The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers a highly capable, though not top-tier, experience in The Medium. The benchmark data, measured across three resolutions and four quality presets, reveals a system where the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling, while the CPU provides ample headroom. The combo ranks 109th out of 1689 tested combinations, placing it in the top 7% of all systems, yet the frame rates at the highest settings indicate that even this powerful pairing faces limits with the game's most demanding configurations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake Refresh architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. Its cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 20 MB L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip scores 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3093 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 11209. These figures place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32508. Its nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513, 0% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446, 0.2% ahead), AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584, 0.2% behind), and Intel Core i7-13705H (32586, 0.2% behind). This shows the i5-14400F is effectively performance-equivalent to those parts, with deltas under 1%.

For The Medium, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage game logic. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 152.5 FPS, while at 4K with Low settings, it reaches 125 FPS. The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings (a 27.5 FPS decrease, or roughly 18%) suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck even at lower resolutions. The strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core of 21914) and high single-thread score (3093) indicate the processor can handle the game's fixed timestep logic and AI without constraining the GPU. The 16 threads are sufficient for the game's workload, as evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Ultra (65.9 FPS), the frame rate is not CPU-limited; the limiting factor shifts entirely to the GPU as settings increase. The 20 MB L3 cache is adequate for the game's asset streaming, and the dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support does not appear to introduce any measurable penalty in these results.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, it houses 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU features 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines, with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. Its clock speeds are set to a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2550 MHz, with memory running at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s, which is critical for the high-resolution textures in The Medium. The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: FP32 performance is rated at 52.22 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s. In synthetic tests, it scores 34245 in Passmark G3D and 246994 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 53610. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489, 0.2% ahead), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414, 0.4% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 7700S (52505, 2.1% ahead), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086, 2.9% ahead). The RTX 4080 SUPER leads all of these in raw average score.

In The Medium, the GPU's influence is decisive. At 1080p Medium, the combo produces 118 FPS, but at 4K Medium, it drops to 79.2 FPS. This 38.8 FPS decline (33%) across a 4x pixel count increase demonstrates that the GPU is the scaling bottleneck. The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is more than sufficient for the game's requirements, as evidenced by the consistent performance across settings; there is no indication of texture thrashing or memory paging. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is also adequate, as the frame rate scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a predictable pattern tied to shading and ROP throughput. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 44.9 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the GPU's raw compute is maxed out. The RT cores are present but not heavily utilized, as the game does not mandate ray tracing for its core experience, and the tensor cores do not appear to be leveraged for DLSS in these measured runs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling across resolutions. At 1080p, the combo delivers 86.1 FPS (High), 118 FPS (Medium), 152.5 FPS (Low), and 65.9 FPS (Ultra). Moving to 1440p, these figures become 73.6 FPS (High), 99.8 FPS (Medium), 148.6 FPS (Low), and 55.5 FPS (Ultra). At 4K, the results are 58.9 FPS (High), 79.2 FPS (Medium), 125 FPS (Low), and 44.9 FPS (Ultra). The scaling from 1080p to 4K at High settings is a 27.2 FPS drop (from 86.1 to 58.9), which is a 31.6% reduction. This is proportional to the increase in pixel count, confirming that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU shows no signs of constraint: the i5-14400F's single-thread performance (3093 in Cinebench R23) is sufficient to maintain frame pacing even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is not saturated.

The data also shows that the game's settings have a more pronounced impact than resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (152.5 FPS) and Ultra (65.9 FPS) is 86.6 FPS, a 56.8% reduction. At 4K, the same settings gap is 80.1 FPS (from 125 to 44.9), a 64.1% reduction. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces effects (likely volumetric lighting, shadows, and post-processing) that disproportionately tax the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. The 4K Low result of 125 FPS shows that the combo has substantial headroom when the GPU is not burdened by high-quality effects. The 1440p Medium result of 99.8 FPS is particularly notable, as it suggests that this resolution and setting combination offers a balanced experience, delivering near-100 FPS without pushing the GPU to its limits. The scaling behavior confirms that for this title, the RTX 4080 SUPER is the primary determinant of performance, and the CPU's role is secondary.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p High settings?

A: The combo achieves 73.6 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings, which is a playable frame rate for a horror title, though not at the level of the 1080p High result of 86.1 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-14400F compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-14400F scores 32508 on average, which is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513) and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446). It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584) by 0.2% and the Intel Core i7-13705H (32586) by 0.2%.

Q: Is the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for The Medium?

A: Yes, the 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is adequate. The measured frame rates at 4K Ultra (44.9 FPS) and 4K High (58.9 FPS) show no signs of memory capacity limits, as performance scales smoothly with settings rather than exhibiting abrupt drops.

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for a 60 FPS target?

A: The data shows that 1440p High (73.6 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (65.9 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS. At 4K, only the Medium preset (79.2 FPS) and Low preset (125 FPS) hit this target, while High (58.9 FPS) and Ultra (44.9 FPS) fall below.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average score of 53610, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414). It leads the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (52505) by 2.1% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086) by 2.9%.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: No. The evidence is that from 1080p to 4K, the frame rate drops are proportional to resolution increases. For example, at High settings, the drop from 1080p (86.1 FPS) to 4K (58.9 FPS) is 31.6%, which aligns with GPU load scaling, not CPU limits.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 109th out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the top 6.5% of all systems. This ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU's strong absolute performance; the CPU's contribution is to avoid being a limiting factor. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile standing among all GPUs (average score 53610) is the primary reason for this high rank, while the i5-14400F's 88th percentile CPU standing (average score 32508) is sufficient to support it. The rank of 109 indicates that there are 108 combos with higher performance, which would typically feature more powerful CPUs (e.g., higher-core-count parts) paired with equal or stronger GPUs. However, the delta between this combo and those above it is likely small, given the GPU's dominance in this title.

The data suggests that the combo's performance is consistent with its component rankings. The CPU's nearest rivals show nearly identical synthetic scores, and the GPU's nearest rivals are all within 2.9% of its average score, so the combo's position is not an outlier. In The Medium, the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings above Low, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's high pixel rate (285.6 GPixel/s) and texture rate (816.0 GTexel/s) are directly responsible for the frame rates observed. The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than adequate for the game's logic, as evidenced by the minimal frame rate drop from 1080p Low (152.5 FPS) to 4K Low (125 FPS), which is a 22% reduction despite a 4x pixel increase. This indicates that even at 4K Low, the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU is not the constraint. The rank of 109 out of 1689 is a strong result, placing this system in the upper echelon of tested hardware for this title, but the 4K Ultra result of 44.9 FPS shows that absolute maximum settings remain out of reach without further GPU headroom.