The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a clear performance ladder across presets. Low settings produce an average of 78 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution to clear the 60 FPS playability threshold. Medium settings drop to 49 FPS average, with recorded minimums of 41 FPS and maximums of 56 FPS. High settings average 35 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 28 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 29 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset imposes a substantial load increase. Between Medium and High the drop is 14 FPS, and between High and Ultra the drop is 7 FPS, showing diminishing returns in cost as settings climb.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings average 66 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 41 FPS, with minimums of 35 FPS and maximums of 47 FPS. High settings average 29 FPS, and Ultra settings average 23 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium here is 25 FPS, slightly smaller than at 1080p but still significant. The step from Medium to High costs 12 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 6 FPS. Notably, the 1440p Medium result (41 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1080p High result (35 FPS), suggesting that resolution scaling and preset scaling interact in a predictable way.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal across the board. Low settings average 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings average 32 FPS, with minimums of 27 FPS and maximums of 37 FPS. High settings average 23 FPS, and Ultra settings average 18 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 20 FPS, from Medium to High costs 9 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 5 FPS. At 4K, even the lowest preset fails to reach playable frame rates, and the Ultra preset at 18 FPS is barely interactive. The measured data shows that the combo is heavily resolution-bound at the top end.

The recorded min/max values only appear for Medium settings at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 41 to 56 FPS, a spread of 15 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 35 to 47 FPS, a spread of 12 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 27 to 37 FPS, a spread of 10 FPS. This tightening spread at higher resolutions indicates that frame time consistency improves slightly as the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck, but the average remains too low for smooth gameplay.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that this game is primarily GPU-bound at every resolution tested, but the CPU still matters for the lower presets. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 78 FPS, which is higher than any 1440p or 4K result. When resolution increases from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, the average drops from 78 to 66 FPS, a 15% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the average drops from 66 to 52 FPS, a 21% reduction. These scaling figures indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor even at Low settings, as the frame rate falls consistently with pixel count.

At Medium settings, the resolution scaling is even more pronounced. From 1080p (49 FPS) to 1440p (41 FPS) the drop is 16%, and from 1440p to 4K (32 FPS) the drop is 22%. At High settings, the numbers are 35 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K, with percentage drops of 17% and 21% respectively. Ultra settings follow the same pattern: 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K, with drops of 18% and 22%. The consistency of these percentage drops across presets strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B570's rendering throughput is the dominant constraint, not the i5-10400F's six cores and twelve threads.

However, the CPU is not entirely idle. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 4748 and the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 show that this processor has adequate compute headroom for a game like The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and pre-rendered scenes. The single-core performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1420 and a Passmark single-thread score of 2541, is sufficient to avoid stalling the GPU at lower resolutions. The fact that 1080p Low achieves 78 FPS while 4K Low achieves 52 FPS confirms that the GPU's pixel fill rate is the bottleneck, not the CPU's instruction throughput.

The scaling between presets at the same resolution also reveals the GPU role. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 29 FPS, while at 4K the same preset change costs 20 FPS. This larger absolute drop at lower resolutions is typical of a GPU-limited scenario where the geometry and shading load per pixel increases with preset quality, but the pixel count remains constant. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, and the recorded data does not show any resolution-independent CPU ceiling, as the frame rates never plateau across resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the only preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 78 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that clears the playability threshold. Medium settings at 49 FPS, High at 35 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS all fall short. Therefore, the best playable setting at 1080p is Low, and the recorded average of 78 FPS provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, Low settings again are the only playable option, with an average of 66 FPS. This is just 6 FPS above the threshold, meaning any heavier scene could push it below 60. Medium settings at 41 FPS, High at 29 FPS, and Ultra at 23 FPS are all unplayable. The best playable setting at 1440p is Low, with a slim but real margin.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low settings average 52 FPS, which is 8 FPS short of the threshold. Medium averages 32 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. There is no best playable setting at 4K; the verdict data confirms an empty playable settings list for this resolution. Users targeting 4K would need to accept sub-60 frame rates or reduce resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2999th out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the lower third of the database, which is consistent with the measured frame rates that only clear 60 FPS at Low settings and only at 1080p and 1440p. The rank of 2999 means that roughly 80% of tested system combinations deliver better performance in this title.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU's average benchmark score of 14185 places it at the 68th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6756E (score 14163, 0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL (score 14232, 0.3% higher), the AMD EPYC 7552 (score 14115, 0.5% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (score 14277, 0.6% higher). These deltas are all within 1%, meaning the i5-10400F is statistically tied with these processors in synthetic tests. The GPU, meanwhile, has an average benchmark score of 20556 and sits at the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (score 20534, 0.1% lower), the Intel Arc A750 (score 20582, 0.1% higher), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (score 20480, 0.4% lower), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (score 20662, 0.5% higher). Again, the deltas are tiny, indicating the Arc B570 is closely matched with these GPUs in aggregate benchmarks.

The low combo rank is not a reflection of a single weak part; both components sit near the 65th to 68th percentile individually. Instead, the rank reflects the game's demanding rendering path, particularly its fixed-camera cinematic style that relies on heavy post-processing and volumetric effects. The measured FPS data shows that this combo is adequate for low preset gaming at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls well behind the median combo in the database for this specific title.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 1080p with High settings?

A: No. The measured average at 1920x1080 High is 35 FPS, which is well below the 60 FPS playability threshold. Only Low settings reach 78 FPS at 1080p.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1920x1080 with Low settings is the best playable configuration, averaging 78 FPS. At 2560x1440 Low, the average drops to 66 FPS, still above 60 but with less margin.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 or the Intel Core i5-10400F the limiting factor?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution across all presets, and the CPU's percentile rank (68th) is slightly higher than the GPU's (65th), but both are mid-tier in the database.

Q: Does this combo reach 60 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The highest 4K result is Low settings at 52 FPS, which is 8 FPS short of the threshold. Medium is 32 FPS, High is 23 FPS, and Ultra is 18 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU is within 0.6% of its closest rivals (Intel Xeon 6756E, Intel Core 7 160UL, AMD EPYC 7552, AMD Ryzen 3 7320C) in average benchmark score. The GPU is within 0.5% of its closest rivals (RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, R9 M390X). The combo's 2999th rank out of 3724 comes from the game's heavy demands, not from a single weak part.

Q: What preset should a user choose for 1440p gaming?

A: Low is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS at 1440p, with 66 FPS. Medium averages 41 FPS, so users who prioritize visual quality over smoothness could choose Medium, but it will not meet the 60 FPS threshold.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but only under specific conditions. The verdict data lists 1920x1080 Low (78 FPS) and 2560x1440 Low (66 FPS) as the only playable configurations, both clearing the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with Low maxing out at 52 FPS. The combo's rank of 2999 out of 3724 in this game reinforces that this is a low-to-mid tier performer for The Medium. Users with a 1080p display can enjoy the game at Low settings with a comfortable margin, and those with 1440p displays can still reach playable frame rates at Low, but with less headroom. Any attempt to raise settings to Medium or above, or to push 4K resolution, will result in frame rates well below the playability threshold. The data is clear: this is a Low-preset machine for The Medium, and its limitations are primarily tied to the Intel Arc B570's rendering throughput rather than the i5-10400F's processing power.