The Medium

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The recorded data shows an average of 46 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in the entire measurement set.

Q: Can this combo reach 60 FPS at any resolution or preset?

A: No. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings at any resolution (3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080). The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and the recorded maximum average across all tested configurations is 46 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 rank among all GPUs?

A: The Intel Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, ATI Radeon HD 5770, and AMD Radeon HD 7650M, all within a 0.7% performance delta.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 ranks in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26324. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS, Intel Core i9-11900KF, and AMD Ryzen 5 8540U, with deltas ranging from -0.3% to +0.5%.

Q: Does lowering settings from Ultra to Low improve FPS meaningfully?

A: Yes, but not enough to reach playability. At 1080p, the average FPS rises from 16 (Ultra) to 46 (Low), a substantial improvement. At 1440p, it goes from 14 (Ultra) to 39 (Low). At 4K, it goes from 11 (Ultra) to 30 (Low).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the dominant constraint. The Intel Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking, combined with the fact that FPS scales heavily with resolution (halving from 1080p Low to 4K Low), points to the graphics processor as the bottleneck. The CPU's 78th percentile ranking is comparatively strong.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data for The Medium shows a clear division of labor between the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and the Intel Arc B370. The CPU is positioned far above the GPU in relative strength. The Ryzen 5 7600 ranks in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, while the Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This gap suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor across all tested configurations.

Resolution scaling confirms this interpretation. When moving from 1920x1080 Low (46 FPS average) to 2560x1440 Low (39 FPS average), the frame rate drops by roughly 15%. Moving further to 3840x2160 Low (30 FPS average) results in another 23% decline. These are large drops for a game that is not typically considered GPU-bound at low presets. If the CPU were the bottleneck, resolution changes would have a much smaller effect on frame rates.

The pattern repeats at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 29 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it falls to 24 FPS. At 4K Medium, it drops to 19 FPS. The consistent downward trend with each resolution increase points directly at the GPU's rendering throughput as the limiting factor. The Arc B370's modest 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 20 ROPs simply cannot keep up with the pixel and shading demands of The Medium at higher resolutions.

At High settings, the same story holds: 21 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows 16 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 11 FPS at 4K. Across all settings, the resolution scaling is monotonic and significant. The game's fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds in many scenes do not reduce the GPU load enough to compensate for the Arc B370's limited throughput.

The CPU's role is comparatively minor. A 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 processor with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz is more than adequate for the logical and physics calculations in The Medium. The recorded CPU benchmark scores, such as 12735 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1852 in single-core, place it well above the thresholds typically needed for this genre. The data does not show any signs of CPU-induced frame pacing issues, as the minimum FPS values at Medium settings (24 at 1080p, 21 at 1440p, 16 at 4K) are consistent with GPU-bound behavior.

In summary, the GPU is the decisive component. Users should expect that any upgrade path for this game involves replacing or supplementing the Intel Arc B370, not the Ryzen 5 7600.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded measurements cover 12 configurations: 4 settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across 3 resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160). All values fall below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

1920x1080:

• Low: 46 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 29 FPS average, 24 FPS minimum, 33 FPS maximum
• High: 21 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 16 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

2560x1440:

• Low: 39 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 24 FPS average, 21 FPS minimum, 28 FPS maximum
• High: 17 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 14 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

3840x2160:

• Low: 30 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 19 FPS average, 16 FPS minimum, 22 FPS maximum
• High: 14 FPS average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 11 FPS average (no min/max recorded)

The only configurations with recorded minimum and maximum values are the Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the frame rate fluctuates between 24 and 33 FPS, a range of 9 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 7 FPS (21 to 28). At 4K Medium, the range is 6 FPS (16 to 22). These tight ranges indicate stable frame delivery without major stutters, but at unplayably low levels.

The gap between Low and Medium settings is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the difference is 17 FPS (46 to 29). At 1440p, it is 15 FPS (39 to 24). At 4K, it is 11 FPS (30 to 19). The gap between Medium and High is smaller: 8 FPS at 1080p, 7 FPS at 1440p, and 5 FPS at 4K. The jump from High to Ultra costs 5 FPS at 1080p, 3 FPS at 1440p, and 3 FPS at 4K.

