The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for this hardware combination in The Medium is unambiguous: this system does not reach playable performance at any resolution or preset. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and every measured average falls well below that mark. The strongest result appears at 1920x1080 with Low settings, where the average reaches 51 FPS, a 9 FPS shortfall from the target. Across all twelve measured configurations, the highest average is 51 FPS, and the lowest is 12 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are heavily constrained. The Low preset produces an average of 34 FPS. Medium settings drop the average to 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS. High settings reduce the average further to 15 FPS. The Ultra preset bottoms out at 12 FPS. No resolution at 4K comes close to the 60 FPS target; even the least demanding preset falls 26 FPS short.

At 2560x1440, performance improves but remains firmly in unplayable territory. Low settings deliver an average of 43 FPS. Medium settings produce 27 FPS average, with minimum and maximum values of 23 FPS and 31 FPS respectively. High settings yield 19 FPS, and Ultra drops to 15 FPS. The gap between the best 1440p result and the playable threshold is 17 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the best-case scenario emerges. Low settings reach 51 FPS average, the highest number recorded in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 32 FPS average, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. High settings fall to 23 FPS, and Ultra drops to 18 FPS. Even at the lowest preset and lowest resolution, the system misses the 60 FPS target by 9 FPS. The data shows a consistent pattern: every preset at every resolution records an average below 60 FPS, and the verdict list confirms that no playable settings exist at any resolution.

FAQ

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

A: No. The best recorded result at 1920x1080 is 51 FPS average with Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdict for 1920x1080 lists no playable settings.

Q: What is the best frame rate this system can achieve in The Medium?

A: The highest average FPS recorded across all measurements is 51 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best results are 43 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 34 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to Low at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 43 FPS while Medium settings average 27 FPS, a difference of 16 FPS. The Medium preset also has a recorded minimum of 23 FPS and maximum of 31 FPS, whereas the Low preset has no min or max values recorded.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: No. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 12 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 15 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 18 FPS. All three values are far below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: Which resolution and preset combination gives the highest minimum FPS?

A: The highest recorded minimum FPS is 27 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. The only other recorded minimum is 23 FPS at 2560x1440 Medium and 18 FPS at 3840x2160 Medium.

Q: How far is the best result from the playable threshold?

A: The best result, 51 FPS at 1920x1080 Low, is 9 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Every other configuration falls further behind, with the gap ranging from 17 FPS at 2560x1440 Low to 48 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals that the GPU is the overwhelming bottleneck in this configuration for The Medium. The Intel Arc B390 carries a percentile ranking of 9 among all GPUs, placing it in the bottom decile of graphics hardware. Its average benchmark score is 1482, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM, and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710, all of which are entry-level or legacy parts. The Intel Core i7-12700K, by contrast, sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287. The CPU is a high-end desktop part with 12 cores and 20 threads, while the GPU is an integrated graphics solution with a 80 W TDP and system-shared memory.

The scaling between resolutions confirms the GPU limitation. Moving from 1920x1080 Low (51 FPS) to 2560x1440 Low (43 FPS) results in a 8 FPS drop, and further to 3840x2160 Low (34 FPS) costs another 9 FPS. This progressive decline as pixel count increases is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU has ample headroom: its 3DMark multi-threaded score reaches 9979 at max threads, and its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 19784. The game's demands at 1080p Low are well within the CPU's capability, yet the frame rate still cannot reach 60 FPS, which points squarely at the GPU.

Preset scaling reinforces the same conclusion. At 1920x1080, moving from Low (51 FPS) to Medium (32 FPS) costs 19 FPS, and from Medium to High (23 FPS) costs another 9 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low (43 FPS) to Medium (27 FPS) drops 16 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low (34 FPS) to Medium (21 FPS) drops 13 FPS. These steep penalties for increased visual fidelity are typical of a GPU that lacks sufficient shading power. The Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output pipelines, with a FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS. Those specifications cannot sustain the rendering load of The Medium's fixed camera angles and layered scenes.

