The Medium

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across the three tested resolutions reveal a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling in The Medium. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 141.8 FPS, but this drops to 115.7 FPS at 1440p and further to 94.5 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1080p to 1440p represents a decrease of approximately 18.4%, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 18.3%. This relatively linear scaling with pixel count suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor even at lower settings.

When settings are raised to High, the resolution scaling becomes steeper. The 1080p High result of 60.6 FPS falls to 49.9 FPS at 1440p (a 17.7% drop) and then to 40.0 FPS at 4K (a 19.8% drop from 1440p). The consistent percentage drops across resolution steps indicate that the rendering workload scales predictably with pixel throughput, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU is not introducing bottlenecks at any resolution, as the frame rate reductions align closely with the increasing pixel counts.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic resolution sensitivity. At 1080p Ultra the combo produces 51.1 FPS, which declines to 41.5 FPS at 1440p (an 18.8% reduction) and bottoms out at 35.9 FPS at 4K (a 13.5% reduction from 1440p). The smaller relative drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra suggests that the game's highest settings introduce additional computational overhead that partially masks the pure pixel-count scaling. This could indicate that certain Ultra effects are less resolution-dependent than the base rendering workload.

The Medium preset sits between Low and High in terms of scaling behavior. From 1080p Medium at 85.8 FPS, the frame rate falls to 73.1 FPS at 1440p (14.8% lower) and then to 56.9 FPS at 4K (22.2% lower than 1440p). The larger drop at the 4K step for Medium compared to Low suggests that the medium-quality shaders and texture filtering place additional strain on the GPU's memory subsystem at higher resolutions. Overall, the data indicates that this combination of components is comfortably CPU-capable at all tested settings, with the Radeon RX 6800 XT determining the achievable frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F provides the computational foundation for this combo. With 10 cores and 16 threads, the processor offers a robust multi-threaded workload capacity that is well-suited for modern game engines. The base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz give the CPU sufficient single-thread headroom for game logic and physics calculations. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed game data.

Benchmark results for the i5-14400F show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and a single-core score of 3093. These results place the processor at the 88th percentile among all CPUs in the database, indicating strong overall performance. The nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-12800H with an average score of 32513 (0% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 at 32446 (0.2% faster). The AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H are each 0.2% behind, with average scores of 32584 and 32586 respectively.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The measured frame rates show no evidence of CPU limitation even at 1080p Low, where the 141.8 FPS result would typically expose a weak processor. The 10-core configuration with 16 threads provides ample parallel processing capacity for the game's background streaming and AI systems, while the 4.70 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance for the main game loop. The processor's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a practical pairing for this GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT achieves a rank of 558 out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium. This places the pairing in the upper third of all configurations tested, which is a strong result given the game's demanding nature. The percentile position reflects the balance between the CPU's solid multi-core capabilities and the GPU's substantial rendering power.

The 87th percentile ranking for the RX 6800 XT among all GPUs (based on its 49982 average benchmark score) and the 88th percentile for the CPU indicate that both components are well above average. The GPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A550M (0.5% ahead), the NVIDIA RTX A1000 (1.7% ahead), and the NVIDIA CMP 50HX (1.9% behind). The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER trails by 2.6%. These narrow margins suggest that the RX 6800 XT is competitive with a wide range of modern graphics cards.

The combo's rank of 558 out of 1689 means that 1131 other combinations performed better in this specific game. However, this ranking should be interpreted in context: The Medium is a horror title with fixed camera angles and pre-rendered environments that may favor certain hardware configurations. The measured data indicates that this combo delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across most settings, with 4K requiring reduced quality settings for smooth performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 141.8 FPS, which is more than double the Medium preset's 85.8 FPS. High settings yield 60.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 51.1 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 64% reduction in frame rate, which is a substantial cost for the visual quality improvements.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease across all settings. Low settings average 115.7 FPS, which remains highly playable. Medium drops to 73.1 FPS, High to 49.9 FPS, and Ultra to 41.5 FPS. The 1440p results show that this combo can handle the resolution well at lower settings, but the heavier presets begin to strain the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the impact of the higher pixel count becomes apparent. Low settings still manage 94.5 FPS, but Medium falls to 56.9 FPS, High to 40.0 FPS, and Ultra to 35.9 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is below the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with smooth gameplay, indicating that users targeting 4K will need to use Medium or lower settings. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 62%, which is slightly smaller than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant performance driver in this combo. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides 512.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which is critical for the high-resolution textures and effects used in The Medium. The 4608 shading units and 72 ray tracing cores give the GPU substantial compute throughput, reflected in its 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base clock of 1825 MHz, a game clock of 2015 MHz, and a boost clock of 2250 MHz. The 300 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate that this is a high-power card, and the 2x 8-pin power connectors and 700 W suggested PSU requirement confirm its power appetite. The 26,800 million transistors on the 7 nm process node from TSMC demonstrate the architectural sophistication of the RDNA 2.0 design.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is clearly dominant. The frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU workload, as evidenced by the consistent resolution scaling patterns observed across all settings. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, memory capacity is not a limiting factor, and the 512.0 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient throughput for the game's asset streaming. The GPU's benchmark scores, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 result of 3689 and a Passmark G3D score of 24980, confirm its position in the upper tier of graphics cards.

FAQ

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

A: At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 60.6 FPS on High settings and 51.1 FPS on Ultra. At 2560x1440, High settings produce 49.9 FPS and Ultra 41.5 FPS. For 4K, only Low settings (94.5 FPS) and Medium (56.9 FPS) provide acceptable performance, while High (40.0 FPS) and Ultra (35.9 FPS) fall below smooth gameplay thresholds.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, placing it at the 88th percentile. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-12800H, scores 32513 (0% delta). The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 is 0.2% faster at 32446, while the AMD Ryzen 7 250 and Intel Core i7-13705H are each 0.2% slower with scores of 32584 and 32586 respectively.

Q: What is the GPU's performance ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks at the 87th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49982. Its closest competitor, the Intel Arc A550M, is 0.5% ahead at 49737, while the NVIDIA RTX A1000 is 1.7% ahead at 50826. The NVIDIA CMP 50HX trails by 1.9% at 49071.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the frame rate falls from 60.6 FPS at 1080p to 49.9 FPS at 1440p, then to 40.0 FPS at 4K. This represents a total reduction of 34% from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single-step drop occurring between 1440p and 4K at 19.8%.

Q: Is the combo CPU-limited or GPU-limited at 1080p Ultra?

A: The 1080p Ultra result of 51.1 FPS indicates GPU limitation. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 provide ample processing power, and the consistent resolution scaling pattern across all settings confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 558th out of 1689 tested combinations. This places it in the upper third of all configurations, which is a strong result considering the game's demanding visual effects and the balanced nature of this CPU-GPU pairing.