The Medium

# The Medium with AMD Ryzen 5 7400F + Intel Arc B580

The Intel Arc B580 paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F delivers a playable but demanding experience in The Medium, with benchmark data showing a clear pattern: the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's six Zen 4 cores provide sufficient headroom at 1080p. The measured FPS across twelve resolution/settings combinations reveals a system that can handle the game at medium settings for smooth play, but struggles when pushed to Ultra at any resolution above 1080p. The combo ranks 2191st out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-mid tier of tested systems for this horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and tells a straightforward story about where the performance limit lies. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 55 FPS at 1920x1080 to 47 FPS at 2560x1440, then plummets to 37 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium quality, which is a substantial hit that points directly at the GPU as the limiting factor.

The scaling becomes even more dramatic when examining Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 88 FPS, which drops to 74 FPS at 1440p and further to 58 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-4K gap of 30 FPS at Low settings suggests the Arc B580's rendering throughput is being taxed heavily as pixel count increases, while the CPU remains relatively idle. The 4K Low result of 58 FPS is actually higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 31 FPS, which underscores how much the preset quality level matters relative to resolution.

High settings show a similar trajectory: 40 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. The incremental drops of 7 FPS between each resolution step indicate a consistent scaling penalty that tracks with the pixel count increase. Ultra settings, meanwhile, deliver only 31 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K — all of which fall below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for acceptable playability. The data suggests that The Medium's Ultra preset imposes a fixed cost that resolution scaling cannot overcome with this GPU, and the 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is the lowest measured value across the entire test matrix.

The pattern across all four settings levels is remarkably consistent: each resolution step up from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 15-20% performance, and each step from 1440p to 4K costs another 20-25%. This uniform scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are the constraining resources.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 7400F and Arc B580 achieves a rank of 2191 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the 25th percentile of all tested systems. This is a modest result that reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than any CPU deficiency. The Arc B580 itself sits at the 68th percentile among all GPUs in the broader benchmark database, while the Ryzen 5 7400F ranks at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs — a notable disparity that suggests the CPU is capable of driving more demanding graphics hardware.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals provides context for the in-game ranking. The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP at 23061 (a delta of -0.2%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 at 22895 (delta 0.6%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 at 23172 (delta -0.7%). This clustering within a 1.3% range indicates that the B580 performance profile is competitive with a mix of older and newer cards across different tiers. The fact that it trades blows with the RTX 3080 in synthetic benchmarks but ranks 2191st in this specific game suggests The Medium's rendering workload may not align perfectly with the B580's strengths.

The CPU-side rivals tell a similar story of tight competition. The Ryzen 5 7400F's average score of 32750 is within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707), Intel Core Ultra 7 155H (32697), AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812), and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 (32662). This grouping indicates that the 7400F delivers performance on par with a range of modern mid-range and high-end mobile/desktop processors, meaning the CPU is unlikely to be the reason for the low in-game rank.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a card in this performance class. The base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The GPU packs 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 80 ROPs, and 20 ray tracing cores, delivering 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 27.34 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1 ratio).

In The Medium specifically, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth appear adequate for the game's demands, as evidenced by the fact that even the lowest measured frame rate (21 FPS at 4K Ultra) does not suggest texture thrashing or memory exhaustion. The 12 GB frame buffer is likely sufficient for this 2021 horror title, which was released on 2021-01-27, and the consistent performance scaling across resolutions supports the interpretation that compute throughput rather than memory capacity is the limiting factor.

The B580's pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are respectable for the mid-range segment, but the measured FPS in The Medium shows that the card struggles with the game's visual effects at higher settings. The 4K High result of 26 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS suggest that the game's lighting and post-processing effects are particularly demanding on this architecture. The synthetic benchmark results — 3068 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 92821 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 109672 in Geekbench Vulkan — indicate solid raw performance that doesn't fully translate to playable frame rates in this title at maximum settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are 58 FPS at Low, 37 FPS at Medium (with min 31 and max 42), 26 FPS at High, and 21 FPS at Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K shows the only complete min/max data in the 4K tier, with a tight 31-42 FPS range that indicates relatively consistent frame pacing despite the low average.

