The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for this combination of AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Intel Arc B370 in The Medium paints a clear picture of severe performance limitations. At 3840x2160, the benchmark results show an average of 14 FPS on High settings, a figure that falls far below any playable threshold. Dropping to Low settings at 4K improves the average to 30 FPS, but even this represents only half of the 60 FPS target that defines playability in the database. Medium settings at 4K yield an average of 19 FPS, with a minimum of 16 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS, while Ultra settings collapse to 11 FPS average. The gap between Low and High at 4K is substantial, with Low delivering more than double the frame rate of High, indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by the game's rendering demands at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation improves marginally but remains critically low. High settings produce an average of 17 FPS, while Low settings reach 39 FPS. Medium settings at 1440p show an average of 24 FPS, with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 14 FPS. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is noticeable but not transformative: Low settings improve from 30 FPS at 4K to 39 FPS at 1440p, a gain of 9 FPS, while High settings improve from 14 to 17 FPS, a gain of only 3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU's rendering capacity is the limiting factor, as even halving the pixel count yields modest gains.

At 1920x1080, the best results appear, though they still fall short of the 60 FPS target. Low settings achieve an average of 46 FPS, the highest recorded figure across all configurations. High settings average 21 FPS, Medium settings average 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS, and Ultra settings average 16 FPS. The jump from Medium to Low at 1080p is substantial, from 29 to 46 FPS, representing a 58% increase, which highlights how sensitive the game is to preset changes on this hardware. Even at the lowest settings and lowest resolution tested, the system cannot reach 60 FPS, leaving a 14 FPS gap to the playability threshold.

Across all resolutions and settings, the highest average FPS recorded is 46 at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 11 at 4K Ultra. The data shows no configuration where the average FPS approaches 60, and the maximum FPS ever recorded in the Medium preset at any resolution is 33 at 1080p. The minimum FPS values, where recorded, are consistently lower, such as 16 at 4K Medium and 21 at 1440p Medium, indicating frame drops that would be perceptible as stutter even in the least demanding scenes.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database defines playability as maintaining an average of at least 60 FPS, and no settings combination at any resolution achieves this target. At 3840x2160, the best recorded average is 30 FPS on Low settings, but this is exactly half of the required threshold, so no playable settings exist at 4K. The verdict field confirms this, listing no playable settings and no best settings for 4K. At 2560x1440, the best average is 39 FPS on Low settings, again falling short of 60 FPS, and the verdict lists no playable settings for 1440p. At 1920x1080, the best average is 46 FPS on Low settings, which is the closest any configuration comes to the threshold, but it still misses by 14 FPS. The verdict for 1080p also lists no playable settings and no best settings.

This means that for each resolution, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS does not exist. The data implies that even the lowest preset at the lowest resolution fails to deliver playable performance. In practical terms, a user would need to consider either reducing resolution below 1920x1080, which was not tested, or accepting a sub-60 FPS experience. The recorded data offers no path to 60 FPS within the tested configurations, and the verdictByResolution field explicitly marks all three resolutions as having zero playable settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29300 and a single-core score of 2016.5, placing it in the 91st percentile among all CPUs. The Intel Arc B370, by contrast, is a low-power integrated graphics solution with a 25 W TDP, 1280 shading units, and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile among all GPUs. This extreme disparity between CPU and GPU capabilities is reflected in the game's performance.

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck. At 4K Low, the system averages 30 FPS, but at 1080p Low, it averages 46 FPS, a 53% improvement from reducing resolution by 75% in pixel count. However, even at 1080p Low, the CPU's immense processing power cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations. The fact that the game never exceeds 46 FPS at any tested setting, despite a top-tier CPU, indicates that the Arc B370 is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see higher frame rates at lower resolutions and settings, but the data shows that even the lightest load (1080p Low) produces only 46 FPS.

