The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely GPU-bound experience in The Medium, resulting in frame rates that fall far below playable thresholds across all tested resolutions and settings. The data shows this combo ranks 2681st out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems, with the integrated-class graphics solution acting as the overwhelming bottleneck. While the CPU is a modern, capable desktop processor, the Arc B370's performance profile—which sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs—caps this system at 46 FPS maximum in the best-case scenario, making this configuration unsuitable for smooth gameplay in this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. This is a desktop-class chip with substantial compute headroom, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and single-core score of 3072. The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample data throughput for modern game engines.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is largely secondary due to the horror game's reliance on GPU rendering. The Ryzen 5 7400F's PassMark single-thread score of 3689 and multithread score of 25645 indicate that it has more than enough processing power to handle the game's logic, AI, and physics calculations. The processor's 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32750, places it in the upper tier of available processors. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-14600T (deltaPct 0.1), Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (deltaPct 0.2), and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (deltaPct -0.2), all of which score within a fraction of a percent of each other, confirming the 7400F's competitive position.

However, the benchmark results in The Medium reveal that the CPU is never the limiting factor. Across all resolution and settings combinations, the frame rates are consistently low regardless of whether the CPU has more or less work to do. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 46 FPS, which is the highest result in the entire dataset. This suggests that even at the lowest graphical load, the system cannot push beyond this threshold, pointing directly at the GPU as the constraint. The CPU's 6.57 billion transistors and 71 mm² die size deliver strong raw performance, but this hardware combination never allows that performance to manifest in The Medium's actual frame rates.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. This is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip), built on a 3 nm process at Intel. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, but its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on shared system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The GPU features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical peak performance is 6.144 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.29 TFLOPS for FP16, with a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all older or lower-tier parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (avgScore 1186, deltaPct -0.2), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (avgScore 1190, deltaPct -0.5), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (avgScore 1192, deltaPct -0.7). This positioning is telling—the Arc B370 is competing with graphics solutions from more than a decade ago, and its performance in The Medium reflects this.

The GPU's 25 W TDP and integrated form factor (IGP) mean it has no dedicated memory bandwidth, with the system's memory bandwidth being "System Dependent." This is particularly problematic for The Medium, a game that relies on heavy texture streaming and detailed environments. The shared memory architecture forces the GPU to compete with the CPU for memory access, and the lack of dedicated VRAM severely limits texture handling and frame buffering. The result is a GPU that struggles to maintain even 20 FPS at most settings, with the only exception being Low settings across all resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 2681st out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's limitations rather than any CPU deficiency. The Ryzen 5 7400F's 83rd percentile CPU ranking contrasts sharply with the Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU ranking, and the overall combo ranking reflects the lower-performing component.

The data reveals a significant mismatch between the two components. The CPU is capable of far higher performance than the GPU can deliver, creating a situation where the system's potential is capped entirely by the graphics solution. This is evident in the frame rate scaling: moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at the same settings produces relatively modest frame rate drops (e.g., 21 to 14 FPS at High, 46 to 30 FPS at Low), which is unusual for a game where resolution typically has a larger impact. This compressed scaling indicates that the GPU is already saturated even at the lowest resolution and settings, and increasing resolution adds less marginal load because the GPU is already operating at its absolute limit.

The combo's position in the bottom 8% is consistent with its measured performance. Most modern gaming systems aim for at least 60 FPS at 1920x1080, and even the most favorable result here (46 FPS at Low/1080p) falls well short of that target. The system's performance is more comparable to entry-level integrated graphics from previous generations rather than a modern desktop gaming configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates show a consistent pattern across all resolutions, with Low settings providing the only results that approach playability. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 46 FPS on Low settings, 29 FPS on Medium (with a min of 24 and max of 33), 21 FPS on High, and 16 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the results drop to 39 FPS on Low, 24 FPS on Medium (min 21, max 28), 17 FPS on High, and 14 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the system manages only 30 FPS on Low, 19 FPS on Medium (min 16, max 22), 14 FPS on High, and 11 FPS on Ultra.

