The Medium

The Medium presents a uniquely heavy load for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is consistently stretched, with playability hinging entirely on the chosen graphics preset. The data indicates a pairing where the GPU is the clear performance limiter, but the CPU’s six threads are not entirely without influence in this horror title’s demanding scenes.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 shows a steep and consistent performance penalty. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 29.9 FPS at 1080p to 26.2 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 23.7 FPS at 4K. This translates to a 21% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, a relatively modest decline that suggests the game is not purely fill-rate bound at these settings. The scaling pattern is more pronounced when comparing the Low preset, where the system achieves 71.7 FPS at 1080p, drops to 59.5 FPS at 1440p, and then falls to 47 FPS at 4K. This steeper decline at lower settings indicates that as the GPU load decreases, other bottlenecks, such as CPU processing or memory bandwidth, come into play.

The most telling data point for identifying the limiting component is the performance gap between settings at a single resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low (47 FPS) and Ultra (16.7 FPS) is a massive 64% performance swing. This enormous sensitivity to graphical fidelity is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The GTX 1660 SUPER is being overwhelmed by the pixel and shading demands of the higher presets, particularly at 4K where even the Medium preset only manages 31.7 FPS. The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 1080p (44.7 FPS to 22.6 FPS) further confirms this, as the GPU’s compute units are saturated by the additional effects and draw calls.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s specifications directly explain its performance ceiling in this title. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, the card provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a capable amount for 1080p gaming, but the data shows it is insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 1440p and 4K with higher presets. The card’s 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 1785 MHz, deliver a 5.027 TFLOPS FP32 compute rate. These figures place it in a position where it can handle the game’s fixed-function work at lower settings, but the 16.7 FPS result at 4K Ultra suggests the ROPs and shading units are simply overwhelmed by the resolution and preset combination.

The GPU’s benchmark data reinforces this view. Its Passmark G3D score of 12699 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1278 are modest, and its percentile rank of 55 versus all GPUs indicates it sits just above the median. The nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are integrated graphics solutions like the Intel Iris Xe MAX and AMD Radeon Vega 11, with deltaPct values of -0.2% and -0.5% respectively. This proximity to integrated parts in synthetic tests is misleading, however, as the measured FPS in The Medium shows the dedicated card pulling far ahead of what those iGPUs could achieve, particularly at 1080p Low where it hits 71.7 FPS. The real issue is that the card’s performance headroom is almost non-existent for this game’s higher demands.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 1482 out of 1689 total combinations. This places it in the bottom 12% of all tested systems, a poor showing that reflects the game’s exceptional hardware requirements. The rank is a direct consequence of the measured FPS data; the system cannot consistently hit 60 FPS at any resolution, even on the Low preset at 1080p where it averages 71.7 FPS but likely suffers from dips in demanding scenes.

The combo’s rank is more a reflection of the GPU’s limitations than the CPU’s. The CPU itself, with an average benchmark score of 2305, sits at the 50th percentile, with its nearest rival being the Intel Core i3-10305 (deltaPct 0.2%). The GPU, however, is also near the 50th percentile (55th), so both components are mid-range parts. The problem is that The Medium appears to be a title that demands high-end hardware to achieve smooth frame rates, and this mid-range pairing falls short. The 1482nd rank out of 1689 combos suggests that the vast majority of other tested systems, even those with similar individual component scores, are able to produce higher average frame rates, likely due to better optimization or more balanced configurations.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 71.7 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: The data shows it is not. At 3840x2160, the best average frame rate is 47 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 23.7 FPS on High and 16.7 FPS on Ultra, indicating a non-playable experience at higher presets.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 14286. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, has a score of 14352, which is a deltaPct of -0.5% (meaning the RX Vega 11 is 0.5% faster in these synthetic tests).

Q: What is the most demanding settings preset for this hardware?

A: The Ultra preset is the most demanding. At every resolution, it produces the lowest average frame rates, hitting a minimum of 16.7 FPS at 4K.

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as frame rates scale dramatically with resolution and settings. However, the CPU’s six threads and 4.10 GHz boost clock may still be a secondary factor at lower settings where the GPU has less work to do.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate on Low is 59.5 FPS, while on Ultra it is 21.6 FPS. This represents a 64% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measurements reveals a clear hierarchy of performance. At 1920x1080, the system provides a playable experience only on Low settings (71.7 FPS), while Medium (44.7 FPS), High (29.9 FPS), and Ultra (22.6 FPS) all fall below the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p results show a similar pattern, with Low (59.5 FPS) being the only preset near playable, followed by Medium (36.7 FPS), High (26.2 FPS), and Ultra (21.6 FPS). At 3840x2160, all presets are below 50 FPS, with Low (47 FPS) being the only one that approaches a barely tolerable frame rate, followed by Medium (31.7 FPS), High (23.7 FPS), and Ultra (16.7 FPS).

The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across presets. For Low settings, the drop from 71.7 to 47 FPS is a 34% reduction. For Medium, the drop from 44.7 to 31.7 FPS is a 29% reduction. For High, the drop from 29.9 to 23.7 FPS is a 21% reduction. For Ultra, the drop from 22.6 to 16.7 FPS is a 26% reduction. This pattern shows that the absolute FPS loss is smaller at higher presets, but the relative loss remains significant, reinforcing that the GPU is struggling with the workload at all resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. These specifications are adequate for a modern game, but the lack of hyper-threading means the CPU has a fixed number of processing threads. In The Medium, a title that may utilize multiple threads for streaming and AI, the 6-thread configuration could be a limiting factor, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed.

The CPU’s benchmark scores are solid for its class. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 7969, and its single-core score is 1125. These numbers place it at the 50th percentile, meaning it is an average performer. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, has an average score of 2300, a deltaPct of 0.2% (meaning the i3 is effectively identical in performance). This data suggests the CPU is not a major source of frame rate issues, as it is comparable to other mid-range parts. However, the measured FPS data shows that reducing settings from Low to Medium at 1080p causes a 38% drop in frame rate (71.7 to 44.7 FPS), a larger relative drop than what would be expected if the CPU were the sole bottleneck. This indicates that while the CPU is sufficient for the game’s logic, the GPU’s inability to handle the increased rendering load is the dominant factor in the poor overall performance of this combo.