The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for this combination shows that The Medium is a demanding title for this hardware, with no resolution reaching the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 3840x2160, the measured average frame rates range from a low of 12 FPS on Ultra settings to a high of 34 FPS on Low settings. The Medium preset delivers 21 FPS average, with minimum and maximum readings of 18 FPS and 24 FPS respectively. High settings produce 15 FPS average, while Ultra drops further to 12 FPS. Notably, the 4K results show a steep performance cliff as settings increase, with the gap between Low and Ultra representing a 65% reduction in frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern remains consistent but with modest gains over 4K. Low settings achieve 43 FPS average, which is the highest recorded figure at this resolution. Medium settings yield 27 FPS average, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. High settings produce 19 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 15 FPS average. The scaling from 4K to 1440p shows roughly a 26% improvement at Low settings, but only a 21% improvement at Ultra settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor more severely at higher quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the results improve further but still fall short of the 60 FPS target. Low settings deliver 51 FPS average, the single highest average in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 32 FPS average, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High settings reach 23 FPS average, while Ultra settings bottom out at 18 FPS average. The 1080p Low result is noteworthy because it sits just 9 FPS below the playability threshold, suggesting that the hardware is close to being viable at the most forgiving settings, but it does not cross the line.

Across all resolutions, the only settings entries with recorded minimum and maximum values are the Medium presets. At 4K Medium, the frame rate fluctuates between 18 and 24 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 23 to 31 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the range is 27 to 37 FPS. These narrow bands indicate relatively stable performance within each preset, but the absolute values remain far below what would be considered comfortable for gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark measurements reveal a clear pattern where the GPU dominates performance constraints across all three resolutions. The Intel Arc B390, which sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs according to the database, shows consistent frame rate limitations that scale directly with resolution. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700, by contrast, ranks in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, suggesting it has ample headroom that is not being utilized due to the GPU bottleneck.

Evidence for this GPU-bound scenario comes from the resolution scaling behavior. When moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 51 FPS to 43 FPS, a decline of approximately 16%. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 43 FPS to 34 FPS, another 21% reduction. If the CPU were the primary constraint, these resolution changes would produce much smaller frame rate differences, because the CPU workload remains largely constant regardless of pixel count. Instead, the consistent degradation with increasing resolution points directly at the GPU's rendering throughput as the limiting factor.

The settings scaling reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 33 FPS (51 down to 18). At 1440p, that same settings range spans 28 FPS (43 down to 15). At 4K, it spans 22 FPS (34 down to 12). The shrinking absolute delta at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU is already saturated even at Low settings, leaving less headroom for quality improvements to affect the frame rate. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads, along with its Zen 3 architecture, are more than adequate for a horror title of this type, but the data does not show any scenario where CPU performance becomes the deciding factor.

The Ryzen 7 5700's benchmark results further support this interpretation. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655 and single-core score of 2916 indicate strong processing capability. Its PassMark multi-thread score of 24303 places it comfortably above average. None of these metrics suggest that the CPU would struggle with game logic, physics, or streaming workloads. The GPU, with its 1536 shading units and FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS, simply does not have enough raw pixel-pushing power for The Medium's visual demands, particularly when the game's dual-world rendering technique doubles the effective workload.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no settings preset achieves an average frame rate at or above 60 FPS. The highest recorded average is 34 FPS at Low settings, followed by 21 FPS at Medium, 15 FPS at High, and 12 FPS at Ultra. Since the playability threshold is defined as 60 FPS, there is no "best" settings configuration that meets the criterion at this resolution. The database records no playable settings for 4K, meaning every preset falls short.

At 2560x1440, the situation is identical in terms of playability. The highest average is 43 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 27 FPS, High at 19 FPS, and Ultra at 15 FPS. None of these figures approach the 60 FPS threshold, so the verdict for 1440p also records no playable settings. The gap between the best result and the target is 17 FPS, which represents a 28% shortfall.

At 1920x1080, the closest approach to playability occurs. Low settings deliver 51 FPS average, which is 9 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 32 FPS, High produces 23 FPS, and Ultra produces 18 FPS. While the Low preset comes within 15% of the target, it still does not clear the bar. The database therefore lists no playable settings for 1080p either, making this combination unable to reach the defined playability standard at any resolution or quality level.

For users who must run the game regardless of the threshold, the practical recommendation would be 1080p with Low settings, as that configuration produces the highest average frame rate in the entire dataset. The 51 FPS average at that setting is substantially smoother than any other option, though it still exhibits the inherent limitations of the hardware.

