The Medium

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for this combination of Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B390 in The Medium shows a consistent pattern: frame rates decline sharply as resolution and preset quality increase. At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers an average of 34 FPS, which drops to 21 FPS on Medium, 15 FPS on High, and 12 FPS on Ultra. The only preset at 4K with min/max data is Medium, showing a range from 18 FPS minimum to 24 FPS maximum, which brackets the 21 FPS average tightly. This indicates that even the most forgiving settings at 4K cannot approach a playable frame rate, and the Ultra preset at 12 FPS is effectively a slideshow.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers improve but remain far from smooth. Low settings produce 43 FPS on average, Medium drops to 27 FPS, High falls to 19 FPS, and Ultra settles at 15 FPS. The Medium preset again has the only recorded variance data, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 16 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is only 8 FPS, suggesting that the GPU struggles disproportionately as quality settings climb beyond the lowest tier.

At 1920x1080, the best results in the entire dataset appear, but they still fall short of the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings yield 51 FPS on average, Medium produces 32 FPS, High drops to 23 FPS, and Ultra manages 18 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium here is 19 FPS, the largest single-step drop recorded across any resolution, indicating that the Medium preset introduces a significant rendering cost that this GPU cannot absorb.

Overall, no preset at any resolution reaches 60 FPS. The best recorded figure is 51 FPS at 1080p Low, which is 9 FPS short of the playable threshold. Every other setting and resolution combination sits further away, with 4K Ultra at 12 FPS representing the lowest point in the dataset.

CPU and GPU Roles

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a 33 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark percentile of 94 against all CPUs places it in the top tier of processors, and its average benchmark score of 69355 sits within 0.9% of its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F. In contrast, the Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 and GT 625 OEM, are separated by only 1.3% to 2.7% in score, which means the Arc B390 is operating in a performance class far below what a modern horror title requires.

The scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU is the dominant constraint in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the average is 51 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces the average to 43 FPS, an 8 FPS loss, and at 4K Low the average falls to 34 FPS, another 9 FPS loss. This stepwise degradation as pixel count increases is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions because the processor would max out regardless of rendering load. The data shows the opposite: every resolution increase costs meaningful performance, which points squarely at the Arc B390 as the bottleneck.

The preset scaling within each resolution reinforces this conclusion. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium costs 19 FPS, from Medium to High costs 9 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 5 FPS. The largest penalty occurs at the lowest preset step, which is typical for a GPU that has very little headroom and cannot handle the additional shading and texture work that Medium introduces. At 4K, the same pattern appears: Low to Medium costs 13 FPS, Medium to High costs 6 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 3 FPS. The diminishing absolute drops at higher presets do not indicate efficiency; they indicate that the GPU is already saturated and has almost nothing left to give.

The CPU's capabilities are essentially untapped in this game. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 33440.5 and a single-core score of 2160, the i7-14700K is more than capable of feeding frames to any discrete GPU. The integrated Arc B390, however, cannot translate that CPU headroom into playable output. At no point in the dataset does the frame rate approach the CPU's potential ceiling, so the recorded numbers should be read entirely as GPU limitations. The i7-14700K is not the reason this combo fails to hit 60 FPS; the Arc B390 is.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this combination at 3314 out of 3724 tested combos for The Medium. That places it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested, a position that aligns with the GPU's 9th percentile standing among all graphics processors. The CPU's 94th percentile ranking does little to boost the combo because the game's performance is dictated by the graphics solution.

The nearest rival CPUs to the i7-14700K, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X with a delta of -0.2% and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX with a delta of -0.7%, would likely show similar frame rates when paired with the same Arc B390, because the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's proximity to these rivals in average benchmark score (within 0.9% in all cases) means that swapping the processor would not change the outcome in this game. The rank of 3314 out of 3724 is therefore a GPU-driven result, and it is a poor one.

The Arc B390's nearest GPU rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, are separated by deltas of 1.3% and 1.5% respectively. These are entry-level or legacy parts, and the database places them in the same performance band as the Arc B390. For a game released in 2021, this level of graphics performance is insufficient for 60 FPS at any resolution or preset in the measured dataset. The combo rank reflects that reality: it is near the bottom of the tested field, and the recorded frame rates confirm that no configuration clears the playable threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 1080p?

A: No. The best recorded result at 1920x1080 is 51 FPS on Low settings, which is 9 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold. All other 1080p presets are lower, with Medium at 32 FPS, High at 23 FPS, and Ultra at 18 FPS.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate in the dataset is 51 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 43 FPS at 2560x1440 Low, followed by 34 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: Which component is responsible for the low frame rates?

A: The Intel Arc B390 integrated GPU is the limiting factor. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710. The Intel Core i7-14700K, by contrast, sits in the 94th percentile of CPUs.

Q: How does the i7-14700K compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355. The AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69288 with a delta of 0.1%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515 with a delta of -0.2%, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 with a delta of -0.7%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 with a delta of -0.9%. All are within 1% of each other.

Q: Does the Medium preset at 4K show any variance worth noting?

A: At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with recorded min/max data, and the narrow range indicates the GPU is running at its limit without meaningful fluctuation.

Q: Is there any resolution where the system reaches 60 FPS?

A: No. The database shows no preset at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, or 3840x2160 that meets or exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. The verdict by resolution lists no playable settings for any of the three resolutions tested.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS. The highest average is 34 FPS on Low settings, but even that falls far below the playable threshold. The database records no playable settings for this resolution, so there is no recommended configuration to preserve smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the situation is nearly identical. The Low preset delivers 43 FPS, which is the best result at this resolution, but it still misses the 60 FPS mark by 17 FPS. No playable settings exist here either.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces 51 FPS, the closest any configuration comes to 60 FPS in the entire dataset. However, the verdict data lists no playable settings for 1080p as well, because 51 FPS is below the threshold. The most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS does not exist for any resolution, so the honest answer is that no preset qualifies as playable.

The Verdict

This system cannot run The Medium at a playable frame rate. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: no playable settings exist at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, or 1920x1080. The best recorded average is 51 FPS at 1080p Low, which is 9 FPS short of the 60 FPS threshold, and every other setting and resolution combination performs worse.

The Intel Core i7-14700K is not the problem. It ranks in the 94th percentile of all CPUs and sits within 0.9% of rivals like the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 7 9700F. The Intel Arc B390 is the bottleneck, ranking in the 9th percentile of all GPUs and posting a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482, a figure that places it alongside legacy parts from NVIDIA. The combo rank of 3314 out of 3724 tested systems reflects this imbalance: a top-tier CPU paired with a bottom-tier GPU yields bottom-tier gaming performance.

For anyone considering this configuration for The Medium, the data is clear. The game demands a discrete graphics solution with far more rendering throughput than the Arc B390 provides. At no resolution, from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra, does the frame rate approach smoothness, and the minimum recorded values at Medium presets confirm that even the average numbers flatter the experience. This is not a playable setup for the game, and the recorded measurements leave no room for interpretation.