The Medium

The Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B580 combination is not a high-refresh-rate powerhouse for The Medium, but it delivers a clear, playable experience at 1080p and 1440p only when settings are turned down. Benchmark data shows that the pair fails to maintain 60 FPS at 4K at any preset, and even at lower resolutions, only the Low preset crosses the 60 FPS threshold. The system’s best results come at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where it averages 86.2 FPS — a solid margin above the playability threshold — while the 1440p Low preset averages 72.6 FPS, still comfortably playable. At higher presets, frame rates collapse, revealing a hardware pairing that is heavily constrained by graphics load rather than CPU throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this configuration covers three resolutions and four settings presets, with average frame rates only (no min or max values recorded). At 1920x1080, the system performs best on Low settings, hitting an average of 86.2 FPS. Moving up to Medium drops the average to 55.1 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold. High settings at 1080p yield 41.8 FPS, and Ultra is the worst at 31.6 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium represents a 36% performance loss, while the jump from Medium to High costs another 24%. The drop from High to Ultra is less severe at 24%, but the absolute numbers remain low.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings produce an average of 72.6 FPS, which is still above the playable threshold. Medium falls to 44.3 FPS, High drops to 32.2 FPS, and Ultra manages only 23.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is a 39% reduction, slightly larger than at 1080p. High to Ultra at this resolution costs 27% performance, while the Medium-to-High drop is 27% as well.

The 3840x2160 results are uniformly below the playable threshold. Low settings produce the best average at 55.6 FPS, which is still short of 60 FPS. Medium drops to 34.7 FPS, High falls to 28 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium at 4K is a 38% loss, and from Medium to High a 19% loss, while High to Ultra costs another 22%. No resolution or preset combination at 4K reaches 60 FPS, making the verdict straightforward: this system cannot run The Medium at 4K with playable frame rates.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-13400F, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, which scores 25284 versus the i5-13400F’s 25292, a 0% delta. The Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362, a -0.3% delta, meaning it is essentially identical in performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365, also a -0.3% delta, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25201, a 0.4% delta. These four CPUs bracket the i5-13400F within a range of roughly 0.6% total variance, indicating that any of these processors would deliver near-identical CPU-bound behavior in The Medium. The i5-13400F sits at the 77th percentile among all CPUs, so it is a mid-to-high-tier processor, but its nearest rivals are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning no meaningful CPU-side performance differences would be observed in this game.

For the graphics card, the Intel Arc B580’s nearest rivals are similarly tight. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 23061 against the B580’s 23021, a -0.2% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, a 0.6% delta, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, a -0.7% delta. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, a -1% delta. These four GPUs all fall within a 1.5% performance band, so swapping the B580 for any of them would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium. The B580 ranks at the 68th percentile among all GPUs, placing it in the upper-middle tier, but its rivals are so close that the choice between them is immaterial for this title. A user with an RTX 3080 or RX 580 2048SP would see essentially the same FPS numbers as the B580 at every resolution and preset.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS data reveals a system where the GPU is the dominant bottleneck in The Medium. This is evident from the steep performance drops as resolution increases at the same settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 86.2 at 1080p to 72.6 at 1440p, a 16% reduction, and then to 55.6 at 4K, another 23% drop. If the CPU were the limiting factor, resolution scaling would have a much smaller effect, since the CPU workload remains constant regardless of pixel count. The fact that frame rates decline sharply with resolution indicates that the Intel Arc B580 is saturated before the i5-13400F reaches its limits.

The CPU’s role becomes more visible when comparing settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, moving from Low to Ultra reduces FPS from 86.2 to 31.6, a 63% loss. At 1440p, the same settings change yields a drop from 72.6 to 23.4, a 68% loss. At 4K, Low to Ultra goes from 55.6 to 21.7, a 61% loss. These reductions are driven by the GPU’s inability to handle increased shader complexity and texture loads, not by CPU throughput. The i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, is never the binding constraint here; its benchmark scores, such as 22604 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3191 in single-core, are far beyond what The Medium requires for the frame rates observed.

Evidence for the CPU being secondary also comes from the fact that the 1080p Low preset reaches 86.2 FPS while the 1440p Low preset reaches 72.6 FPS. The CPU has to feed the same number of draw calls at both resolutions, but the GPU’s pixel workload increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p, and the frame rate drops by only 16%. This suggests the CPU can keep up with the GPU’s demands at these settings. At higher presets, the GPU workload rises further, and the frame rate drops disproportionately, confirming that the Arc B580 is the performance limiter. In short, for The Medium, the GPU determines playability; the CPU is sufficient at all tested settings.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium at 60 FPS or above, but only under specific conditions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset clears the threshold with an average of 86.2 FPS, making it the only playable option at that resolution. The Medium preset at 1080p falls short at 55.1 FPS, and High and Ultra are far below at 41.8 and 31.6 FPS respectively. At 2560x1440, the Low preset again is the sole playable setting, averaging 72.6 FPS, which provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra at 1440p all fail, with averages of 44.3, 32.2, and 23.4 FPS.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The best result is Low at 55.6 FPS, which is close but still below the threshold. Medium averages 34.7 FPS, High 28 FPS, and Ultra 21.7 FPS. The verdict by resolution is therefore clear: 1080p and 1440p are playable only on Low settings, while 4K is not playable at any setting. The system’s overall rank in this game is 2861 out of 3724 combinations, indicating that it sits in the lower portion of tested hardware configurations for The Medium. Users who prioritize smooth frame rates must accept Low settings at 1080p or 1440p; those who want higher visual fidelity will need to lower the resolution or upgrade the GPU.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 60 FPS on Ultra settings at 1080p?*

A: No. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 31.6, which is roughly half of the 60 FPS threshold. The system cannot handle Ultra at any resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware?

A: The best combination is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces an average of 86.2 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low settings also work, averaging 72.6 FPS, but 1080p Low offers the highest frame rate.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-13400F or the Intel Arc B580 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck. Frame rates drop steeply as resolution increases at the same settings, which indicates the Intel Arc B580 is saturated. The CPU’s performance is sufficient, as shown by its benchmark scores, and is not the limiting factor.

Q: How does this system compare to one with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080?

A: The Intel Arc B580 and the RTX 3080 have nearly identical average benchmark scores, with the RTX 3080 scoring 23172 versus the B580’s 23021, a -0.7% delta. In practical terms, the two GPUs would produce nearly the same frame rates in The Medium.

Q: Does the i5-13400F perform similarly to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D?

A: Yes. The Ryzen 5 5600X3D has an average benchmark score of 25365, which is only 0.3% higher than the i5-13400F’s 25292. This difference is negligible, so CPU performance in The Medium would be effectively identical.

Q: Is 4K playable on this PC?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 55.6 on Low settings, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all average below 35 FPS, so 4K is not a viable option.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is the Low preset. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 86.2 FPS, which is the best playable result. The next preset up, Medium, drops to 55.1 FPS, so Low is the only option that clears the threshold. At 2560x1440, Low settings average 72.6 FPS, again the only playable preset; Medium falls to 44.3 FPS. For 3840x2160, there is no playable preset — Low averages 55.6 FPS, which is below 60 FPS, and all other presets are lower. Users targeting 1080p or 1440p should run Low settings for the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, while 4K users will need to reduce resolution to achieve playable performance.