The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the Intel Arc B390 does not deliver a playable experience in The Medium at any resolution or preset, based on the recorded data. Across all tested combinations, the average frame rate falls far below the 60 FPS playability threshold, with the highest recorded average being 51 FPS at 1080p Low settings. This combination ranks 3314th out of 3724 tested hardware combinations for this game, placing it in the lower percentile of capable systems. The data indicates that neither 4K, 1440p, nor 1080p reaches a playable state, and the GPU appears to be the primary bottleneck, as its benchmark percentile sits at 9, while the CPU holds a much stronger 71st percentile ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the Intel Arc B390 produces severely limited frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS is 34. Moving to Medium settings drops the average to 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS. High settings yield an average of 15 FPS, while Ultra settings produce the lowest result at 12 FPS average. No minimum or maximum values are recorded for Low, High, or Ultra at this resolution, but the averages alone confirm that 4K is unplayable across the entire settings range.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the results improve but remain far from playable. Low settings achieve an average of 43 FPS. Medium settings average 27 FPS, with a recorded range of 23 FPS minimum to 31 FPS maximum. High settings drop to 19 FPS average, and Ultra settings fall to 15 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium is 16 FPS, indicating a steep performance cost when increasing graphical fidelity. None of these averages reach the 60 FPS threshold, and even the best case of 43 FPS leaves significant headroom missing.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the best results of the entire dataset appear, yet still fall short. Low settings produce an average of 51 FPS, the highest recorded average in this test suite. Medium settings average 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High settings average 23 FPS, and Ultra settings average 18 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 19 FPS loss, which is the largest single-preset drop observed at any resolution. Even at the lowest settings, the average remains 9 FPS below the playability threshold, and the minimum FPS figures for Medium suggest that frame pacing would be inconsistent in demanding scenes.

The data shows a consistent pattern: each resolution and preset combination scales predictably, with Low always delivering the highest average and Ultra the lowest. The absence of minimum and maximum values for many presets limits the depth of variance analysis, but the Medium preset at each resolution includes those measurements. At 4K Medium, the spread between minimum and maximum is 6 FPS; at 1440p Medium, the spread is 8 FPS; at 1080p Medium, the spread is 10 FPS. This widening spread at lower resolutions suggests that CPU limitations begin to introduce frame time variability as the GPU load decreases.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 3840x2160, no setting achieves 60 FPS. The verdict data lists no playable settings for this resolution, and the best average FPS recorded is 34 at Low. Since even the lowest preset falls 26 FPS short of the threshold, there is no recommended configuration at 4K. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 21 FPS with a maximum of 24 FPS, meaning even the most favorable frame peaks remain well below playability.

For 2560x1440, the same conclusion applies. No playable settings exist, and the best average is 43 FPS at Low. The gap to 60 FPS is 17 FPS, which is smaller than at 4K but still insurmountable given the hardware. The Medium preset averages 27 FPS with a maximum of 31 FPS, and even the maximum frame rate does not approach the threshold.

For 1920x1080, the closest result appears. Low settings deliver an average of 51 FPS, but this still misses the 60 FPS target by 9 FPS. The verdict confirms there are no playable settings at this resolution. Medium settings average 32 FPS with a maximum of 37 FPS, so even the peak frames during this preset stay far below 60. The data indicates that no combination of resolution and settings in this dataset clears the playable threshold, making the best achievable experience a Low preset at 1080p that remains visibly below target performance.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data strongly indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component in this pairing. The GPU sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482, while the CPU holds the 71st percentile with an average score of 17035. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 with a delta of 1.3 percent, and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 with a delta of 1.5 percent. These comparisons place the Arc B390 in a performance class that is simply too weak for a demanding title like The Medium.

The scaling between resolutions reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the system. Moving from 1080p Low at 51 FPS to 1440p Low at 43 FPS represents a 15.7 percent drop, while moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low at 34 FPS represents a 20.9 percent drop. These proportional losses align with the increasing pixel count that the GPU must render. At Medium settings, the same pattern appears: 1080p at 32 FPS, 1440p at 27 FPS, and 4K at 21 FPS. The consistent degradation across resolutions confirms that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary constraint.

The CPU's role is less pronounced but still measurable. The Ryzen 5 3600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its multi-threaded benchmark results, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 7372, show adequate computational capacity. However, the GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for the game's fixed-function workload demands. The fact that the 1080p Medium preset shows a 10 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, compared to a 6 FPS spread at 4K Medium, hints that at lower resolutions the CPU begins to contribute more to frame time variation, but the GPU remains the dominant factor throughout.

The Verdict

This system cannot run The Medium at a playable level. The verdict data is unambiguous: there are no playable settings at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080. The playable threshold is defined as 60 FPS, and the highest average FPS across the entire dataset is 51 at 1080p Low. The 4K results are particularly poor, with Ultra averaging 12 FPS and High averaging 15 FPS, both of which would produce a stuttering and visually broken experience. At 1440p, the best case of 43 FPS at Low still results in noticeable frame drops during gameplay. Even at 1080p, where the hardware performs best, the 51 FPS average at Low falls short of the threshold, and any increase in settings causes a sharp decline to 32 FPS at Medium. The recorded data leads to a single conclusion: this hardware combination is not viable for The Medium, and users would need to significantly lower expectations or upgrade components to achieve a fluid experience.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 sits near several comparable processors in benchmark performance. The Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17007, a 0.2 percent difference from the Ryzen 5 3600's average score of 17035, meaning it would behave nearly identically in this game. The Intel Core i5-11400 scores 17067, a negative 0.2 percent delta, again placing it in the same performance envelope. Two AMD EPYC server processors, the EPYC 7573X and EPYC 7742, score 17070 and 16998 respectively, with deltas of negative 0.2 percent and positive 0.2 percent. In the context of The Medium, any of these CPUs would pair with the Arc B390 without meaningfully changing the outcome, since the GPU bottleneck dominates the frame rate.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA discrete parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, just 1.3 percent below the Arc B390's 1482 average. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, a 1.5 percent delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a 2.5 percent delta. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, a 2.7 percent delta. These comparisons show that the Arc B390, despite being a newer architecture, performs in the same range as these legacy GPUs. In practical terms, swapping the Arc B390 for any of these alternatives would produce similar or slightly worse frame rates in The Medium, all of which remain far below playable. The data suggests that the GPU is the decisive weak link, and replacing it with a substantially more powerful part would be required before the Ryzen 5 3600's capabilities could be utilized.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this system can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 51, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This still falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

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

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average is 34 FPS on Low settings. Medium averages 21 FPS, High averages 15 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. No preset reaches 60 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the low performance?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck. The Intel Arc B390 ranks at the 9th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 1482, while the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 ranks at the 71st percentile with a score of 17035. Frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases, confirming GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What settings should I use at 1080p?

A: Low settings provide the best average FPS at 51, but this still does not reach 60 FPS. Medium settings average 32 FPS with a minimum of 27 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. None are playable.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in the recorded benchmark. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3 percent lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5 percent lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5 percent lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7 percent lower). All perform in a similar, sub-playable range for this game.

Q: Are there any playable settings at 1440p?

A: No. The best average at 2560x1440 is 43 FPS on Low settings. Medium averages 27 FPS with a maximum of 31 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The 60 FPS threshold is not reached at any preset.