The Medium

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a narrow but clear performance envelope in The Medium, with benchmark results showing that playability is restricted to the lowest preset at both 1080p and 1440p, while 4K remains out of reach at any tested setting. Across all measured configurations, the average frame rate never exceeds 88 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra presets is substantial at every resolution. The data shows a consistent pattern: this combination is capable of hitting the 60 FPS threshold only when graphical demands are minimized, and even then, the margin is comfortable at 1080p but tighter at 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results show a clear hierarchy across the four settings. The Low preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this combo in any configuration. Stepping up to Medium drops the average to 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS. High settings reduce the average further to 40 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium represents the largest single-step drop, a 33 FPS reduction that pushes the system below the 60 FPS playable threshold. From Medium to High, the average falls by 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra, it falls by another 9 FPS. The measured data indicates that at 1080p, the Low preset is the only configuration that sustains an average above 60 FPS, with a 28 FPS margin over the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same settings hierarchy produces lower absolute numbers. Low settings average 74 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold but with a reduced margin of 14 FPS compared to the 1080p result. Medium settings average 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS. High settings average 33 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS. The resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 14 FPS, while at Medium, High, and Ultra, the costs are 8 FPS, 7 FPS, and 5 FPS, respectively. This pattern suggests that the performance penalty for higher resolution diminishes as settings increase, likely because the GPU becomes the limiting factor earlier at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly below the playable threshold. Low settings average 58 FPS, narrowly missing the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 37 FPS, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS. High settings average 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 21 FPS. The step from Low to Medium at 4K costs 21 FPS, which is the largest absolute drop between adjacent settings at any resolution. From Medium to High, the drop is 11 FPS, and from High to Ultra, it is 5 FPS. The 4K Low result is notable because it sits only 2 FPS below the playable threshold, indicating that the hardware is close to being capable of 4K playability but falls short in the measured data. The frame time consistency also degrades at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the minimum and maximum values for Medium settings: at 1080p, the range is 17 FPS (47 to 64), at 1440p it is 14 FPS (40 to 54), and at 4K it is 11 FPS (31 to 42). This narrowing range suggests that as resolution increases, the frame rate becomes more stable but at a much lower average level.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i7-12700KF, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core i7-13700T with a score of 35403 and a delta of -0.1%, the Intel Core i5-13600T with a score of 35305 and a delta of 0.2%, the Intel Core 5 213PE with a score of 35428 and a delta of -0.2%, and the Intel Core i7-12700K with a score of 35287 and a delta of 0.2%. These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning that swapping the i7-12700KF for any of these alternatives would produce virtually identical CPU-bound performance in The Medium. The i7-12700K is the closest match, with a delta of 0.2%, which is within the margin of measurement noise. The i7-13700T and the Core 5 213PE are also effectively equivalent, with deltas of -0.1% and -0.2%, respectively. For users considering a CPU change, the data shows that none of these alternatives would meaningfully alter the game's frame rates, as the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most tested scenarios.

For the Intel Arc B580, the nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP with an average score of 23061 and a delta of -0.2%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 with a score of 22895 and a delta of 0.6%, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 with a score of 23172 and a delta of -0.7%, and the NVIDIA P106-100 with a score of 23249 and a delta of -1%. The RTX 3080 is particularly interesting because its average score is only 0.7% higher than the Arc B580, despite being a much older and higher-tier card in the broader market. In The Medium specifically, the data suggests that a system with an RTX 3080 would perform within a few percent of the Arc B580, meaning the frame rates at each resolution and setting would be nearly identical. The RTX 2080, with a delta of 0.6%, would also produce similar results, potentially being slightly faster but by a margin that is unlikely to cross the 60 FPS threshold in any configuration where the Arc B580 falls short. The RX 580 2048SP and P106-100 are also close in aggregate score, but their architectural differences might manifest differently in a specific game like The Medium; however, the benchmark data does not provide game-specific scores for these rivals, so the comparison is limited to overall performance parity.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS of 88 suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU sufficiently, as the frame rate is well above the playable threshold. When settings increase to Ultra at the same resolution, the average drops to 31 FPS, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary constraint as the graphical load intensifies. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 57 FPS reduction, which is a 65% decrease in performance, pointing to the GPU being the dominant factor at higher presets. At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds: Low averages 74 FPS, while Ultra averages 26 FPS, a 48 FPS drop. The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings costs 14 FPS, which is a 16% reduction, suggesting that the GPU is already starting to limit performance even at the lowest preset. At 4K, the Low preset averages 58 FPS, which is only 2 FPS below the playable threshold, and the drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low is 16 FPS, a 22% reduction. This progressive scaling indicates that the GPU's workload scales super-linearly with resolution, while the CPU's role diminishes as the resolution increases.

