The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the Intel Arc B570 presents a CPU-heavy system that is decisively limited by its graphics card in The Medium. The data indicates that this combination cannot achieve a playable 60 FPS experience at 4K, struggles at 1440p where only Medium settings are viable, but delivers a solid 1080p experience with High settings. The bottleneck is clear: the CPU’s massive multi-threaded headroom goes largely unused as the GPU’s rendering throughput caps frame rates at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the measured frame rates are consistently below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Ultra preset yields an average of 17 FPS, making it unplayable. High settings improve this to an average of 26 FPS, still far from smooth. Medium settings provide an average of 38 FPS with a minimum of 32 FPS and a maximum of 43 FPS, indicating frequent dips into the low 30s. Even the Low preset only manages an average of 42 FPS, which remains below the 60 FPS target. The data shows that no 4K preset reaches playable performance.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the situation improves moderately. The Ultra preset averages 31 FPS, which is not playable. High settings reach an average of 45 FPS. The Low preset jumps to an average of 74 FPS, clearing the 60 FPS bar comfortably. Medium settings deliver an average of 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. This makes Medium the most demanding playable preset at this resolution, as it stays above 60 FPS on average while occasionally dipping below.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system performs best. The Ultra preset averages 45 FPS, which is still below the threshold. High settings achieve an average of 66 FPS, meeting the playable requirement. Medium settings are smoother, with an average of 98 FPS, a minimum of 83 FPS, and a maximum of 112 FPS. The Low preset reaches an average of 110 FPS. The data shows that High is the best playable preset at 1080p, while Medium and Low offer substantial headroom above 60 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal a classic GPU-bound scenario for this game. The scaling between resolutions is stark: at 1080p High, the average FPS is 66, but at 1440p High, it drops to 45, and at 4K High, it falls to 26. This consistent drop with increasing resolution indicates that the Intel Arc B570’s rendering capabilities are the primary limiting factor. The CPU’s performance, while strong, is not the constraint here.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and presets. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 110 FPS, which is a significant jump from the 66 FPS at High. This suggests that at Low settings, the GPU has enough headroom to push more frames, but the CPU is still able to feed it adequately. However, the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than this game requires, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates do not scale with CPU-bound tasks; they scale with GPU workload.

The difference between presets at a fixed resolution further confirms the GPU bottleneck. At 1080p, moving from Low to Medium only drops the average from 110 to 98 FPS, while moving from Medium to High drops it to 66 FPS, and High to Ultra drops it to 45 FPS. This non-linear degradation points to the GPU’s fill rate and shading units being overwhelmed by higher-quality effects. The Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 5.60 GHz boost clock and high single-thread scores, is never the limiting factor; the Arc B570’s 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 10 GB GDDR6 memory are what determine the outcome.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run The Medium at 4K resolution?

A: No. The data shows that at 3840x2160, even the Low preset only averages 42 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The Ultra preset averages just 17 FPS, and High averages 26 FPS. No 4K settings are playable.

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

A: Medium settings are the most demanding playable preset at 2560x1440. The average FPS is 66, with a minimum of 56 and a maximum of 76. Low settings also work at 74 FPS, but Medium offers better visual quality while staying above 60 FPS on average.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever playable with this hardware?

A: No. At 1080p, Ultra averages 45 FPS; at 1440p, it averages 31 FPS; and at 4K, it averages 17 FPS. All of these are well below the 60 FPS threshold, making Ultra settings unusable at every resolution tested.

Q: How does the system perform at 1080p High settings?

A: It achieves an average of 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. This makes High the best visual preset that remains playable at 1920x1080, though Medium and Low are significantly faster with averages of 98 and 110 FPS respectively.

Q: Which component is the bottleneck for this game?

A: The Intel Arc B570 GPU is the limiting factor. Frame rates drop sharply with higher resolutions (66 FPS at 1080p High vs. 26 FPS at 4K High), while the CPU’s performance remains constant. The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking versus all GPUs contrasts with the CPU’s 94th percentile, confirming the graphics card is the constraint.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS at the best playable settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average is 66 FPS with no reported min or max values. At 1440p Medium, the average is 66 FPS, with a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 98 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-14700K sits in a performance tier where its nearest rivals are all within a 1% margin. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X has an average score 0.2% higher, while the AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.1% higher. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F are 0.7% and 0.9% lower, respectively. For this game, swapping to any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates, as the GPU remains the bottleneck.

On the graphics side, the Intel Arc B570’s nearest rivals are closely matched. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.1% faster, while the Intel Arc A750 is 0.1% slower. The NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 0.4% faster, and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X is 0.5% slower. These small deltas mean that any of these GPUs would yield similar FPS in The Medium, placing them all in the same performance class. A system with the RTX 3070 Mobile would likely see the same 66 FPS at 1080p High, while the Arc A750 would be nearly identical to the B570.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, no preset meets the 60 FPS requirement. The best average is 42 FPS on Low settings, which fails the playable threshold, so there is no recommended setting.

At 2560x1440, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium. The average FPS is 66, with a minimum of 56 and a maximum of 76. Low settings also work at 74 FPS, but Medium provides a better visual experience.

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High. The average FPS is 66, meeting the threshold. Medium settings offer 98 FPS and Low offers 110 FPS, but High is the recommended balance of quality and performance.

The Verdict

This PC can run The Medium, but only under specific conditions. The verdict by resolution confirms that 3840x2160 is entirely unplayable, with no settings reaching 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, the system is playable on Low and Medium presets, with Medium being the best option at 66 FPS. At 1920x1080, the system is playable on High, Low, and Medium, with High being the best visual preset at 66 FPS, and Medium and Low offering substantial headroom. The Intel Core i7-14700K is more than capable for this game, but the Intel Arc B570 limits the experience to 1080p High or 1440p Medium for a smooth 60 FPS experience.