The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror game that leans heavily on environment rendering and atmospheric effects, and the data for the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 shows a combo that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions but becomes increasingly CPU-sensitive as resolution drops. This configuration ranks 1556th out of 2911 tested combos for this title, placing it just past the midpoint of the database, with measured frame rates that range from a playable 87 FPS at 1080p Low to a demanding 27 FPS at 4K Ultra. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and how this combo compares to other tested configurations, using only the provided facts.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the combo delivers an average of 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, based on the measured data.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1440p Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 27, while at 2560x1440 Ultra, the average FPS is 34. This represents a drop of 7 FPS, or roughly 20.6%, when moving from 1440p to 4K at the same Ultra preset.

Q: Is the Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RX 7700 in this game?

A: The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the average FPS is 87, which is only 5 FPS higher than the 82 FPS at 1440p Low. This small gain suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads are limiting performance, as the GPU is not fully utilized.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested CPU/GPU combinations for The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 1556th out of 2911 total combinations tested in this game, according to the comboRankInGame field. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: Does the RX 7700 have enough VRAM for The Medium at 4K?

A: The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K High, the average FPS is 34, and at 4K Medium it is 48, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor, as performance scales with settings rather than hitting a memory wall.

Q: How does the RX 7700’s benchmark score compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has an average score of 16129, giving the RTX 3060 Ti a 1.7% higher score, according to the deltaPct of -1.7 for the RX 7700 relative to that rival.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its specifications include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, along with 40 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1900 MHz, a game clock of 2041 MHz, and a boost clock of 2459 MHz, with memory running at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective). The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is substantial for a horror game that often uses high-resolution textures for environmental storytelling.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is dominant at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows a clear progression: at 4K Ultra, the average is 27 FPS, which jumps to 34 FPS at 4K High, then 48 FPS at 4K Medium, and finally 76 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling of 49 FPS from Ultra to Low at 4K demonstrates that the GPU is the primary driver of performance when resolution is high. The RX 7700’s FP32 compute of 25.18 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s are the resources being taxed, and the data reflects that the card is stretched at 4K Ultra, delivering only 27 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered minimally playable.

At 1440p, the GPU still leads but with less strain. The average FPS at 1440p Ultra is 34, which is identical to 4K High, indicating that the GPU’s workload is similar across those two configurations. At 1440p Low, the 82 FPS average shows that the GPU has ample headroom when settings are reduced. The RX 7700’s percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852, places it in the mid-range of the database, but its nearest rivals include both older cards like the AMD Radeon R9 370X (with a deltaPct of -0.1, meaning the RX 7700 is 0.1% lower) and newer ones like the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (which is 1% higher). This suggests that the GPU is competitive with cards in its class, but not exceptional.

The 16 GB VRAM is a notable feature, as it exceeds the requirements of most games from 2021, including The Medium. The data shows no evidence of VRAM throttling; for instance, at 4K Medium with 48 FPS and min/max of 40/55, the frame times are consistent, which would not be the case if memory bandwidth or capacity were causing stutters. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s is more than sufficient for the game’s textures and effects, even at 4K, so the GPU’s compute and shading units are the limiting factors rather than memory.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1556th out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This rank places the combo in the 53rd percentile (since 1556/2911 is approximately 0.534), meaning it outperforms just over half of all tested configurations. The dataIsMeasured field is true, so these results come from actual testing rather than estimates, adding credibility to the rank.

To put this rank in context, the CPU has a percentile rank of 47 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which has an average score of 2259 and a deltaPct of -0.2 (meaning the i5-9400 is 0.2% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, which scores 2246 and has a deltaPct of 0.4 (meaning the i5-9400 is 0.4% higher). These differences are negligible, so the CPU is essentially performance-equivalent to those rivals. The GPU, on the other hand, has a percentile rank of 58, with an average score of 15852, and its nearest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti, is 1.7% higher. The combo rank of 1556 suggests that the pairing is slightly below what the individual component percentiles would predict, likely because the CPU’s modest performance at lower resolutions holds back the GPU in a game like The Medium, which is not heavily multi-threaded.

