The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a severely constrained experience in The Medium, a 2021 horror title that clearly overwhelms the integrated graphics solution. Across the measured resolution and settings matrix, the combo produces frame rates that are consistently below playable thresholds, with the data indicating the GPU as the definitive bottleneck. The Arc B390, operating as an IGP with system-shared memory, posts its best result at 51 FPS only at 1080p Low, while every other configuration falls short of 43 FPS, making this combination unsuitable for smooth gameplay in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in The Medium reveals a stark and predictable collapse in performance as pixel count increases, pointing unambiguously to the GPU as the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves its peak measured average of 51 FPS, but this drops to 43 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 34 FPS at 4K Low. That represents a 33% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K on the Low preset, a steep decline that demonstrates the Arc B390’s inability to sustain even minimal graphical loads at higher resolutions.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern intensifies. The 1080p Medium average of 32 FPS falls to 27 FPS at 1440p, a 15.6% drop, and then plummets to 21 FPS at 4K, which is a 34.4% reduction from the 1440p figure and a 34.4% drop from 1080p overall. The measured minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings reinforce this trend: at 1080p, the range is 27 to 37 FPS; at 1440p, it narrows to 23 to 31 FPS; and at 4K, it contracts further to 18 to 24 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is hitting its absolute limits, with less headroom for variance as the rendering load increases.

High settings show a similar but even more pronounced degradation. The 1080p High average of 23 FPS drops to 19 FPS at 1440p (a 17.4% decline) and then to 15 FPS at 4K (a 21.1% decline from 1440p and a 34.8% decline from 1080p). Ultra settings are the most punishing, with 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K produces a 33.3% drop from 1080p, consistent with the scaling seen on other presets. The data shows that the CPU, a six-core Zen 3 part with a 3.70 GHz base and 4.60 GHz boost clock, is not the culprit here; the consistent FPS reductions across all resolutions point to the Arc B390’s fixed rendering pipeline being overwhelmed by the game’s fixed-function workload.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390’s role in this pairing is defined by its modest specifications and the measured results confirm that it is the primary constraint. The GPU is built on Intel’s 3 nm process with a Panther Lake chip and Xe3-LPG architecture, featuring 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units. Its base clock is a low 300 MHz, boosting to 2500 MHz, but the memory configuration is the critical weakness: the B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning the VRAM size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This reliance on shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM severely limits texture throughput and bandwidth, which is particularly detrimental in a game like The Medium that uses fixed camera angles and high-resolution textures.

The GPU’s compute capabilities are modest, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score of 1482 places the B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are ancient, low-end parts like the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (scoring 1463, a 1.3% delta) and the GeForce 800M (scoring 1460, a 1.5% delta). This comparison contextualizes the FPS numbers: the B390 is competing with a decade-old mobile GPU class, which explains why The Medium runs at sub-30 FPS averages in most scenarios.

The measured FPS data aligns with the GPU’s hardware profile. At 1080p Low, the 51 FPS average is the only result above the 30 FPS threshold, and it is achieved by minimizing the rendering load. The 12 RT cores present on the B390 do not appear to provide any meaningful benefit in this title, as the game does not rely on ray tracing for its core visuals, and the shared memory architecture likely negates any acceleration. The 80 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate that this is an integrated solution, not a discrete card, so the performance ceiling is inherently limited by thermal and power constraints that are not present in a dedicated GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 11.3% of all configurations. This dismal ranking is driven almost entirely by the GPU, as the CPU alone is a strong performer. The Ryzen 5 5600X sits in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21771, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (21749, a 0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i7-11700 (21891, a -0.5% delta). These rivals are within a fraction of a percent of the 5600X’s score, indicating that the CPU is a mid-to-high-tier part that should not bottleneck a modern game at these settings.

However, the GPU’s percentile rank tells a different story. The Arc B390 is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of just 1482. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, a 1.3% delta) and the GeForce 800M (1460, a 1.5% delta), both of which are entry-level parts from over a decade ago. The delta values show that the B390 is only 1.3% to 2.7% faster than these ancient cards, meaning it offers no meaningful generational advantage. In The Medium, this translates to a combo rank that is near the bottom of the database, with only 330 other tested combinations performing worse.

