The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the Intel Arc B570 presents a mid-range configuration in The Medium, a horror title known for its fixed-camera angles and dual-reality rendering. The measured data shows a system that is fundamentally playable at lower settings but quickly becomes overwhelmed as visual fidelity and pixel count increase, with the GPU emerging as the definitive bottleneck in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly illustrates where the system's limits lie. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 sees average frame rates fall from 78 FPS to 52 FPS, a significant reduction of 26 frames. This pattern intensifies at higher presets. With Medium settings, the system delivers 49 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and only 32 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows an even steeper cliff: 35 FPS at 1080p drops to 29 FPS at 1440p and collapses to 23 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing, starting at just 28 FPS at 1080p and falling to 23 FPS at 1440p before bottoming out at 18 FPS in 4K.

These numbers reveal a configuration that scales poorly with resolution. The gap between 1080p and 1440p results is noticeable but manageable, typically costing around 5-6 FPS across Medium and High presets. However, the jump to 4K is where the system breaks down. The 4K results at Medium, High, and Ultra are all below the 35 FPS threshold that most players consider minimally acceptable for a smooth experience. The data indicates that the Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus, while capable at lower resolutions, simply lack the bandwidth and processing power to feed enough frames at 4K. The Ryzen 5 4600G, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the primary constraint here; the consistent frame rate drops across all settings when moving to 4K point squarely at the GPU as the limiting component. The system is best treated as a 1080p performer, with 1440p possible only at Low settings where the 66 FPS average remains fluid.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the dominant factor in this game's performance profile. Its specifications—2,304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units—dictate the frame rates observed. The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz is a constant, and the memory runs at an effective 19 Gbps across a 160-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. In The Medium, this translates to a clear ceiling. At 1080p Low, the card produces 78 FPS, showing it has ample headroom when pixel shading demands are low. As settings rise, the load on the shading units and ROPs increases, and the frame rate drops accordingly: 49 FPS at Medium, 35 FPS at High, and 28 FPS at Ultra.

The VRAM capacity of 10 GB is a relevant factor. The Medium's dual-world rendering technique is memory-intensive, and the data suggests the buffer is sufficient at 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions. The 4K results are particularly telling. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 18 FPS, a figure that suggests the GPU is not just compute-bound but also potentially hitting memory bandwidth limitations. The 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is a fixed resource, and the 160-bit bus is narrow compared to higher-tier cards. This is reflected in the GPU's benchmark percentile of 65 vs all GPUs, placing it in the upper-mid range but not among the high-end performers. In direct comparison, the Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534 with a 0.1% delta, and the Intel Arc A750, which scores 20582 with a -0.1% delta. This indicates that while the B570 has theoretical parity with these cards in synthetic tests, its real-world performance in The Medium is heavily influenced by the game's specific rendering paths and the card's memory subsystem.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and playability is found at 1080p with Medium settings, which delivers an average of 49 FPS with minimums of 41 FPS and maximums of 56 FPS. This preset provides a stable experience that stays above the 30 FPS playability floor, with enough headroom to avoid most noticeable stutters. For players prioritizing smoothness over fidelity, 1080p Low offers the best performance at 78 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for competitive play, though it sacrifices the atmospheric shadows and texture details that define the horror genre.

Stepping up to High settings at 1080p yields 35 FPS, which is playable but marginal, as the minimum frame rates are not recorded but the average sits close to the 30 FPS threshold. Ultra settings at 1080p are not recommended, as the 28 FPS average falls below acceptable playability. At 1440p, the only viable option is Low settings, which produces 66 FPS. Medium at 1440p drops to 41 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for a game that relies on moody, slow-paced exploration. High and Ultra at 1440p are not viable, with averages of 29 FPS and 23 FPS respectively. For 4K, the data is clear: only Low settings (52 FPS) are playable. Medium at 4K produces 32 FPS, which is borderline, while High (23 FPS) and Ultra (18 FPS) are effectively unplayable. The recommendation is to stick to 1080p Medium for the definitive experience, or 1440p Low if a higher pixel density is desired.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full measured data set provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the performance hierarchy is straightforward. Low settings deliver an average of 78 FPS. Medium settings produce 49 FPS, with a recorded range of 41 to 56 FPS. High settings achieve 35 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 28 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 64% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the heavy cost of the game's high-end visual effects.

Moving to 2560x1440, the system shows its strain. Low settings still perform well at 66 FPS. Medium settings drop to 41 FPS, with a range of 35 to 47 FPS. High settings manage 29 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 23 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at this resolution is 25 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset's added effects, such as improved volumetrics and reflections, are particularly demanding on the Arc B570.

At 3840x2160, the results are mostly academic for playability. Low settings produce 52 FPS, which is surprisingly high and suggests the GPU can handle the pixel count when effects are minimal. Medium settings drop to 32 FPS, with a range of 27 to 37 FPS. High settings fall to 23 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 18 FPS. The 4K Low result is an anomaly in the sense that it shows the system is not purely resolution-bound; rather, it is the combination of resolution and settings that overwhelms the GPU. The 4K Medium result, with its 27 FPS minimum, shows significant frame pacing issues that would be noticeable in gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of AMD Ryzen 5 4600G and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2321 out of 2911 total combos for The Medium. This places it in the 20th percentile of tested systems, indicating that while it is not a low-end configuration, it trails a significant majority of setups in this specific game. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-tier standing (65th percentile vs all GPUs) combined with the CPU's solid but not exceptional performance (71st percentile vs all CPUs). The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as evidenced by the CPU's higher percentile ranking.

The combo's rank is influenced by the fact that The Medium is a demanding title that benefits from high-end graphics hardware. The Arc B570's nearest rivals in average benchmark score—the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and Radeon R9 M390X—all fall within a narrow band of performance, with deltas ranging from -0.5% to 0.4%. This indicates that the B570 is positioned in a crowded mid-range segment, and its performance in The Medium is typical of this class. The 2321st rank suggests that many other combos, likely featuring higher-tier GPUs, achieve substantially better frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K. For users targeting 1080p gaming, this rank is less concerning, as the system's 1080p Medium performance is respectable. However, for those expecting high-refresh-rate or high-resolution play, the rank accurately reflects the hardware's limitations.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 4600G plays a supporting role in this configuration, and the data suggests it is sufficient to avoid being the primary bottleneck. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 2 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 8 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, but its 7 nm process node and 65 W TDP make it an efficient part. In synthetic benchmarks, the 4600G scores 13,593 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 1,919 in single-core, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs. This indicates a solid mid-range processor that can handle modern game logic and physics.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is mitigated by the game's design. The fixed-camera angles and slower pacing are less CPU-intensive than fast-paced first-person shooters. The measured frame rates show a clear GPU limitation; for instance, at 1080p Low, the CPU is capable of driving the GPU to 78 FPS, but the GPU cannot maintain this at higher settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau across different settings at a given resolution. Instead, the frame rates vary significantly with settings, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 5 4600G's 12 threads provide enough parallel processing power for the game's background streaming and AI, and its boost clock of 4.20 GHz ensures responsive single-thread performance. The data shows no evidence of CPU-induced stuttering or frame drops, as the minimum frame rates recorded (27 FPS at 4K Medium, 41 FPS at 1080p Medium) are consistent with the average FPS, indicating smooth frame pacing from the CPU side. The processor is a capable partner for the Arc B570, and upgrading the GPU would yield the most significant performance gains in this title.