The Medium

The Medium, a horror title that relies on fixed camera angles and a dual-reality mechanic, presents a unique load profile that shifts between the CPU and GPU depending on the resolution. This analysis covers the pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT, using measured data across three resolutions and four quality settings. The results show a combination that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but which begins to show the limitations of the six-core processor at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates demonstrate how the performance bottleneck migrates as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 52 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 43 FPS, a reduction of 17.3%. The jump to 3840x2160 at High yields an average of 34 FPS, a further 20.9% reduction from the 1440p result. This pattern of diminishing returns as pixel count grows is typical of a system that is being pushed harder on the GPU side.

The scaling is more dramatic when examining the Low settings preset. At 1920x1080 Low, the pair reaches 87 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it falls to 82 FPS, a modest 5.7% drop. However, at 3840x2160 Low, the average plummets to 76 FPS, which is a 7.3% drop from the 1440p figure but only a 12.6% drop from the 1080p number. The relatively small percentage drops between resolutions at Low settings indicate that the GPU is capable of handling the load even at 4K, with the CPU still providing adequate support.

The Medium preset shows a clearer bottleneck shift. From 1080p Medium (72 FPS) to 1440p Medium (61 FPS) is a 15.3% drop, and from 1440p to 4K Medium (48 FPS) is a 21.3% drop. This steeper decline at higher resolutions with Medium settings points to the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, shows the steepest declines: 1080p Ultra is 41 FPS, 1440p Ultra is 34 FPS (a 17.1% drop), and 4K Ultra is 27 FPS (a 20.6% drop from 1440p). The data indicates that the RX 6750 XT is the limiting component at 4K for all settings, while the CPU’s influence is most pronounced at 1080p where the GPU has more headroom.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 6750 XT is based on the Navi 22 chip and the RDNA 2.0 architecture. Its specifications include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The card has a base clock of 2150 MHz, a game clock of 2495 MHz, and a boost clock of 2600 MHz. The memory subsystem is a 192-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory running at an effective 18 Gbps, which provides a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The GPU’s compute capability is rated at 13.31 TFLOPS for FP32 operations.

In The Medium, the GPU's role is most evident when observing the FPS differences between settings at the same resolution. At 3840x2160, the drop from Low (76 FPS) to Medium (48 FPS) is a substantial 36.8% reduction. The decline from Medium to High (34 FPS) is another 29.2% drop. The Ultra preset at 4K (27 FPS) is a 20.6% reduction from High. These substantial differences indicate that the game’s graphical settings scale heavily with the GPU’s compute and memory capabilities. The RX 6750 XT’s 12 GB of VRAM is likely sufficient for the highest textures at 4K, as the data does not show any anomalous performance cliffs that would indicate memory overflow.

At 1440p, the same pattern applies but with a slightly lower absolute impact. From Low (82 FPS) to Medium (61 FPS) is a 25.6% drop, and from Medium to High (43 FPS) is a 29.5% drop. The Ultra preset at 1440p (34 FPS) is 20.9% below High. At 1080p, the drops are more compressed: Low (87 FPS) to Medium (72 FPS) is a 17.2% drop, Medium to High (52 FPS) is a 27.8% drop, and High to Ultra (41 FPS) is a 21.2% drop. The GPU is the limiting factor at these settings, as the CPU is less stressed at lower resolutions.

The GPU percentile of 71 indicates it ranks above average among all tested GPUs. Its nearest rival in average score is the AMD Radeon R9 M395X, with a delta of 0.5%, meaning the RX 6750 XT is slightly faster. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti Mobile is 1.1% behind in this particular metric. This data confirms that the RX 6750 XT is a capable performer but not a top-tier card, which aligns with its measured FPS results in The Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The processor has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and a 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth, which is dual-channel. Its TDP is 65 W. The CPU’s benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. Its Geekbench multi-core score is 5141 with a single-core score of 1389.

In this game, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 87 FPS, which is the highest average recorded for this combo. At the same resolution with Medium settings, it reaches 72 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 15 FPS, or 17.2%. This indicates that the CPU is not the primary constraint at these settings; the GPU is still the main contributor to the frame rate. However, the CPU’s 6 threads might be a limiting factor in the most CPU-intensive scenes that are common in a horror title, but the data does not show a specific bottleneck.

The processor’s percentile rank is 47, meaning it is right in the middle of all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i5-9400, with a delta of -0.2% against the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, and +0.3% against the Intel Core i5-9400. This indicates that the i5-9400 is very closely matched to those other mid-range processors in synthetic benchmarks. In The game, the CPU is likely not a major bottleneck at 4K, as the GPU is fully loaded.

