The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 produces a highly variable experience that is heavily dependent on both resolution and graphics settings. The measured FPS data for this pairing, which ranks 1145th out of 1689 tested combinations, reveals a system that can deliver smooth performance at lower presets but struggles significantly under maximum load. The data indicates a clear performance hierarchy, with the Ultra preset proving to be exceptionally taxing on the GPU, while the CPU maintains a consistent, if unspectacular, baseline.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 43.3 FPS at 1920x1080 to 32.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 10.8 FPS. The decline continues to 24.7 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a total loss of 18.6 FPS, or approximately 43% of the 1080p performance. This scaling pattern is a classic indicator that the Radeon RX 7600, with its 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, is the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

The behavior at Low settings reinforces this conclusion, though the absolute numbers are much higher. The transition from 1080p (86.2 FPS) to 1440p (76.7 FPS) is a relatively modest 9.5 FPS drop, but moving from 1440p to 4K (62.9 FPS) costs another 13.8 FPS. The data suggests that at 4K Low, the game is still playable, but the headroom is shrinking. Conversely, the scaling between Medium and High presets shows a more consistent pattern, with the difference between 1080p and 4K being approximately 20 FPS in both cases. This consistency across resolutions suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck in these scenarios; rather, the GPU’s raw throughput is what dictates the frame rate.

The most telling data point is the Ultra preset. At 1080p, the system only manages 33.9 FPS, which is lower than the High preset at 1440p (32.5 FPS). At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate collapses to 23.7 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces a graphical load that severely cripples the RX 7600, making the resolution scaling almost academic; the GPU is saturated even at 1080p. The overall pattern is clear: players seeking 60 FPS or higher will need to operate at Low or Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p, as the GPU simply cannot sustain high frame rates at higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. Its performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, places it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, indicating a mid-range standing. The data shows that this processor is not the primary constraint in The Medium, as the frame rates scale predictably with GPU load. The CPU’s 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.10 GHz boost clock provide adequate processing power for the game’s logic, but its performance relative to its nearest rivals is marginal.

The benchmark data shows the i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, placing it within 0.6% of the Intel Core i7-8809G and 0.4% of the Intel Xeon E-2134. It is only 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305 and the Intel Core i3-1125G4. This suggests that the CPU’s performance is not a differentiator; it is firmly in the middle of its class. In the context of The Medium, this means that while the CPU is not a bottleneck, it also does not provide any significant advantage. The game’s performance is not limited by the CPU’s 9 MB of shared L3 cache or its dual-channel memory bandwidth, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates drop consistently across all settings when resolution increases.

The fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low (86.2 FPS) is substantially higher than at 1080p Ultra (33.9 FPS) points to the GPU being the limiting factor, not the CPU. The i5-9400 is capable of feeding the GPU with data, but it cannot compensate for the GPU’s inability to process the heavier graphical load. The CPU’s role is therefore supportive; it ensures that the system does not introduce a secondary bottleneck, but it does not boost performance beyond what the GPU can deliver. The data shows a balanced system, but one where the GPU is the clear performance ceiling.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its characteristics directly explain the FPS numbers. With a boost clock of 2655 MHz and a game clock of 2250 MHz, the GPU has significant computational power, but its memory configuration is a limiting factor. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, which is insufficient for the demands of The Medium at high resolutions and detail levels. This is most evident in the Ultra preset, where the GPU’s 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute cannot overcome the memory bandwidth limitation.

The GPU’s performance ranking, placing it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, is supported by its benchmark scores. Its Passmark G3D score of 16634 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2310 show a capable mid-range card. However, its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (0.6% faster) and the Intel Arc B570 (1.5% faster), are all within a very tight performance band. This indicates that the RX 7600 is at a performance plateau, and its behavior in The Medium is consistent with its synthetic scores. The data shows that the GPU is the primary determinant of frame rates, with the CPU playing a secondary role.

The specific FPS numbers confirm that the RX 7600 is struggling with the game’s most demanding settings. The 44% performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p (43.3 FPS vs. 33.9 FPS) is a clear indication that the Ultra preset is poorly optimized for this GPU’s architecture. The 32 ray accelerators (RT Cores) do not appear to provide any benefit in this title, as the frame rates are consistently low across all resolutions at Ultra. The GPU’s 64 ROPs and 128 TMUs are also insufficient for the fill-rate demands of 4K Ultra, leading to the 23.7 FPS average. The data suggests that the RX 7600 is best utilized at Medium settings, where it can achieve a playable 60.6 FPS at 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this system to achieve 60 FPS?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 at Medium settings is the only configuration that achieves an average of 60 FPS or higher (60.6 FPS). The 1440p Low setting comes close at 76.7 FPS, but the Medium preset at 1440p (50.7 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Why is the Ultra preset so much slower than High?

A: The data shows a significant performance penalty when switching from High to Ultra. At 1080p, the frame rate drops from 43.3 FPS to 33.9 FPS, a 9.4 FPS decrease. This indicates that the Ultra preset’s visual effects place a disproportionate load on the AMD Radeon RX 7600, likely due to its 8 GB VRAM capacity and 128-bit memory bus.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the primary limiting factor. The frame rates scale consistently with GPU load and resolution, suggesting the system is GPU-bound. The i5-9400’s performance is comparable to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% faster), showing it is not a performance outlier.

Q: Can this system play The Medium at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves an average of 62.9 FPS. At High settings, the average drops to 24.7 FPS, and at Ultra, it falls to 23.7 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. The 4K resolution is only playable at the lowest graphical preset.

Q: How does this system compare to a similar GPU in performance?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600 has an average benchmark score of 20258, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT and 1.5% lower than the Intel Arc B570. This shows that the GPU is performing at the expected level for its class, with only minor differences from its immediate competitors.

Q: What is the most consistent frame rate range for this system?

A: The most consistent performance is seen at 1440p Low, which averages 76.7 FPS, and 1080p Low, which averages 86.2 FPS. These settings provide the highest frame rates with the least variance, indicating that the system is not under excessive stress in these configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination in The Medium.

| Resolution | Settings | Average FPS |

|:--------- |:------- |:---------- |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 23.7 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 24.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 40.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 62.9 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 29.3 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 32.5 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 50.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 76.7 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 33.9 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 43.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 60.6 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 86.2 |

The data shows a clear pattern: the Ultra preset is consistently the slowest, while Low is the fastest. The performance gap between Ultra and Low is substantial at every resolution, ranging from a 52.3 FPS difference at 1080p to a 39.2 FPS difference at 4K. The Medium preset offers a balanced compromise, but it only reaches the 60 FPS target at 1080p. The High preset is surprisingly close to Ultra in performance, suggesting that the graphical leap between these two settings is not worth the significant frame rate cost. This breakdown confirms that the system’s optimal performance zone is at 1080p or 1440p with Low or Medium settings, while higher settings are reserved for players who prioritize visual fidelity over smoothness.