The Medium

# How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F paired with the Intel Arc B390 lands at rank 2581 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places the combination in the bottom 11.3% of all tested systems, a position that immediately signals the GPU as the dominant constraint. The combo percentile of 9 for the Intel Arc B390—meaning it outperforms only 9% of all GPUs in the database—reinforces that this is a low-end graphics solution struggling against a demanding horror title. The CPU, by contrast, sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, a stark mismatch that creates an extreme bottleneck scenario.

The data suggests this pairing was never intended for high-refresh gaming at modern resolutions. With a rank this deep in the field, the expectation should be modest frame rates, even at lower settings. The measured results confirm this: the best average FPS across all tested configurations is 51 at 1080p Low, which is playable but far from smooth for a genre that often relies on atmosphere and tension over twitch reflexes. The gap between the CPU's strong benchmark standing and the combo's low rank tells the story—the Arc B390 is holding back a capable processor in nearly every scenario.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, built on Intel's Xe3-LPG architecture using a 3 nm process. Its memory configuration is entirely "System Shared," meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; instead, it draws from system memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This is a critical detail for The Medium, a game that loads detailed environments and shifting camera angles. Shared memory can lead to performance variability based on the system's RAM speed and capacity, which the benchmark data cannot fully capture.

The GPU's compute specifications are modest: 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation pipelines. It includes 12 ray tracing cores, though the pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s indicate limited throughput for a game with heavy visual effects. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS places it in a range where 1080p gaming at low-to-medium settings is the realistic ceiling. In The Medium's measured results, the GPU consistently delivers playable frame rates only at Low settings, and even then, 4K resolution drops to 34 FPS average.

The 12 RT cores are worth noting because The Medium uses ray-traced reflections and lighting in certain scenes. However, given the overall GPU performance percentile of 9, enabling ray tracing would likely crush frame rates further. The benchmark data shows no ray-traced settings tested, which suggests the hardware cannot handle that feature at acceptable performance levels. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is present, but the low compute power limits its practical use in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average frame rate moves from 51 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p and finally to 34 FPS at 4K. That represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 33% drop from 1080p to 4K. The decline is significant but not catastrophic, indicating that even at 4K, the GPU is still the primary limiter rather than memory bandwidth or CPU overhead.

At Medium settings, the scaling is slightly steeper. The 1080p average of 32 FPS falls to 27 FPS at 1440p (a 16% drop) and then to 21 FPS at 4K (a 34% drop from 1080p). The minimum FPS at Medium settings also tells a story: 27 at 1080p, 23 at 1440p, and 18 at 4K. These minimums are close to the averages, suggesting consistent frame pacing rather than sudden spikes, which is useful for a horror game where stutter can break immersion.

High and Ultra settings show even more dramatic scaling. High settings go from 23 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 1440p to 15 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings start at just 18 FPS at 1080p and fall to 15 FPS at 1440p and 12 FPS at 4K. The pattern here is clear: as resolution increases, the GPU's limited pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck, and the frame rate drops proportionally. The fact that even 1080p Ultra barely hits 18 FPS suggests that the GPU is stretched thin by the game's visual complexity, not just resolution.

The implication is that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where at least Low settings can approach 60 FPS territory. At higher resolutions, the experience degrades rapidly, and the data shows that 4K is only viable at Low settings with a 34 FPS average, which many players would find borderline.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the most balanced experience comes from the Low preset at 1080p, which delivers a 51 FPS average. This is the only configuration that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so with a comfortable margin over the next-best option. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 32 FPS average with a minimum of 27 FPS, which is playable but noticeably less smooth. For players who prioritize visual fidelity over fluidity, the Medium preset at 1080p is a reasonable compromise, but the data suggests the visual upgrade is not worth the 37% frame rate penalty.