Comparing the settings scaling across resolutions provides further insight. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Medium is 33 FPS, while at 1440p, it is 27 FPS, and at 4K, it is 21 FPS. The shrinking delta suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes so saturated that the additional cost of raising settings from Low to Medium has less absolute impact. Conversely, the gap between Medium and Ultra at 1080p is 24 FPS, at 1440p it is 21 FPS, and at 4K it is 16 FPS, following the same trend. The data supports the conclusion that the CPU is sufficient to drive the GPU at all tested resolutions and settings, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU's rendering capabilities. The i7-12700KF's multicore performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 score of 28838 and Passmark multithread score of 34092, is more than adequate for The Medium's requirements, meaning that upgrading the CPU alone would not yield higher frame rates in this game. The GPU, with its 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 456.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth, is the determining factor in whether the game hits 60 FPS, and the measured results show that it can only do so at Low settings below 4K.

The Verdict

Based on the measured FPS data and the playable threshold of 60 FPS, this PC can run The Medium, but only under specific conditions. At 3840x2160, the verdict is negative: no settings preset achieves an average of 60 FPS, with the best case being Low at 58 FPS, which falls just short. The data indicates that 4K is not playable with this combination, regardless of graphical settings. At 2560x1440, the verdict is positive for a single setting: Low averages 74 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold by 14 FPS. Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below 60 FPS, with averages of 47, 33, and 26 FPS, respectively. At 1920x1080, the verdict is also positive for Low settings, which average 88 FPS, providing a 28 FPS margin over the threshold. The 1080p Low configuration is the most comfortable playable option, offering a smooth experience with headroom for frame rate fluctuations. The data shows that for users who prioritize visual fidelity, the system cannot maintain 60 FPS at Medium or higher at any resolution, so the only path to playability is accepting the Low preset. The 1440p Low setting is also viable, but the 74 FPS average leaves less margin for demanding scenes, and the measured minimum at Medium (40 FPS) suggests that Low might dip below 60 FPS in some sequences, although no minimum is provided for Low settings in the data.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for The Medium, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 2819 out of 3724 total combos. This places it in the lower third of all tested systems, indicating that it is not a high-performance configuration for this particular game. The percentile ranking for the CPU alone is 85, meaning the i7-12700KF is faster than 85% of all tested CPUs, while the GPU's percentile is 68, meaning the Arc B580 is faster than 68% of all tested GPUs. The combination's rank of 2819 out of 3724 suggests that the GPU's lower percentile relative to the CPU's high percentile creates a bottleneck, pulling the overall combo ranking down. The data implies that many other tested combinations, likely those with faster GPUs paired with similar or slower CPUs, achieve higher frame rates in The Medium. The combo rank of 2819 corresponds to roughly the 75th percentile from the bottom, meaning about 75% of tested combos perform better in this game. This is consistent with the measured FPS results, which show that the system can only handle Low settings at 1080p and 1440p, whereas higher-performing combos would likely achieve playable frame rates at Medium or High settings. The ranking underscores that while the CPU is a strong performer, the GPU holds the system back in this title.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 55, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The minimum FPS is 47, so the experience would involve frequent frame rate drops below the target.

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

A: The best playable configuration is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which achieves an average of 88 FPS. At 2560x1440 with Low settings, the average is 74 FPS, which is also playable but with less headroom.

Q: How close is this system to being playable at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average FPS is 58, which is only 2 FPS below the 60 FPS threshold. This is the closest the system comes to 4K playability, but it does not reach the target.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 88 FPS, but raising settings to Ultra drops the average to 31 FPS, indicating that the GPU cannot handle higher graphical loads. The CPU's performance is sufficient, as evidenced by its high benchmark scores relative to the GPU.

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

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score that is 0.7% higher than the Arc B580. In The Medium, the frame rates would be nearly identical, so the RTX 3080 would also struggle to maintain 60 FPS at Medium settings or higher.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this system?

A: The lowest average FPS is 21, recorded at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the most demanding configuration tested, and it delivers a presentation that is far below the playable threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average FPS of 88. The next step up, Medium, averages 55 FPS, which fails to meet the threshold, so Low is the only viable option at this resolution. At 2560x1440, the same conclusion applies: Low is the only playable preset, averaging 74 FPS, while Medium averages 47 FPS and falls below the target. At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 60 FPS, so there is no recommended settings configuration for this resolution. The data shows that the system's playable envelope is limited to Low settings at 1080p and 1440p, with 1080p providing the more comfortable margin of 28 FPS over the threshold. For users who want the best visual quality while maintaining 60 FPS, 1080p Low is the optimal choice, as it offers the highest frame rate headroom and the lowest resolution penalty. The 1440p Low option is acceptable for those who prefer a higher resolution, but the 14 FPS margin means that frame rate dips below 60 could occur in heavy scenes.