The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for The Medium with the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B370 shows a consistently demanding workload across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the combination delivers an average of 14 FPS on High settings, 30 FPS on Low, 19 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 16 FPS and maximum of 22 FPS), and 11 FPS on Ultra. None of these figures approach a playable threshold, and the spread between Low and Ultra is substantial: Low produces roughly 2.7 times the frame rate of Ultra at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern improves but remains far below a smooth experience. High settings yield an average of 17 FPS, Low reaches 39 FPS, Medium averages 24 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 28), and Ultra drops to 14 FPS. The gap between Low and High at this resolution is approximately 2.3 times, indicating that the GPU is the dominant constraint as resolution scales down.

At 1920x1080, the best observed average is 46 FPS on Low settings. High averages 21 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS (minimum 24, maximum 33), and Ultra averages 16 FPS. Even at the lowest preset, the system falls short of the 60 FPS playable threshold. The difference between Low and Medium is 17 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 8 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns as settings increase. The maximum frame rate recorded at any setting and resolution is 33 FPS, which occurs at 1080p Medium. Across all twelve measured configurations, no average exceeds 46 FPS, and the minimum recorded frame rate is 16 FPS at 4K Medium.

FAQ

Q: Can this system reach 60 FPS in The Medium at any resolution?

A: No. The recorded data shows the highest average frame rate is 46 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 39 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, the average is 30 FPS. All other settings and resolutions produce lower averages.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest performance drop between Low and Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080, Low averages 46 FPS and Ultra averages 16 FPS, a difference of 30 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low averages 39 FPS and Ultra averages 14 FPS, a difference of 25 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low averages 30 FPS and Ultra averages 11 FPS, a difference of 19 FPS. The percentage reduction is steep in all cases, but the absolute gap narrows as resolution increases.

Q: How much does the Medium preset improve on Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160, Medium averages 19 FPS versus 11 FPS on Ultra, an improvement of 8 FPS (roughly 73% higher). At 2560x1440, Medium averages 24 FPS versus 14 FPS on Ultra, an improvement of 10 FPS (roughly 71% higher). At 1920x1080, Medium averages 29 FPS versus 16 FPS on Ultra, an improvement of 13 FPS (roughly 81% higher).

Q: Are there any settings where the minimum frame rate stays above 30 FPS?

A: No. The only configurations with recorded minimum frame rates are Medium presets. At 3840x2160 Medium, the minimum is 16 FPS; at 2560x1440 Medium, the minimum is 21 FPS; and at 1920x1080 Medium, the minimum is 24 FPS. Low and High presets have no recorded minimum values in the data, but their averages are below 46 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The combination ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower portion of the distribution. This aligns with the measured frame rates, which never reach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370 a strong performer relative to other GPUs in the database?

A: The Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, with a single recorded 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (score 1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (score 1190, delta -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (score 1192, delta -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (score 1168, delta 1.4%). Performance is essentially on par with these older parts.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU and GPU each have nearby hardware that would behave similarly in this title. On the processor side, the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005, placing it at the 77th percentile among all CPUs. The closest rival is the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F with an average score of 24964, a delta of 0.2% slower. The Intel Core i7-11850H scores 24935 (0.3% slower), the Intel Core i7-13620H scores 24911 (0.4% slower), and the AMD EPYC 9474F scores 25103 (0.4% faster). In practice, any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame pacing in The Medium, since the game's bottleneck at the measured settings appears to be the GPU rather than the CPU.

On the graphics side, the Intel Arc B370 is a much more limiting factor. Its average benchmark score is 1184, and its nearest rivals are all legacy or low-power parts. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, which is 0.2% higher. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, 1.4% lower. A system built around any of these GPUs would likely produce frame rates close to those recorded for the Arc B370, assuming the CPU is not the limiting factor. Given that the Arc B370 ranks at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, the measured FPS values in The Medium reflect a GPU that is far below the median of the database.

For users considering a similar configuration, the data suggests that swapping the CPU to a Ryzen 5 7500F or Core i7-13620H would not materially change the outcome, as the delta between these processors is under half a percent. Swapping the GPU to any of the listed rivals would also produce negligible differences, since the score deltas are all within 1.4%. The practical takeaway is that this system's performance in The Medium is defined almost entirely by the Arc B370's low standing in the GPU hierarchy.