The data shows that Low settings provide the only remotely playable experience, and even then, only at 1080p (46 FPS). The 4K Low average of 30 FPS is barely half of the playable threshold. No configuration approaches 60 FPS, and the highest recorded value in any min/max pair is 33 FPS (1080p Medium maximum).

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's measured results for The Medium, the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combos. This places it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. The rank reflects the combined impact of the CPU and GPU on this specific game's performance.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's weak standing. The Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking (with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184) drags the combo down despite the CPU's respectable 78th percentile. The Ryzen 5 7600's average benchmark score of 26324 is competitive with processors like the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (26274, 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i9-11900KF (26212, 0.4% delta), but that strength cannot compensate for the graphics bottleneck.

Within the 3724 combos, a rank of 3439 means that only 285 combinations performed worse. This is not a case of a balanced system that falls slightly short; it is a lopsided pairing where the GPU severely limits the overall experience. The measured FPS data supports this: even at 1080p Low, the combo fails to reach 60 FPS by a margin of 14 FPS.

For context, the combo's performance is consistent with what one would expect from a CPU in the 78th percentile paired with a GPU in the 5th percentile. The CPU is not the differentiator here. If the same GPU were paired with a weaker CPU, the rank would likely remain similar, as the game is GPU-bound in all tested configurations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals in the database, users can expect similar behavior from hardware that is within a small percentage of the CPU and GPU in this combo.

CPU alternatives: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600's nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (0.2% higher score), AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (0.3% lower), Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.4% higher), and AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (0.5% higher) would produce nearly identical CPU-bound performance in The Medium. None of these processors would change the outcome, as the GPU remains the limiting factor.

GPU alternatives: The Intel Arc B370's nearest rivals are extremely close in 3DMark Steel Nomad scores. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% lower), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% lower), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% lower), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1.4% higher) would all deliver frame rates within a narrow margin of the Arc B370. In The Medium, these GPUs would produce average FPS values within 1-2 frames of the recorded numbers at each resolution and preset.

Notably, the GPU rivals are all older architectures with similar or lower feature sets. The Arc B370's 10 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support do not translate into a meaningful advantage in this game, as the measured FPS remains low across all settings. Users with any of these rival GPUs should expect the same general experience: sub-60 FPS at every resolution and preset, with only 1080p Low approaching a playable (though still insufficient) level.

The data does not suggest that swapping to any of these nearby components would change the verdict. The performance delta between the Arc B370 and its closest rivals is less than 1.5%, which is within measurement noise for most games. The Ryzen 5 7600's rivals are similarly clustered, meaning the entire neighborhood of comparable hardware would fail to reach 60 FPS in The Medium.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + Intel Arc B370 cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: there are no playable settings at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and the best recorded average is 46 FPS at 1080p Low.

At 1080p, the combo comes closest to playability. The Low preset delivers 46 FPS average, which is 14 FPS short of the threshold. Medium drops to 29 FPS, High to 21 FPS, and Ultra to 16 FPS. Even the maximum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium (33 FPS) is less than 60% of the playable threshold.

At 1440p, the situation is worse. Low settings produce 39 FPS average, Medium 24 FPS, High 17 FPS, and Ultra 14 FPS. None of these values are close to 60 FPS, and the minimum FPS at Medium (21 FPS) indicates that frame drops can push the experience below 20 FPS.

At 4K, the combo is effectively unusable. Low settings yield 30 FPS average, Medium 19 FPS, High 14 FPS, and Ultra 11 FPS. The minimum at 4K Medium is 16 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth motion perception in most games.

The root cause is clear from the data: the Intel Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking means it lacks the raw throughput for this game's rendering demands. The Ryzen 5 7600's 78th percentile CPU ranking is not the issue. Users seeking to play The Medium at 60 FPS would need a substantially more powerful GPU, as no settings adjustment within this combo's reach can bridge the gap.

In short, this system is not recommended for The Medium. The recorded data shows a consistent shortfall across all 12 tested configurations, with the best case (1080p Low) still missing the playable threshold by 14 FPS. The verdict is final: not playable at any resolution or preset.