The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a mid-range combination in the benchmark database, and for The Medium, the measured data reveals a clear pattern: playable performance is reserved for the Low preset, with higher settings falling short of the 60 FPS threshold. This analysis breaks down exactly where this combo stands, how it compares to other tested hardware, and what the numbers imply for each resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), no preset achieves 60 FPS. The Low preset delivers an average of 58.3 FPS, which is the highest measured value at this resolution, but it still sits below the playable threshold of 60 FPS. High averages 27 FPS, Medium drops to 37 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19.1 FPS. The data shows that even the least demanding settings cannot push this combination past the playability line at 4K, making it unsuitable for that resolution.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the Low preset is the only playable option, averaging 76.2 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS threshold with a margin of 16.2 FPS. Medium falls to 48.6 FPS, High manages 32.6 FPS, and Ultra sits at 23.7 FPS. The verdict data confirms this: the playable settings list for 1440p contains only Low, with a best average of 76.2 FPS.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Low preset again is the sole playable choice, averaging 89.4 FPS. This is the strongest result across all resolutions and presets, exceeding the 60 FPS threshold by 29.4 FPS. Medium comes close at 56.9 FPS but misses the mark by 3.1 FPS, while High averages 41.3 FPS and Ultra drops to 33.6 FPS. For 1080p, the verdict lists Low as the best settings with an average of 89.4 FPS.

The pattern is consistent: this combo only reaches playable framerates on Low, and even then only at 1440p and 1080p. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial at every resolution, suggesting that the rendering workload of The Medium scales steeply with graphical fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and Intel Arc B580 holds a rank of 2773 out of 3724 tested combos in the database for The Medium. This places it in the lower third of all combinations, with approximately 74.5% of tested combos performing better. The percentile data for the individual components corroborates this positioning: the CPU sits at the 78th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 68th percentile against all GPUs. Neither component is weak on its own, yet the combined result in this specific game is modest.

The rank implies that The Medium is a demanding title for this pairing. The GPU’s 68th percentile suggests it is a capable mid-tier card, but the game’s requirements push it toward lower settings. The CPU’s higher percentile of 78 indicates it is not the primary bottleneck, which aligns with the measured FPS scaling: as resolution increases, framerates drop sharply, a sign of GPU-bound workload. The data shows that this combo ranks well below the median tested combo, meaning users should expect to compromise on settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS values cover three resolutions and four settings, with average framerates provided for each. Minimum and maximum FPS values are not available in the data, so the analysis relies solely on averages.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 89.4 FPS, the highest figure for this combo. Medium averages 56.9 FPS, High averages 41.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 33.6 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 32.5 FPS, a 36.4% reduction. From Medium to High, the drop is 15.6 FPS, a 27.4% reduction. From High to Ultra, the drop is 7.7 FPS, an 18.6% reduction. The largest performance hit occurs when moving from Low to Medium, indicating that Medium introduces significant rendering effects that burden the GPU.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 76.2 FPS, which is 13.2 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 48.6 FPS, a 28.4% reduction from Low at the same resolution. High averages 32.6 FPS, and Ultra averages 23.7 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1440p shows a total drop of 52.5 FPS, with each settings tier costing roughly a third of the remaining performance.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 58.3 FPS, just 1.7 FPS shy of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 37 FPS, High averages 27 FPS, and Ultra averages 19.1 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly low, with even Low failing to reach playable levels. The scaling from 1440p Low to 4K Low is a reduction of 17.9 FPS, a 23.5% loss, while the scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low is a reduction of 31.1 FPS, a 34.8% loss.

Resolution scaling itself is telling. At Low settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p costs 13.2 FPS, and moving from 1440p to 4K costs 17.9 FPS. At Medium settings, the same steps cost 8.3 FPS and 11.6 FPS respectively. At High settings, the costs are 8.7 FPS and 5.6 FPS. At Ultra settings, the costs are 9.9 FPS and 4.6 FPS. Lower presets show larger absolute FPS losses when resolution increases, because the baseline framerate is higher, but the percentage loss is more consistent.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU provide context for how the Ryzen 5 7600 behaves in isolation. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX has an average benchmark score of 26274, which is 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 7600’s average of 26324. The AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS scores 26402, 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core i9-11900KF scores 26212, 0.4% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 8540U scores 26187, 0.5% lower. These deltas are all within 0.5%, meaning the CPU’s raw benchmark performance is nearly interchangeable with these alternatives. In The Medium, systems using any of these CPUs with the same GPU would likely produce framerates within a fraction of a percent of the measured values, assuming the GPU remains the limiting factor.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a similar tight cluster. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP has an average score of 23061, which is 0.2% higher than the Arc B580’s 23021. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, 0.6% lower, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, 0.7% higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, 1% higher. These deltas are again minimal, so swapping the Arc B580 for any of these GPUs in the same system would yield FPS figures within roughly 1% of the measured values. The RTX 3080 being a rival is notable, as it suggests the Arc B580 performs comparably to a high-end card in this benchmark context, despite its mid-tier positioning. However, the measured FPS in The Medium remain constrained by the game’s demands, not the GPU’s raw score.

