The Medium

The Medium, a horror game released in 2021, presents a demanding workload. This analysis covers a system built around the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 processor and the Intel Arc B370 integrated GPU. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 has a launch MSRP of $179. The measured data shows that this combination cannot sustain 60 FPS at any resolution or preset, making it unsuitable for the playable threshold defined in the database.

Best Settings per Resolution

The playable threshold is 60 FPS. The database records no preset that stays at or above this threshold for any of the three tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the highest average is 46 FPS at Low settings. At 2560x1440, the highest average is 39 FPS at Low. At 3840x2160, the highest average is 30 FPS at Low. Because even the lowest preset at 1080p falls short of the threshold, there is no best settings recommendation to make. The verdict data confirms this: playable settings are empty for all resolutions.

The gap widens as settings increase. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium drops the average from 46 to 29 FPS. High settings yield 21 FPS, and Ultra yields 16 FPS. None of these come close to 60 FPS. The same pattern holds at higher resolutions, where every preset produces lower averages than the corresponding 1080p result. In short, no combination of resolution and preset in the recorded data reaches the playable standard.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the processor, the database lists four close matches. The Intel Xeon D-2752TER has an average benchmark score 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 7 5700. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H is also 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 7640U is 0.1% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5825U is 0.3% higher. These deltas are small enough that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium. A user moving from any of these processors to the Ryzen 7 5700 would see essentially no change in performance.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B370 is matched by several older parts. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 0.2% higher, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 0.5% higher, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1.4% lower. The GPU's average benchmark score is 1184, and its percentile is 5. This means the GPU is the dominant limiting factor in this pairing. Any of these rival GPUs would behave similarly in this title, producing frame rates in the same low range.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database records twelve measurement points across three resolutions and four settings.

At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 46 FPS. Medium produces 29 FPS on average, with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. High produces 21 FPS. Ultra produces 16 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 39 FPS. Medium produces 24 FPS on average, with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 28. High produces 17 FPS. Ultra produces 14 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low settings produce an average of 30 FPS. Medium produces 19 FPS on average, with a minimum of 16 and a maximum of 22. High produces 14 FPS. Ultra produces 11 FPS.

The min and max values are only recorded for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the range is 24 to 33 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 21 to 28 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 16 to 22 FPS. These ranges indicate frame time variation, but none of the recorded values approach 60 FPS. The highest single value in the entire dataset is 33 FPS at 1080p Medium, which is still well below the threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: No. The highest average at 1080p is 46 FPS at Low settings. Medium averages 29 FPS, High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra averages 16 FPS.

Q: What is the best average FPS at 1440p?

A: 39 FPS at Low settings. Medium averages 24 FPS, High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS.

Q: What is the best average FPS at 4K?

A: 30 FPS at Low settings. Medium averages 19 FPS, High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B370 is within 1.4% of the AMD FirePro M2000, within 0.7% of the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, within 0.5% of the ATI Radeon HD 5770, and within 0.2% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is within 0.3% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5825U, within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen 5 7640U, and within 0.1% of both the Intel Xeon D-2752TER and the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H.

Q: What is the lowest recorded average FPS?

A: 11 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data points to the GPU as the limiting component. The CPU ranks in the 78th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 5th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU's multi-threaded performance is strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655, single-core score of 2916, and Geekbench multi-core score of 9959. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score is 1184. The CPU also records a 3DMark max threads score of 6617 and a Passmark multithread score of 24303, confirming that it has ample compute headroom for this title.

Resolution scaling confirms the GPU bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 46 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p and 30 at 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 29, 24, and 19 FPS respectively. At High settings, they are 21, 17, and 14. At Ultra, they are 16, 14, and 11. The consistent decline as resolution increases indicates that the GPU is saturated, while the CPU is not.

The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, 20 ROPs, and 10 ray tracing cores, with system shared memory. The GPU's memory bandwidth is system dependent, and its FP32 throughput is 6.144 TFLOPS. The CPU's memory bandwidth is 51.2 GB/s, but the GPU relies on shared system memory, which is a further constraint. In this game, the GPU determines the outcome.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database, this combination ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the lower portion of the field. The GPU's low percentile and the measured FPS data are consistent with this ranking. The CPU's high percentile does not compensate for the GPU's weakness. The recorded averages across all resolutions and presets remain below 46 FPS, and the rank reflects that reality.

The Verdict

This system cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and the best recorded average is 46 FPS at 1080p Low. At 1440p, the best is 39 FPS, and at 4K, the best is 30 FPS. Every preset at every resolution falls short of the threshold. The combination is not suitable for this game at the defined playable standard. Users seeking to play The Medium would need a substantially stronger GPU to reach 60 FPS at any resolution.