The Medium

Best Settings per Resolution

The measured data for this combination is unambiguous: no preset at any resolution reaches the 60 FPS playable threshold. The database records a playable threshold of 60 FPS, and every tested configuration falls short of that mark. For 3840x2160, the strongest result appears at Low settings with an average of 34 FPS. Medium settings at 4K produce 21 FPS average, High drops to 15 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 12 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low settings again deliver the highest average at 43 FPS, with Medium at 27 FPS, High at 19 FPS, and Ultra at 15 FPS. For 1920x1080, Low settings reach 51 FPS average, which is the closest any configuration comes to 60 FPS, while Medium averages 32 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. Because the playable threshold is 60 FPS and no setting clears it, the verdict data lists no playable settings and no best setting for any resolution. The practical implication is that users must accept sub-60 FPS performance or seek alternative hardware.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 1920x1080?

A: No setting at 1920x1080 reaches the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best average is 51 FPS at Low settings, which is 9 FPS short of playable. Medium, High, and Ultra average 32, 23, and 18 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded across all resolutions?

A: The highest average FPS in the measured data is 51 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. No other resolution or setting combination surpasses this value.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark percentile compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, a 1.3% delta. The GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% delta), the GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% delta), and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% delta).

Q: Is there any resolution where Medium settings maintain 60 FPS?

A: No. Medium settings produce 21 FPS at 3840x2160, 27 FPS at 2560x1440, and 32 FPS at 1920x1080. All values fall well below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What does the combo's rank in the database indicate?

A: This combination ranks 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium, placing it in the lower percentile of all tested systems. The rank reflects that the vast majority of other combinations achieve higher performance in this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to limit performance more at 1080p?

A: The CPU's benchmark scores are strong relative to other processors, with a 77th percentile ranking, while the GPU ranks at the 9th percentile. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows FPS dropping from 51 to 34 at Low settings, suggesting the GPU becomes increasingly limiting at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings levels, with some configurations including minimum and maximum framerates. At 3840x2160, Low settings average 34 FPS with no recorded min/max values. Medium settings average 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS. High settings average 15 FPS, and Ultra settings average 12 FPS, both without min/max data. Moving to 2560x1440, Low settings average 43 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS with min/max of 23 and 31 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. At 1920x1080, Low settings average 51 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS with min/max of 27 and 37 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: lowering settings from Ultra to Low yields progressively higher framerates, but even the lowest settings fail to reach 60 FPS. The min/max data for Medium settings shows a narrow band of fluctuation, with framerates staying within roughly 5 FPS of the average at each resolution. The absence of min/max data for other settings suggests those measurements were either stable or not captured, but the averages alone indicate severe underperformance relative to the playable threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-13400F include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, which has an average benchmark score of 25284, essentially identical to the i5-13400F's 25292, showing a 0% delta. The Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362, a -0.3% delta, meaning it is marginally faster. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365, also a -0.3% delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25201, a 0.4% delta, indicating it is slightly slower. These processors would behave nearly identically in CPU-bound scenarios, but given the GPU's dominance in limiting performance, the choice among them would have minimal impact on The Medium's framerates.

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts with substantially lower scores. The GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, a 1.3% delta from the B390's 1482. The GeForce 800M scores 1460, a 1.5% delta. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a 2.5% delta. The GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, a 2.7% delta. All of these GPUs are within 3% of the B390's performance, meaning a system using any of these cards would produce nearly identical FPS in The Medium. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, and swapping among these rival GPUs would not materially change the experience. The CPU alternatives, while much stronger in their own benchmarks, would not rescue the framerates because the GPU cannot deliver the necessary performance.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. That places it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, a position that aligns with the GPU's low benchmark percentile. The CPU itself is not the weak link; it ranks in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 25292 is competitive with other mid-range processors. The GPU, however, ranks in the 9th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 1482 is far below what the game demands. The rank of 3314 reflects the combined system's inability to approach 60 FPS at any setting. For context, the nearest CPU rivals, such as the Ryzen 9 6900HS and Ryzen 7 6800H, would pair with the same GPU and yield virtually identical rankings. The GPU rivals, including the GeForce GT 520MX and GT 710, would also produce similar rankings when paired with this CPU. The data suggests that any combination featuring this GPU will struggle with The Medium, regardless of the CPU.

The Verdict

The verdict data is clear: this PC cannot run The Medium at a playable framerate. At 3840x2160, no settings are playable, there is no best setting, and no average FPS reaches 60. The same applies to 2560x1440 and 1920x1080. The closest result is 51 FPS at 1080p Low, which still falls 9 FPS short of the playable threshold. The measured FPS values across all resolutions and settings show a consistent pattern: the game runs, but it never runs smoothly. The highest average recorded is 51 FPS, and the lowest is 12 FPS at 4K Ultra. Users seeking 60 FPS would need to either lower the resolution to something below 1080p, which is not in the data, or replace the GPU with a more capable model. The CPU, with its strong benchmark scores, is not the limiting factor. The verdict is definitive: no resolution and no preset clears the 60 FPS bar.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU in this game. The CPU, the Intel Core i5-13400F, demonstrates strong computational capabilities with a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a Geekbench multicore score of 11068, show that it can handle demanding workloads. The GPU, the Intel Arc B390, ranks at the 9th percentile, with a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. The disparity is stark: the CPU is competitive with mid-range processors, while the GPU is among the weakest in the database.

Looking at the scaling between resolutions and presets, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. At Low settings, framerates drop from 51 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p to 34 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 17 FPS from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the drop is from 32 FPS to 27 FPS to 21 FPS, a reduction of 11 FPS. At High settings, the drop is from 23 FPS to 19 FPS to 15 FPS, a reduction of 8 FPS. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 18 FPS to 15 FPS to 12 FPS, a reduction of 6 FPS. The proportional decrease is largest at Low settings, where the GPU is less constrained by other factors, indicating that resolution scaling directly impacts the GPU's workload. The CPU's contribution is harder to isolate because the GPU is so limiting, but the fact that the CPU's rivals, such as the Ryzen 9 6900HS and Ryzen 7 6800H, have nearly identical average scores suggests that CPU differences would not change the outcome. The GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution, and the CPU has ample headroom that cannot be utilized. The verdict's playable settings list is empty for all resolutions, which reinforces that the GPU's performance ceiling is the defining factor in this combination.