The Medium

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a specific performance profile in The Medium, a horror title released on 2021-01-27. The measured data, based on actual benchmark results, shows a system that is highly sensitive to both resolution and graphics preset. The combination ranks 2807 out of 3724 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of systems evaluated. The playable threshold is defined at 60 FPS, and the results indicate that this combo only consistently clears that bar at lower settings and resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data for this pairing covers three resolutions and four settings tiers, with average FPS values recorded for each configuration. Minimum and maximum FPS values are not provided in the dataset, so the analysis relies solely on average frame rates.

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system delivers its strongest performance. With Low settings, the average FPS is 89.7, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Moving to Medium settings drops the average to 57.7 FPS, which falls just short of the playable mark. High settings yield 38.3 FPS on average, while Ultra settings produce 30.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium represents a 35.7% reduction in frame rate, and the jump from Medium to High costs another 33.6% of performance.

At 2560x1440, the performance picture shifts downward. Low settings average 73.4 FPS, still clearing the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin. Medium settings drop to 48.6 FPS, which is below playable. High settings average 30.9 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 29.0 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium here is 33.8%, while the difference between High and Ultra is minimal at 6.1%, suggesting a diminishing return on the highest preset.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across all settings. Low settings average 58.4 FPS, which is just under the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop to 33.4 FPS, High settings to 26.8 FPS, and Ultra settings to 23.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium at this resolution is 42.8%, the steepest single-setting penalty in the entire dataset. The difference between High and Ultra is 13.8%, indicating that Ultra places additional strain on the GPU beyond what High already demands.

Resolution scaling is consistent: moving from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings reduces performance by roughly 18-24% across the board. Moving from 1440p to 4K incurs a larger penalty, with Low settings dropping from 73.4 to 58.4 FPS (a 20.4% reduction) and Medium settings dropping from 48.6 to 33.4 FPS (a 31.3% reduction). The data shows that the Arc B580 has a clear performance ceiling that is hit at 4K Medium and above.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-12400F, based on average benchmark scores, provide context for CPU-side performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19047, which is essentially identical to the i5-12400F's 19039 average, showing a 0% delta. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056, also a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982, putting it 0.3% behind the i5-12400F. The AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979, another 0.3% difference. These rivals are all within a fraction of a percent of the i5-12400F, meaning any of them would behave nearly identically in CPU-bound scenarios within this game.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B580's nearest rivals show a more varied picture. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 23061, which is 0.2% behind the B580's average of 23021. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, placing it 0.6% ahead of the B580. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, which is 0.7% behind the B580. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, putting it 1% behind. These deltas are all below 1%, suggesting that in raw compute terms, the B580 is closely matched with these cards. However, the measured FPS data in The Medium indicates that game-specific optimization may differ from synthetic benchmarks, so a user with an RTX 2080 or RTX 3080 might see different real-world results despite similar average scores.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in this game's performance, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The Intel Arc B580 has a passmark G3D score of 15748 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068, placing it at the 68th percentile among all GPUs. The CPU, with a passmark multithread score of 19433 and a 73rd percentile ranking, is not the bottleneck in most scenarios.

The resolution scaling confirms this. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 89.7 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at this load level. Moving to 1440p Low drops performance to 73.4 FPS, a 18.2% reduction that aligns with the increased pixel count. At 4K Low, the drop to 58.4 FPS represents another 20.4% reduction. These consistent drops indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU load does not scale proportionally with resolution.

However, the preset scaling tells a more nuanced story. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium costs 35.7% of performance, but from Medium to High costs 33.6%. At 1440p, the Low-to-Medium penalty is 33.8%, while at 4K it is 42.8%. This increasing penalty at higher resolutions with higher settings points to the GPU's memory bandwidth and compute capacity being saturated. The Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game's data but not abundant enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with demanding presets.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 89.7 FPS, which is near the upper bound of what the CPU can deliver for this game. The i5-12400F's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12380 and single-core score of 1680 suggest it has adequate headroom for most gaming workloads. The fact that 1080p Low clears the 60 FPS threshold with 49.5% headroom indicates the CPU is not seriously limiting performance at this configuration.

FAQ

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

A: No. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 57.7 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low settings at 1080p achieve 89.7 FPS and are the only playable preset at this resolution.

Q: What is the best 1440p setting for this combo?

A: Low settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 73.4 FPS, which is the only playable preset at this resolution. Medium settings drop to 48.6 FPS, below the playable threshold.

Q: Is 4K gaming possible with this hardware?

A: No. The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 58.4 FPS on Low settings, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. No preset at 4K reaches playable performance.

Q: How does the GPU compare to the RTX 2080 in this game?

A: The Arc B580's nearest rival data shows the RTX 2080 with an average score of 22895, which is 0.6% higher than the B580's 23021. However, the measured FPS data for The Medium is specific to this combo and cannot be directly extrapolated to the RTX 2080.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 89.7 FPS, and the CPU's performance percentile (73rd) is higher than the GPU's (68th). The GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, High averages 38.3 FPS and Ultra averages 30.8 FPS, a 24.3% difference. At 1440p, High averages 30.9 FPS and Ultra averages 29.0 FPS, a 6.1% difference. At 4K, High averages 26.8 FPS and Ultra averages 23.1 FPS, a 13.8% difference.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of Intel Core i5-12400F and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2807 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the 75th percentile of performance, meaning roughly a quarter of tested systems perform worse and three-quarters perform better. The GPU's 68th percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking suggest that this combo is slightly below average for the game's demands.

The rank reflects the system's inability to maintain 60 FPS at most settings. Only two configurations clear the playable threshold: 1080p Low at 89.7 FPS and 1440p Low at 73.4 FPS. The 4K Low setting at 58.4 FPS is tantalizingly close but fails to meet the threshold. This places the combo in a position where users must accept significant visual compromises to achieve playable performance.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 89.7 FPS. This provides significant headroom above the threshold, but Medium falls to 57.7 FPS, making it unplayable by the defined standard.

At 2560x1440, the best playable setting is also Low, with an average of 73.4 FPS. This still clears the 60 FPS threshold but with less headroom than at 1080p. Medium settings at 48.6 FPS are not playable.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS. The best average is 58.4 FPS on Low settings, which falls short of the threshold. The verdict data confirms this, listing no playable settings at 4K.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers playable performance only on Low settings, achieving 89.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low settings again provide playable performance with 73.4 FPS, but this is the ceiling for that resolution. At 3840x2160, the system cannot reach 60 FPS on any preset, with the best result being 58.4 FPS on Low settings.

The verdict by resolution is clear: 1080p and 1440p offer one playable preset each (Low), while 4K offers no playable presets. Users seeking higher visual fidelity will need to accept frame rates below 60 FPS. The data indicates that this hardware combination is best suited for 1080p gaming with modest settings, where it provides a comfortable margin above the playable threshold. For 1440p, the system is barely playable on the lowest settings, and for 4K, it is not playable by the defined standard. The Arc B580's 12 GB of memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are not sufficient to sustain high frame rates at higher resolutions with this game's demanding rendering techniques.