The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers playable performance in The Medium only at lower resolutions and settings, with the data showing a hard ceiling at 4K Ultra where average frame rates fall to 18 FPS. The pairing ranks in the bottom 20% of all tested combos for this title, indicating that while the individual components are competent, their combined output struggles with the game’s demands.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates reveal a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, with the gap between 1080p and 4K widening dramatically at higher settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 78 at 1920x1080 to 66 at 2560x1440, then to 52 at 3840x2160 — a total reduction of 33% from the baseline. This pattern suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the pixel count increase directly impacts rendering load more than the CPU’s capability.

The scaling becomes more aggressive when moving to Medium settings. At 1920x1080, the average is 49 FPS, which falls to 41 at 2560x1440 (a 16% drop) and then to 32 at 3840x2160 (a 35% drop from 1440p). This non-linear decline indicates that the Arc B570’s 10 GB of VRAM and 160-bit memory bus are increasingly stressed as resolution climbs, with the 4K Medium result of 32 FPS sitting just below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

High settings exacerbate the issue further. The average FPS at 1080p is 35, dropping to 29 at 1440p and 23 at 4K. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K is 34%, which is nearly identical to the Low preset’s 33% decline, suggesting that the resolution penalty is consistent regardless of quality level. However, the absolute numbers at High are so low that even the 1080p result of 35 FPS is marginal for a horror title requiring atmosphere and reaction time.

Ultra settings produce the worst scaling curve. The 1080p average of 28 FPS collapses to 23 at 1440p and 18 at 4K — a 36% total reduction. The fact that 4K Ultra barely reaches 20 FPS indicates that this combo is not viable for maximum quality at any resolution, and the scaling pattern points directly at the GPU as the limiting component rather than the Ryzen 5 5600F’s six cores and twelve threads.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570’s specifications explain much of the performance behavior observed in the measured data. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p but becomes strained at higher resolutions where texture data and frame buffers demand more capacity. The GPU’s 2304 shading units and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s, yet the measured frame rates suggest that fill rate and memory bandwidth combine to cap performance in The Medium.

Clock speeds are fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, which is a relatively modest frequency for a modern GPU. This constant clock means there is no headroom for dynamic boosting under load, and the data reflects this in the tight min-to-max ranges at Medium settings. At 1920x1080 Medium, the min FPS is 41 and max is 56, giving a range of 15 FPS; at 2560x1440 Medium, the range narrows to 12 FPS (35 to 47); and at 3840x2160 Medium, it narrows further to 10 FPS (27 to 37). This shrinking variance at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is running at its limit consistently.

The 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1) suggest theoretical headroom, but the game’s engine evidently does not leverage this efficiently. The RT cores (18 total) are present, yet The Medium’s horror atmosphere with dynamic lighting and shadow effects likely places demands that the Xe2-HPG architecture cannot meet at high settings. The GPU’s percentile rank of 65 against all GPUs puts it mid-pack, and its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores nearly identically (20,582 vs. 20,556 average benchmark score, a -0.1% delta), confirming that this is not a high-end part.

The memory clock of 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) is fixed as well, and with a 160-bit bus, the resulting 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is roughly half of what higher-tier GPUs offer. This becomes the critical constraint at 4K, where the measured 23 FPS at High and 18 FPS at Ultra align with the bandwidth ceiling. The GPU’s 150 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate a mid-range power envelope, but power draw is not the limiting factor here — the memory subsystem is.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2321 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 20th percentile of all pairings. This is a poor showing for a CPU that individually sits at the 85th percentile against all CPUs and a GPU at the 65th percentile. The discrepancy between component-level rankings and combo-level performance suggests that The Medium is particularly sensitive to GPU memory bandwidth or that the pairing has a compatibility inefficiency.

The CPU’s nearest rivals highlight its standalone strength. The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37,018 average vs. the 5600F’s 36,945, a -0.2% delta, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is effectively tied at 36,938 (0% delta). These tiny margins indicate that the 5600F is a well-balanced six-core part with 12 threads, 32 MB of L3 cache, and a 4.00 GHz boost clock. Yet in The Medium, this CPU performance does not translate to high frame rates, reinforcing that the GPU is the bottleneck.

The GPU’s nearest rivals tell a similar story. The Intel Arc A750 is within 0.1% of the B570’s average benchmark score, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile is 0.1% ahead. These are all mid-range parts, and the B570’s 10 GB VRAM is identical in size to what many competitors offer, but the 160-bit bus is narrower than typical. The combo rank of 2321 out of 2911 means that 79.8% of tested pairings outperform it in this specific title.

