The Medium

The Medium presents a significant challenge for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination. The measured data reveals a system that is capable of delivering playable frame rates, but only when settings are carefully managed. The benchmark results indicate that the optimal experience is found at the Medium preset, which provides the best balance between visual fidelity and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset achieves an average of 55.2 FPS, which is a substantial improvement over the 40.2 FPS of the High preset and the 32.8 FPS of the Ultra preset. This performance level ensures smooth gameplay without the significant frame rate penalty incurred by higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers an average of 46.9 FPS, which remains playable for most users, though it requires a slight compromise on smoothness compared to the 1080p experience. The Low preset at this resolution achieves 78.6 FPS, but the visual downgrade is often noticeable in a horror title where atmosphere is crucial. For 4K, the Medium preset falls to 38.7 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 4K, at 62.9 FPS, is the only setting that provides a consistently fluid frame rate at this resolution. Therefore, the data suggests that the Medium preset is the recommended starting point for most users, with the Low preset serving as a fallback for higher resolutions or for those who prioritize frame rate stability over visual quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks at position 1270 out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. This places the system in the lower-mid tier of performance, indicating that while it is not among the weakest configurations, it is significantly outclassed by many others. The rank is a reflection of the combined capabilities of the CPU and GPU, and the data shows that this pairing struggles to maintain high frame rates at demanding settings.

In terms of individual component performance, the CPU sits at the 50th percentile when compared to all tested processors, while the GPU is at the 68th percentile relative to all tested graphics cards. This suggests that the GPU is the stronger component in this pairing. The CPU's average benchmark score of 2305 places it very close to its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i3-10305 with a score of 2300 and a delta of 0.2%, and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 with a score of 2299 and a delta of 0.2%. The GPU's average score of 24731 is also closely matched by its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile with a score of 24763 and a delta of -0.1%, and the Intel Arc A350M with a score of 24647 and a delta of 0.3%. This indicates that the system's overall ranking is a direct result of the mid-range performance of both components, with neither providing a significant advantage to offset the other's limitations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the primary driver of the visual output in The Medium, and its specifications play a crucial role in the observed frame rates. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game's textures and assets at the tested resolutions, but the data suggests that it is not the limiting factor at higher settings. The GPU's core clocks are listed as a base of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz. The boost clock is the maximum achievable frequency, and the game clock represents the expected frequency under sustained gaming loads.

The relationship between these clocks and performance is evident in the benchmark results. The GPU's compute power is rated at 9.754 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, which is a measure of its raw processing capability. The data shows that the GPU is capable of producing high frame rates at lower settings, such as 88.6 FPS at 1080p with the Low preset, but its performance drops significantly when the graphical load increases. This is characteristic of a mid-range GPU that has enough raw power for less demanding scenarios but lacks the headroom for maximum settings. The GPU's position in the 68th percentile of all tested GPUs reinforces this assessment, showing that it performs better than a majority of its peers but is not a top-tier solution for a demanding title like The Medium.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the performance scales predictably with the preset level. The Low preset achieves an average of 88.6 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth and indicates that the GPU is not heavily taxed. The Medium preset reduces this to 55.2 FPS, a drop of 33.4 FPS, as more graphical effects and higher-quality textures are enabled. The High preset further reduces the average to 40.2 FPS, and the Ultra preset brings it down to 32.8 FPS. This progression shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate, with the cost of each step up in settings becoming more pronounced.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern is observed, but with lower overall performance. The Low preset achieves 78.6 FPS, which is still playable, but the Medium preset drops to 46.9 FPS. The High preset averages 31.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 29 FPS. The gap between the Low and Medium presets is 31.7 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 2.7 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns in terms of visual quality for a significant performance cost. At 3840x2160, the system is pushed to its limits. The Low preset achieves 62.9 FPS, which is the only playable option at this resolution. The Medium preset drops to 38.7 FPS, the High preset to 25.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset to 19 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is only feasible with the lowest settings, and even then, the frame rate is not consistently smooth for all users.

Resolution Scaling

The impact of resolution on performance is substantial, revealing the bottleneck characteristics of this system. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the frame rate drops by an average of approximately 16% across all settings. For example, the Medium preset falls from 55.2 FPS to 46.9 FPS, a reduction of 8.3 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is still the primary limiting factor, as increasing the pixel count directly increases the workload on the GPU. From 2560x1440 to 3840x2160, the drop is more severe. The Medium preset falls from 46.9 FPS to 38.7 FPS, a reduction of 8.2 FPS, but the High preset falls from 31.7 FPS to 25.4 FPS, a reduction of 6.3 FPS. The Low preset shows the smallest absolute drop, from 78.6 FPS to 62.9 FPS, a reduction of 15.7 FPS, but this is still a significant percentage loss.

The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is not linear, with the penalty becoming more pronounced at higher resolutions. This is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the graphics card's processing power is the main constraint. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, is likely not the primary bottleneck at these resolutions, as the workload is heavily skewed towards the GPU. The fact that the Low preset at 4K achieves 62.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset at 1080p achieves 32.8 FPS, demonstrates that the GPU is the component that determines the frame rate ceiling. The system's overall ranking of 1270 out of 1689 confirms that this is a mid-range configuration, and the resolution scaling data reinforces that its performance is limited by the GPU's capabilities in this demanding horror title.