The synthetic benchmarks do not directly translate to gaming performance, but they do show the CPU’s general capability. The i5-9400’s lack of hyper-threading might be a limiting factor in certain titles, but the data for The game does not show a hard CPU cap at any resolution. The lowest FPS measurements for each resolution all come from the 4K setting, which is consistent with the GPU being the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT ranks 2044 out of 3724 in this game’s benchmark database. This puts it in the 54.1st percentile of all tested combos (since 2044/3724 = 0.549). The rank indicates that this pairing is near the median in performance for The Medium. In comparison, the GPU alone ranks in the 71st percentile, while the CPU is in the 47th percentile. The combo rank is lower than the GPU’s percentile, suggesting that the CPU is bringing down the overall performance relative to other high-end GPU pairings.

The ranking suggests there are many combos with higher FPS in this game, but also many with lower. The data implies that the RX 6750 XT is strong enough to perform well in this title, but the i5-9400 is a modest partner. For a game that scales with GPU, the CPU is not the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, but at 1080p it can hold back the GPU from achieving its maximum potential. The rank of 2044 out of 3724 is a solid mid-pack result, indicating that the system can handle The game at playable framerates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provide a clear picture of the combo’s performance across a matrix of settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 87 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 52 FPS on High, and 41 FPS on Ultra. The Low setting is the only one that provides a high, stable experience. Medium is playable, but High and Ultra drop below 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are 82 FPS Low, 61 FPS Medium, 43 FPS High, and 34 FPS Ultra. The Medium setting at 1440p is the best balance, providing a 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS. Low is still fast, but High and Ultra are not.

At 3840x2160, the results are 76 FPS Low, 48 FPS Medium, 34 FPS High, and 27 FPS Ultra. The Medium setting at 4K is the only one that approaches a smooth experience, offering an average of 48 with a maximum of 55 FPS. The Low setting is the only one that is comfortably above 60 FPS, but it sacrifices visual quality.

The only rows with min and max data are the Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the min is 61 FPS and the max is 83 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min is 52 FPS and the max is 70 FPS. At 4K Medium, the min is 40 FPS and the max is 55 FPS. This data indicates that the Medium preset has a relatively consistent performance, with the spread being 22 FPS at 1080p, 18 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience according to the measured rows, the Medium preset is the most balanced across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium provides a 72 FPS average, which is smooth for most displays. At 1440p, Medium yields a 61 FPS average, which is still above 60 and provides a playable experience. At 4K, Medium drops to 48 FPS, which is borderline but still playable with a variable refresh rate.

The Low preset at all resolutions provides the highest frame rates, with 87 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. This is the choice for maximal smoothness, but the visual quality may suffer. The High preset is not recommended at 4K (34 FPS) or 1440p (43 FPS), as it falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and it is only recommended for those who prioritize visual fidelity and are willing to accept the low frame rates, with 41 FPS at 1080p, 34 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K.

The data suggests that for this combo, Medium is the sweet spot. It offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality. If the user has a 60 Hz monitor, Medium at 1080p and 1440p will be the most satisfying. For 4K, Medium is the only setting that approaches a playable frame rate, but users may need to lower to Low for a smoother experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo with a 60 Hz monitor?

A: The data shows that Medium settings at 2560x1440 provide a 61 FPS average, which is the only 60 FPS result at the Medium preset. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 72 FPS, which is also above 60. For a 60 Hz display, 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium are the optimal choices.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The benchmark data indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the FPS drops significantly from 1440p to 4K. At 1080p, the CPU may be limiting performance in High and Ultra, but the FPS remains above 40. The CPU’s mid-pack percentile (47) is lower than the GPU’s (71, which suggests a potential bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other CPU/GPU pairings?

A: It ranks 2044 out of 3724, which is slightly above the median. The GPU is in the 71st percentile, so it is a strong performer, but the CPU is only in the 54th percentile, which may hold back the system in CPU-intensive scenarios.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The difference is 46 FPS (87 vs 41). Low is 212.2% higher than Ultra. This indicates that the Ultra preset demands significantly more from the GPU.

Q: Is the RX 6750 XT capable of 4K gaming with this CPU?

A: Yes, but only at Low and Medium settings. At 4K Low, the average is 76 FPS, which is playable. At 4K Medium, the average is 48 FPS, which is below 60 but playable. High and Ultra are not recommended, as they drop to 34 and 27 FPS.

Q: Is the Medium preset stable?

A: The Medium preset has the most complete data, with min and max values recorded. At 1080p, min is 61 FPS and max is 83 FPS. At 1440p, min is 52 FPS and max is 70 FPS. At 4K, min is 40 FPS and max is 55 FPS. The spread is largest at 1080p, indicating a wider range of frame times.