The Medium

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-13700K sits in a tightly contested performance band. The database shows its average benchmark score at 46881, placing it within half a percent of several comparable processors. The AMD Ryzen 9 5900 scores 46971, a negligible 0.2% advantage. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 is similarly close at 47022, also 0.3% ahead. On the other side, the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX trails by 0.5% with a score of 46654, and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 matches that same 46654 score, also 0.5% behind. For gaming workloads that rely on this processor, any of these four alternatives would deliver essentially identical CPU-bound behavior in The Medium. The i7-13700K ranks in the 89th percentile against all CPUs in the database, so the nearby rivals represent the upper tier of desktop and mobile processors.

The Intel Arc B370 presents a very different picture. Its single recorded benchmark, 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12, yields a score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are older discrete and mobile parts. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, just 0.2% higher. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 trails at 1168, 1.4% lower. In practical terms, the Arc B370's compute performance aligns with hardware from a much older generation. For The Medium, this means the GPU will behave like those legacy parts in terms of raw throughput, though the Arc B370 does support modern APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which those older rivals may not fully match. The measured frame rates confirm this positioning: the combo struggles to reach playable levels even at the lowest settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Medium places an exceptionally heavy burden on the GPU in this configuration. The data shows a consistent pattern across resolutions: as pixel count drops, frame rates rise, but the GPU remains the bottleneck at every setting level. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average is 30 FPS. Dropping to 2560x1440 Low raises the average to 39 FPS, a 30% improvement. Moving further down to 1920x1080 Low yields 46 FPS, another 18% gain over the 1440p result. This scaling behavior indicates that the Arc B370's rendering throughput is the limiting factor. A CPU-bound scenario would show far less variation across resolutions.

The same pattern repeats at Medium settings. At 4K, the average is 19 FPS. At 1440p, it climbs to 24 FPS, a 26% increase. At 1080p, it reaches 29 FPS, another 21% gain. High settings show 14 FPS at 4K, 17 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 1080p. Ultra settings produce 11 FPS, 14 FPS, and 16 FPS respectively. In every case, the resolution scaling is substantial, which confirms that the GPU is doing nearly all the work. The i7-13700K, with 16 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom for this title. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745 and single-core score of 2116 are far beyond what a 2021 horror game would demand. The processor's 3DMark scores, including 12412 at max threads and 1136 single-thread, further indicate that CPU utilization in The Medium is unlikely to approach saturation. The verdict is clear: the Arc B370 dictates the playability envelope, and the CPU's role is largely passive.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the recorded data shows no playable settings. Low settings produce an average of 30 FPS. Medium settings average 19 FPS, with a minimum of 16 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS. High settings drop to 14 FPS. Ultra settings fall further to 11 FPS. None of these averages approach the 60 FPS playable threshold, and even the best case, Low at 30 FPS, is exactly half of what is needed for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the situation improves marginally but remains far from playable. Low settings average 39 FPS. Medium settings average 24 FPS, with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS. High settings average 17 FPS. Ultra settings average 14 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 15 FPS, which indicates that the Medium preset's additional effects impose a steep cost on this GPU. Even the Low preset falls 21 FPS short of the 60 FPS target.

At 1920x1080, the best results appear, but they still do not reach the playable threshold. Low settings average 46 FPS. Medium settings average 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS. High settings average 21 FPS. Ultra settings average 16 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs 17 FPS, and the jump from Medium to High costs another 8 FPS. The maximum recorded frame rate across all tests is 33 FPS, which occurs at 1080p Medium. The minimum recorded frame rate is 16 FPS at 4K Medium. The data indicates that no combination of resolution and settings in the measured set reaches 60 FPS, and the best average, 46 FPS at 1080p Low, still leaves a 14 FPS deficit.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combinations in The Medium. This places the combo in the bottom 8% of all configurations in the database. The ranking reflects the GPU's severe limitation. The i7-13700K's CPU performance is well above average, as shown by its 89th percentile standing, but the Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU score drags the overall gaming result down dramatically. The combination's rank is consistent with the measured frame rates: it is a system that cannot maintain 60 FPS at any resolution or preset tested. The bottom-quartile ranking means that most other CPU and GPU pairings in the database deliver better results in this title. For context, the nearest GPU rivals, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and AMD Radeon HD 7650M, are parts from a much older era, and their performance class is exactly where this combo lands in gaming terms. The CPU's strength does not compensate for the GPU's weakness in a frame-rate-limited scenario.

The Verdict

This PC cannot run The Medium at a playable level under the tested configurations. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, there are no playable settings, meaning no preset achieves an average of 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same outcome applies: no playable settings. At 1920x1080, again, no playable settings exist. The highest average frame rate recorded anywhere is 46 FPS, which occurs at 1080p Low. That falls short of the 60 FPS playable threshold by 14 FPS. The minimum frame rates are even more concerning: at 1080p Medium, the minimum is 24 FPS, and at 1440p Medium, the minimum is 21 FPS. These dips would cause noticeable stutter during gameplay. The GPU's 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 25 W TDP indicate a low-power integrated-class part, and the measured results align with that specification. Players seeking to run The Medium smoothly would need a different GPU. The i7-13700K is not the limiting factor; it provides more than enough processing power. The Arc B370, however, is insufficient for this title at any of the tested settings. The data offers no configuration that clears the 60 FPS bar, so the verdict is a clear failure to meet the playable threshold across all resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 46 FPS, which occurs at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the Intel Core i7-13700K bottleneck the Intel Arc B370 in this game?

A: No. The frame rates scale heavily with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs and has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 30745, so it is not the constraint.

Q: Can this system hit 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: No. At 2560x1440, the best average is 39 FPS on Low settings, and the verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for that resolution.

Q: How does the Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, all within 0.7% of the Arc B370.

Q: What is the lowest recorded minimum FPS across all tests?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 16 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. The minimum at 2560x1440 Medium is 21 FPS, and at 1920x1080 Medium it is 24 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in The Medium?

A: It ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom portion of the database.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no settings preset achieves an average of 60 FPS. The best average is 30 FPS on Low, but that is below the playable threshold, so there is no recommended setting for this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the same condition applies. The best average is 39 FPS on Low, which is still 21 FPS short of the 60 FPS target. No playable settings exist.

At 1920x1080, the best average is 46 FPS on Low. This is the highest recorded average in the entire dataset, but it still falls below 60 FPS. Therefore, no settings preset at any resolution meets the playable threshold. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS does not exist for this combo; the data simply does not contain any configuration that reaches that level.