The Medium

The Medium is a fixed-camera horror game that stresses the GPU heavily, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with the Intel Arc B370 produces a system that is firmly entry-level in this title. The data shows a combo ranking of 2681 out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested setups. The CPU itself is a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 3 part with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, while the GPU is an integrated-class Intel Arc B370 with a 300 MHz base clock and 2400 MHz boost, sharing system memory. The benchmark results indicate that this is a GPU-limited configuration across nearly every resolution and settings preset tested.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the table, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process from TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, with a 96 MB shared L3 cache and 64 KB of L1 cache per core. This is a capable processor for modern gaming, with a PassMark single-thread score of 2941 and a multithread score of 20363, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in aggregate benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0.2% ahead), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (0.2% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (0.2% behind), showing that the 5500X3D sits in a tightly contested mid-range CPU tier.

However, in The Medium, the CPU’s role is largely secondary. The game’s fixed-camera perspective and horror-focused rendering do not demand high thread counts or exceptional single-thread throughput; instead, the load falls overwhelmingly on the GPU. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 46 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 16 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the spread between Low and Ultra at the same resolution would be far narrower. The 5500X3D’s 3.00 GHz base and 4.00 GHz boost clocks are more than sufficient to feed a GPU that only produces 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The CPU’s 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are not limiting factors here; the Arc B370’s system-shared memory and 25 W TDP define the performance ceiling.

The PassMark physics score of 2282 and floating-point math score of 34511 indicate solid computational capability, but none of that translates into higher frame rates in this title because the GPU saturates well before the CPU reaches its limits. Even at the lowest settings, where CPU overhead would become more apparent, the 1080p Low result of 46 FPS is the best the system achieves, and that is still well below the 60 FPS threshold. The 5500X3D’s role here is to avoid being the bottleneck, which it does; the data shows no scenario where CPU performance explains the observed FPS differences.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2681 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium. That places it in the 92nd percentile from the bottom, meaning roughly 92% of all tested combos perform better in this game. This is a very low ranking, consistent with the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 5, which indicates the Arc B370 is in the 5th percentile of all GPUs tested. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 puts it on par with legacy parts like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% ahead) and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (0.7% ahead), while the AMD FirePro M2000 trails by 1.4%. These are not modern gaming GPUs, and the data reflects that reality.

The CPU’s ranking is much healthier, with an 85th percentile standing among all CPUs, but that does little to lift the combo’s overall position. In a game like The Medium, where the GPU is the dominant factor, a strong CPU cannot compensate for a weak GPU. The gap between this combo and higher-ranked ones is substantial; for instance, moving from the 14 FPS 4K High result to a playable 30 FPS would require a GPU that is several times faster, based on the scaling patterns seen elsewhere in the data. The combo rank of 2681 is a direct consequence of the GPU’s 5th percentile performance, and no amount of CPU headroom changes that.

Benchmark results indicate that this combo is best suited for 1080p Low settings, where it achieves its highest average FPS of 46. At any higher preset or resolution, the system falls below 30 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 11 FPS. The ranking position makes it clear that this is not a configuration for The Medium at anything beyond minimal settings, and even then, the experience is marginal. The data does not suggest any hidden strength in this pairing; it is a low-end GPU constrained by its integrated design and shared memory architecture.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The resolution scaling in The Medium for this combo shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound behavior. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 46 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p and 30 at 4K. That is a 17% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 29 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 17% and 34%, respectively. The scaling is almost perfectly proportional to the pixel count increase, which is the hallmark of a GPU-limited system. The CPU’s performance does not change with resolution, so the consistent FPS drop across resolutions confirms that the Arc B370 is the bottleneck.

At High settings, the same pattern holds: 21 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 19%, and from 1080p to 4K is 33%. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 16 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 11 FPS at 4K, with drops of 12.5% and 31%. The percentage drops are slightly smaller at Ultra because the game is already so heavily GPU-bound that the additional resolution stress has diminishing returns. The fact that the FPS does not halve when going from 1080p to 4K (which would be a 75% pixel increase) indicates that other factors, such as memory bandwidth or fill rate limits, come into play, but the trend is unmistakably GPU-dominated.

