The Medium

The Medium places this Intel Core i5-9400 + AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination at rank 777 out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the database. This rank is notable because the GPU alone sits at the 82nd percentile among all tested graphics cards, while the CPU rests at exactly the 50th percentile. The gap between those two positions suggests the processor is holding back what would otherwise be a much higher overall ranking. With an average FPS spread that never exceeds 87.5 frames per second even at 1080p on Low settings, the data points to a system where the CPU's six threads are the ceiling rather than the GPU's substantial rendering power.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 777 out of 1689 places it just below the median of all tested pairings, which is a surprisingly modest result for a GPU that outperforms 82% of all tested graphics cards. Benchmark results indicate the RX 9070 XT's average benchmark score of 39647 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon Pro 575 at 39703 and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile at 39568 — with delta percentages of -0.1% and 0.2% respectively. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 26795 demonstrates strong raw graphics capability, yet the measured FPS in The Medium suggests this power is not fully realized. The Intel Core i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 places it within 0.2% of the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, and 0.4% of the Intel Xeon E-2134, making it a middle-of-the-pack processor. This pairing of a top-tier GPU with a mid-range CPU creates a system whose overall rank reflects the weakest link rather than the strongest component.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT brings substantial resources to this game: 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock reaches 2970 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz and base clock of 1660 MHz. The 4096 shading units and 128 ROPs produce a pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s. In The Medium, these specifications translate to a clear pattern: the GPU can handle the game's visual demands, but only when the CPU allows it to stretch. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 35.7 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. Dropping to 4K Low yields 77.1 FPS, showing that when the workload shifts more toward the GPU, the frame rate nearly doubles. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is never likely to be a limiting factor in this game, as even the most demanding settings at 4K would struggle to exhaust that allocation given the CPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Why does the combo rank so much lower than the GPU's percentile might suggest?

A: The GPU sits at the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, but the CPU is at the 50th percentile among all CPUs. The combo ranks 777 out of 1689, indicating the processor's mid-range standing pulls the overall result down significantly.

Q: Is the RX 9070 XT's performance in The Medium typical of its benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 184026 are strong, but in The Medium the maximum measured FPS is 87.5 at 1080p Low. This is far below what the GPU could deliver if unconstrained, pointing to a CPU limitation.

Q: How does the CPU's single-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: In Cinebench R23 single-core, the i5-9400 scores 1125, while its multi-core score is 7969. Its nearest rivals, the i3-10305 and i3-1125G4, have average benchmark scores within 0.2% of the i5-9400's 2305 average.

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 87.5, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 79.9 FPS, and at 4K Low it reaches 77.1 FPS.

Q: Does the game favor the GPU or CPU at lower resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 87.5 FPS down to 55.6 FPS, a 31.9 FPS difference. The GPU has enough headroom that the CPU becomes the primary limiter even at lower settings.

Q: Is ray tracing performance relevant for this game?

A: The GPU includes 64 ray tracing cores and supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, but The Medium's measured FPS data does not include ray tracing-specific benchmarks. The available data shows traditional rasterization performance only.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 87.5 FPS, Medium drops to 70.4 FPS, High settles at 67.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.6 FPS. The 31.9 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is the smallest of all three tested resolutions, suggesting the CPU is the dominant constraint. Moving to 2560x1440, Low yields 79.9 FPS, Medium 67.9 FPS, High 56.6 FPS, and Ultra 46.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 33.3 FPS, a slightly larger spread that shows the GPU beginning to take on more responsibility. At 3840x2160, Low produces 77.1 FPS, Medium 60.8 FPS, High 42.4 FPS, and Ultra 35.7 FPS. The 41.4 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is the largest, indicating that at this resolution both components are being pushed harder, but the GPU's 16 GB of memory and high bandwidth allow it to maintain a playable 60.8 FPS at Medium settings.

Settings Recommendations

The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 70.4 FPS, which is smooth for a horror game where atmosphere matters more than competitive response times. At 1440p Medium, 67.9 FPS remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, and even at 4K Medium the 60.8 FPS average is playable. High settings are viable only at 1080p, where 67.2 FPS is acceptable, but at 1440p High drops to 56.6 FPS and at 4K High falls to 42.4 FPS, which may feel stuttery during fast camera movements. Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution, as the highest Ultra result is 55.6 FPS at 1080p, and at 4K Ultra the 35.7 FPS average will be noticeable in a game that relies on tension and timing. Low settings offer the highest frame rates but sacrifice the visual fidelity that this horror title uses for atmosphere; the 87.5 FPS at 1080p Low is the only setting that fully saturates what the CPU can deliver.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, running on a 14 nm process node. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, and it draws a 65 W TDP. The CPU's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards. In Cinebench R23, it scores 7969 multi-core and 1125 single-core, placing it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. In The Medium, the CPU's six threads appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p, where even Low settings cap at 87.5 FPS. The fact that 4K Low produces 77.1 FPS — only 10.4 FPS less than 1080p Low — demonstrates that the GPU has massive headroom that the CPU cannot feed. The i5-9400's nearest rivals, the i3-10305 and i3-1125G4, have nearly identical average scores, but the lack of hyper-threading in the i5-9400 means each core must handle more work in games that scale beyond six threads.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck lives. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 7.6 FPS (87.5 to 79.9), and from 1440p to 4K is only 2.8 FPS (79.9 to 77.1). This tiny drop at higher resolutions indicates the CPU is saturated — adding GPU workload barely affects performance because the processor is already at its limit. At Medium settings, the progression is 70.4 FPS at 1080p, 67.9 FPS at 1440p, and 60.8 FPS at 4K, showing a more gradual decline as the GPU becomes more involved. High settings show the steepest drop: 67.2 FPS at 1080p, 56.6 FPS at 1440p, and 42.4 FPS at 4K, a 24.8 FPS total decline. Ultra settings follow a similar pattern with 55.6, 46.6, and 35.7 FPS respectively. The data suggests that at Low and Medium settings, the i5-9400 is the primary constraint, while at High and Ultra, the RX 9070 XT's workload increases enough to shift the balance. The 4K Low result of 77.1 FPS being only 10.4 FPS behind 1080p Low is the clearest evidence: a GPU-bound system would show a much larger gap, so the CPU's six threads are the choke point.