The CPU's role in this pairing is essentially to feed the GPU, and it does so without constraint. The i7-12700K's single-thread performance is strong, with a Geekbench single-core score of 2308 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5. The game is not CPU-limited at any resolution in this dataset. The evidence is clear: the GPU determines the outcome, and the outcome is unplayable.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the GPU, the Intel Arc B390's nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts. The closest match is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, with an average score of 1463, a delta of 1.3% relative to the Arc B390's 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, a 1.5% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a 2.5% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, a 2.7% delta. These four GPUs would behave similarly to the Arc B390 in The Medium, meaning all of them would also fail to reach 60 FPS at any resolution. The performance class is firmly in the sub-playable range.

For the CPU, the Intel Core i7-12700K's nearest rivals are all newer Intel parts with similar average scores. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, a 0.1% delta below the i7-12700K's 35287. The Intel Core i7-12700KF scores 35365, a 0.2% delta below. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, a 0.3% delta below. The Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, a 0.4% delta below. These CPUs are effectively interchangeable for this game, but since the GPU is the limiting factor, swapping the CPU among these four options would produce no meaningful change in frame rates.

The data shows that if a user were to replace the Arc B390 with any of its four nearest rivals, the FPS results would remain within roughly 1 to 3 percent of the current measurements. That translates to a difference of less than 1 FPS at most settings. For example, at 1920x1080 Low, the current 51 FPS average would shift by less than 1 FPS with any of these GPUs, keeping the result below the 60 FPS threshold. Similarly, replacing the i7-12700K with any of its four nearest rivals would leave the GPU-bound frame rates essentially unchanged. The bottleneck persists regardless of CPU choice.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The best available setting is Low, which produces an average of 34 FPS. The verdict for this resolution lists no playable settings, and the best settings field is null. The user is left with a choice between 34 FPS at Low and progressively worse results at Medium (21 FPS), High (15 FPS), and Ultra (12 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the situation is equally constrained. Low settings produce the best average at 43 FPS, but this still falls 17 FPS short of the playable threshold. Medium settings average 27 FPS, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The verdict again lists no playable settings and a null best settings value.

At 1920x1080, Low settings are the most demanding preset that comes closest to the target, with an average of 51 FPS. This is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches 60 FPS, yet it still misses by 9 FPS. Medium settings drop to 32 FPS, High to 23 FPS, and Ultra to 18 FPS. The verdict for 1920x1080 also lists no playable settings, meaning the system cannot achieve the 60 FPS threshold at any quality level at this resolution either.

In practical terms, the best settings per resolution are always Low, because every higher preset reduces the average further. However, the word "best" here only means the highest frame rate, not a playable experience. None of these configurations meets the playable threshold.

The Verdict

This PC cannot run The Medium at the playable threshold of 60 FPS. The verdict by resolution is definitive: for 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080, the playable settings list is empty, the best settings field is null, and no average FPS at best settings is recorded. Every single measurement in the dataset falls below 60 FPS.

The closest result is 1920x1080 Low at 51 FPS average, which is 9 FPS short. At 2560x1440 Low, the average is 43 FPS, 17 FPS short. At 3840x2160 Low, the average is 34 FPS, 26 FPS short. The Medium preset, which is the game's namesake setting, produces 32 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. None of these are close to playable.

The root cause is the GPU. The Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are legacy mobile and OEM parts from NVIDIA. The CPU, by contrast, is a high-end desktop processor at the 84th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score. The combination ranks 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for this game, putting it in the bottom 11 percent of all hardware pairings.

The verdict is unambiguous: the system fails the 60 FPS playability test at every resolution and every preset. Users seeking to play The Medium with this CPU would need a substantially more powerful GPU to reach playable frame rates. The recorded data shows no configuration that meets the target, and the GPU's performance class makes it unlikely that any settings adjustment would bridge the gap.