The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a severely constrained experience in The Medium, with every measured configuration falling below 60 FPS. The data shows a combination that is fundamentally limited by its graphics processor, struggling to maintain playable frame rates even at the lowest settings and resolution. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and presets, examines the role of each component, and contextualizes the results against other tested combinations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent pattern: performance scales almost linearly with the total pixel count, which strongly indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck across all tested scenarios. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 represents a 78% increase in pixels, and the average FPS at High settings correspondingly drops by approximately 17%, from 23 FPS to 19 FPS. The jump from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) is another 125% increase in pixel count, and the High preset sees a further decline to 15 FPS, a 21% reduction from the 1440p result. This near-linear scaling is a textbook indicator of a GPU-bound workload, where the processor has ample headroom and the graphics card's rendering throughput is the sole limiting factor.

The scaling behavior is more dramatic when comparing the Low preset across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combination achieves an average of 51 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 43 FPS, a 16% decrease, and 4K Low falls to 34 FPS, a 21% decrease from the 1440p figure. The fact that even the most demanding resolution at the lowest quality setting produces a 34 FPS average suggests that the Arc B390's raw compute and memory bandwidth are simply insufficient for the game's fixed overhead, regardless of how much graphical load is removed. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is a 22 FPS difference, which further illustrates that the GPU's limitations are not circumvented by lowering resolution alone.

The pattern of diminishing returns is also evident in the measured minimum FPS values. For the Medium preset, the 1080p run has a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS, creating a 10 FPS variance. At 1440p, the minimum drops to 23 FPS with a maximum of 31 FPS, and at 4K the minimum is 18 FPS with a maximum of 24 FPS. This consistent reduction in both average and minimum frame rates as resolution increases points to a component that is saturated at all times, with no spare capacity to absorb the extra pixel workload. The data does not show any scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, as the FPS drops are directly proportional to the pixel count at every settings level.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is a mobile-class integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. Its performance profile, as captured by the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark score of 1482, places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, which is a very low standing. The nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710, all of which are similarly dated, low-end parts. The Arc B390's score is only 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the GT 710, indicating that it operates in a performance tier that is historically associated with basic desktop tasks rather than modern gaming.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable: a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. The wide gap between these figures suggests a power-optimized design where the chip runs at very low clocks under sustained loads, likely due to thermal or power constraints within its 80 W TDP envelope. The boost clock is rarely sustainable in a demanding title like The Medium, which explains why the measured FPS is so low despite the silicon's theoretical peak capabilities. The memory subsystem is entirely system-shared, with no dedicated VRAM, meaning the GPU relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory bandwidth, which is listed as 83.2 GB/s for the Ryzen 7 7700. This shared memory architecture is a significant liability for a game with high-resolution textures, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory access, further reducing effective throughput.

The GPU's compute specifications—1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units—are modest by modern standards. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are theoretical maximums that are not achieved in real-world gaming, as evidenced by the measured results. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS sounds capable on paper, but the actual frame delivery in The Medium shows that this theoretical compute power is not effectively utilized, likely due to driver inefficiencies or the architecture's design priorities. The GPU's 12 RT cores are irrelevant here, as the game's fixed overhead and the low base clock prevent any meaningful ray tracing workload from being processed.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this CPU and GPU combination in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 51, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: Is the game playable at 4K resolution with this hardware?

A: The data shows it is not playable in any conventional sense. The best 4K result is 34 FPS average at Low settings, while the Ultra preset drops to 12 FPS average. The Medium preset at 4K averages 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 FPS.

Q: Does lowering the resolution from 1440p to 1080p provide a significant performance boost?

A: Yes, the data shows a meaningful improvement. At Low settings, the average FPS increases from 43 at 1440p to 51 at 1080p, a 19% improvement. At Medium settings, the average goes from 27 FPS to 32 FPS.

Q: What is the worst-performing configuration in the measured data?

A: The worst result is at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra settings preset, which produces an average of 12 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all other tested CPU and GPU pairings for this game?