At 2560x1440, the results improve noticeably: 74 FPS at Low, 47 FPS at Medium (min 40, max 54), 33 FPS at High, and 26 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p Medium result of 47 FPS is the first point where the system crosses into comfortable playability territory, and the min of 40 FPS suggests that even during demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above the 30 FPS floor for most users.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its best performance: 88 FPS at Low, 55 FPS at Medium (min 47, max 64), 40 FPS at High, and 31 FPS at Ultra. The 1080p Low result of 88 FPS is the only measurement that approaches high-refresh-rate territory, while the 1080p Medium result of 55 FPS with a min of 47 FPS represents the sweet spot for consistent playability. The 1080p Ultra result of 31 FPS is technically above the 30 FPS line but leaves little margin for demanding scenes, and the absence of min/max data for Ultra suggests it may have been too variable to record meaningfully.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a similar pattern: Low is roughly 60-75% faster than Medium, Medium is 35-45% faster than High, and High is 20-30% faster than Ultra. This consistent tiering indicates that each preset level adds a meaningful but not overwhelming amount of visual complexity, with the biggest single jump occurring between Low and Medium.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process with 6,570 million transistors on a 71 mm² die. It runs at a 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.70 GHz boost clock, with 64 KB L1 cache per core, 1 MB L2 cache per core, and 32 MB shared L3 cache. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth position it as an efficient mid-range desktop part.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's benchmark results suggest it has ample headroom. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and single-core score of 3072 indicate strong performance for a 6-core part, while the Passmark multithread score of 25645 and single-thread score of 3689 confirm balanced capability across both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, compared to the GPU's 68th percentile, reinforces the conclusion that the Arc B580 is the performance bottleneck in this pairing.

The game's measured FPS data supports this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 88 FPS, which is a frame rate that typically requires solid CPU performance to maintain in games that aren't heavily GPU-limited. The fact that the CPU can sustain this while also keeping the GPU fed at higher resolutions — where the GPU is clearly the constraint — suggests that the 7400F's six cores and 12 threads are sufficient for The Medium's CPU workloads. The game was released in 2021, and the 7400F's modern architecture with its high single-core performance is more than adequate for a title of that era.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks all fall within a 0.3% margin, which means the 7400F is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T, Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H, and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. This level of competition indicates that no single processor in this group would radically change the gaming outcome in The Medium — the GPU would still be the limiting factor. The 83rd percentile ranking across all CPUs further confirms that the 7400F is not a weak link in this combo.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play The Medium with this combo for smooth performance?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset delivers 55 FPS average with a minimum of 47 FPS, making it the most consistent playable option. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS, which is also playable, but 4K at any setting above Low falls below 40 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle The Medium at Ultra settings?

A: No. The Ultra preset produces 31 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. All three results fall below the 30 FPS threshold for comfortable playability, and the 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, -0.2% delta), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% delta), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, -0.7% delta). This places it in a tight competitive cluster despite coming from a different architecture generation.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7400F a bottleneck for the Arc B580 in this game?

A: No. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking versus the GPU's 68th percentile, combined with the FPS scaling pattern across resolutions, indicates the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU achieves 88 FPS at 1080p Low, showing it can feed the GPU effectively when the graphics load is light.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the difference is 30 FPS (88 down to 58). At Medium, it's 18 FPS (55 down to 37). At High, it's 14 FPS (40 down to 26). At Ultra, it's 10 FPS (31 down to 21). The absolute gap narrows as settings increase because the higher preset already limits performance.

Q: Does the combo's in-game rank of 2191 out of 2911 mean it's a poor choice for this game?

A: The rank places it in the lower-mid tier of tested combos, but the data shows the system is capable of a smooth experience at 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning relative to higher-end cards, not a fundamental incompatibility with the game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to the Medium preset as the optimal choice for this combo, with the 1080p Medium result of 55 FPS average and 47 FPS minimum providing the best balance of visual quality and frame rate consistency. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 47 FPS average with a 40 FPS minimum is also playable, making it a viable option for users with 1440p displays who can tolerate slightly lower frame rates. The High preset at 1080p (40 FPS) is playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes, while the Ultra preset at any resolution falls below the 30 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum acceptable standard.

For players prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 88 FPS, which approaches high-refresh-rate territory and would be the choice for competitive or motion-sensitive play. However, the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p represents a 37% FPS reduction (from 88 to 55) while likely providing a significantly better visual presentation, making Medium the recommended default. At 4K, only the Low preset (58 FPS) achieves playable frame rates, but the visual compromise may not be worth the resolution gain — the 1440p Medium preset offers a better balance of quality and performance. The data suggests that users should avoid the High and Ultra presets entirely with this combo unless they are willing to accept sub-40 FPS performance.