The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming at Low or Medium settings, where it achieves 78 and 49 FPS respectively. At 1440p, only Low settings (66 FPS) provide a consistently smooth experience, while Medium at 41 FPS is borderline. For 4K, the combo is effectively unusable for quality gaming, with even Low settings yielding only 52 FPS and all other presets falling below 32 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers a range of results depending on the preset. Low settings produce an average of 78 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all resolutions and settings. Medium settings yield 49 FPS with a min of 41 and max of 56, providing a playable but not silky experience. High settings drop to 35 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 28 FPS — the latter is technically playable but will feel stuttery in a horror game with tense pacing.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance erodes across the board. Low settings still manage 66 FPS, which is solid for 1440p. Medium settings average 41 FPS with a range of 35 to 47, which is acceptable for slower-paced games but may show judder in fast camera pans. High settings fall to 29 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for console-like smoothness. Ultra settings at 23 FPS are not recommended, as the frame pacing will be inconsistent.

At 3840x2160, the results are mostly unusable. Low settings yield 52 FPS, which is the only 4K preset that approaches playability, though it will still feel less fluid than 60 FPS. Medium settings average 32 FPS with a min of 27 and max of 37, meaning the experience will regularly dip below 30 FPS. High settings at 23 FPS and Ultra at 18 FPS are effectively slideshows, suitable only for screenshots or cinematic observation rather than active gameplay.

The min/max data available only for Medium settings reveals an interesting trend. At 1080p Medium, the 15 FPS spread (41-56) indicates occasional dips that could be noticeable. At 1440p Medium, the spread narrows to 12 FPS (35-47), and at 4K Medium, it narrows to 10 FPS (27-37). This tightening suggests that as the GPU becomes the absolute bottleneck, frame times become more consistent — but at the cost of overall performance. The 4K Medium min of 27 FPS is particularly problematic for a game that relies on atmosphere and sudden scares.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 as the only resolution where all presets are at least somewhat playable, with Low at 78 FPS, Medium at 49 FPS, High at 35 FPS, and Ultra at 28 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (66 FPS) and Medium (41 FPS) are viable, while 3840x2160 is only playable at Low (52 FPS).

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its closest GPU rival in this game?

A: The Intel Arc A750 is the nearest rival with an average benchmark score of 20,582 versus the B570’s 20,556, a -0.1% delta. This means the two GPUs are effectively interchangeable in raw compute, but the measured FPS in The Medium will be similar, so the B570’s 10 GB VRAM does not provide a practical advantage here.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5600F holding back the Arc B570?

A: The CPU’s percentile rank of 85 against all CPUs and its average benchmark score of 36,945 (nearly identical to the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 at 36,938) indicate it is a strong part. Given that frame rates drop sharply with resolution increases, the bottleneck is the GPU, not the CPU.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 High is 29 FPS. This is below the 30 FPS minimum for smooth gameplay, so the recommendation is to use Medium settings (41 FPS average) or Low settings (66 FPS average) for a better experience.

Q: Does the game use more than 10 GB of VRAM at 4K?

A: The data does not directly measure VRAM usage, but the steep performance drop from 1440p to 4K — e.g., from 41 FPS to 32 FPS at Medium, and from 29 FPS to 23 FPS at High — aligns with the GPU’s 10 GB memory capacity and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth being overwhelmed. The 4K Ultra result of 18 FPS suggests severe memory pressure.

Q: Is the combo ever capable of 60 FPS in The Medium?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p Low, where the average is 78 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average is 66 FPS, which also exceeds 60. No other resolution or settings combination reaches 60 FPS, so frame rate targets above 60 require dropping to Low preset and accepting minimal visual quality.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a clear hierarchy of playable presets. For a 60 FPS target, the only options are 1080p Low (78 FPS) and 1440p Low (66 FPS). The Low preset sacrifices visual fidelity, but in a horror game where atmosphere is paramount, the smoother motion will likely enhance immersion more than texture quality. If 60 FPS is not mandatory, 1080p Medium at 49 FPS provides a better balance of visuals and responsiveness.

For 1440p users, Medium settings at 41 FPS are the sweet spot, as the min FPS of 35 stays above the 30 FPS floor and the visual upgrade over Low is substantial. High settings at 1440p (29 FPS) should be avoided, as the frame rate dips below playable thresholds. At 4K, Low settings at 52 FPS are the only viable option; Medium (32 FPS) is borderline, and High (23 FPS) or Ultra (18 FPS) are not recommended for gameplay.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the most consistent choice across resolutions, offering 49 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p, and 32 FPS at 4K. While the 4K result is below 60 FPS, it remains the best quality-to-performance ratio for users who prioritize visual detail. For those who demand smoothness, dropping to Low yields 78 FPS at 1080p and 66 FPS at 1440p, which are the only results that approach or exceed standard refresh rates. Ultimately, this combo in The Medium is best experienced at 1080p or 1440p with Medium or Low presets, avoiding High and Ultra entirely unless the player accepts sub-30 FPS performance.