settings, where 4K resolution produces only 47.8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's effects are extremely demanding. The 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is clearly not enough to brute-force Ultra at 4K, suggesting that The Medium's Ultra preset includes rendering features that scale aggressively with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the GPU shows more balanced behavior. The 79.9 FPS at 4K represents a playable experience, and the jump to 101.1 FPS at 1440p shows that the GPU has more to give when resolution decreases. The Low preset at 4K (124.6 FPS) versus Medium at 1080p (119.3 FPS) is particularly telling — the GPU can handle 4K Low better than 1080p Medium, which means the Medium preset's added effects cost more performance than a 4x resolution increase. The GPU's 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53610, places it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, confirming it as a top-tier part that this game can still stress at maximum settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21279 and single-core score of 3004 indicate strong all-around performance. In The Medium, the CPU's role becomes apparent when comparing Low settings across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 152.1 FPS, which drops to 145.5 FPS at 1440p and 124.6 FPS at 4K. The relatively small decline from 1080p to 1440p (only 4.3%) suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is approaching its limit around 145-152 FPS, and the GPU can keep pace even as resolution increases.

The CPU's 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236, puts it nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (-0.5% delta). This means the 13400F is well-matched to the RTX 4080 SUPER for this title — it provides enough throughput to avoid holding back the GPU at most settings, but the data shows that at Low settings with high frame rates, the CPU becomes the limiting factor. The 3DMark 8-thread score of 5591 and single-thread score of 960 confirm that the CPU's multi-threading capabilities are adequate for a game like The Medium, which likely uses a limited number of threads for its fixed-camera horror presentation.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 101.1 FPS, which is 26.5% higher than 4K Medium (79.9 FPS) while maintaining a significantly sharper image than 1080p.

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

A: Yes, but only at Medium or Low settings. Medium 4K achieves 79.9 FPS and Low 4K reaches 124.6 FPS. Ultra 4K drops to 47.8 FPS, which may be below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D. It also sits 0.5% above the AMD EPYC 9474F.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 152.1 FPS while Ultra produces 67.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is 55% slower than Low, showing that the preset choice has more impact than resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER overkill for this game?

A: The GPU ranks in the 88th percentile with an average benchmark score of 53610, yet Ultra 4K still only reaches 47.8 FPS. This indicates the game's Ultra preset is exceptionally demanding, so the GPU is not overkill — it is necessary for high-quality 4K play.

Q: How does the system rank among all tested combos?

A: This combo ranks 112th out of 1689 tested configurations, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems tested for The Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results show a wide spread across presets. Low settings deliver 152.1 FPS, Medium drops to 119.3 FPS, High yields 82.7 FPS, and Ultra produces 67.9 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 21.6% performance, while the step from Medium to High costs 30.7%, and High to Ultra costs 17.9%. This suggests diminishing returns at the higher end, with Ultra providing a modest visual upgrade over High for a significant frame rate penalty.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low settings give 145.5 FPS, Medium reaches 101.1 FPS, High drops to 73.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 30.5%, which is larger than at 1080p, indicating that the Medium preset's effects become more expensive at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset at 1440p (55.8 FPS) is only 16.7% faster than Ultra at 4K (47.8 FPS), showing that the GPU is the primary constraint at this quality level.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 124.6 FPS, Medium at 79.9 FPS, High at 55.4 FPS, and Ultra at 47.8 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to 13.7%, the smallest difference across all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the Ultra preset's additional effects are partially offset by the GPU being already saturated, so the marginal cost of Ultra is reduced compared to lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset depends on the target display. For 1080p displays, Medium settings at 119.3 FPS provide the best experience — the jump to High costs 30.7% performance for visual gains that may not justify the drop below 100 FPS. Low settings at 152.1 FPS are only useful for competitive play, which is unlikely in a horror title. Ultra at 67.9 FPS is playable but does not maintain the high refresh rates that this CPU-GPU combo can otherwise achieve.

For 1440p displays, Medium at 101.1 FPS is the clear winner. It stays above the 100 FPS threshold while offering substantially better visual quality than Low (145.5 FPS). High at 73.6 FPS is acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but Medium provides a smoother experience. Ultra at 55.8 FPS is not recommended unless the display is capped at 60 Hz and visual fidelity is the absolute priority.

For 4K displays, the recommendation is Medium at 79.9 FPS. This is the only preset that balances playable frame rates with meaningful visual quality. Low at 124.6 FPS is smoother but looks noticeably worse. High at 55.4 FPS and Ultra at 47.8 FPS are both below 60 FPS, which may cause judder on standard 60 Hz displays. The data clearly favors Medium as the best overall choice for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F with RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 112th out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the top 6.6% of all systems. This high ranking is consistent with the GPU's 88th percentile standing and the CPU's 82nd percentile, though the game's demanding Ultra preset prevents the combo from reaching the very top tiers. The measured FPS data shows that this combo excels at lower presets, where it can push well above 100 FPS even at 4K, but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at Ultra 4K.

The ranking reflects a system that is well-balanced for this title at Medium settings across all resolutions. The CPU's 3DMark max-thread score of 7307 and the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 34245 both contribute to a combo that handles the game's fixed-camera rendering efficiently. The nearest GPU rivals — the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (0.2% higher average score) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (2.9% higher) — would likely produce similar results in this game, given the close benchmark scores. The 112th rank out of 1689 is a strong showing, but the data suggests that higher-ranked combos likely pair the RTX 4080 SUPER with newer or higher-core-count CPUs to eliminate the slight CPU limitation seen at Low settings.