The Medium settings show a clear linear relationship between graphical fidelity and performance. At 1920x1080, dropping from Ultra to Low nearly triples the frame rate from 16 to 46 FPS. This improvement is consistent across all resolutions: at 2560x1440, Low delivers 39 FPS versus 14 FPS on Ultra (a 2.8x improvement), and at 3840x2160, Low delivers 30 FPS versus 11 FPS on Ultra (a 2.7x improvement). The scaling between settings is remarkably consistent, suggesting that the GPU's workload scales predictably with each preset level.

Resolution scaling is also predictable but less impactful than settings changes. At Low settings, moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces performance by 15% (46 to 39 FPS), and moving to 3840x2160 reduces it by 35% relative to 1080p (46 to 30 FPS). At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 17% (29 to 24 FPS), and to 4K is 34% (29 to 19 FPS). These relatively modest resolution penalties reinforce that the GPU is already the bottleneck even at the lowest settings.

The only measured minimum and maximum frame rate data comes from Medium settings. At 1920x1080, frame times range from 24 to 33 FPS, indicating some frame pacing instability. At 2560x1440, the range narrows to 21 to 28 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it narrows further to 16 to 22 FPS. The shrinking range at higher resolutions suggests the GPU is more consistently saturated as resolution increases, reducing the variance in frame delivery.

FAQ

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS in The Medium at any setting or resolution?

A: No. The highest measured frame rate is 46 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. All other settings and resolutions produce lower results, with the lowest being 11 FPS at 3840x2160 on Ultra.

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

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 0.2% lower than the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), 0.5% lower than the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and 1.4% higher than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). This places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores (Cinebench R23 multicore 21765, PassMark multithread 25645) place it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. The frame rates in The Medium are consistently low regardless of resolution or settings, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 46 FPS while Ultra produces 16 FPS, representing a 2.9x improvement when dropping from Ultra to Low. This is the largest settings-based performance gap in the measured data.

Q: How does resolution affect performance at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, 1920x1080 produces 29 FPS, 2560x1440 produces 24 FPS, and 3840x2160 produces 19 FPS. This represents a 17% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 34% drop from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What is the system's overall ranking among tested combinations in The Medium?

A: This combo ranks 2681st out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested for this game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that Low settings are the only viable option for this configuration in The Medium. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 46 FPS, which is the highest result across the entire dataset. This is the only setting and resolution combination where the frame rate approaches playability, though it still falls short of the 60 FPS target that most players consider smooth.

For players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, Low settings at 1920x1080 is the only recommended configuration. The 46 FPS result at this setting is 1.6x higher than the next best option (39 FPS at 2560x1440 Low), and it is the only setting that exceeds 40 FPS. However, even this result is marginal, as the frame rate will likely dip during intense scenes given the GPU's overall performance profile.

Medium settings are not recommended for any resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. At higher resolutions, the results are even worse (24 FPS at 1440p, 19 FPS at 4K). The 24 FPS minimum at 1080p Medium indicates that frame drops will be noticeable during gameplay, making this setting combination unsuitable for a horror game that relies on atmosphere and tension.

High and Ultra settings should be avoided entirely. At 1920x1080, High produces 21 FPS and Ultra produces 16 FPS, both of which are well below playable thresholds. The 4K results are even more dire, with High at 14 FPS and Ultra at 11 FPS. These settings effectively render the game unplayable, with frame rates that would cause significant stuttering and input lag.

The practical recommendation is to run the game at 1920x1080 with Low settings and accept the 46 FPS average as the system's ceiling. Players who cannot tolerate the visual compromises of Low settings may consider lowering the resolution further, though no sub-1080p resolution was tested in the dataset. Given the GPU's 5th percentile ranking and shared memory architecture, this system is fundamentally limited in The Medium, and no settings adjustment can overcome the hardware constraints. The data shows that this configuration is not suitable for this game at acceptable performance levels, and players seeking a smoother experience would need to consider alternative hardware.