The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a specific performance profile in The Medium, one defined by a stark contrast between low and higher graphical presets. Across all three tested resolutions, the data indicates that this configuration only achieves the 60 FPS playable threshold when settings are reduced to their minimum. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers an average of 89.4 FPS, while the same settings at 2560x1440 produce 74.9 FPS, and at 3840x2160 the average drops to 60.8 FPS, just barely clearing the playable mark. The pattern is consistent: any increase in visual fidelity results in a significant performance penalty that pushes the average frame rate well below the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how the i5-14400F and Arc B580 handle The Medium under varying loads. The benchmark results are organized by resolution and preset, with average FPS values recorded for each configuration.

At 1920x1080, the lowest tested resolution, the frame rates start strong but degrade rapidly as settings increase. With Low settings, the average FPS is 89.4, offering headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 53.7 FPS, a substantial reduction of 35.7 FPS. High settings at this resolution yield an average of 39.4 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 28.5 FPS. This represents a 68% performance loss from Low to Ultra, highlighting the game's heavy reliance on GPU features that stress the Arc B580 at higher presets.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset averages 74.9 FPS, which remains playable but with less margin than at 1080p. Medium settings drop to 47.8 FPS, High settings produce 32.1 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 26.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 27.1 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset introduces a significant load increase.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the configuration struggles with anything above Low. The Low preset averages 60.8 FPS, sitting right at the playable threshold. Medium settings reduce the average to 33.6 FPS, High settings to 27.8 FPS, and Ultra settings to 19.3 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium at 4K is 27.2 FPS, nearly identical to the 1440p delta, but the absolute values are much lower, leaving no room for error in demanding scenes.

Best Settings per Resolution

The data shows that for each resolution, the only preset that maintains an average FPS at or above 60 is the Low setting. There are no other viable options based on the playable threshold of 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are Low, which achieves an average FPS of 60.8. This is a marginal pass, and any scene complexity beyond the benchmark average could push frame rates below 60. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 33.6 FPS, which is far from playable.

For 2560x1440, the best settings are also Low, delivering 74.9 FPS on average. This provides a more comfortable margin above the threshold compared to 4K. The next step up, Medium, averages 47.8 FPS, which falls short of the 60 FPS requirement.

At 1920x1080, Low settings yield an average of 89.4 FPS, the highest result in the entire measured dataset. This is the only resolution where the configuration comes close to offering a smooth experience with some headroom, but it still requires the lowest visual preset. Medium at 1080p averages 53.7 FPS, missing the target by approximately 6 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU, the Intel Arc B580, is the primary bottleneck in The Medium for this configuration. This conclusion is drawn from the scaling patterns between resolutions and presets. When resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at the same preset, the average FPS drops substantially. For instance, at Low settings, the frame rate falls from 89.4 FPS at 1080p to 74.9 FPS at 1440p, then to 60.8 FPS at 4K. This consistent decline with increasing pixel count is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario.

The CPU, the Intel Core i5-14400F, likely has less influence because the frame rate differences between presets are more dramatic than the differences between resolutions. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 35.7 FPS, while at 4K, the same preset change costs 27.2 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the performance penalty for higher settings would be more uniform across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not scale directly with resolution. The data shows the opposite, suggesting the GPU's rendering load dominates.

Another indicator is the absolute performance at higher presets. At Ultra settings, the average FPS across all resolutions ranges from 19.3 to 28.5 FPS. These low values, regardless of resolution, point to the GPU struggling with the game's advanced rendering features rather than the CPU being unable to feed the graphics card. The CPU's benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, suggest it has ample processing headroom for most gaming workloads, but the measured FPS data shows no evidence of CPU limitation, as performance scales almost entirely with GPU load.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 1920x1080 with High settings?*

A: No. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 39.4, which falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest resolution at which this combo achieves over 60 FPS?

A: The highest resolution where the average FPS exceeds 60 is 3840x2160, but only with Low settings, where it averages 60.8 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Medium settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 74.9 on Low to 47.8 on Medium, a loss of 27.1 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B580 or the Intel Core i5-14400F the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates scale heavily with resolution and preset changes, while the CPU shows no signs of bottlenecking based on the benchmark results.

Q: Does the 4K Low preset provide a stable 60 FPS experience?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 Low is 60.8, which is just above 60, but this leaves minimal margin for variations in scene complexity, so stability is not guaranteed.

Q: What is the best playable setting for 1920x1080?

A: The Low preset is the only one that clears 60 FPS at 1920x1080, with an average of 89.4 FPS. Medium settings at this resolution average 53.7 FPS, which is not playable.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2851 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. This places the configuration in the 23rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning approximately 77% of other combinations deliver better performance in this game. The rank reflects the GPU's limitations at higher presets, as the CPU itself is not the primary constraint. The combo's rank is not surprising given the measured FPS data, which shows that the system is only playable at the lowest settings across all resolutions. The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, but its performance in The Medium is clearly hindered by the game's demands at higher graphical presets.

The Verdict

The question of whether this PC can run The Medium has a conditional answer. Based on the verdict by resolution, the configuration can run the game, but only at the lowest graphical preset. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 89.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold with a comfortable margin. At 2560x1440, Low settings average 74.9 FPS, also above the playable threshold. At 3840x2160, Low settings average 60.8 FPS, which technically meets the 60 FPS requirement but with very little headroom. No other preset at any resolution achieves 60 FPS. Therefore, the system is capable of playing The Medium, but users must accept Low settings to maintain playable frame rates, and at 4K, even that is marginal.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearest rivals in the benchmark database, other hardware combinations would behave similarly to the Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B580 in The Medium. For the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U has an average benchmark score of 32233, which is 0.1% lower than the i5-14400F's score of 32279. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32226, a 0.2% difference, and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32354, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32121, a 0.5% gap. These processors would likely yield nearly identical frame rates in this game, as the CPU is not the bottleneck.

For the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP has an average score of 23061, which is 0.2% higher than the Arc B580's 23021. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, a 0.6% difference, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, which is 0.7% higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, a 1% difference. These GPUs would produce similar performance levels in The Medium, meaning they would also be limited to Low settings for playable frame rates, with the RTX 3080 potentially offering a slight edge, though the measured data does not confirm this for this specific game.