The Medium

The Medium on this system pairs a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the RTX 4070 SUPER. The measured frame rates span 39 fps (4K Ultra) to 87 fps (1080p Low), with the Medium preset delivering the only setting for which both minimum and maximum frame counts are recorded across all three tested resolutions. The CPU, running at a 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost, brings a 47th-percentile performance rank, while the GPU sits at the 83rd percentile. Away from the numbers, the game’s fixed camera angles and environmental heavy draw aren’t fully exposed in the tested figures, but the combination clearly scales from stutter-prone 4K to smooth 1080p.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 3840×2160 Ultra preset in The Medium with this combo?

A: The average FPS on Ultra at 4K is 39. This is the lowest average recorded across all tested presets and resolutions.

Q: At 1080p Medium, what are the measured frame minima and maxima?

A: For 1920×1080 Medium, the average FPS is 72, with a minimum of 62 and a maximum of 83. This is the only preset for which frame-bound extremes are reported.

Q: How many cores does the Intel Core i5-9400 have and what is its L3 cache?

A: The i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a shared 9 MB L3 cache. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz and its boost clock is 4.10 GHz.

Q: What is the VRAM capacity and memory type of the RTX 4070 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4070 SUPER carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth.

Q: Where does this combo sit in the game’s tested rankings?

A: Among 3723 measured combinations, this configuration ranks 1375th in The Medium. That places it in the upper half but not the top tier.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A:** The i5-9400's average benchmark score is 2254, while its closest rival (the Intel Core i7-1068NG7) scores 2259, a difference of only -0.2%. The i7-10710U and Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 score 2248 and 2246, respectively, meaning the CPU performance alignment is within 0.4%.

Settings Recommendations

Judging by the measured rows, the Medium preset stands out as the most balanced across every resolution. At 1920×1080, Medium turns in an average of 72 fps with a minimum of 62 and maximum of 83, while High only reaches 64 fps and Ultra 59 fps. The Low preset does 87 fps, but that comes at a significant visual trade-off. For a typical 60 Hz monitor at 1080p, Medium—or even High—stays above the critical threshold, but Medium provides a more comfortable headroom above the minimum.

Moving to 2560×1440, Medium delivers 68 avg (min 58, max 79), High 60 avg, Low 82 avg, and Ultra 50 avg. The Medium setting is again the sensible pick: it keeps the average above 60 and the minimum reports 58, meaning dips are isolated rather than the norm. High matches the 60 avg but without any recorded min/max, so there's no guarantee against sudden stutters. Low yields 82 fps and can be used on fast panels, but Medium is the default recommendation.

At 3840×2160, only Low breaks the 60 barrier (76 avg), with Medium sitting at 63 avg and High at 49 avg. Ultra falls to 39 avg. Given that many 4K displays are 60 Hz, the Medium preset is still workable—its 63 average leaves some overhead and the game remains playable, but the 4K High and Ultra drops are too aggressive. For 4K, the safest choice is Low to guarantee fluid motion, though the 63 fps of Medium is enough for a largely locked experience.

In summary: across all tested resolutions, Medium offers the best combination of average frame rate and the only min/max data, making it the most reliable preset in The Medium.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 SUPER uses the Ada Lovelace chip AD104 fabricated on a 5 nm process. Its 12 GB GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus gives a 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is likely sufficient to feed the game's texture streaming at all tested presets. The GPU runs at a base of 1980 MHz, boost to 2475 MHz, and lists 1168 shading units, 224 TMUs, and 80 ROPS.

Its synthetic performance is strong: it stands at the 83rd percentile of all GPUs tested on the database. In its nearest benchmark rivals, the RTX 4070 SUPER records a mere -0.1% deltaPct against the Quadro M6000 24 GB and a -0.2% against the Quadro M6000, which places it in tight competition. In The Medium, the place of the GPU is visible as resolution increases – when the settings are held at Medium, the average FPS goes from 72 (1080p) to 68 (1440p) to 63 (2160p), showing a moderate drop that a strained GPU would show as a steeper cliff. The GPU was launched at a price of 599 USD (launch MSRP), which sits firmly in the high-tier segment but has never been the topic here.

The steep drop from 63 fps Medium at 4K to 39 fps Ultra at 4K reveals that Ultra presets demand more frame memory and output than the 4070 SUPER can deliver at a playable average. Low at 4K returns 76 fps, so the GPU is not an overall bottleneck; it is the Ultra preset that becomes too demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo itself ranks 1375th out of 3724 combinations tested in this game. That places it near the 63rd percentile spot if you also consider the total number of combos – roughly in top half but not top-ten. The rank is generated from the exact set of measurements for The Medium and these particular parts. The i5-9400's 47th CPU percentile and the GPU's 83rd percentile align with a middle-to-upper position. Compared to the system's own synthetic numbers, the frame rates are exactly what a medium-high GPU and a mid‑class CPU would produce.

In the measured results, the combo delivers playable 60+ FPS at 1440p with Medium settings and 70+ FPS at 1080p Medium, which is typical for a modern mid-high hardware pairing. The gap to the top of the database is dominated by 4K Ultra where the FPS drops to under 40, a door that more powerful cards—like its successor—would keep open.

CPU Role

The Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost, a TDP of 65 W, and a 9 MB shared L3 cache. It has a 63% base clock but a single-core boost that reaches 4.10 GHz. Synthetic tests: it scores 2784 in Cinebench R20 multi-core and 392 in that test’s single-core, with a Cinebench R23 multi score of 6629 and single score of 935. In Geekbench, it gets 5141 multi and 1389 single.

The CPU’s percentile of 47 indicates that it performs slightly below the middle of all CPUs in this database. Its nearest scores (the i7-10600G7 at 2259, the i7-10710U at 2248, the Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246, and i3-10305 at 2264) show differences of only ±0.4%. So the i5-9400 is effectively at parity with those chips in synthetic benchmarks. In the context of The Medium, the game’s engine does not appear to requirement scale with cores—the measured FPS change from 1080p to 4Kp at a fixed setting (Medium: 72 → 68 → 63) is a translate that points more at the GPU's pixel walking. The CPU’s six threads keep the minimum frames in the Medium preset above 58 fps, but its 6-thread limit does not result in any system-wide blocking in these runs.

At 4K, the CPU’s lower single-thread performance may still have an effect, but the recorded 39 fps at Ultra is clearly not valuable to the CPU’s 4.10 GHz boost.

Measured FPS Breakdown

For 1920×1080:

| Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|

| High | 64 | – | – |

| Low | 87 | – | – |

| Medium | 72 | 62 | 83 |

| Ultra | 59 | – | – |

For 2560×1440:

| Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|

| High | 60 | – | – |

| Low | 82 | – | – |

| Medium | 68 | 58 | 79 |

| Ultra | 50 | – | – |

For 3840×2160:

| Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|---|---|---|---|

| High | 49 | – | – |

| Low | 76 | – | – |

| Medium | 63 | 54 | 73 |

| Ultra | 39 | – | – |

Across all scenarios, only Medium records min/max values, giving a more complete look at stability. The Medium preset retains a 62+ minimum at 1080p, 58 at 1440p, and 54 at 4K, which is a usable limit for most players. At the top end, Low reaches 87 fps at 1080p, but the price is lower visual complexity, which The Medium’s often dim scenes may not fully mask. The game’s lowest measured performance appears at 4K Ultra: 39 avg—clearly intended for a system with more GPU headroom.