The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on Unreal Engine 4, presents a demanding workload that scales heavily with resolution and quality settings. For the combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, the measured data reveals a configuration that is consistently GPU-bound, with the playability window narrowing significantly as pixel count increases. This analysis examines the performance characteristics of this specific pairing across the tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 85.1 FPS, which drops to 71.9 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 55.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 35% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, a scaling pattern that is typical for a mid-range GPU like the RTX 2060, which has a 192-bit memory bus and 6 GB of GDDR6 memory.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher quality presets. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 36.5 FPS at 1080p to 31.4 FPS at 1440p, and then to 23.8 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is a 24% reduction, while the 1080p-to-1440p drop is only 14%. This indicates that the game’s rendering complexity, particularly its use of volumetric lighting and dual-world rendering, places an exponential load on the GPU’s shader and texture units as resolution increases. The data suggests that 4K is not viable for this combo, as even Low settings only produce 55.2 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a title that relies on atmospheric tension.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution, which further confirms the GPU-bound nature. At 1080p, the difference between Low (85.1 FPS) and Ultra (31.7 FPS) is 53.4 FPS. At 4K, the same settings gap is 32.2 FPS (55.2 FPS vs 23.0 FPS). The narrowing absolute gap at higher resolutions is due to the GPU hitting its raw throughput limits; the additional work from Ultra settings cannot be fully realized when the pixel fill rate is already saturated. For users targeting 1440p, the data shows that the Medium preset (43.4 FPS) is the highest quality setting that approaches acceptable frame pacing, while High (31.4 FPS) and Ultra (26.7 FPS) fall into a range where the game’s fixed-camera panning may appear stuttery.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the decisive component in this pairing, as its specifications directly correlate with the observed performance ceilings. The GPU features 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs, with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. These figures drive the pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s. In The Medium, which renders two simultaneous perspectives during key gameplay moments, these rates are taxed heavily. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a figure that is adequate for 1080p Medium settings but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 23.0 FPS result indicates the memory subsystem is struggling to feed the shader array with high-resolution textures and screen-space effects.

The GPU’s 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are present but do not appear to provide a meaningful advantage in this title’s default rendering path, as the benchmark scores show a PassMark G3D score of 14111 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242. These numbers place the RTX 2060 at the 58th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% higher score) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.8% lower score). The data indicates that the GPU’s raw rasterization performance is what matters most here, as the FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS is the primary driver for the frame rates seen. The 12 nm Turing architecture, with a die size of 445 mm² and 10,800 million transistors, runs at a 160 W TDP, which is a modest power envelope for the performance delivered.

The VRAM capacity of 6 GB is a critical constraint. At 4K Ultra, the game likely exceeds this allocation, forcing texture streaming and causing the 23.0 FPS average. Even at 1440p Ultra, the 26.7 FPS result suggests that memory pressure is causing stalls. The measured data shows a clear trend: the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity are sufficient for Low settings across all resolutions (55.2 FPS at 4K Low), but the transition to Medium and above introduces a steep penalty. This is consistent with a game that uses high-resolution shadow maps and reflection captures, which consume VRAM quickly.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Core i5-14400F and RTX 2060 holds a combo rank of 1346 out of 1689 total combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 20% of all tested systems, which is a low position for a modern 10-core processor like the i5-14400F. The CPU itself is not the limiting factor; its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 put it at the 88th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, however, is the anchor.

The i5-14400F’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Core i7-12800H (deltaPct 0) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (deltaPct 0.2), showing that the CPU’s compute performance is competitive with high-end mobile and desktop parts. Yet, in game-specific rankings, the RTX 2060’s 58th percentile standing drags the combo down. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (1.7% lower), are all similar in class, meaning the combo’s rank is largely determined by the fact that the RTX 2060 is an older, end-of-life product from 2019.

The data shows that the combo sits in a tier where 1080p Medium (52.6 FPS) is the realistic maximum for a smooth experience. The rank of 1346 out of 1689 indicates that most other tested configurations, likely with newer GPUs, achieve higher frame rates at similar settings. The CPU’s high percentile score is wasted in this pairing because the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough. For a user with this exact combination, the benchmark results suggest that upgrading the GPU would yield a massive performance boost, while upgrading the CPU would provide no measurable gain in this title due to the GPU bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings (52.6 FPS) is the highest quality preset that maintains a frame rate above 50 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low settings (71.9 FPS) provide a comfortable margin, while Medium falls to 43.4 FPS.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but only at Low settings, which produce 55.2 FPS. High, Medium, and Ultra settings at 4K produce 23.8, 35.8, and 23.0 FPS respectively, all of which are below the playable threshold for a horror title that relies on smooth camera movement.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Intel Core i5-14400F scores at the 88th percentile of all CPUs, but the RTX 2060 sits at the 58th percentile. The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU limits, not CPU limitations.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, which is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996) and 1.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15786). These are marginal differences, indicating similar performance levels across these GPUs.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1346 out of 1689 mean?

A: It means that over 79% of all tested system combinations for The Medium perform better than this pairing. This rank is primarily due to the GPU’s age and memory capacity, not the CPU’s processing power.

Q: Is the 6 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The data suggests it is limiting at higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 23.0, which is lower than 4K High (23.8 FPS), indicating that VRAM capacity or bandwidth is causing a bottleneck that prevents higher settings from being fully utilized.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is derived directly from measured benchmarks for this specific combo.

1920x1080:

• Low: 85.1 FPS average. This is the only setting that achieves a frame rate above 60 FPS, providing a very smooth experience.
• Medium: 52.6 FPS average. This is a playable frame rate for a slow-paced horror game, though not ideal for fast camera pans.
• High: 36.5 FPS average. The frame rate drops below the 40 FPS threshold, which may be noticeable in this title’s cinematic presentation.
• Ultra: 31.7 FPS average. This is a significant step down, indicating that the GPU’s shader and texture units are saturated.

2560x1440:

• Low: 71.9 FPS average. This remains highly playable, showing that the GPU can handle the pixel count at minimal quality.
• Medium: 43.4 FPS average. This is a borderline playable frame rate, suitable for a game that does not require fast reaction times.
• High: 31.4 FPS average. This is below the comfort zone, and the data shows a 14% drop from 1080p High, indicating increasing GPU stress.
• Ultra: 26.7 FPS average. This is near-unplayable, with the fixed-camera angles likely exhibiting visible stutter.

3840x2160:

• Low: 55.2 FPS average. This is surprisingly playable, but the visual quality is significantly reduced, affecting the game’s atmosphere.
• Medium: 35.8 FPS average. This is a 17% reduction from 1440p Medium, highlighting the impact of pixel count on the GPU.
• High: 23.8 FPS average. This is not playable, as the frame rate is below the standard 30 FPS cinematic minimum.
• Ultra: 23.0 FPS average. This is the lowest recorded frame rate, showing that the RTX 2060 cannot handle 4K Ultra in this title.

The data consistently shows that the RTX 2060 is the limiting factor, with the CPU providing ample headroom. The performance envelope is tight: 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, 1440p Low is acceptable, and 4K is only viable at Low settings. This combination is best suited for 1080p gaming with moderate quality presets.