The Medium

The Medium presents a stern challenge for the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 and Intel Arc B370 pairing. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are consistently low, indicating that this combination is positioned at the very bottom of the performance spectrum for this title. The data shows a system struggling to maintain playable fluidity, with the best-case scenario yielding an average of 46 FPS only at 1080p with Low settings. This analysis breaks down the specific bottlenecks and scaling characteristics observed in the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the immense pressure the Intel Arc B370 faces. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 21 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 17 FPS, and at 4K, the average falls to 14 FPS. This represents a 33% performance degradation from 1080p to 4K, a relatively modest drop that signals the GPU is already saturated even at the lowest tested resolution.

The pattern is even more telling at the Low settings tier. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 46 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 39 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 30 FPS. The 4K Low result is exactly half the 1080p Low figure, demonstrating a near-linear scaling with pixel count that suggests the GPU's rendering pipeline is the primary constraint. The Arc B370's 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for the demands of this horror title at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings tier shows the most consistent absolute FPS values across resolutions, with 29 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This consistency reinforces that the limiting component is the GPU, as the CPU's workload remains relatively static while the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput become the deciding factors. The fact that the 4K Medium result (19 FPS) is only slightly below the 1080p High result (21 FPS) suggests that the game's visual complexity at these settings is not the primary variable; rather, the sheer pixel output overwhelms the integrated graphics solution.

The benchmark results indicate that the Arc B370, with its 25 W TDP and system-shared memory architecture, is fundamentally outmatched by the rendering requirements of The Medium. The game's release date of 2021-01-27 places it in a generation of titles that expects discrete GPU performance, and the data confirms that this Intel IGP solution cannot keep pace even at entry-level resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5600 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2681 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 8% of all system configurations, a position that reflects the severe GPU limitation rather than any deficiency in the processor. The CPU itself holds a 74th percentile ranking against all CPUs, proving that the Ryzen 5 5600 is a capable component in isolation.

The delta between the CPU's strong standalone performance and the combo's abysmal in-game rank highlights a massive imbalance. The Ryzen 5 5600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 3 architecture, is more than adequate for the computational demands of this game. However, the Arc B370's average benchmark score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (with a deltaPct of -0.2), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (deltaPct -0.5), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (deltaPct -0.7). These are legacy or low-power parts from a bygone era, confirming that the Arc B370 is not a gaming-class solution.

The fact that the combo's rank is so low despite the CPU's strong standing points directly to the GPU as the bottleneck. Benchmark results show that even the best-case scenario—46 FPS at 1080p Low—is barely playable, and any attempt to increase visual fidelity results in sub-30 FPS averages. The data suggests that pairing this powerful budget CPU with this particular GPU creates a system that is only suitable for the most basic gaming workloads, and The Medium is far beyond its capabilities.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the definitive limiting factor in this configuration. Its specifications paint a clear picture: 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2400 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. The memory subsystem is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the host system's DDR4 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory architecture, with system-dependent bandwidth, is a fundamental disadvantage in a game like The Medium that demands high memory throughput for streaming textures and complex scenes.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 is its only recorded benchmark, and its percentile rank of 5 out of 100 confirms its position at the very bottom of the GPU hierarchy. The nearest rivals, all scoring within 1.4% of the Arc B370, are integrated or very old discrete parts. The 25 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate this is designed for low-power mobile or embedded use, not desktop gaming.

The measured FPS data corroborates this analysis. The 4K Ultra setting produces an average of 11 FPS, while 1080p Ultra averages 16 FPS. The jump from Low to Ultra at any resolution is severe: at 1080p, the system goes from 46 FPS to 16 FPS, a 65% drop in performance. This dramatic scaling with settings suggests that the GPU's limited compute and texture units are overwhelmed by the increased shader complexity and texture detail at higher presets. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s is insufficient to fill the screen at playable rates, and the texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s cannot handle the asset load required by the game's fixed camera angles and high-detail environments.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the only tier that approaches playability is 1080p with Low settings, which yields an average of 46 FPS. This is the sole configuration that breaks the 30 FPS barrier, and it does so by a significant margin. The data suggests that players using this combo must accept the lowest visual preset to achieve a fluid experience. The 1080p Low setting is the recommended baseline.

The Medium settings at 1080p produce an average of 29 FPS, which is technically playable but will exhibit noticeable stutter, especially in action sequences. The minimum FPS of 24 at this setting reinforces the instability. The High settings at 1080p drop to 21 FPS, and Ultra falls to 16 FPS, both of which are below acceptable playability thresholds.

At higher resolutions, the situation worsens. 1440p Low yields 39 FPS, which is borderline playable but represents a significant visual compromise. However, the 1440p Medium and High settings drop to 24 and 17 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for a smooth experience. The 4K resolution is entirely out of the question, with even Low settings averaging only 30 FPS and all other presets falling below 20 FPS.

The benchmark results indicate that the optimal experience, if one must use this combo, is locked to 1080p with Low settings. The 46 FPS average at this configuration is the only measured result that provides a comfortable margin above the 30 FPS standard. For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, the 1080p Medium setting at 29 FPS is the maximum acceptable compromise, but the data strongly suggests staying at Low.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: No. The measured data shows the best 4K result is 30 FPS at Low settings, with Medium at 19 FPS, High at 14 FPS, and Ultra at 11 FPS. None of these provide a consistently playable experience.

Q: What is the best frame rate this combo can achieve?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 46, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only measured configuration that exceeds 40 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% faster) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% faster), indicating it performs at the level of decade-old hardware.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600 the bottleneck in this setup?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 74th percentile of all processors with an average benchmark score of 20468. The GPU, ranking in the 5th percentile, is the clear limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, Low settings average 46 FPS while Ultra settings average 16 FPS. This represents a 65% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Q: Is this combo ranked well for this game?

A: No. The combo ranks 2681 out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested for The Medium.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 is a solid mid-range processor that is entirely wasted in this configuration. Its specifications are robust for gaming: 6 cores, 12 threads, a base clock of 3.50 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB per-core L2 cache provide ample capacity for game data. Its benchmark scores are respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18309 and a single-core score of 2584, placing it in the 74th percentile of all CPUs.

However, in The Medium, the CPU's contribution is overshadowed by the GPU's limitations. The measured FPS values do not change in a way that would indicate CPU throttling; instead, the frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound variables. The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra 7 258V (deltaPct 0.1), the AMD Ryzen 5 8500G (deltaPct 0.2), and the AMD EPYC 9454P (deltaPct 0.2), all of which are within 0.5% of the Ryzen 5 5600's score. This indicates the CPU is performing exactly as expected.

The data suggests that the Ryzen 5 5600 is not being fully utilized in this game. The horror genre typically involves scripted sequences and fixed camera angles, which are not particularly CPU-intensive. The processor's 12 threads are more than sufficient to handle the game's logic, AI, and physics calculations. The bottleneck is purely the Intel Arc B370's inability to render frames fast enough, meaning the CPU is likely sitting idle waiting for the GPU to catch up. For a user with this CPU, upgrading the GPU would yield massive improvements; the processor has the headroom to support a much more powerful graphics card without becoming a limiting factor.