The rank also indicates that many combos with stronger CPUs or GPUs will outperform this setup. For example, any combo with a GPU that scores above 16000 and a CPU with a higher single-thread score would likely rank higher, since The Medium’s fixed-camera perspective often means that scene complexity can vary widely, but the CPU must handle the game’s logic and rendering calls. The fact that this combo sits at position 1556, just past the middle, suggests that it is a balanced but not exceptional pairing for this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 87 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 72 FPS, with a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 83, showing a narrow frame time distribution. High at 1080p averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 41 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 46 FPS, or 52.9%, indicating that the GPU is being taxed more as settings increase, but the CPU is still able to feed it enough data to maintain playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 82 FPS, which is only 5 FPS lower than 1080p Low, suggesting that the GPU still has headroom at this resolution. Medium at 1440p averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 51 and a maximum of 70, which is a 15.3% drop compared to 1080p Medium. High at 1440p averages 43 FPS, and Ultra averages 34 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more pronounced at higher settings: Ultra drops from 41 to 34 FPS (17.1% decrease), while Low drops from 87 to 82 FPS (5.7% decrease). This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where lower settings reduce the GPU workload, making the CPU the limiting factor.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is still quite playable, but Medium drops to 48 FPS with a minimum of 40 and maximum of 55. High averages 34 FPS, and Ultra averages 27 FPS. The difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low is 11 FPS (87 to 76), which is a 12.6% reduction, while the difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is 14 FPS (41 to 27), a 34.1% reduction. This shows that at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the resolution increase puts more strain on the shading units and ROPs, and the frame rate drops accordingly. The Medium preset at 4K, with its min/max of 40/55, shows that there is some variability, but the average of 48 FPS is still above the 30 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals how the combo responds to increasing pixel counts. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 5-8 FPS depending on the preset. For Low, the drop is from 87 to 82 FPS (5.7% decrease); for Medium, from 72 to 61 FPS (15.3% decrease); for High, from 51 to 43 FPS (15.7% decrease); and for Ultra, from 41 to 34 FPS (17.1% decrease). This pattern indicates that at lower settings, the CPU is more involved, as the GPU has spare capacity, but as settings increase, the GPU becomes more dominant, leading to larger percentage drops.

From 1080p to 4K, the scaling is more dramatic. Low drops from 87 to 76 FPS (12.6% decrease), Medium from 72 to 48 FPS (33.3% decrease), High from 51 to 34 FPS (33.3% decrease), and Ultra from 41 to 27 FPS (34.1% decrease). The consistent ~33% drop for Medium, High, and Ultra suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at these settings, as the increased resolution demands more from the render pipeline. The smaller drop for Low (12.6%) is because the GPU is not fully utilized at 1080p Low, so moving to 4K Low still leaves the GPU with enough resources to maintain a higher frame rate.

This scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p Low, the CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, are likely the bottleneck, as the GPU can easily handle the low workload. At 4K Ultra, the GPU’s compute resources are saturated, and the CPU has more than enough time to feed it, resulting in a GPU-bound scenario. The data supports this: the FPS difference between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is only 5 FPS, which is small, while the difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra is 14 FPS, which is larger. This suggests that players who want to push 4K should reduce settings to Medium or Low to stay above 30 FPS, while those at 1080p can use Ultra and still get 41 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 256 KB of L2 cache per core, and 9 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, as well as a Geekbench multicore score of 5141 and single-core score of 1389. The CPU’s percentile rank of 47 against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254, places it in the middle of the database.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 87 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it only drops to 82 FPS. This 5 FPS difference is small, indicating that the CPU is not able to push frame rates much higher even when the GPU has significant headroom. The game is a horror title with fixed camera angles, which often means that the CPU must handle complex scene graphs and AI logic, and the i5-9400’s 6 threads may be a limiting factor in such scenarios. The lack of hyper-threading means that the CPU can only process 6 threads simultaneously, which could cause bottlenecks if the game’s engine is optimized for more threads.

The CPU’s single-core performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R20 single-core score of 392 and Geekbench single-core score of 1389, is adequate but not stellar for 2021 standards. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps in single-threaded tasks, but the base clock of 2.90 GHz is relatively low, which can affect sustained performance. In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s rendering calls and physics, and the data suggests that it is sufficient for 60 FPS gameplay at 1080p Medium (72 FPS average) and 1440p Low (82 FPS), but it cannot maintain those frame rates at higher settings due to GPU limitations. The combo’s rank of 1556 out of 2911 reflects this balance: the CPU is not a high-end part, but it pairs reasonably well with the mid-range GPU, delivering playable performance in most scenarios, with the exception of 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with a deltaPct of -0.2 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 with a deltaPct of 0.4, indicate that its performance is comparable to other mid-range processors from its era. However, in The Medium, the CPU’s 6 threads may be less effective than a 6-core/12-thread processor would be, as the game’s engine might benefit from additional threads for streaming and background tasks. The data does not include a direct comparison with such a CPU, but the combination of the i5-9400’s benchmark scores and the measured FPS suggests that it is a competent but not outstanding partner for the RX 7700 in this title.