At 1440p, the Low preset provides a 43 FPS average, which is the best result at that resolution. The Medium preset drops to 27 FPS, and High falls to 19 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 16 FPS, a significant jump that suggests the Medium preset's additional effects are too costly for the Arc B390. At 4K, only Low preset is viable, with a 34 FPS average; Medium drops to 21 FPS, and High falls to 15 FPS.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it never exceeds 18 FPS at 1080p and falls to 12 FPS at 4K. These frame rates are below the threshold for comfortable gameplay, even for a slower-paced horror title. The minimum FPS data for Medium settings—27 at 1080p, 23 at 1440p, 18 at 4K—shows that even the recommended preset has occasional dips, but these are less jarring than the sub-20 FPS averages of High and Ultra.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 60 FPS?

A: No. The highest measured average is 51 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. No other configuration reaches 50 FPS, and the next-best result is 43 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: 1080p. The data shows the highest frame rates at this resolution across all settings, with Low preset achieving 51 FPS average and Medium reaching 32 FPS.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390 or the Ryzen 5 7500F the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 77th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile. The frame rate drops across resolutions are consistent with GPU limitation.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

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

Q: Does the combo perform better at Low or Medium settings?

A: Low settings consistently outperform Medium by a significant margin. At 1080p, Low achieves 51 FPS versus 32 FPS for Medium. At 1440p, the gap is 43 to 27 FPS, and at 4K it is 34 to 21 FPS.

Q: What are the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset?

A: At 1080p, the minimum is 27 FPS. At 1440p, it is 23 FPS. At 4K, it is 18 FPS. These minimums are within 3-4 FPS of the averages, indicating stable frame pacing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3. This is a modern desktop CPU that supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and it uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform with PCIe Gen 5 connectivity.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 7500F demonstrates strong performance. It scores 22799 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3218 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 12362 and single-core score of 2374. The 3DMark results show scaling from 974 in single-thread to 6379 in max-threads. These numbers place the CPU in the 77th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 24964.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935, 0.1% behind), AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005, 0.2% ahead), Intel Core i7-13620H (24911, 0.2% behind), and Intel Core 5 210H (24872, 0.4% behind). This tight grouping indicates the 7500F performs almost identically to these alternatives, which is notable given its lower TDP.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is largely secondary. The game's frame rates are dictated by the GPU's limitations, not the CPU's processing power. The 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for the game's threading model, and the high boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensures responsive single-threaded performance. The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking, as frame rates scale consistently with resolution changes, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for The Medium with this combo is as follows:

1080p Resolution:

• Low settings: 51 FPS average
• Medium settings: 32 FPS average, 27 FPS minimum, 37 FPS maximum
• High settings: 23 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 18 FPS average

1440p Resolution:

• Low settings: 43 FPS average
• Medium settings: 27 FPS average, 23 FPS minimum, 31 FPS maximum
• High settings: 19 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 15 FPS average

4K Resolution (3840x2160):

• Low settings: 34 FPS average
• Medium settings: 21 FPS average, 18 FPS minimum, 24 FPS maximum
• High settings: 15 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 12 FPS average

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra in descending order. The gap between Low and Medium is substantial—roughly 37% at 1080p, 37% at 1440p, and 38% at 4K. The gap between Medium and High is smaller in absolute terms but still significant: 9 FPS at 1080p, 8 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. The High to Ultra gap is the smallest, ranging from 4 to 5 FPS across resolutions.

The minimum and maximum FPS data for Medium settings reveal that the frame rate range narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the range is 27-37 FPS (a 10 FPS spread). At 1440p, it is 23-31 FPS (an 8 FPS spread). At 4K, it is 18-24 FPS (a 6 FPS spread). This tightening suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more uniform at higher resolutions, reducing frame time variance but also lowering the overall average.

For players seeking the smoothest experience, 1080p Low is the clear choice at 51 FPS. For those willing to accept lower frame rates for better visuals, 1080p Medium at 32 FPS is the highest preset that maintains playability. Any setting above Medium at any resolution results in averages below 24 FPS, which is generally considered too low for comfortable gaming. The data does not support 4K gaming for this combo except at Low settings, where 34 FPS is achievable but far from ideal.