The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and Intel Arc B580 combination is a mid-range pairing that struggles with The Medium’s demanding fixed-camera rendering. At 1080p, the combo manages an average of 88 FPS on Low settings, but this drops sharply as quality increases. The data shows a 55 FPS average at Medium, 40 FPS at High, and only 31 FPS at Ultra, meaning the system cannot hold 60 FPS at any preset beyond Low. The situation worsens at higher resolutions, with 1440p delivering 74 FPS on Low but falling to 47 FPS on Medium, and 4K proving unplayable across all tested settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B580 combo ranks 2819 out of 3724 tested combinations for The Medium. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, indicating that while it can run the game, it does so with significant compromises. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier standing — the Arc B580 sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs — combined with a game that is notoriously heavy on both rasterization and memory bandwidth.

Benchmark results indicate the bottleneck shifts depending on resolution. At 1080p, the CPU’s strength (94th percentile among all CPUs) allows the GPU to be the limiting factor, as shown by the steep FPS drop from Low to Ultra. By 1440p and 4K, the GPU’s workload increases to the point where even the Ryzen 7 9700F’s eight Zen 5 cores cannot compensate for the Arc B580’s performance ceiling. The rank of 2819 suggests that most other combinations tested — including those with older or weaker CPUs — likely achieve better frame rates at higher presets, simply because they pair more capable GPUs with similar processors.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU are all high-end desktop or mobile parts. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 0.2% higher in average benchmark score, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 0.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X is 0.7% ahead, and the Intel Core i7-14700K is 0.9% behind. These deltas are tiny, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in The Medium when paired with the same GPU. In practice, swapping the Ryzen 7 9700F for a Ryzen 9 7950X would not change the playability verdict, as the GPU remains the dominant constraint.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are a mix of older and newer architectures. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP matches the Arc B580’s average score (0.2% lower), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 is 0.6% higher. The RTX 3080 sits 0.7% higher, and the NVIDIA P106-100 is 1% lower. These numbers reveal that the Arc B580 performs like a mid-range card from several generations ago. Users coming from an RX 580 or RTX 2080 would see similar The Medium performance, meaning the same preset limitations apply — Low is the only playable setting at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K entirely off the table.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Ryzen 7 9700F and Arc B580 is clear from the scaling data. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium drops the average FPS from 88 to 55 — a 37.5% reduction. From Medium to High, it falls to 40 FPS, and from High to Ultra, it drops to 31 FPS. This linear degradation points to the GPU being the primary limit, as the CPU has ample headroom at this resolution.

At 1440p, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers: Low runs at 74 FPS, Medium at 47 FPS, High at 33 FPS, and Ultra at 26 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium (27 FPS) is similar to 1080p, but the gap between Medium and High shrinks to 14 FPS, suggesting the GPU is becoming saturated. At 4K, the story changes: Low produces 58 FPS, Medium drops to 37 FPS, High to 26 FPS, and Ultra to 21 FPS. The 4K Low result is notable — it nearly hits 60 FPS — but the step to Medium costs 21 FPS, indicating that memory bandwidth (456.0 GB/s on the Arc B580) is exhausted quickly.

The CPU’s role is minimal across all resolutions. Since the Ryzen 7 9700F has a 94th percentile ranking and the FPS differences track closely with GPU load, there is no evidence of a CPU bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low with 88 FPS, the processor’s 8 cores and 16 threads are sufficient. The verdict is that the Arc B580 dictates playability, and the CPU simply enables the GPU to run at its full potential.

The Verdict

Can this PC run The Medium? Yes, but only at the lowest visual quality. The verdict by resolution shows that 1920x1080 has one playable setting — Low — with an average of 88 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low also clears the 60 FPS threshold with 74 FPS. At 3840x2160, no settings achieve 60 FPS; the best is Low at 58 FPS, which falls just short of the playable threshold.

For 1080p users, the system is playable but not comfortable. The 88 FPS average at Low leaves headroom for dips, and the Medium preset’s 55 FPS average (with a minimum of 47 FPS) is too inconsistent for smooth play. At 1440p, Low’s 74 FPS is solid, but any upgrade to Medium results in 47 FPS average (40 FPS minimum), which is noticeably choppy. 4K is not viable for this combo — even Low misses 60 FPS by 2 frames per second, and Medium drops to 37 FPS.

The data suggests that players should stick to Low settings for a stable experience. The 1080p Low preset delivers the best balance of frame rate and resolution, while 1440p Low is acceptable for those prioritizing pixel density over quality. No ray tracing or high-detail options are feasible.

FAQ

Q: Can the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + Intel Arc B580 run The Medium at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings. At 1920x1080, Low averages 88 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low averages 74 FPS. Medium and higher presets fall below 60 FPS at both resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest frame rate at 88 FPS. 2560x1440 Low is also playable at 74 FPS, but 3840x2160 is not playable at any setting, with Low averaging 58 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B580’s average benchmark score is within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, RTX 3080, and NVIDIA P106-100. The RTX 2080 is 0.6% faster, while the RX 580 2048SP is 0.2% slower.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700F a bottleneck for this game?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, and the FPS data shows the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions. Swapping the CPU for a Ryzen 9 7950X (0.7% faster) would not improve frame rates.

Q: Why is 4K performance so poor?

A: At 4K, even Low settings average only 58 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 37 FPS, indicating the GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the game’s high-resolution textures.

Q: What should I do if I want higher settings?

A: The data shows that no preset above Low achieves 60 FPS at any tested resolution. Users would need a GPU with higher performance — such as one ranking above the 68th percentile — to enable Medium or High settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 88 FPS. Medium falls to 55 FPS, so it does not qualify. At 2560x1440, Low is also the only playable preset, averaging 74 FPS. Medium drops to 47 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS — Low averages 58 FPS, Medium 37 FPS, High 26 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS.

The optimal configuration is therefore 1080p Low for maximum smoothness, or 1440p Low for a sharper image at the cost of 14 FPS. Players who prefer visual fidelity over frame rate can try 1080p Medium, which averages 55 FPS with a minimum of 47 FPS, but this risks noticeable stutter during scene transitions. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1080p Low is the only safe choice.