The Ryzen 5 5500X3D’s 3.00 GHz base clock and 4.00 GHz boost clock are more than adequate to handle the game’s CPU demands at any resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the FPS would remain flat across resolutions, which is not the case. The data shows a consistent, predictable drop in FPS as resolution increases, which is exactly what one expects from a GPU with only 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. The Intel Arc B370’s 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 96.00 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for higher resolutions in this title, and the resolution scaling analysis underscores that the GPU is the sole limiter.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of its capabilities. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the system achieves an average of 46 FPS on Low settings, 29 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 24 and maximum of 33), 21 FPS on High, and 16 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at the most forgiving resolution, only the Low preset approaches playability, and it still falls short of 60 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 24 FPS indicates noticeable stutter, while High and Ultra are effectively unplayable for a game requiring steady frame pacing.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 39 FPS on Low, 24 FPS on Medium (minimum 21, maximum 28), 17 FPS on High, and 14 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset’s minimum of 21 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold, making it a marginal experience at best. Low settings at 1440p are the only preset that stays above 30 FPS, but the 39 FPS average is still not smooth for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and timing. High and Ultra at 1440p are firmly in slideshow territory, with 17 FPS and 14 FPS respectively.

At 3840x2160, the system’s limitations become severe. Low settings yield 30 FPS, which is exactly at the playability threshold but with no headroom. Medium settings average 19 FPS (minimum 16, maximum 22), High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. None of these 4K results are playable for a game like The Medium, which requires consistent frame delivery to maintain tension. The 4K Low result of 30 FPS is technically the only 4K preset that reaches the minimum playable standard, but the lack of a minimum FPS data point for that row suggests it may not be stable. The overall picture is clear: this combo is only viable at 1080p Low, with 1440p Low being a stretch and 4K entirely out of reach.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated GPU based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. Its memory is system shared, meaning it relies on the CPU’s DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth that is system dependent. This design choice is a fundamental limitation for gaming, as the shared memory bus competes with the CPU for bandwidth. The GPU’s FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, and its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

In The Medium, these specifications translate to poor performance across the board. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places the GPU in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are legacy parts like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (0.2% ahead) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (0.5% ahead). The GPU’s 25 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate it is designed for low-power, portable devices, not desktop gaming. The 2400 MHz boost clock is respectable for an integrated part, but the 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs are simply too few to handle The Medium’s fixed-camera rendering at acceptable frame rates.

The GPU’s system-shared memory is particularly problematic for this game. The Medium is known for its dual-reality rendering, which requires significant memory bandwidth to load and stream textures. With no dedicated VRAM, the Arc B370 must share the Ryzen 5 5500X3D’s dual-channel DDR4 memory, which has a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. This shared bandwidth is a bottleneck, and the data shows it in the steep FPS drops at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system manages only 16 FPS, while at 1080p Low, it reaches 46 FPS; the difference is not just about shading units but also about the memory pressure from higher-quality textures. The GPU’s 10 RT cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support are irrelevant here, as the game’s performance is limited by raw rasterization and memory bandwidth, not features.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable preset for this combo in The Medium is 1080p Low, which delivers an average of 46 FPS. This is the highest average FPS recorded across all tested configurations, and it is the only result that approaches a playable experience. The 1080p Medium preset drops to 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold and would result in noticeable stuttering during gameplay. The 1440p Low preset achieves 39 FPS, but the higher resolution does not compensate for the frame rate loss compared to 1080p Low, and the 39 FPS average is still not smooth for a horror game that benefits from consistent frame pacing.

At 4K, no preset is recommended. The 4K Low result of 30 FPS is technically at the playability threshold, but the lack of minimum or maximum FPS data for that row suggests it may not be stable, and the 4K Medium result of 19 FPS (minimum 16, maximum 22) confirms that the GPU cannot handle 4K rendering in this title. The 4K High and Ultra results of 14 FPS and 11 FPS are unplayable. For 1440p, the Low preset at 39 FPS is the only option above 30 FPS, but the 1080p Low result offers a higher frame rate with the same visual quality relative to the GPU’s capabilities.

Given the data, the best experience is achieved by setting the resolution to 1920x1080 and the preset to Low. This yields an average of 46 FPS, which is the closest this combo gets to a smooth experience. The Medium preset at 1080p is not recommended because the minimum FPS of 24 indicates frame drops that would break immersion. The Ultra and High presets are entirely out of the question, as they produce averages below 22 FPS at any resolution. The GPU’s 5th percentile ranking and the combo’s 2681st rank out of 2911 make it clear that this system is not designed for The Medium, and the settings recommendation reflects that: use 1080p Low and accept the limitations, or consider a different GPU for this game.