The data suggests that pairing a high-end CPU with this low-end GPU creates a massive imbalance. The Ryzen 5 5600X, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, has ample processing power for The Medium’s CPU demands, but the Arc B390 cannot keep pace. The combo rank of 2581 out of 2911 is a reflection of the GPU’s severe underperformance, and the measured FPS confirms that no settings adjustment can overcome this hardware mismatch. The only way to improve the ranking would be to swap the GPU for a dedicated card, but that is outside the scope of this data.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 51, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. Every other configuration yields an average below 43 FPS.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 5600X bottleneck the Intel Arc B390 in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has a 75th percentile rank and an average benchmark score of 21771, while the GPU is in the 9th percentile with a score of 1482. The FPS drops consistently across resolutions, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in terms of raw performance?

A: The B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463) and 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460). It is also 2.5% faster than the GT 625 OEM (1446) and 2.7% faster than the GT 710 (1443).

Q: Is the Medium playable at 4K with this combination?

A: No. The best 4K result is 34 FPS on Low settings, but the Medium preset produces 21 FPS, High produces 15 FPS, and Ultra produces 12 FPS. All 4K averages fall below the 30 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the difference between 1080p and 4K performance on the Medium preset?

A: The 1080p Medium average is 32 FPS, with a range of 27 to 37 FPS. At 4K, the average drops to 21 FPS, with a range of 18 to 24 FPS. This represents a 34.4% reduction in average FPS.

Q: How many RT cores does the Arc B390 have, and does it help here?

A: The Arc B390 has 12 RT cores, but the measured FPS data shows no ray tracing benefit in The Medium. The shared system memory and low overall performance negate any RT acceleration, as evidenced by the sub-30 FPS averages at most settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the only viable configuration for The Medium is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which produces an average of 51 FPS. This is the sole result that approaches a smooth experience, though it still lacks the headroom for demanding scenes. The 1080p Low setting is the recommended choice for any attempt at playability, as it is the only preset where the average FPS exceeds 30.

The Medium preset at 1080p produces 32 FPS, which is borderline but likely to suffer from stutter during heavy loading sequences, as the minimum FPS is 27. The High preset at 1080p drops to 23 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 18 FPS, both of which are well below acceptable levels. For 1440p and 4K, the data shows no viable options: even the Low preset at 1440p yields 43 FPS, but the Medium preset drops to 27 FPS, and all High and Ultra results are below 19 FPS.

The data strongly suggests that users should stick to 1080p Low if they must use this combo, but the overall experience will be compromised. The minimum FPS values for Medium at all resolutions (27 at 1080p, 23 at 1440p, and 18 at 4K) indicate that frame pacing will be inconsistent, leading to a jarring experience. For a game like The Medium, which relies on atmospheric horror and cinematic camera work, frame drops below 30 FPS are particularly detrimental. The recommendation is clear: 1080p Low is the only preset that provides a marginally acceptable frame rate, and even then, users should expect significant compromises in visual fidelity.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X plays a supporting role in this pairing, and its specifications suggest it is more than capable of handling The Medium’s CPU demands. The chip features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), and is manufactured on TSMC’s 7 nm process with 4,150 million transistors. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting to 4.60 GHz, and it has a 32 MB L3 cache alongside 512 KB L2 and 64 KB L1 per core. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are standard for a desktop CPU of this class.

The CPU’s benchmark scores confirm its strength. In Cinebench R23, it scores 11838 in multi-core and 1541 in single-core. Geekbench results show 9173 multi-core and 1989 single-core. The 3DMark scores are 5582 for 16 threads, 1793 for 2 threads, 3363 for 4 threads, and 4811 for 8 threads, with a max-thread score of 5588. These numbers place the 5600X in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21771. Its nearest rivals include the Ryzen 7 4800H (21749, 0.1% delta) and the Core i7-11700 (21891, -0.5% delta), showing that the 5600X is competitive with higher-tier parts from the same era.

In The Medium, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with data, and the FPS results show that the 5600X is not the bottleneck. The consistent FPS drops across resolution changes—from 51 FPS at 1080p Low to 34 FPS at 4K Low—are a classic sign of GPU saturation, not CPU limitation. The CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration is sufficient for the game’s single-threaded and lightly threaded workloads, as evidenced by its single-core Cinebench R23 score of 1541. The data shows that upgrading the CPU would have no measurable impact on frame rates in this title; the Arc B390 is the sole constraint, and its 9th percentile GPU rank makes it clear that any CPU improvements are irrelevant until the GPU is replaced.