The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a strong performance profile in The Medium, though the data reveals a system that is heavily skewed toward GPU-bound scenarios at higher resolutions. The combo achieves an aggregate rank of 277 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7.4% of all configurations in this horror title. This is a high percentile standing, but the measured frame rates suggest that the RTX 4080 is the dominant variable, with the i5-14400F providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck until settings are lowered significantly. The overall picture is one of a capable 1440p and 4K machine, with performance scaling that clearly illustrates where each component's influence begins and ends.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 277 out of 3724 tested combinations places it well above the median, indicating that this pairing is substantially more performant than the vast majority of systems tested for The Medium. The data shows a configuration that sits comfortably in the upper echelon, which is consistent with the hardware's individual standings: the CPU holds a percentile rank of 83 against all CPUs, while the GPU holds a percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs. However, the measured FPS figures indicate that the absolute performance ceiling is dictated more by the graphics card than the processor. The GPU's average benchmark score of 54247 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209), showing that this card is essentially on par with its immediate successor in synthetic tests. In contrast, the CPU's average score of 32279 places it just 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233) and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121), confirming that it is a mid-range performer relative to its peers. In game, this translates to a combo that can handle the game's demands at high settings, but the ranking does not guarantee flawless performance at every resolution, as the 4K Ultra results will show.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the clear workhorse of this pairing, and its specifications are directly reflected in the measured results. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s, which is ample for the high-resolution textures and scenes in The Medium. The GPU's clock speeds—a base of 2205 MHz and a boost of 2505 MHz—are relatively high, and the 9728 shading units provide substantial compute throughput. The data shows a clear pattern: at 4K resolution, the GPU is the primary limiter, as evidenced by the drop from 127 FPS at Low settings to 57 FPS at High settings. This is a 55% reduction in average frame rate, which indicates that the card's raw rendering power is being taxed by the game's visual effects. The GPU's percentile rank of 86 and its benchmark scores (e.g., 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567) support the notion that it is a top-tier card, but the 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS shows that even this hardware cannot brute-force maximum settings at that resolution. The 16 GB VRAM is unlikely to be a limiting factor at these settings, as the game does not appear to have hit a memory wall based on the available data; the performance drops are more consistent with compute and fill-rate limits.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound workload. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 120 FPS at 1920x1080 to 101 FPS at 2560x1440, and then to 79 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a moderate decline that suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, but the GPU is increasingly strained as pixel count rises. The pattern is even more pronounced at High settings: 86 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 57 FPS at 4K—a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K as well. However, the Low settings row tells a different story. At 1080p Low, the system hits 155 FPS, which is the highest average recorded across all configurations. At 1440p Low, it drops to 147 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still manages 127 FPS. The relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p (8 FPS) suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to cap performance, as the GPU has spare capacity. The data indicates that the i5-14400F, with its 16 threads and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, can drive the RTX 4080 to its limits at lower settings, but the GPU becomes the limiting component as soon as visual fidelity is increased. The 4K Ultra result of 45 FPS versus 4K Medium of 79 FPS (a 43% drop) underscores that the GPU's shading units and texture rate are the decisive factors at high resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for this combo is the Medium preset. At 2560x1440, Medium yields an average of 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS, which is a smooth experience that remains well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1440p drops to 72 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. At 3840x2160, Medium delivers 79 FPS (min 67, max 91), which is the only 4K preset that consistently clears 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 45 FPS average falls below the standard for a smooth experience. For users prioritizing frame rate over fidelity, the Low preset at 4K (127 FPS) is an option, but it sacrifices significant visual quality. The data suggests that the Medium preset is the sweet spot, as it provides a substantial improvement over Low in visual terms while maintaining a playable frame rate across all three resolutions. The High preset is acceptable for 1080p (86 FPS) and 1440p (72 FPS), but the step up to Ultra provides diminishing returns, with 1080p Ultra at 68 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 57 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?*

A: The highest recorded average is 155 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 147 FPS at 2560x1440 Low, followed by 127 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K with a stable 60 FPS experience?

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which yields an average of 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 57 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra is even lower at 45 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54209). It is 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (54828) and 2.7% behind the AMD Radeon 8060S (55757).

Q: What is the CPU's performance relative to its closest competitors?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32279, which is 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233) and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354) by 0.2%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 155 FPS, while at 1080p Medium it drops to 120 FPS. The relatively small FPS difference between Low and Medium at 1080p (35 FPS) compared to the larger drop at 4K (48 FPS between Low and Medium) suggests the CPU can become a limiting factor at very low settings, but the GPU is the primary constraint at higher settings.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 Medium, the system records an average of 101 FPS with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 116 FPS. This shows a spread of 30 FPS between the minimum and maximum, indicating reasonable frame pacing without severe dips.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The data shows that its role in The Medium is secondary to the GPU, but it does set the performance floor at lower settings. The CPU's benchmark scores—such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 and a PassMark multithread score of 25470—indicate solid multi-threaded performance, but the game likely relies on fewer threads. The processor's percentile rank of 83 places it in the top 17% of all CPUs, which is respectable, but its nearest rivals show that it is not an outlier in performance. The i5-14400F trails the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS by 0.2% in average benchmark score, and it leads the Intel Core i7-12800H by 0.5%. In game, this translates to a CPU that can support high frame rates at 1080p Low (155 FPS) but does not meaningfully influence the 4K results, where the GPU is the clear limiting factor. The L3 cache of 20 MB shared and the dual-channel memory support (DDR4 or DDR5) are sufficient for this title, as the measured FPS does not show signs of CPU-induced stutter at higher resolutions. The 65 W TDP and the absence of integrated graphics reinforce that this is a dedicated gaming processor, and its performance in this game is adequate to keep the RTX 4080 fed at most settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results provide a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system averages 86 FPS at High, 120 FPS at Medium (min 102, max 138), 155 FPS at Low, and 68 FPS at Ultra. The gap between Medium and High is 34 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is 18 FPS, showing diminishing returns at the highest preset. At 2560x1440, the averages are 72 FPS at High, 101 FPS at Medium (min 86, max 116), 147 FPS at Low, and 57 FPS at Ultra. This resolution shows a 29 FPS drop from Low to Medium, and a 44 FPS drop from Medium to Ultra, indicating that the GPU's shading units are heavily taxed by the Ultra preset. At 3840x2160, the averages are 57 FPS at High, 79 FPS at Medium (min 67, max 91), 127 FPS at Low, and 45 FPS at Ultra. The 4K data reveals the steepest scaling curve: Low to Medium drops by 48 FPS, Medium to High by 22 FPS, and High to Ultra by 12 FPS. This suggests that the Low preset at 4K is relatively light on the GPU, but the step to Medium introduces a significant load increase. The only preset that provides a consistent 60+ FPS experience at 4K is Medium, which maintains a minimum of 67 FPS. At 1440p, both Medium and High exceed 60 FPS on average, but only Medium has a recorded minimum above 60 (86 FPS). At 1080p, all presets except Ultra average above 60 FPS, with Ultra at 68 FPS. The minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset at each resolution, which shows the most stable frame pacing of the measured settings.