The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a combination that struggles significantly with The Medium. The recorded data shows a system that cannot reach the 60 FPS playable threshold at any tested resolution or preset. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and practical alternatives based solely on the database results.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in The Medium?

A: The best result is 46 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. All other presets at this resolution fall below that, and lower resolutions were not tested beyond 1920x1080.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 2560x1440?

A: No. The highest average FPS at 2560x1440 is 39 FPS on Low settings, which is far below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all record averages below 24 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 has an average benchmark score of 21484. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V, scores 21440, a 0.2% difference. The Intel Core i9-11900H is 0.5% behind, while the AMD EPYC 9454 is 1.2% ahead.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 1184, with the nearest rival being the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at a 0.2% difference.

Q: Is there any preset at any resolution that reaches 60 FPS?

A: No. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080. The closest result is 46 FPS at 1080p Low, which still misses the threshold by 14 FPS.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low records 46 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 16 FPS average. That is a 30 FPS gap, showing the heavy performance cost of the Ultra preset on this hardware.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals that the Intel Arc B370 is the dominant bottleneck in this pairing. The GPU benchmarks place it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 1184. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which is only 0.5% faster, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, 0.7% faster. These are all legacy or low-end parts, confirming that the GPU lacks the raw throughput needed for a 2021 horror title like The Medium.

The CPU, by contrast, is a mid-range part. The Ryzen 5 2600 sits at the 75th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 21484. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V (0.2% faster) and the Intel Core i9-11900H (0.5% slower). In synthetic tests like Cinebench R15 multicore (1248 points) and Geekbench multicore (5648 points), it shows competent multi-threaded performance. However, the game's frame rates do not improve proportionally when resolution drops, which points to GPU limitation.

Looking at the scaling between resolutions, the pattern is clear. At 1920x1080 Low, the system records 46 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 39 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low it falls to 30 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the 1080p result would be much closer to 60 FPS, since lower resolutions reduce GPU load. Instead, the frame rate stays low across all resolutions, indicating the GPU is saturated even at 1080p.

The same pattern holds for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 29 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it is 24 FPS. At 4K Medium, it is 19 FPS. The stepwise decline is modest, with roughly 5 FPS lost per resolution tier. This is characteristic of a GPU that is already near its maximum output at the lowest tested resolution. The CPU's role is secondary: it provides enough headroom to avoid further drops, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's lack of fill rate or shader power.

The preset scaling reinforces this. At 1080p, moving from Low (46 FPS) to Medium (29 FPS) costs 17 FPS, and moving to High (21 FPS) costs another 8 FPS. Ultra (16 FPS) is barely 5 FPS below High. These are steep penalties for visual quality, and they suggest that the GPU's 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs are overwhelmed by the game's rendering demands. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are not the constraint here; the data shows the GPU is the deciding factor at every resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. Low settings produce an average of 30 FPS. Medium drops to 19 FPS average, with a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 22. High falls to 14 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 11 FPS. No preset at 4K comes close to the 60 FPS threshold, and even the Low preset is only half of what would be considered playable.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves slightly but remains unplayable. Low settings average 39 FPS. Medium averages 24 FPS, with a range of 21 to 28. High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, which is the largest jump between any two presets at this resolution, indicating that the Medium preset introduces significant rendering overhead.

At 1920x1080, the best results appear. Low settings average 46 FPS, which is the highest recorded value for this combo in the entire dataset. Medium averages 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. High averages 21 FPS. Ultra averages 16 FPS. Even at the lowest resolution and lowest preset, the system misses the 60 FPS target by 14 FPS. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium presets, and they show that frame pacing is consistent but slow: 24 FPS minimum at 1080p, 21 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K.

The data includes no min or max values for Low, High, or Ultra presets, so only the averages can be compared for those settings. The recorded min and max for Medium presets show a tight spread, with the maximum never exceeding 33 FPS. This indicates that the hardware is running at its ceiling, with no bursts of higher performance to smooth out the experience.

The Verdict

This PC cannot run The Medium at a playable level. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for any resolution, and the playable threshold is 60 FPS. The best recorded result is 46 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which is 14 FPS short of the target. At 2560x1440, the best is 39 FPS on Low, and at 3840x2160, the best is 30 FPS on Low.

For the 60 FPS threshold, the system fails across the board. Even the least demanding preset at the lowest resolution does not reach the mark. If the threshold were lower, say 30 FPS, the system would only barely qualify at 1080p Low (46 FPS) and 1440p Low (39 FPS), but the database specifies 60 FPS as the playable threshold. The Ultra presets are effectively slideshows, with 11 FPS at 4K and 16 FPS at 1080p. This is not a matter of tweaking settings; the hardware simply does not have the performance headroom for this game.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are all within 1.2% of its average benchmark score. The Intel Core Ultra 5 228V scores 21440, a 0.2% difference. The Intel Core i9-11900H scores 21367, a 0.5% difference. The Intel Xeon D-1746TER scores 21635, a 0.7% difference. The AMD EPYC 9454 scores 21223, a 1.2% difference. Any of these CPUs would behave nearly identically to the Ryzen 5 2600 in The Medium, since the game is GPU-bound in this configuration. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking means it is not the limiting factor, so swapping to any of these rivals would not change the measured FPS in a meaningful way.

For the GPU, the situation is different. The Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within 1.4% of its score. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, a 0.2% difference. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, a 0.5% difference. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, a 0.7% difference. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, a 1.4% difference. These GPUs would produce nearly the same frame rates in The Medium, meaning they would also fail to reach 60 FPS at any resolution. The performance class is consistent: all of these parts are legacy or low-end, and none of them can handle this game at a playable level.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, there is no best setting because no preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 30 FPS on Low, which is still far below the threshold. The verdict by resolution confirms that no playable settings exist at 4K for this combo.

At 2560x1440, the same conclusion applies. The best average is 39 FPS on Low, but the 60 FPS target is unreachable. No preset at 1440p is playable, so there is no best setting to recommend.

At 1920x1080, the best average is 46 FPS on Low. This is the only preset that comes close to the threshold, but it still falls short. Medium drops to 29 FPS, High to 21 FPS, and Ultra to 16 FPS. Since none of these reach 60 FPS, the database does not designate a best setting for this resolution either. The practical takeaway is that the highest average FPS is achieved with Low settings at 1080p, but that is still not playable by the defined standard.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, with only 285 combos performing worse. The rank reflects the severe GPU limitation: the Arc B370's 5th percentile standing drags the entire system down, despite the CPU's more respectable 75th percentile.

The data shows that this combo is not suitable for The Medium at any settings. The GPU is the clear bottleneck, and its nearest rivals in the database are all similarly underpowered. The CPU, while not a top performer, is not the reason for the failure. The recorded FPS values across all resolutions and presets are consistently below the 60 FPS threshold, and the highest achievable average is 46 FPS at 1080p Low. For anyone considering this hardware for this game, the measurements indicate that it will not provide a playable experience.