The Medium

The Medium is a demanding horror title, and this pairing of a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 produces a wide spread of results depending on where you set the dials. The data shows a system that is capable of smooth play at lower resolutions but quickly becomes taxing at 4K, where the GPU’s workload dominates the frame rate. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to show exactly where the bottlenecks lie and which settings offer the best playable experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which points directly at the GPU as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 85.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 83 FPS at 2560x1440, a modest decline, but then drops sharply to 74.4 FPS at 3840x2160. The scaling is more aggressive on the High preset, where the 1080p average of 66.1 FPS falls to 54.7 FPS at 1440p and then to 41.4 FPS at 4K. This pattern indicates that the RTX 4070 is handling the pixel count increase well at lower graphical loads, but once the settings are raised, the 4K resolution becomes a significant hurdle.

The Ultra preset shows the most brutal scaling, with the average FPS dropping from 51.9 at 1080p to 47.5 at 1440p and finally to 37.8 at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K on Ultra is a 14.1 FPS loss, while the same resolution jump on Low only costs 11 FPS. This suggests that the game’s higher settings add a substantial per-pixel cost, making the resolution jump more punishing. The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU can still feed the GPU adequately, but at 4K, the GPU’s raw throughput becomes the sole determinant of performance, as evidenced by the consistent 30-40% performance deficit compared to 1080p across all presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the star of this show, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth is put to the test by The Medium’s high-resolution textures. The GPU’s boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz are standard for the Ada Lovelace architecture, but the real story is in the 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which drives the game’s fixed-camera rendering. The benchmark results show that the card sits in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37283, placing it just 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 and 1.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A in the nearest rival list.

The measured FPS data reveals the GPU’s character: it is far more comfortable at 1440p and below. At 1440p Medium, it achieves 66.8 FPS, which is a solid result, but at 4K Medium, it falls to 61.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 36.6 FPS, which is a massive swing that shows how much headroom the card has when the settings are lowered. The 4K High result of 41.4 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, but the 4K Low result of 74.4 FPS is perfectly playable. This indicates the 4070’s 12 GB frame buffer is not the issue; rather, the raw shading power is what limits it at 4K with higher presets. The card’s 64 ROPs and 184 TMUs are sufficient for most tasks, but the game’s heavy use of volumetric effects and lighting at Ultra settings creates a load that the 4070 cannot overcome at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. The data shows that this CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration, but it does have a measurable impact on the lower-resolution results. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 place it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, which is average. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305, which is just 0.2% faster, and the Intel Core i7-8809G, which is 0.6% faster, indicating that the i5-9400 is a solid mid-range performer.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the average FPS of 85.4 is the highest in the entire dataset. This is the only scenario where the frame rate exceeds 85 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is not being pushed hard enough at this resolution and settings, allowing the CPU to dictate the ceiling. However, as the resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU takes over, and the CPU’s influence wanes. The fact that the 1080p Ultra result is 51.9 FPS, while the 1440p Low result is 83 FPS, confirms that the CPU can handle the game’s logic and draw calls at these settings without choking. The 6 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support are adequate for this title, as the frame times remain stable across the board, with no min FPS data indicating any stutter issues.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K smoothly?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves 74.4 FPS. At Medium, the average drops to 61.4 FPS, which is still playable, but High and Ultra presets fall to 41.4 FPS and 37.8 FPS respectively, which are not ideal for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The data suggests 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the system hits 54.7 FPS, and at Medium, it reaches 66.8 FPS. This resolution balances the GPU’s load better than 4K while providing a sharper image than 1080p.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 the bottleneck in this setup?

A: Yes, at higher resolutions and settings. The FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, and the CPU’s performance scores are average, indicating the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting for the graphical workload.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400’s average benchmark score is 2305, which is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i3-1125G4. It is 0.4% faster than the Intel Xeon E-2134, but 0.6% slower than the Intel Core i7-8809G.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 85.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 51.9 FPS. This represents a 33.5 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra settings impose a significant performance cost.

Q: Does the GPU’s VRAM capacity limit performance in this game?

A: No, the 12 GB of GDDR6X memory appears sufficient. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra is consistent across resolutions, which would not be the case if the VRAM were being exceeded and causing texture swapping.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The exact measured average frame rates for each resolution and settings combination are as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields 85.4 FPS, Medium yields 69.4 FPS, High yields 66.1 FPS, and Ultra yields 51.9 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers are 83 FPS for Low, 66.8 FPS for Medium, 54.7 FPS for High, and 47.5 FPS for Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results are 74.4 FPS for Low, 61.4 FPS for Medium, 41.4 FPS for High, and 37.8 FPS for Ultra.

The data reveals a clear trend: the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 33.5 FPS, at 1440p it is 35.5 FPS, and at 4K it becomes 36.6 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset is adding a consistent amount of GPU work that scales with pixel count. Conversely, the drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is only 11 FPS, suggesting that the game is not entirely GPU-bound at the lowest preset. The High preset shows the most dramatic resolution penalty, with a 24.7 FPS loss from 1080p to 4K, making it the least scalable option in this dataset.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is the most practical choice, delivering 66.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. This provides a good visual quality uplift over Low without the steep cost of High or Ultra. If you prefer 1080p, the High preset at 66.1 FPS is a solid option, as it offers better visuals than Medium while maintaining a high frame rate. However, the Ultra preset at 1080p is not recommended, as the 51.9 FPS average is noticeably lower and the visual difference over High is often minimal in a slow-paced horror game.

At 4K, the choices are stark. The Low preset at 74.4 FPS is the only option that approaches smooth play, but it sacrifices much of the game’s atmospheric detail. The Medium preset at 61.4 FPS is playable, but it is close to the edge, and any demanding scene could cause dips. The High and Ultra presets at 41.4 and 37.8 FPS respectively should be avoided, as they are not suitable for a game that relies on tension and timing. The data suggests that this system is best used at 1440p Medium or 1080p High, where the RTX 4070 can flex its muscle without being held back by the resolution ceiling.