For the full combo, the rank of 2773 out of 3724 implies that other pairings near this position would deliver similar results. Users with a CPU and GPU that both sit near their respective percentile ranges would see comparable framerates in The Medium.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor in The Medium for this combo. The evidence lies in the FPS scaling across resolutions. At Low settings, the average framerate drops from 89.4 FPS at 1080p to 76.2 FPS at 1440p and 58.3 FPS at 4K. This steep decline with increasing pixel count is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the render workload grows faster than the CPU’s ability to feed frames. The CPU’s benchmark percentile of 78, compared to the GPU’s 68, further suggests that the GPU is the weaker link.

At higher presets, the same pattern holds. At Medium, FPS falls from 56.9 at 1080p to 48.6 at 1440p and 37 at 4K. At High, it falls from 41.3 to 32.6 to 27. At Ultra, it falls from 33.6 to 23.7 to 19.1. In every case, resolution scaling produces a monotonic decline, with no sign of CPU limitation flattening the curve. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect similar framerates across resolutions at a given preset, particularly at lower settings where the GPU has less work. Instead, the consistent decline confirms the GPU is the primary constraint.

The CPU’s role becomes more relevant at lower resolutions and lower presets. At 1080p Low, the CPU must produce 89.4 FPS, which requires sufficient single-thread performance. The Ryzen 5 7600’s 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and Geekbench single-core score of 2521 indicate it can handle this, but the GPU still limits the ceiling. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is so overburdened that the CPU is idle waiting, producing 19.1 FPS. The data shows no scenario where the CPU prevents higher FPS; rather, the GPU’s performance ceiling defines the results.

Preset scaling also highlights the GPU’s role. Moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution costs more than 55 FPS at 1080p, 52.5 FPS at 1440p, and 39.2 FPS at 4K. These are large absolute drops, driven by graphical effects that load the GPU. The CPU’s workload changes little across presets, so the FPS losses are attributable to GPU rendering. For users, this means upgrading the GPU would yield significant gains, while a faster CPU would provide minimal improvement in The Medium.

The Verdict

Can this PC run The Medium? The answer depends on the resolution and acceptable settings. At 1920x1080, the combo is playable on Low, with an average of 89.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Medium falls short at 56.9 FPS, so users must stick to Low for a smooth experience. At 2560x1440, Low is again the only playable preset, averaging 76.2 FPS, still above 60 FPS but with less headroom. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS; Low averages 58.3 FPS, which is close but not sufficient, and all other settings are far below.

The verdict data confirms this: for 1080p, the playable settings list includes only Low, with a best average of 89.4 FPS. For 1440p, the same holds, with Low at 76.2 FPS. For 4K, the playable settings list is empty, meaning the combo cannot run the game at or above 60 FPS at any preset.

The practical takeaway is that this system is a 1080p and 1440p machine for The Medium, but only at Low quality. Users seeking higher visual fidelity would need to accept framerates in the 30-50 FPS range, which is playable for some but below the benchmark’s 60 FPS standard. The 4K resolution is not viable for this title with this hardware. The combo’s rank of 2773 out of 3724 reflects this middling performance, and the data suggests that the Intel Arc B580, despite its strong benchmark scores, struggles with the specific rendering demands of The Medium at higher presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest FPS this combo achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 89.4 at 1920x1080 on Low settings.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 60 FPS on Medium settings?

A: No. At 1920x1080 Medium averages 56.9 FPS, at 2560x1440 Medium averages 48.6 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Medium averages 37 FPS. All fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Is the 4K resolution playable with this combo?

A: The data shows no playable settings at 3840x2160. The best result is Low at 58.3 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. High, Medium, and Ultra average 27, 37, and 19.1 FPS respectively.

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

A: It ranks 2773 out of 3724 combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower third of tested configurations.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary constraint. Framerates decline sharply as resolution increases, from 89.4 FPS at 1080p Low to 58.3 FPS at 4K Low, indicating GPU-bound performance. The CPU has a higher percentile (78 vs 68) and its benchmark scores are within 0.5% of its nearest rivals.

Q: What settings should a user choose for 1440p gaming?

A: The only playable setting at 2560x1440 is Low, which averages 76.2 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 60 FPS, at 48.6, 32.6, and 23.7 FPS respectively.