The Medium

FAQ

Q: Can the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B390 combination run The Medium at 60 FPS?

A: No. The recorded data shows that at no resolution or preset does this combo reach the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1920x1080 Low, the best average result is 51 FPS, which is still below 60 FPS.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 51, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best results are 43 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 34 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% lower), the GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% lower), and the GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% lower). The Arc B390 outperforms all four rivals, but the margins are small.

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU-GPU pair in The Medium?

A: The combo ranks 3314 out of 3724 tested combinations in the database, placing it in the lower portion of all tested systems. This represents the 89th percentile from the top, meaning roughly 89% of tested combos perform better.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU bottleneck the system more in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 sits in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B390 sits in only the 9th percentile among all GPUs. The dramatic FPS drops when increasing resolution (from 51 FPS at 1080p Low to 34 FPS at 4K Low) indicate the GPU struggles as pixel load increases.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS values recorded at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the lowest frame rates are recorded: at 1920x1080, the average is 32 FPS with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 37. At 2560x1440, the average is 27 FPS with a range of 23 to 31. At 3840x2160, the average is 21 FPS with a range of 18 to 24.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals in the database, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 behaves very similarly to several other CPUs. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19617 on average, only 0.1% higher than the Ryzen 5 5500's 19593 average benchmark score. The Intel Core i5-12500 scores 19668, 0.4% higher, while the Intel Core i7-10700F scores 19499, 0.5% lower. The Intel Core i5-11600KF scores 19723, 0.7% higher. In practical terms, swapping the Ryzen 5 5500 for any of these processors would yield nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, since the deltas are all within a single percentage point.

For the GPU side, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts, but the performance gaps are minimal. The GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% slower, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% slower, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% slower, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% slower. A system using any of these GPUs alongside the Ryzen 5 5500 would produce almost indistinguishable results in this game. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places the Arc B390 in a performance class that is far below modern gaming expectations, as indicated by its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The combination of a mid-range CPU from 2022 with a GPU that benchmarks near decade-old discrete graphics suggests that any of these rival pairings would deliver the same fundamental experience: sub-60 FPS at every resolution and setting in The Medium. The CPU has ample headroom, but the GPU cannot translate that into playable frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear division of labor in this pairing. The CPU, AMD Ryzen 5 5500, is a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 19593. This is a competent processor for gaming workloads.

The GPU, Intel Arc B390, is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. Its 12 ray tracing cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but its raw performance is modest: 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482. The 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs tells the story.

When examining resolution scaling, the GPU's limitations become stark. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo produces 51 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, it drops to 43 FPS, a 15.7% decrease. At 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 34 FPS, a 33.3% decrease from the 1080p result. This pattern holds across all presets. High settings show 23 FPS at 1080p, 19 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K. Medium settings show 32, 27, and 21 FPS respectively. Ultra settings show 18, 15, and 12 FPS.

The CPU's performance does not scale with resolution in the same way. Since the Ryzen 5 5500's benchmarks are resolution-independent, the consistent FPS drops as resolution increases point directly to GPU-bound rendering. The CPU is capable of feeding frames faster than the GPU can render them, especially at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 51 FPS result is likely near the CPU's ceiling for this game, but the GPU prevents higher settings from achieving similar rates.

Preset scaling reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS (from 51 to 32), and moving from Medium to High costs 9 FPS (from 32 to 23). The GPU is the constraint at every step. The CPU's 12 threads and 16 MB of L3 cache are sufficient for this horror title's demands; the bottleneck is the integrated graphics solution trying to handle a game released in 2021.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 3314 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11% of all systems in the database. The rank reflects the GPU's severe performance deficit relative to other graphics solutions.

To contextualize this rank, consider that the CPU alone performs well above average. The Ryzen 5 5500's 73rd percentile CPU ranking means it outperforms nearly three-quarters of all processors in the database. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking drags the entire combo down. If the CPU were paired with a more capable graphics solution, the combo rank would improve substantially.

