The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for The Medium on this configuration covers three resolutions and four quality presets, with average frame rates ranging from 18 FPS to 78 FPS depending on the combination. The database shows that this system is far more comfortable at lower resolutions and lower settings, with a steep performance cliff as graphical demands increase.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 78 FPS, which is the single highest result in the entire dataset. The Medium preset drops to 49 FPS average, with a recorded minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. High settings at 1080p yield 35 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 28 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 29 FPS, which is substantial for a single step in quality. Between Medium and High the drop is 14 FPS, and between High and Ultra it is 7 FPS. The scaling is not linear, with diminishing returns in frame rate cost as settings climb toward Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 66 FPS, still above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Medium drops to 41 FPS average with a 35 FPS minimum and 47 FPS maximum. High settings produce 29 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 23 FPS. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs 12 FPS on Low, 8 FPS on Medium, 6 FPS on High, and 5 FPS on Ultra. The absolute frame rate penalty shrinks at higher presets, but the percentage loss is more pronounced because the starting point is already low.

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. Low averages 52 FPS, which is the best 4K result. Medium averages 32 FPS with a 27 FPS minimum and 37 FPS maximum. High drops to 23 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 18 FPS. The step from 1440p Low to 4K Low costs 14 FPS, while the step from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra costs only 5 FPS. At 4K, even the lowest settings cannot sustain a smooth experience, and the Ultra preset is essentially unplayable by any reasonable standard.

Only the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p clears the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 1080p comes closest among non-Low options, averaging 49 FPS, but it still falls 11 FPS short of playable. The data indicates that this game is demanding enough that the combination of this CPU and GPU cannot handle medium or higher quality settings at any resolution without dropping below 60 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling patterns across resolutions and presets reveal how this game distributes its workload between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the Intel Arc B570. The i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread Coffee Lake processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores, such as 6,629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, place it in the 47th percentile among all CPUs. The Arc B570, by contrast, sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 14,195 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2,649.

The frame rate deltas between resolutions indicate that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as pixel count rises. At Low settings, going from 1080p to 1440p reduces average FPS from 78 to 66, a 15% drop. Going from 1440p to 4K Low reduces it from 66 to 52, a 21% drop. These are sizable losses, which is typical when the GPU is under heavy load. The Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is likely a limiting factor at higher resolutions, especially with larger texture loads.

At higher presets, the resolution scaling becomes less severe in absolute terms but more severe in relative terms. At Ultra, moving from 1080p to 1440p costs 5 FPS (28 to 23), and moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 5 FPS (23 to 18). This suggests that at Ultra settings, both the CPU and GPU are struggling, and the frame rate is being pinned down by a combination of draw calls, geometry, and shading work that neither component can handle efficiently.

The CPU's role is more evident at lower resolutions and lower settings, where the GPU is less saturated. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 78 FPS, which is close to what the i5-9400 can feed. The CPU's single-core score of 935 in Cinebench R23 and Geekbench single-core score of 1,389 indicate that it has modest per-thread performance for a 2018 part. In a game like The Medium, which is a linear horror title with scripted sequences, the CPU must handle AI, physics, and streaming, and the six threads without hyper-threading can become a constraint when frame rates are high enough to expose CPU limits.

Between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings, the 12 FPS drop is significant, and between 1440p and 4K Low, the 14 FPS drop is slightly larger. This pattern points to the GPU being the primary limiter at 4K, while the CPU still has some headroom at lower resolutions. At Medium and above, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that 1080p Medium (49 FPS) is only 8 FPS faster than 1440p Medium (41 FPS), and 1080p Ultra (28 FPS) is only 5 FPS faster than 1440p Ultra (23 FPS). The GPU's inability to scale with resolution at high settings suggests that the Arc B570 is the determining factor for playability, not the CPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-9400, based on average benchmark scores, provide context for what other CPUs would behave similarly in this game. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average score of 2,259, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-9400's 2,254. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2,248, which is 0.3% higher than the i5-9400. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2,246, 0.4% higher, and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2,264, 0.4% lower. These four CPUs are all within a fraction of a percent of the i5-9400's aggregate performance, so any of them would produce nearly identical frame rates in The Medium when paired with the same GPU.