The Verdict

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B370 cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate according to the database's 60 FPS threshold. The verdictByResolution data lists no playable settings at any resolution. At 3840x2160, the best average is 30 FPS on Low, which is half the target. At 2560x1440, the best average is 39 FPS on Low, still 21 FPS short. At 1920x1080, the best average is 46 FPS on Low, a 14 FPS deficit. No preset at any resolution clears 60 FPS, and even the maximum observed frame rate, 33 FPS at 1080p Medium, falls far below the threshold.

The lowest settings do provide the best headroom. At 1080p Low, the system produces 46 FPS on average, which is smoother than any other configuration but still not playable by the database standard. Medium settings at 1080p drop to 29 FPS, and High drops further to 21 FPS. Users who tolerate frame rates below 60 FPS might find 1080p Low acceptable for slower-paced horror gameplay, but the recorded data does not support calling any configuration playable. The verdict is unambiguous: this PC fails the 60 FPS target across the board.

Best Settings per Resolution

Since no configuration reaches 60 FPS, the database records no best settings for any resolution. The verdictByResolution data shows null values for bestSettings and avgFpsAtBest at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. However, the measured data identifies the most performant preset at each resolution if the goal is simply to maximize frame rate.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce the highest average at 30 FPS. Medium follows at 19 FPS, High at 14 FPS, and Ultra at 11 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low again leads with 39 FPS, followed by Medium at 24 FPS, High at 17 FPS, and Ultra at 14 FPS. At 1920x1080, Low averages 46 FPS, Medium averages 29 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS. In every resolution, Low is the only preset that comes within striking distance of the threshold, and even then it falls short by at least 14 FPS.

The scaling from Low to Medium is steep at every resolution. At 4K, the drop is 11 FPS; at 1440p, it is 15 FPS; at 1080p, it is 17 FPS. This means that even a modest increase in visual quality costs roughly a third to half of the Low preset's frame rate. For users who must choose a preset, Low at 1080p is the most viable option, but it still does not meet the playable standard.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places the system in the bottom 8% of the database, which is consistent with the measured frame rates. The GPU's 5th percentile standing among all GPUs is the primary reason for this low rank, as the CPU sits at the 77th percentile and is not the limiting component.

A rank of 3439 means that roughly 285 tested combinations performed worse, while 3438 combinations performed better. Given the playable threshold of 60 FPS, the large majority of tested combos must achieve that target at least at some resolution, whereas this system does not. The gap between this combo and the middle of the pack is substantial. The recorded data shows no configuration reaching even 50 FPS, and the best average is 46 FPS at 1080p Low. In a database where the playable threshold is 60 FPS, a rank this low reflects a fundamental shortfall in graphics throughput rather than a tuning issue.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data indicates that the Intel Arc B370 is the dominant constraint in The Medium. Evidence comes from the scaling between resolutions and presets. At 1080p Low, the average is 46 FPS; at 1440p Low, it drops to 39 FPS; at 4K Low, it drops to 30 FPS. This strong resolution scaling is typical of a GPU-bound workload, where increasing pixel count directly reduces frame rate. The CPU, by contrast, shows no such scaling effect in the recorded data, since the same processor is used across all measurements.

Preset scaling further supports this conclusion. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces the average from 46 FPS to 16 FPS, a 65% drop. At 1440p, Low to Ultra drops from 39 FPS to 14 FPS, a 64% drop. At 4K, Low to Ultra drops from 30 FPS to 11 FPS, a 63% drop. The consistency of this reduction across resolutions points to a GPU that is saturated at every setting level. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increased, but that is not the case.

The CPU's high percentile rank (77th) and strong multi-threaded scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 24389, suggest it is capable of feeding a much faster GPU. The Ryzen 5 8400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications are more than adequate for a 2021 horror title like The Medium. The GPU, however, has only 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, with a FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it at the 5th percentile, and its nearest rivals are GPUs from over a decade ago.

At every resolution, the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's role is effectively neutral: it neither boosts performance nor drags it down. Users seeking higher frame rates in The Medium would need to replace the GPU first, as the measured data shows no CPU-side bottleneck that a processor swap could alleviate.