The Medium

AMD Ryzen 5 5600F + Intel Arc B570 in The Medium is a combination that struggles to deliver a smooth experience at most settings, with benchmark results showing playable performance only at the Low preset across 1080p and 1440p resolutions. The data reveals a clear pattern: this pairing is heavily GPU-limited in a game that demands more graphics horsepower than the Arc B570 can provide at higher quality levels. At 4K, no tested setting reaches the 60 FPS playability threshold, and even at 1080p, only the Low preset achieves a comfortable average frame rate. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, ranking, component roles, and alternatives based solely on the provided benchmark data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a steep performance cliff as resolution and settings increase. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is the highest recorded average for this configuration. The Medium preset drops to an average of 49 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. High settings at 1080p yield only 35 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 28 FPS average. This demonstrates that even at the lowest resolution, only the Low preset remains above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degradation continues. Low settings produce an average of 66 FPS, still playable but noticeably lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS. High settings drop to 29 FPS average, while Ultra manages just 23 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 25 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset imposes a significant load increase on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely unplayable across all settings. Low settings average 52 FPS, just short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 32 FPS with a minimum of 27 FPS and maximum of 37 FPS. High settings average 23 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 18 FPS average. The data shows that 4K Low is the only setting that comes close to playability, but it still fails to meet the required frame rate. Across all resolutions, the scaling from Low to Ultra is severe: at 1080p, the drop from Low to Ultra is 50 FPS, at 1440p it is 43 FPS, and at 4K it is 34 FPS, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle higher quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this pairing of AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2999 out of 3724 tested combos. This places it in the lower third of all configurations, indicating that it is not a competitive option for this game. The combo's percentile for the GPU is 65, meaning the Arc B570 outperforms 65% of all GPUs in general benchmarks, but this does not translate into strong in-game performance for The Medium specifically. The CPU's percentile is 85, showing that the Ryzen 5 5600F is a relatively strong processor overall, yet the combination still ranks poorly due to the GPU bottleneck.

The rank of 2999 suggests that a large majority of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver better frame rates in this title. Given that only 725 combos rank below this configuration, the data indicates that most systems tested would provide a smoother experience. The gap between the CPU's strong general performance and the combo's weak in-game ranking underscores that The Medium is particularly demanding on graphics hardware, and the Arc B570's mid-tier positioning (65th percentile) is insufficient for higher settings. For context, the GPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a delta of 0.1%, and the Intel Arc A750 with a delta of -0.1%, showing that the B570 sits in a closely contested performance band, but this does not rescue its in-game standing.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results make it clear that the GPU is the primary limiting factor for this combo in The Medium. At every resolution, the frame rate drops dramatically as settings increase from Low to Ultra, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded scores (e.g., 19236 in PassMark multithread) suggest it is not the bottleneck. The scaling between resolutions provides further evidence: at Low settings, moving from 1080p (78 FPS) to 1440p (66 FPS) to 4K (52 FPS) shows a steady decline of 12 FPS and then 14 FPS, respectively. This pattern is consistent with GPU-bound performance, where higher resolutions increase the pixel shading workload.

At Medium settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced. From 1080p (49 FPS) to 1440p (41 FPS) to 4K (32 FPS), the drops are 8 FPS and 9 FPS. This indicates that the Arc B570's memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s and 10 GB of GDDR6 memory become increasingly strained at higher resolutions. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, maintains sufficient processing power, as evidenced by its 85th percentile ranking, but the game's rendering demands overwhelm the GPU.

The preset scaling reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 29 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 14 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 7 FPS. This nonlinear drop suggests that the Medium preset introduces effects that heavily tax the GPU's 2304 shading units and 144 TMUs. The CPU's role is secondary; its benchmark scores, such as 2872 in PassMark single-thread, are adequate for the game's logic, but the data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as frame rates never plateau across settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a delta of 0%, the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with a delta of -0.2%, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 with a delta of -0.4%, and the Intel Core i9-12900T with a delta of -0.5%. These processors deliver nearly identical general computing performance, meaning that swapping the 5600F for any of these would not meaningfully change the frame rates in The Medium, as the GPU remains the bottleneck. The 5600F's 85th percentile ranking and 36945 average benchmark score place it in a tight performance band with these rivals.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B570's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a delta of 0.1%, the Intel Arc A750 with a delta of -0.1%, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M with a delta of 0.4%, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X with a delta of -0.5%. In general benchmarks, these GPUs perform within 0.5% of each other, suggesting that any of them would produce similar FPS results in The Medium. The Arc A750, being a desktop part like the B570, is the closest direct alternative, and the data indicates it would deliver nearly identical performance in this game. The RTX 3070 Mobile, despite being a mobile chip, matches the B570's average score closely, but its laptop-oriented design may have different thermal characteristics. For users seeking a comparable experience, any of these GPUs would behave similarly to the Arc B570, meaning they would also struggle to exceed Low settings at 1080p and 1440p.

Best Settings per Resolution

Based on the 60 FPS playability threshold, the most demanding preset that stays at or above this frame rate is the Low setting at both 1080p and 1440p. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 78 FPS, which is the only setting at this resolution to meet the threshold. At 2560x1440, Low settings average 66 FPS, again the sole playable option. At 3840x2160, no setting reaches 60 FPS; the best result is Low at 52 FPS, which falls short of playability. The verdict data confirms this: for 1080p, the best playable setting is Low with 78 FPS, and for 1440p, it is also Low with 66 FPS. For 4K, no playable settings exist, and the best average FPS is 52 at Low, which is below the threshold. Users targeting a locked 60 FPS experience must accept Low settings at 1440p or lower, and even then, the minimum FPS data for Low at 1440p is not recorded, so frame pacing may vary. At 1080p Low, the 78 FPS average provides more headroom, but with no minimum FPS data, stability cannot be fully verified.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 1080p on High settings?

A: No. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 35, which is far below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p for this system?

A: The only playable setting at 2560x1440 is Low, with an average of 66 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does this configuration achieve 60 FPS at 4K in The Medium?

A: No. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset averages only 52 FPS, and all other settings fall below 32 FPS average.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2999 out of 3724 tested combos, placing it in the lower portion of all configurations for this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has an 85th percentile ranking, but frame rates drop sharply with increasing resolution and settings, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: Are there similar GPUs that would perform the same as the Arc B570?

A: Yes. The Intel Arc A750 has a delta of -0.1% in average benchmark score, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has a delta of 0.1%, meaning they would produce nearly identical FPS in The Medium.