The Medium

The Medium is a demanding title, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B370 produces a very specific performance profile. The data shows a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor, especially at higher resolutions and quality settings. This analysis breaks down the measured results to explain what this pairing can deliver, where its limits are, and how it ranks against other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a stark reality: this combo is not built for high-resolution gaming in The Medium. Moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 (4K) at the same settings shows a dramatic and consistent performance collapse. At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 29 FPS at 1080p to 24 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to just 19 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is even more punishing at higher presets. With the High preset, the average FPS falls from 21 at 1080p to 17 at 1440p and down to 14 at 4K, a 33% drop overall. The Low preset shows the same trend, starting at 46 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 39 FPS at 1440p, and ending at 30 FPS at 4K.

This pattern is a clear indicator that the limiting component is the GPU. When the resolution increases, the number of pixels the graphics card must render grows exponentially, directly impacting its workload. The CPU, which prepares the frames, is not the bottleneck here. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has substantial processing power, but the Intel Arc B370, with its 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs, is simply overwhelmed by the pixel throughput required at 1440p and especially 4K. The performance dip is not linear; it is a steep cliff, which is classic behavior for a GPU that has run out of raw fillrate and shading capacity. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is significant, but the gap between 1440p and 4K is even more severe, indicating that the B370's memory bandwidth and processing capabilities are quickly saturated.

Settings Recommendations

Given the benchmark results, the choice of settings is the single most important factor for playability. The data shows a clear hierarchy, but none of the presets deliver a smooth 60 FPS experience. The only settings that approach a playable frame rate are at 1080p with the Low preset, which averages 46 FPS. This is the only configuration that consistently stays above 30 FPS, and it represents the best chance for a relatively fluid experience. At 1440p, the Low preset yields a 39 FPS average, which is borderline but may be acceptable for a slower-paced horror game. However, any attempt to use Medium or higher settings at 1440p results in sub-30 FPS averages, which will feel stuttery and unresponsive.

The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at every resolution, with averages ranging from 16 FPS at 1080p down to 11 FPS at 4K. The High preset is also not recommended, as it only manages a 21 FPS average at 1080p. The Medium preset provides a small step up from Low but still falls short of a consistent 30 FPS at 1080p (29 FPS average) and drops to 19 FPS at 4K. The benchmark results indicate that for this specific combo, the "Low" preset is the only viable option for a playable experience, and even then, it is recommended to stay at 1080p. The difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 17 FPS, but that jump is the difference between a game that is struggling and one that is merely slow. The data suggests that the visual fidelity gain from Medium or High is not worth the substantial frame rate sacrifice. The best experience is achieved by prioritizing frame rate over graphical detail, making Low at 1080p the recommended path.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall position of this CPU and GPU pairing is poor. The comboRankInGame data places this configuration at rank 2681 out of 2911 tested combos, putting it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested in The Medium. This is a very low ranking, underscoring that this is not a performance-oriented combination for this particular game. The primary reason for this is the GPU's performance. The Intel Arc B370 has a percentileVsAllGpus of 5, meaning it performs better than only 5% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 1184, and its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M, which are both older, lower-end parts. This places the B370 firmly in the entry-level category.

While the CPU is much stronger, it cannot compensate for the GPU's shortcomings in a graphically intensive title. The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X has a percentileVsAllCpus of 81, putting it in the top 20% of all processors. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, with deltaPct values of 0.2% and -0.6% respectively, indicating a performance parity with those chips. However, in gaming, the GPU is the dominant factor for frame rate. The data shows that the combination of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU results in a bottom-tier gaming experience. This pairing is severely unbalanced for The Medium, and the low combo rank reflects that the system's overall gaming capability is limited by its weakest link, the graphics card.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run The Medium at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but not at a playable frame rate. The measured data shows an average of 14 FPS at 4K with High settings and 19 FPS with Medium settings. The only 4K option that reaches 30 FPS is the Low preset, which still averages only 30 FPS and is likely to feel inconsistent.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this system?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the Low preset is the only viable option. At 1080p, it produces an average of 46 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. All other presets at any resolution fail to reach a consistent 30 FPS average.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X or the Intel Arc B370 the bottleneck?

A: The data strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck. The frame rate drops significantly as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU is in the top 20% of all processors, while the GPU is in the bottom 5%, showing a clear disparity in capability.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems tested in The Medium?

A: The comboRankInGame places it at 2681 out of 2911 tested combos. This puts it in the bottom 8% of all configurations, indicating that it is a very low-performing setup for this specific game.

Q: What is the expected performance at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the best result is a 39 FPS average with the Low preset. Using the Medium preset drops the average to 24 FPS, and High and Ultra presets result in 17 and 14 FPS respectively. It is not recommended to play at this resolution with anything above Low settings.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B370's performance comparable to any other GPUs?

A: Based on its average benchmark score, its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M. These are both legacy, low-power parts, confirming the B370's entry-level positioning in the performance hierarchy.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the decisive factor in this system's gaming performance, and its specifications explain the poor results. It is built on a 3 nm process and is classified as an IGP (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a 25 W TDP, indicating it is designed for efficiency rather than raw power. Its clock speeds are a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz. While the boost clock is respectable, the architecture is the limiting factor. The B370 has 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. The low number of ROPs (20) is particularly critical for The Medium, as they are responsible for final pixel output. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, numbers that are simply too low for the demands of modern game rendering at high resolutions.

The memory configuration is also a major weakness. The B370 uses "System Shared" memory, meaning it relies on the system's main RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which is a significant disadvantage compared to a dedicated graphics card with its own high-speed memory. In a game like The Medium, which requires fast access to large textures and geometry data, this shared memory setup will cause significant performance bottlenecks. The GPU's FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, which is a modest figure. Its percentileVsAllGpus of 5 confirms its position at the very bottom of the performance spectrum. The GPU's only benchmark, a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, aligns with its low rank and places it in direct competition with much older, less capable hardware.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X plays a supporting role that is entirely overshadowed by the GPU. The data shows that this processor has ample capability, but it cannot be utilized in this gaming scenario. It is a 6-core, 12-thread CPU based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This is a modern, high-performance desktop processor, as evidenced by its percentileVsAllCpus of 81. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 17528.5 and single-core score of 2183.5 place it in a strong position among other CPUs. In synthetic benchmarks, it is a near-exact match for the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT, with a deltaPct of -0.6%, meaning it is only 0.6% slower in average benchmark score.

In The Medium, however, this CPU power is largely left on the table. The frame rate is dictated by the GPU, and the CPU is not the limiting factor at any of the tested resolutions. This is evident from the fact that the frame rates are consistently low, even at 1080p. A powerful CPU like the 9600X should have no trouble feeding frames to a GPU at 1080p, but the B370 cannot render them fast enough. The CPU's 32 MB of L3 cache and support for DDR5 memory ensure that it can handle the game's logic and physics, but this does not translate to higher FPS when the graphics card is the bottleneck. The result is an unbalanced system where the CPU is vastly more powerful than its graphics counterpart, but the overall experience is still poor due to the GPU's limitations.