On the GPU side, the Intel Arc B570's nearest rivals are similarly close. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile has an average score of 20,534, which is 0.1% higher than the Arc B570's 20,556. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20,582, 0.1% lower. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20,480, 0.4% higher, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20,662, 0.5% lower. The Arc B570 and Arc A750 are essentially twins in aggregate performance, which makes sense given that they share the same architecture family. The RTX 3070 Mobile being this close is notable, as it suggests that mobile GPU performance in this range is comparable to the desktop Arc B570.

For a builder considering alternatives, the practical takeaway is that swapping the i5-9400 for any of its rivals would not change the frame rate outcomes in The Medium by more than a fraction of a percent. Similarly, swapping the Arc B570 for an Arc A750 or RTX 3070 Mobile would produce nearly identical results. The combination rank in this game is 2,999 out of 3,724 total combinations, which places it in the lower third of all tested systems. That rank reflects the overall capability of the pair, and the close rival scores confirm that there is no hidden performance headroom to be gained by switching to a nearby part.

The Verdict

Can this PC run The Medium? The answer depends entirely on the resolution and settings you are willing to accept. At 3840x2160, the verdict is clear: no settings are playable. The Low preset averages 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold, and every other preset is worse, with Ultra at 18 FPS. There is no configuration at 4K that provides a smooth experience.

At 2560x1440, the system can run the game on Low settings with an average of 66 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by 6 FPS. However, the Medium preset drops to 41 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 29 and 23 FPS respectively. So 1440p is playable only if you accept Low quality.

At 1920x1080, the same pattern holds: Low settings average 78 FPS, which is comfortable, but Medium drops to 49 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 28 FPS. The 1080p Low result is the best performance in the entire dataset, and it is the only configuration that provides substantial headroom above 60 FPS.

The database verdict lists playable settings as only Low at both 1440p and 1080p. The best settings at those resolutions are Low, with average FPS of 66 at 1440p and 78 at 1080p. For anyone hoping to play at Medium or higher, this combination falls short at every resolution. The game's visual fidelity at Low settings may be acceptable for players who prioritize smoothness, but the inability to use Medium settings at 1080p without dropping below 60 FPS is a significant limitation. This is not a system for playing The Medium with high-end visuals; it is a system for playing The Medium at low quality with acceptable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 52 FPS, Medium averages 32 FPS, High averages 23 FPS, and Ultra averages 18 FPS. None of these reach the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best frame rate this combination can achieve?

A: The highest recorded average is 78 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 66 FPS, which is the second best result.

Q: Is Medium settings playable at 1080p?

A: No. The Medium preset at 1920x1080 averages 49 FPS, which is 11 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum recorded is 41 FPS, and the maximum is 56 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2,254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2,259 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2,248 (0.3% higher), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2,246 (0.4% higher), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2,264 (0.4% lower). Performance differences are negligible.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20,556. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20,534 (0.1% higher), the Intel Arc A750 scores 20,582 (0.1% lower), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20,480 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20,662 (0.5% lower). All are effectively equivalent.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1440p?

A: Low settings at 2560x1440 average 66 FPS, which is the only playable preset at that resolution. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 29 FPS, and Ultra averages 23 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, there is no best setting because no preset reaches 60 FPS. The closest is Low at 52 FPS, but that is still below the playable threshold, so the recommendation is to avoid 4K on this system for The Medium.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 66 FPS. This is 6 FPS above the threshold, providing a slim margin. Medium drops to 41 FPS, so it is not viable.

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is also Low, with an average of 78 FPS. This is 18 FPS above the threshold, giving a comfortable buffer. Medium averages 49 FPS, which falls short of playable.

In both playable cases, Low is the only option. The frame rate headroom at 1080p Low (78 FPS) is larger than at 1440p Low (66 FPS), so players who want more stability should stick to 1080p. There is no setting combination that allows Medium or higher quality with 60 FPS, which means the system's practical ceiling for this game is Low quality at either 1080p or 1440p.