Preset scaling further confirms this. At 1080p, moving from Ultra to Low changes the average from 16 to 46 FPS, a 187% increase, which is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where lowering graphical fidelity directly reduces rendering load. The CPU's role is minimal here, as the Ryzen 9 7900X has more than enough headroom. Its single-thread performance, as measured by Geekbench at 2617 and Passmark single-thread at 4238, is far beyond what The Medium requires for CPU-bound tasks at these low frame rates. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU, and this remains true across all three resolutions, as the frame rate deltas between presets are consistently large.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's ranking of tested CPU and GPU combinations for The Medium, this combo ranks 3439 out of 3724 total combos. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, which is consistent with the measured frame rates. The GPU's average benchmark score of 1184 is in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals in the database include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with a delta of -0.2%, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with a delta of -0.5%, the AMD Radeon HD 7650M with a delta of -0.7%, and the AMD FirePro M2000 with a delta of 1.4%. These rivals are all older, low-end graphics solutions, which contextualizes the Arc B370's performance tier. The CPU, on the other hand, ranks in the 91st percentile, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 7313P with a delta of 0.2%, the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 with a delta of -0.3%, the Intel Xeon 634 with a delta of 0.6%, and the Intel Core i7-14700F with a delta of -0.6%. This contrast between a high-end CPU and a low-end GPU explains the combo's low rank, as the game's performance is entirely dependent on the GPU, which is severely underpowered for this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 1920x1080 with any settings?

A: Yes, it can run the game, but not at the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 46, which is below 60. Higher presets yield lower averages: Medium at 29, High at 21, and Ultra at 16.

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 46, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. No other configuration reaches this figure, and the next closest is 39 FPS at 2560x1440 Low.

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

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at 1186 (0.2% faster), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (0.5% faster), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (0.7% faster), and the AMD FirePro M2000 at 1168 (1.4% slower). This places it among older low-end GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor for this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 9 7900X scores in the 91st percentile of CPUs, while the Arc B370 scores in the 5th percentile of GPUs. Frame rates remain below 60 FPS even at 1080p Low, indicating the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's potential.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average is 11 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 14 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it is 16 FPS.

Q: Does lowering resolution help this system reach playable frame rates?

A: Lowering resolution helps, but not enough. Moving from 4K Low (30 FPS) to 1080p Low (46 FPS) improves performance by 16 FPS, but the final result still falls 14 FPS short of the 60 FPS target.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: this PC cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate at any tested resolution or settings combination. The verdictByResolution field lists no playable settings for 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080, and the best average FPS across all configurations is 46 at 1080p Low. To clear the 60 FPS threshold, the system would need a 30% improvement over its best recorded result, which is not observed in any of the twelve tested configurations. At 4K, the highest average is 30 FPS on Low, which is exactly half of the threshold, and at 1440p, the highest is 39 FPS on Low. Even at 1080p, the lowest preset fails to reach 60 FPS. The conclusion is that this combination of a high-end CPU and a low-end integrated GPU is unsuitable for playing The Medium at acceptable performance levels, and users would need to consider a different GPU to achieve playability.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in the database are the AMD EPYC 7313P with an average score of 53206 (0.2% higher than the Ryzen 9 7900X), the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 with 53469 (0.3% lower), the Intel Xeon 634 with 52974 (0.6% higher), and the Intel Core i7-14700F with 53620 (0.6% lower). These processors would deliver nearly identical CPU performance in The Medium, meaning they would also be bottlenecked by the Arc B370. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 with 1186 (0.2% higher), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 with 1190 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M with 1192 (0.7% higher), and the AMD FirePro M2000 with 1168 (1.4% lower). Swapping the Arc B370 for any of these GPUs would result in nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, as their benchmark scores differ by less than 1.5%. Conversely, pairing the Ryzen 9 7900X with any of these rival GPUs would not change the outcome, since the GPU remains the limiting factor. The data suggests that for this game, the GPU tier is the decisive variable, and none of the nearby alternatives offer a meaningful improvement.