The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the data for the Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT reveals a configuration that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear progression from playable at 1080p to marginal at 1440p and largely unplayable at 4K, with the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and the game’s settings having a dramatic impact on performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the primary limiting factor in this combination. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 90.1 FPS at 1080p to 76.7 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of approximately 15%, and then to 61.7 FPS at 4K, a further 20% drop from the 1440p figure. This scaling shows that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU struggles to maintain performance as pixel count increases.

The gap widens significantly at higher presets. At Medium settings, the average drops from 57.6 FPS at 1080p to 46 FPS at 1440p and then to 35.7 FPS at 4K. High settings show a similar pattern: 42.6 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 28.7 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, with averages of 29.9 FPS at 1080p, 28.9 FPS at 1440p, and 21.8 FPS at 4K. The relatively small difference between 1080p and 1440p at Ultra (just 1 FPS) suggests that the game’s Ultra settings are so demanding that the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, making the resolution scaling less pronounced until the 4K data point, where the pixel load becomes overwhelming.

At 4K, only the Low preset delivers an average above 60 FPS. The High and Medium presets hover in the 28–36 FPS range, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that the CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is not the bottleneck in this scenario; the consistent frame rate drops align with the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and its 128-bit bus, which are strained by the higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT holds the rank of 1222 out of 1689 combinations. This places it in the lower half of all tested setups, which is consistent with the benchmark results that show the GPU struggling at higher settings. The combo’s percentile position reflects a system that is capable of running the game at 1080p and 1440p with adjustments, but it is not a top-tier performer for this specific title.

The CPU itself is a strong component, as evidenced by its 88th percentile ranking against all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, with a deltaPct of 0 and 0.2 respectively, meaning the i5-14400F is statistically tied with these processors in synthetic tests. However, the GPU’s 71st percentile ranking against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27985, is the limiting factor. The RX 6600 XT’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct of 0.1), is an older card, which suggests that while the GPU is competent, it lacks the headroom needed for the most demanding titles at high resolutions.

The combination’s rank of 1222 out of 1689 is a direct consequence of the GPU’s performance ceiling in The Medium. The measured data shows that the system is not competitive with higher-end configurations that can maintain 60 FPS at 4K, but it is also not a complete failure, as it can handle the game at lower settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is the defining component in this system’s performance profile. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 128-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, is a key specification for The Medium, which appears to be sensitive to memory capacity and bandwidth at higher resolutions. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate drops to 21.8 FPS, while at 4K Low, it jumps to 61.7 FPS. This 40 FPS difference between presets is significant and points to the game’s texture and shader settings consuming the available VRAM.

The GPU’s clocks are boost up to 2589 MHz, with a base of 1968 MHz and a game clock of 2359 MHz. These high clocks help at 1080p, where the card can deliver 90.1 FPS on Low settings, but they do not compensate for the memory bandwidth limitations at 4K. The GPU’s 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are also relevant; at 1080p Medium, the card achieves 57.6 FPS, but at 1440p Medium, this falls to 46 FPS, showing that the compute units are being pushed harder as the resolution increases.

The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 and a Passmark G3D score of 16461, place it in the 71st percentile of all GPUs. This is a mid-range performance level, and the measured FPS in The Medium aligns with that classification. The card’s 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for 1080p gaming, but the game’s fixed camera angles and detailed environments still require significant pixel throughput, which the RX 6600 XT cannot provide at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal experience for this combination is achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset, which yields an average of 90.1 FPS. This is the only setting and resolution pairing that provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, making it the smoothest option for gameplay. For players who prefer higher visual fidelity, the 1080p Medium preset offers 57.6 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target but not quite there, and may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable option, with an average of 76.7 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p drops to 46 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p are not recommended, as they fall below 35 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the sole choice for playability, with 61.7 FPS, while all other presets are below 36 FPS and should be avoided. The data suggests that players should prioritize the Low preset for a consistent frame rate, or accept a lower frame rate at Medium for better visuals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured average frame rates for this combination are as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 90.1 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 57.6 FPS, the High preset delivers 42.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 29.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 76.7 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS, High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 28.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 61.7 FPS, Medium averages 35.7 FPS, High averages 28.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 21.8 FPS.

These numbers show a clear pattern: the difference between Low and Medium is substantial, often around 30–33 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, indicating that the Medium preset introduces a significant load on the GPU. The difference between High and Ultra is smaller, around 12–13 FPS at 1080p and 6–7 FPS at 1440p and 4K, suggesting that Ultra is not a major step up in cost from High but still pushes the GPU beyond its comfort zone. The 4K data is the most telling, with only the Low preset exceeding 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset falling to 21.8 FPS, which is a 65% drop from the Low preset’s performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F plays a supporting role in this configuration, and its specifications suggest it is more than capable of keeping up with the GPU. With 10 cores and 16 threads, a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and a base clock of 2.50 GHz, the CPU has ample compute resources. Its benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093, as well as a Geekbench multicore score of 11209. These results place the CPU in the 88th percentile of all processors.

In The Medium, the CPU does not appear to be a bottleneck, as the frame rate scaling with resolution is consistent with GPU limitations. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 or DDR5 memory (dual-channel) provide sufficient bandwidth for feeding the GPU. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-12800H and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645, have similar average scores (32513 and 32446, respectively), with deltaPct values of 0 and 0.2, confirming that the i5-14400F is a standard performer for its class.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 90.1 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s limit for frame generation, but the GPU is still the main constraint. At higher resolutions, the CPU’s load decreases relative to the GPU, and the frame rates drop accordingly. This indicates that the CPU is not holding back the system, and any performance improvements would need to come from a more powerful graphics card. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and efficient architecture ensure it does not introduce thermal throttling issues that could affect frame pacing, but its role in this game is secondary to the GPU’s capabilities.