The Verdict

The recorded data provides a clear answer: this PC cannot run The Medium at the 60 FPS playability threshold at any resolution. The verdictByResolution field in the database confirms this, listing empty playableSettings arrays for 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The best achievable average frame rate across all tested configurations is 51 FPS at 1080p with Low settings, which falls 9 FPS short of the target.

At 4K, the hardware is severely constrained. Even the lowest quality settings produce only 34 FPS, and the highest quality settings drop to 12 FPS. The game is effectively unplayable at this resolution, with frame rates that would make even basic navigation difficult. At 1440p, the results are marginally better but still far from acceptable. The 43 FPS at Low settings represents the ceiling, and quality settings above Low produce results in the teens and twenties. At 1080p, the picture improves enough to be borderline. The 51 FPS at Low settings is close to playable, but it does not meet the threshold, and any quality increase pushes the frame rate down to levels that would likely cause noticeable stuttering.

The overall conclusion is that this combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and an Intel Arc B390 is not suitable for The Medium at the defined playability standard. The CPU is not the bottleneck, but the GPU's performance class, as indicated by its 9th percentile ranking and its average benchmark score of 1482, places it far below what this game requires. Users seeking to play The Medium would need to either reduce the resolution below 1080p, accept frame rates below 60 FPS, or consider different hardware.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 in the database provide context for CPU performance. The Intel Xeon D-2752TER has an average score of 25530, which is 0.1% lower than the Ryzen 7 5700's 25517 average. The AMD Ryzen 5 7640U scores 25485, which is 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 5 6600H scores 25550, 0.1% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 5825U scores 25446, 0.3% higher. These four alternatives would behave nearly identically to the Ryzen 7 5700 in The Medium, meaning that swapping the CPU among these options would not change the frame rate results in any meaningful way, since the GPU remains the limiting factor.

For the Intel Arc B390, the nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from a much older generation. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX has an average score of 1463, which is 1.3% lower than the Arc B390's 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, 1.5% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, 2.5% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, 2.7% lower. These comparisons indicate that the Arc B390 sits at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum, alongside entry-level integrated and low-end discrete solutions from over a decade ago. Any of these GPU alternatives would produce similarly low frame rates in The Medium, likely within a few FPS of each other at every resolution and settings combination.

The delta percentages between the Arc B390 and its rivals are small, ranging from 1.3% to 2.7%. This tight clustering means that choosing any of these GPUs would result in essentially the same gaming experience, which is to say, an experience that falls well short of playable at the 60 FPS threshold in this title. The CPU alternatives, with deltas of 0.1% to 0.3%, are even closer in performance, reinforcing that the choice of CPU among these four would have no practical impact on The Medium's frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combination achieves in The Medium?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 51 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is 9 FPS below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best result is 34 FPS average on Low settings. Medium settings produce 21 FPS, High produces 15 FPS, and Ultra produces 12 FPS. None of these approach the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 ranks in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Frame rates scale strongly with resolution and settings, indicating GPU-bound performance.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. This is far below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in the database's average benchmark. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX at 1463 (1.3% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% lower). All of these GPUs would behave similarly in The Medium.

Q: Are any settings at 1080p playable?

A: No. The closest result is 51 FPS average at Low settings, which falls short of the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings produce 32 FPS, High produces 23 FPS, and Ultra produces 18 FPS. The database records no playable settings at any resolution for this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination at position 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 with the Intel Arc B390 in the bottom 11% of all tested hardware combinations, a position consistent with the measured frame rates. The rank reflects that the vast majority of other tested systems deliver higher performance in this game, with only 410 combinations ranking below this one.

The low rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU's performance class. The Arc B390's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs means that nearly all other GPUs in the database would produce better results. The CPU's 78th percentile standing shows that the processor portion of this combo is reasonably capable, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations. The combination rank of 3314 out of 3724 indicates that users with this hardware would experience one of the poorest outcomes among all tested systems for The Medium.

Given that the playability threshold is set at 60 FPS and this combo never reaches that figure at any resolution or settings preset, the rank accurately reflects the hardware's inability to deliver a satisfactory experience. The gap between the best measured result (51 FPS at 1080p Low) and the threshold is modest at 1080p, but the overall ranking shows that even that closest result is an outlier relative to what other hardware can achieve. Users considering this combination for The Medium should expect performance that falls far below the database's playability standard, consistent with its position near the bottom of the rankings.