The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14600K and Intel Arc B580 combination is not a reliable performer for The Medium at high settings, but it delivers a smooth experience at lower presets on standard resolutions. The data shows this pairing is severely constrained by the graphics card, with playable frame rates only achievable at Low settings at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, no preset clears the 60 FPS threshold, and even 1080p High falls short.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Benchmark results indicate that the Intel Core i5-14600K is a very strong CPU, sitting in the 90th percentile of all processors. Its average benchmark score of 48618 places it in close competition with several enterprise and high-end desktop chips. The nearest rivals list shows a tight cluster: the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48698 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% faster), the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 48470 (0.3% slower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245HX scores 48287 (0.7% slower). For gaming, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in The Medium, meaning the choice between them would not alter the performance picture presented here.

The graphics card side is where the bottleneck becomes clear. The Intel Arc B580 sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals are a mixed bag of older and newer hardware: the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP scores 23061 (0.2% faster), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895 (0.6% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172 (0.7% faster), and the NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249 (1% faster). The presence of the RTX 3080 in this cluster is notable; it suggests the Arc B580's raw compute performance is comparable to a high-end card from a previous generation, yet the measured FPS in The Medium are modest. This indicates that the game's engine or the driver overhead may prevent the Arc B580 from fully translating its benchmark scores into high frame rates. For users considering alternatives, any of these four GPUs would produce broadly similar performance levels in this title, though the specific architectural differences are not captured in the available data.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data for The Medium strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in this pairing. The Core i5-14600K, with its 14 cores, 20 threads, and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 24491, is far more capable than what this game demands. The scaling of frame rates across resolutions and presets confirms this. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 88 FPS, but dropping to 1440p Low reduces the average to 74 FPS, and 4K Low yields 58 FPS. This consistent decline with increasing resolution is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload, as the CPU's workload remains relatively constant while the GPU must render more pixels.

The settings scaling reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, moving from Low (88 FPS) to Medium (55 FPS) cuts performance by roughly 37%, and moving to High (40 FPS) reduces it further. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low at 74 FPS, Medium at 47 FPS, High at 33 FPS, and Ultra at 26 FPS. The CPU is powerful enough to feed the GPU at all these settings; the frame rate drop is entirely attributable to the graphics card's rendering capacity. There is no scenario in the data where the CPU's performance becomes a factor. At 4K, even the Low preset (58 FPS) fails to hit the 60 FPS playable threshold, with Medium at 37 FPS and High at 26 FPS. This demonstrates that the Arc B580 simply does not have enough throughput for 4K gaming in this title, regardless of the CPU's capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a complete picture of this system's behavior across nine distinct configuration points. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this combination. The Medium preset drops to an average of 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS. High settings average 40 FPS, and Ultra averages 31 FPS. None of the Medium, High, or Ultra presets at 1080p reach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down uniformly. Low settings average 74 FPS, which remains above the playable threshold. Medium averages 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. High averages 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p is 27 FPS, a significant jump that makes the Medium preset unplayable despite being only one step above the playable Low setting.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. Low settings average 58 FPS, just 2 FPS short of the playable threshold. Medium averages 37 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS. High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS. The frame rate data also shows that the Medium preset at all resolutions is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum values, indicating that the other presets have less variance or the data collection method differed. Regardless, the pattern is clear: 4K is not a viable resolution for this game with this hardware, as even the lowest settings fail to maintain 60 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 4K resolution?*

A: No. The data shows that no preset at 3840x2160 reaches the 60 FPS playable threshold. The best result is Low settings at 58 FPS average, which is 2 FPS short. Medium, High, and Ultra average 37, 26, and 21 FPS respectively.

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Only the Low preset at 2560x1440 achieves this, with an average of 74 FPS. The next step up, Medium, averages only 47 FPS, which is well below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 88 FPS at 1920x1080 to 74 FPS at 2560x1440, a difference of 14 FPS or approximately 16% lower performance.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14600K or the Intel Arc B580 the bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution and settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's benchmarks place it in the 90th percentile of all processors, well above what The Medium requires.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between High and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: High settings average 40 FPS, while Ultra averages 31 FPS. This is a 9 FPS difference, or roughly 22% lower performance for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the system ever exceed 60 FPS at Medium settings or higher?

A: No. The highest recorded average FPS for Medium settings is 55 at 1920x1080. All High and Ultra presets across all resolutions average below 40 FPS. Only the Low preset at 1080p (88 FPS) and 1440p (74 FPS) exceed 60 FPS.

The Verdict

This system cannot run The Medium at high visual quality, but it can run the game smoothly at lower settings on standard monitors. The verdict by resolution is explicit: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings, meaning no preset achieves a 60 FPS average. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset is playable, averaging 74 FPS. At 1920x1080, again only the Low preset is playable, averaging 88 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Medium is substantial at every resolution, making the Medium preset a poor choice for this hardware. For users with a 1080p or 1440p display, the game is playable but only with significant visual compromises. The data suggests that the Arc B580's 12 GB of memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth are not enough to handle the game's demands at higher presets, despite the CPU's ample headroom.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best (most demanding) preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 88 FPS. Medium settings fall to 55 FPS, so they are not viable.

At 2560x1440, the best preset that clears the 60 FPS threshold is also Low, with an average of 74 FPS. Medium settings average 47 FPS, which is unplayable.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 58 FPS, but since it does not meet the playable threshold, the verdict lists no recommended settings for this resolution. Users targeting 4K would need to consider different hardware.