A: The combo ranks 2581 out of 2911 total tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all configurations.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only remotely viable settings preset for this hardware is Low, and even then, only at 1080p resolution. The 1920x1080 Low configuration yields an average of 51 FPS, which is the only result in the entire dataset that approaches a playable frame rate. However, the absence of a minimum FPS value for this preset means the frame pacing could be inconsistent, potentially dropping below the average during intense scenes. The 1440p Low result of 43 FPS is borderline, but the 1080p Low figure is the safest choice for a playable experience.

The Medium preset is not recommended for any resolution. At 1080p, it produces an average of 32 FPS with a minimum of 27 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The 1440p Medium result of 27 FPS and the 4K Medium result of 21 FPS are both unplayable, with the 4K minimum of 18 FPS indicating significant stutter. The High and Ultra presets are entirely out of the question, as they produce averages between 12 and 23 FPS across all resolutions, which is far below acceptable levels.

The data suggests that users should prioritize resolution over quality settings. The jump from 1080p Low to 1440p Low costs 8 FPS on average, while the jump from 1080p Medium to 1080p High costs 9 FPS. Since both trade-offs result in similar performance losses, the Low preset at 1080p provides the best balance, albeit with reduced visual fidelity. For those who cannot tolerate the visual compromises of the Low preset, the Medium preset at 1080p is the next best option, but the 27 FPS minimum will likely cause noticeable frame drops in action sequences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy among settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 51 FPS, which is the peak performance for this combination. The Medium preset delivers an average of 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 23 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to an average of 18 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 33 FPS, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle higher graphical loads.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades across all presets. The Low setting averages 43 FPS, a decrease of 8 FPS from the 1080p result. The Medium setting averages 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. The High setting averages 19 FPS, and the Ultra setting averages 15 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p narrows to 28 FPS, but all values remain below playable thresholds.

At 3840x2160, the results are uniformly poor. The Low preset averages 34 FPS, which is the only 4K result above 30 FPS. The Medium preset averages 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS. The High preset averages 15 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 12 FPS. The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset at 4K are particularly telling, as the 18 FPS minimum indicates a highly variable frame rate that would be distracting in a horror game requiring precise timing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 is a high-end desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture. Its benchmark scores are robust: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18760 and a single-core score of 1930, a Geekbench multicore score of 15371, and a Passmark multithread score of 34470. The processor's 3DMark multi-thread score of 8484 and single-thread score of 1049 further confirm its strong performance. Given these scores, the CPU is clearly not a limiting factor in The Medium, as the measured FPS is so low that the processor has ample headroom to feed the GPU.

The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz and base clock of 3.80 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and draw calls. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache ensure that game assets are readily accessible, reducing latency. The memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is more than sufficient for a game that is GPU-bound, and the DDR5 support means the system can handle large data transfers without issue. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking among all processors confirms that it is a high-performing part, but the GPU's 9th percentile ranking means the CPU's capabilities are entirely wasted in this configuration.

The data shows that the Ryzen 7 7700 would perform admirably with a more powerful GPU, but with the Arc B390, the CPU's potential is untapped. The nearest CPU rivals—the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, Intel Core 5 221E, AMD Ryzen 9 270, and Intel Core i9-13905H—all have average benchmark scores within 0.6% of the 7700, indicating that swapping the CPU would have no meaningful impact on the game's FPS. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU, and no CPU upgrade can overcome the Arc B390's fundamental limitations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested configurations in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11% of all combos, which is consistent with the GPU's low benchmark score. The GPU's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs is the primary driver of this poor ranking, while the CPU's 87th percentile standing is irrelevant to the overall result. The combo's rank suggests that nearly any other GPU paired with this CPU would yield better performance, and that even a significantly weaker CPU paired with a modestly better GPU would likely outrank this setup.

The measured FPS data corroborates this ranking. With a best-case scenario of 51 FPS at 1080p Low, the combo is only suitable for low-spec gaming, and the 4K results are uniformly below 35 FPS. The GPU's nearest rivals—the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—are all legacy parts that are not designed for modern gaming, and the Arc B390's performance is only marginally better. This suggests that the combo is effectively a legacy-tier system that cannot handle the graphical demands of The Medium at any reasonable quality setting. The ranking of 2581 out of 2911 is a definitive statement that this hardware is not recommended for this game, and users should expect a severely compromised experience regardless of settings or resolution.