The gap between the CPU's potential and the GPU's actual output is the defining characteristic of this pairing. In the database, 410 combos perform worse than this one, meaning there are systems with even less capable GPUs or CPUs. But the vast majority of tested systems, 3313 of them, deliver better performance in The Medium.

The verdict data confirms the rank's implications. At every resolution, the playable settings list is empty. There is no preset that achieves 60 FPS. The best settings field is null at every resolution, and the average FPS at best is also null. The combo fails to meet the playable threshold of 60 FPS under any configuration tested.

The Verdict

Based on the measured data, this PC cannot run The Medium at a playable 60 FPS. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080, there are no playable settings. The playableSettings array is empty for every resolution, meaning no combination of resolution and preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

The closest the system comes to playability is at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where it averages 51 FPS. This is 9 FPS short of the threshold. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 43 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 34 FPS. All other settings produce averages below 32 FPS.

For players who can tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS, the system is technically functional. The game will run, but with noticeable stuttering and reduced smoothness. The Medium is a horror game that relies on atmosphere and tension; frame pacing issues could detract from the experience. The minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings, such as 18 FPS at 4K and 23 FPS at 1440p, indicate significant frame drops during intense moments.

The data does not support any recommendation for this combo as a viable way to play The Medium. The GPU's integrated nature and low performance percentile make it unsuitable for this game, which was released in 2021 with demanding visual effects.

Best Settings per Resolution

Since the playable threshold of 60 FPS is never reached, there is no preset that qualifies as "best" in the sense of meeting the target. However, examining the data for the highest FPS at each resolution provides useful information.

At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 51 FPS average. This is the only setting above 50 FPS. Medium produces 32 FPS, High produces 23 FPS, and Ultra produces 18 FPS. If forced to choose the most demanding preset that stays closest to 60 FPS, Low is the only option, but it still falls short.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 43 FPS average. Medium produces 27 FPS, High produces 19 FPS, and Ultra produces 15 FPS. The best case is again Low, but it is further from the target than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 34 FPS average. Medium produces 21 FPS, High produces 15 FPS, and Ultra produces 12 FPS. Low is the best option, but the experience is far from smooth.

In every case, the database's bestSettings field returns null because no setting achieves 60 FPS. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS does not exist for this combo. The practical recommendation is to use Low settings at 1080p if the user accepts sub-60 performance, as this yields the highest average FPS of 51.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across all tested configurations.

At 3840x2160, the results are as follows: Ultra averages 12 FPS with no recorded minimum or maximum. High averages 15 FPS. Medium averages 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 24. Low averages 34 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steep decline: 34, 21, 15, 12 FPS. Each preset step roughly halves the frame rate, indicating the GPU is overwhelmed by the 4K pixel count.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues. Ultra averages 15 FPS. High averages 19 FPS. Medium averages 27 FPS with a range of 23 to 31. Low averages 43 FPS. The deltas between presets are: Low to Medium costs 16 FPS, Medium to High costs 8 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 4 FPS. The diminishing returns at higher presets suggest the GPU is already near its limits even at Low.

At 1920x1080, the best results appear. Ultra averages 18 FPS. High averages 23 FPS. Medium averages 32 FPS with a range of 27 to 37. Low averages 51 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 19 FPS, the largest preset gap in the entire dataset. This suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU struggles significantly when settings increase beyond the minimum.

The lack of minimum and maximum FPS values for most configurations is notable. Only Medium settings at each resolution include these metrics. At 1080p Medium, the range is 27 to 37 FPS, a 10 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 23 to 31 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 18 to 24 FPS. This indicates frame time variance that could cause perceptible stuttering during gameplay.

The data across all resolutions and settings confirms a single narrative: the Intel Arc B390 cannot deliver playable performance in The Medium, regardless of the capable CPU paired with it. The best case scenario of 51 FPS at 1080p Low remains below the 60 FPS threshold, and every other configuration produces increasingly lower results.