The Medium

The Medium, a horror game released on 2021-01-27, is the test title for this AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and Intel Arc B580 pairing. The measured rows cover Low, Medium, High, and Ultra at 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, with average FPS spanning from 20.4 at 4K Ultra to 89.9 at 1080p Low. The data reveals a combo that can deliver high framerates when settings are lowered, but one that falls sharply as both resolution and quality climb.

Resolution Scaling

At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 89.9 at 1080p to 74.3 at 1440p, then to 58.3 at 4K. At High settings, the same resolution steps move from 36.7 to 31.9 to 28.4. The Low curve loses more absolute FPS between extremes because it begins at a much higher value. The High curve is already compressed at 1080p, where it produces only 36.7 FPS. That means the preset itself is doing most of the work in limiting performance.

This is evidence that the graphics card is the dominant constraint once the game is set to High or Ultra. No resolution change can restore the framerate that Low settings permit. At Medium, the resolution steps are 55.2, 45.5, and 36.5. At Ultra, they are 30.6, 28.9, and 20.4. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset, while 1080p Low is the highest. The shape of the scaling suggests the limiting component changes with preset: Low gives the GPU enough breathing room for resolution to matter, while High and Ultra keep the GPU under a load that is already severe.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread desktop CPU from the 3000 series. Its launch MSRP is $199. It has a base clock of 3.60, a boost clock of 4.20, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. In general benchmarks, its average score is 18129, placing it at the 76th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival list is close: the Intel Core i5-11400 scores 18150 and is 0.1% above, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 18101 and is 0.2% below, the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 scores 18158 and is 0.2% above, and the AMD EPYC 9274F scores 18189 and is 0.3% above.

The Cinebench R23 results split clearly between 15045 for multicore and 2124 for single-core. The 3DMark results show 4605 with 16 threads and 696 with one thread. This profile is a balanced mid-generation desktop processor. In The Medium, the CPU appears able to sustain high frame delivery when the GPU is not stressed: 1080p Low reaches 89.9 FPS, and 1440p Low reaches 74.3. The fact that those numbers drop sharply at Medium and again at High points to GPU-driven scaling, not a CPU wall.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 sits at the center of the graphics load. It is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and has 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, with bandwidth rated at 456.0 GB/s. The base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz, and FP32 throughput is 13.67 TFLOPS. Its average benchmark score is 23021, with a 66th percentile among all GPUs. The nearest rivals reveal a crowded field: the AMD Radeon 760M scores 22999 and is 0.1% below, the NVIDIA P106-100 scores 22950 and is 0.3% below, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 scores 23181 and is 0.7% above, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 and is 1.3% below. Launch MSRP for the card is 249 USD.

In The Medium, the GPU’s role is visible in the preset spread. At 1080p, Ultra averages 30.6 while Low averages 89.9. At 4K, Ultra averages 20.4 while Low averages 58.3. The 12 GB buffer and high memory bandwidth do not change the fact that Ultra presents the hardest workload. Every resolution shows the same ordering: Low is fastest, Medium is next, High is slower, and Ultra is slowest. That consistent ordering indicates the game is scaling directly with the GPU workload that each preset represents.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows are the only guide here. At 1080p, Low produces 89.9, Medium 55.2, High 36.7, and Ultra 30.6. Medium is the strongest balance of preset and speed at this resolution. It keeps a substantially higher average than High and Ultra while offering more than Low.

At 1440p, Low is 74.3, Medium 45.5, High 31.9, and Ultra 28.9. Medium is the recommended choice if the goal is to move beyond Low without accepting the drop to High. High is close to Ultra in this resolution, which makes High and Ultra less distinct from each other.

At 4K, Low is 58.3, Medium 36.5, High 28.4, and Ultra 20.4. Low is the best-scoring preset by a wide margin. Medium remains ahead of High by a clear amount, and Ultra is the slowest measured result in the entire dataset. For 4K, the data favors Low if framerate is the priority, or Medium if the higher preset label is worth the framerate difference.

FAQ

Q: What is the fastest measured result in the entire dataset?

A: The fastest result is 89.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The same preset at 2560x1440 is 74.3 FPS, and at 3840x2160 is 58.3 FPS.

Q: How large is the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low averages 58.3 FPS and Ultra averages 20.4 FPS. Medium sits between at 36.5, with High at 28.4. Ultra is far below every other preset at the same resolution.

Q: Does the CPU benchmark score explain the in-game rank?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129 and a 76th percentile ranking. The Arc B580 has an average score of 23021 and a 66th percentile. Yet the combo ranks 1315th out of 1689 in The Medium. General benchmarks do not predict the game-specific low position.

Q: What happens to framerate at High settings when resolution is increased?

A: At High settings, the average FPS is 36.7 at 1080p, 31.9 at 1440p, and 28.4 at 4K. The values stay close, which indicates the High preset keeps the GPU under a heavy load even at 1080p.

Q: Which combination of resolution and settings gives the lowest measured FPS?

A: 3840x2160 with Ultra is the lowest, at 20.4 average FPS. 2560x1440 Ultra is 28.9, and 1920x1080 Ultra is 30.6.

Q: At which resolution does Medium provide the highest average FPS?

A: Medium at 1920x1080 produces 55.2 average FPS, compared with 45.5 at 2560x1440 and 36.5 at 3840x2160.

Measured FPS Breakdown

All values are average FPS from the measured rows; minimum and maximum FPS were not recorded in the source data.

| Resolution | Low | Medium | High | Ultra |

|---|---|---|---|---|

| 1920x1080 | 89.9 | 55.2 | 36.7 | 30.6 |

| 2560x1440 | 74.3 | 45.5 | 31.9 | 28.9 |

| 3840x2160 | 58.3 | 36.5 | 28.4 | 20.4 |

How This Combo Ranks

The measured combo sits at rank 1315 out of 1689 tested combinations for The Medium. That is a low placement when compared with the component-level percentiles: the CPU is 76th percentile and the GPU is 66th percentile. The game appears to penalize this pairing more than general averages suggest.

The measured FPS pattern explains part of the story. The pairing can reach 89.9 FPS at 1080p Low, but it sinks to 20.4 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank captures the full range of resolutions and presets, not just the best-case result. Because the dataset is measured rather than estimated, the rank is a direct observation of this specific hardware pairing in this specific game.