The Medium

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run The Medium at 60 FPS at any resolution?

A: No. The recorded data shows no resolution or preset combination reaches the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The highest average FPS recorded is 51 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, which falls 9 FPS short of the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: The best recorded average FPS is 51 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 with Low settings, the average drops to 43 FPS, and at 3840x2160 with Low settings, it drops further to 34 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which places it just 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). This places the GPU in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X has an average benchmark score of 53288. It sits 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206), 0.6% ahead of the Intel Xeon 634 (52974), and 0.3% behind the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469). It also trails the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620) by 0.6%.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among tested combinations for this game?

A: The database ranks this combination 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower portion of all tested systems.

Q: Does the game support advanced graphics features on this GPU?

A: The Intel Arc B390 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. It also includes 12 ray tracing cores, though the measured frame rates in this game remain well below playable levels at all tested settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The most demanding preset that comes closest is Low, with an average of 34 FPS. Medium averages 21 FPS, High averages 15 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. The data indicates that even the lowest settings at 4K cannot approach the playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves slightly but remains below the threshold. Low settings yield an average of 43 FPS, which is the strongest result at this resolution. Medium averages 27 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. No setting at 1440p clears 60 FPS.

At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 51 FPS, the highest recorded across all resolutions and presets. Medium averages 32 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. Even at the lowest resolution and preset, the combo falls short of the 60 FPS playable threshold by 9 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck in this pairing. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X ranks in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. This extreme gap suggests that the CPU has ample headroom while the GPU is severely constrained.

Scaling between resolutions confirms the GPU-bound nature. Moving from 1920x1080 Low to 2560x1440 Low reduces average FPS from 51 to 43, a drop of 8 FPS. Moving from 2560x1440 Low to 3840x2160 Low reduces average FPS from 43 to 34, another drop of 9 FPS. These consistent declines across resolution steps indicate that rendering load is the limiting factor, not CPU processing.

Preset scaling within a resolution further supports this. At 1920x1080, Low averages 51 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The steep drop from Low to Medium (19 FPS) and the continued decline through Ultra suggest that graphics settings directly impact performance, which is typical of a GPU-limited scenario.

The CPU's strong multi-threaded scores, such as 29300 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 12536 in 3DMark max threads, are not reflected in the game's frame rates. A CPU with this level of performance would not typically struggle with a horror title's simulation and physics loads. The recorded FPS values are more consistent with the GPU's low percentile ranking and its modest 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput.

At lower resolutions, the CPU could theoretically become more relevant, but the data shows no evidence of CPU limitation. The FPS at 1920x1080 Low (51) is still well below the 60 FPS threshold, and the GPU remains the constraining factor. Even at the lowest settings, the game's rendering demands exceed what this integrated-class GPU can deliver.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X's nearest rivals in the database are all within 0.6% of its average benchmark score. The AMD EPYC 7313P scores 53206, just 0.2% lower. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 scores 53469, 0.3% higher. The Intel Xeon 634 scores 52974, 0.6% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700F scores 53620, 0.6% higher. Any of these processors would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium when paired with the same GPU, since the CPU is not the limiting factor.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all older, low-end NVIDIA parts. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443. The Arc B390's 1482 average score places it at the top of this group, but the deltas are small: 1.3% to 2.7%. In practical terms, swapping to any of these GPUs would result in similar frame rates in The Medium, all below the playable threshold.

The performance tier of the GPU, as shown by its 9th percentile ranking, groups it with entry-level and legacy parts. This explains why the measured FPS values in The Medium are consistently low across all settings and resolutions. The CPU alternatives are all high-end server or desktop parts, but their similarity in benchmark scores means the choice among them would have negligible impact on this game's performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems for this game. The rank reflects the severe GPU bottleneck: a top-tier CPU paired with a bottom-tier GPU produces a system that cannot achieve playable frame rates at any tested configuration.

The CPU alone would rank highly; the Ryzen 9 7900X sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 53288. The GPU, however, sits in the 9th percentile with an average score of 1482. This mismatch creates a system where the CPU's potential is largely unused, and the overall ranking is dragged down by the GPU's limitations.

For context, 410 out of 3724 tested combos rank below this one. The combination's position in the lower decile indicates that most tested systems outperform it in this specific game. The verdict data confirms this: there are no playable settings at any resolution, meaning the combo fails to meet the 60 FPS threshold everywhere.

The Verdict

This PC cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 3840x2160, no settings are playable, and there is no best settings entry because none reach 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same applies: no playable settings exist. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, there are still no playable settings, as the highest average FPS (51 at Low) falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

The data shows that every preset at every resolution fails to reach 60 FPS. The closest result is 1920x1080 Low at 51 FPS, which is 9 FPS short. At higher resolutions, the gap widens considerably: 1440p Low averages 43 FPS, and 4K Low averages 34 FPS. Higher presets at any resolution produce averages well below 30 FPS, with Ultra settings ranging from 12 FPS at 4K to 18 FPS at 1080p.

The GPU is the clear limiting factor. With a 9th percentile ranking and nearest rivals that are all entry-level legacy parts, the Intel Arc B390 lacks the rendering throughput needed for this game. The CPU's strong benchmark results cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations, as the game's performance scales primarily with resolution and graphics settings rather than CPU capability.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured averages are: Low 34 FPS, Medium 21 FPS (with a minimum of 18 and maximum of 24), High 15 FPS, and Ultra 12 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at this resolution with recorded min/max values, showing a narrow band of 18 to 24 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 43 FPS, Medium 27 FPS (minimum 23, maximum 31), High 19 FPS, and Ultra 15 FPS. The Medium preset again shows a narrow range, with frame times staying between 23 and 31 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the averages are: Low 51 FPS, Medium 32 FPS (minimum 27, maximum 37), High 23 FPS, and Ultra 18 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows the widest recorded range of any Medium preset across resolutions, from 27 to 37 FPS.

The data pattern is consistent: each resolution step down from 4K to 1080p adds roughly 8 to 9 FPS at Low settings, while preset changes from Low to Ultra at any resolution cost between 23 and 33 FPS. The minimum and maximum values for Medium presets indicate stable but low frame rates, with no spikes that would suggest occasional playability. All recorded averages remain below the 60 FPS threshold, confirming the verdict that this combination is not playable for The Medium.