The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a striking contrast in the benchmark database: a top-tier gaming CPU from 2022 (launch MSRP $449) harnessed to an entry-level integrated GPU from 2026. The measured results in The Medium reveal a system where the graphics solution is the overwhelming bottleneck, turning a horror game known for its dual-reality rendering into a test of minimum viable settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where this combo's limits lie. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 32 FPS at 1920x1080 to 27 FPS at 2560x1440, and then plummets to 21 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 34% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K, but the pattern is not linear — the jump from 1440p to 4K is a 22% drop, while the step from 1080p to 1440p is only a 16% decline. This curve suggests the GPU is running out of pixel-pushing capacity as resolution climbs, with the 4K workload becoming particularly punishing.

The Low preset data reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 51 FPS, which is genuinely playable. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 43 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 34 FPS. The scaling here is shallower percentage-wise (a 33% total drop from 1080p to 4K), but the absolute numbers remain low. A 51 FPS baseline at the lowest settings indicates that even at 1080p, there is no headroom for higher quality presets without sacrificing smoothness. The data implies that resolution scaling is governed entirely by the Arc B390's fill rate and shading capacity, not by the 5800X3D's substantial compute resources.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's position in the database is sobering. It ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems evaluated. This percentile placement is far below what the CPU alone would suggest — the Ryzen 7 5800X3D holds an 80th percentile ranking among all CPUs in general benchmarks. The enormous gap between the processor's standalone capability and the combo's in-game ranking directly quantifies the GPU bottleneck: the Arc B390's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs (based on its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482) drags the entire system down.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals puts this in perspective. The Arc B390 scores 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GT 710. These are all legacy or ultra-low-end parts from a previous era. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Ryzen 7 6800U, Core i9-10900K, and Core i5-12600KF — all sit within 0.3% of the 5800X3D's average score of 27896, confirming the CPU is performing exactly as expected. This rank disparity between the two components is the defining characteristic of this combination.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. Its specifications are modest: 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output pipelines. The GPU runs at a 300 MHz base clock and boosts to 2500 MHz, producing a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. Peak FP32 throughput is 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS using a 2:1 ratio.

The memory configuration is unusual — it uses "System Shared" memory with "System Dependent" bandwidth. This means the GPU borrows from the system's DDR4 memory rather than having dedicated VRAM, and the effective bandwidth depends entirely on the host platform. The 5800X3D supports dual-channel DDR4 with a theoretical bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, but the fact that the GPU shares this with the CPU is a critical constraint. In The Medium, which features split-screen rendering of two simultaneous worlds, memory bandwidth pressure is likely a significant factor in the low frame rates.

The GPU's 12 ray tracing cores and DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) are present, but the measured FPS data suggests these features are not being utilized effectively at playable speeds. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places this GPU at the 9th percentile overall, confirming its position as an entry-level part. The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the sole limiting factor in this combo — the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are far more capable than what the GPU can feed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The full dataset across resolutions and settings shows a consistent hierarchy. At 1920x1080, the combo produces 51 FPS on Low, 32 FPS on Medium, 23 FPS on High, and 18 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS, indicating some frame pacing inconsistency even at the most popular gaming resolution. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 43 FPS on Low, 27 FPS on Medium (with a 23-31 FPS range), 19 FPS on High, and 15 FPS on Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes dire. Low settings yield 34 FPS, Medium drops to 21 FPS (18-24 FPS range), High produces 19 FPS, and Ultra falls to 12 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases: at 1080p, the difference is 33 FPS (51 vs 18), which grows to 28 FPS at 1440p (43 vs 15) and 22 FPS at 4K (34 vs 12). This narrowing spread suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings provides diminishing returns — the pixel fill rate becomes the hard limit rather than shader complexity.

The data reveals that only the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p breaches the 40 FPS threshold. Everything else sits below 35 FPS, with Ultra presets across all resolutions falling into the sub-20 FPS range. The single playable configuration in terms of smoothness is 1080p Low at 51 FPS, which is still below the 60 FPS target many players prefer.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo play The Medium at 1080p with playable frame rates?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 51 FPS average. Medium settings drop to 32 FPS, and High falls to 23 FPS, so the playable window is narrow.

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

A: It scores 1.3% higher than the GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GT 710, based on 3DMark Steel Nomad scores.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in The Medium?

A: 1920x1080 at Low settings, yielding 51 FPS. Any higher resolution or setting reduces the average below 43 FPS, which compromises smoothness.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800X3D the bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The CPU ranks at the 80th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks at the 9th percentile. The combo ranks 2581 out of 2911 in this game, indicating the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low produces 43 FPS, while Ultra produces 15 FPS — a 28 FPS difference that shows the GPU struggles with higher visual fidelity.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide consistent frame pacing?

A: At 1080p Medium, the range is 27-37 FPS (32 average). At 1440p, the range is 23-31 FPS (27 average). At 4K, the range is 18-24 FPS (21 average). The spread of roughly 10 FPS between minimum and maximum suggests noticeable stuttering.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D is a 5000-series desktop processor based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), built on TSMC's 7 nm process with 8,850 million transistors on a 74 mm² die. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The 105 W TDP and AM4 socket placement mark it as a mainstream high-end part, though it is now end-of-life per the database.

Its defining feature is the 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is unusually large for a consumer CPU and directly benefits gaming workloads that reuse data. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB L1 and 512 KB L2 per core. Memory support is dual-channel DDR4 with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, and ECC memory is supported. PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes provides ample bandwidth for discrete GPUs, though this system uses the integrated Arc B390.

Benchmark scores confirm the CPU's strength: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 14317, single core 1452, and Geekbench multicore hits 11765 with 2017 single-core. PassMark multithread scores 28309 with a single-thread score of 3234. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1746 at 2 threads to 7285 at max threads, demonstrating solid multi-threading efficiency. In The Medium, which is not CPU-intensive at these low GPU-bound frame rates, the 5800X3D is unquestionably overqualified — the data shows the CPU is never the constraint, as all measured FPS values align with what the GPU can deliver.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to a single viable configuration for a reasonable experience: 1920x1080 with Low settings, which produces 51 FPS average. This is the only preset and resolution combination that exceeds 50 FPS. The next step down, 1440p Low at 43 FPS, may be acceptable for players who prioritize resolution over smoothness, but the 1080p Low option offers the best balance of frame rate and visual clarity.

For players who insist on Medium settings, 1080p yields 32 FPS with a 27-37 FPS range — this is borderline playable for a slow-paced horror game, but the frame dips below 30 FPS could be noticeable. The Medium preset at higher resolutions (27 FPS at 1440p, 21 FPS at 4K) falls into the "slideshow" territory for most players. High and Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution: the maximum of 23 FPS (1080p High) fails to provide smooth motion, and 4K Ultra at 12 FPS is effectively unplayable.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is 1080p Low, with 1440p Low as a secondary option for those with 1440p displays who can tolerate 43 FPS. The large gap between Low and Medium (19 FPS at 1080p) indicates that the Medium preset's additional visual features impose a heavy cost on this GPU, making it a poor trade-off. Players seeking higher quality should consider this combo inadequate for The Medium beyond its lowest settings.