The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers playable performance in The Medium, but it is heavily constrained by graphics settings rather than resolution. The data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is a 1080p and 1440p solution at medium settings, with 4K only viable at the lowest preset. The combo ranks 1243rd out of 1689 tested configurations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which aligns with the measured frame rates that struggle to maintain high refresh rates at higher quality levels.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant but not uniform across settings, revealing where the system bottlenecks. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 86.6 at 1920x1080 to 61.2 at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 29%. This relatively modest decline suggests that at low quality, the GPU still has headroom and the CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are keeping up with the workload. However, at High settings, the drop is steeper: from 40.2 FPS at 1080p to 28.8 at 4K, a 28% decrease, while at Ultra it goes from 34.0 to 21.9, a 36% reduction. These numbers indicate that the Intel Arc B580, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, becomes the limiting factor as pixel count and texture quality rise.

The most telling data point is at Medium settings, where 1080p yields 57.4 FPS, 1440p drops to 47.2, and 4K falls to 34.0. This progression shows a steady, predictable scaling curve that is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The 4K Low result of 61.2 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 21.9 FPS makes it clear that resolution is less impactful than the preset choice. In short, the limiting component at higher resolutions is unambiguously the graphics card, as the CPU’s performance remains consistent across all tested configurations.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 9700X is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 3.80 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459, placing it in the 89th percentile against all CPUs. In The Medium, which is a horror title that typically relies on single-threaded performance for game logic and AI, this CPU provides ample headroom. The data supports this: even at 1080p Low, the system achieves 86.6 FPS, which is far above the 4K Ultra result of 21.9 FPS, indicating that the processor is not the primary obstacle at any tested settings.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i5-14500HX, with a delta of 0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, with a delta of 0.6%. These margins are negligible, meaning the 9700X performs essentially identically to those chips in general compute. For this game, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU efficiently, and the fact that FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings confirms that the processor is never the bottleneck. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s dual-channel memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game’s data streaming needs, as evidenced by the lack of any anomalous frame drops in the measured data.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 at Low settings produces the highest average FPS at 86.6, while 2560x1440 at Low reaches 76.7. For a balance of quality and performance, 1440p Medium at 47.2 FPS is the highest playable option.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B580 have enough VRAM for this game?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 192-bit bus. The measured results show no indication of memory-related stutters, as even 4K High achieves 28.8 FPS, suggesting the VRAM capacity is adequate for The Medium.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its direct rivals in this context?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X is statistically tied with the Intel Core i5-14500HX, scoring 0.2% higher, and is 0.4% behind the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H. These differences are imperceptible in gaming.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Only at Low settings, where the average FPS is 61.2. At High, Medium, and Ultra, the frame rates are 28.8, 34.0, and 21.9 respectively, which are below the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Why is the FPS at 1080p Ultra (34.0) the same as 4K Medium (34.0)?

A: This indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at both settings. The workload at 1080p Ultra is similar in intensity to 4K Medium, showing that the graphics card’s raw throughput is the primary constraint.

Q: What does the combo rank tell us about overall performance?

A: The combination ranks 1243rd out of 1689 tested combos, placing it in the 74th percentile. This suggests it is a mid-to-low-tier performer compared to all other CPU-GPU pairings in the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield 86.6 FPS, Medium drops to 57.4 FPS, High falls to 40.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 34.0 FPS. This represents a 61% reduction from Low to Ultra, showing a steep cost for maximum quality. At 2560x1440, the pattern continues: Low achieves 76.7 FPS, Medium hits 47.2 FPS, High reaches 34.7 FPS, and Ultra manages 29.0 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 62%, nearly identical to 1080p, indicating consistent scaling.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a sharper degradation. Low produces 61.2 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 34.0 FPS, High falls to 28.8 FPS, and Ultra collapses to 21.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64%, the largest percentage gap across all resolutions. Notably, the 4K Medium result (34.0) is identical to the 1080p Ultra result (34.0), reinforcing the idea that the GPU’s processing capacity is the sole determinant of frame rate at these quality levels. The 1440p High result of 34.7 FPS is only slightly better than 4K Medium, further confirming that resolution scaling is secondary to preset changes.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage), is the dominant factor in this pairing’s performance. With a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz, 2560 shading units, and 20 ray tracing cores, it delivers 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory at 2375 MHz provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for the high-resolution textures in The Medium. The GPU scores 15748 in Passmark G3D and sits in the 66th percentile against all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Radeon 760M (0.1% higher) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (0.7% higher).

In practice, the GPU’s limits are exposed by the settings scaling. Moving from Low to Ultra at any resolution reduces FPS by roughly 60%, which is a direct result of the GPU’s fill rate and shader throughput. The 190 W TDP and 450 W suggested PSU indicate this is a mid-range card, and the measured numbers confirm that it cannot sustain 60 FPS at High or Ultra settings in this title. The 4K Ultra result of 21.9 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows the card’s absolute ceiling under maximum load. The GPU’s 80 ROPs and 160 TMUs are adequate for 1080p and 1440p but are overwhelmed at 4K with high-quality presets.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to Low settings at 1440p as the sweet spot. At 2560x1440 Low, the system achieves 76.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target and provides a smooth experience with only minor visual compromises. If visual fidelity is a priority, 1080p Medium at 57.4 FPS is the highest quality setting that remains near playable, though it misses the 60 FPS mark. At 4K, Low is the only viable option at 61.2 FPS, making it the recommended choice for users with 4K displays who prioritize frame rate over detail.

Avoid Ultra settings entirely, as the best Ultra result is 34.0 FPS at 1080p, which is below the threshold for responsive gameplay. High settings offer marginal improvements over Medium but come with significant FPS penalties: 40.2 at 1080p versus 57.4 for Medium. The data suggests that Medium at 1080p or Low at 1440p provides the best balance of frame rate and image quality, with the latter offering a higher resolution without a substantial performance hit.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 1243rd out of 1689 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower 27% of all configurations. This rank is consistent with the measured FPS, which shows the system struggling to exceed 60 FPS at any settings above Low. The rank reflects the GPU’s mid-tier positioning (66th percentile) combined with the CPU’s high-tier positioning (89th percentile), resulting in a pairing where the GPU is the clear performance ceiling.

Compared to other combos in the database, this setup is not competitive at high settings, but it does offer a workable experience at lower presets. The 4K Low result of 61.2 FPS is a notable achievement for a GPU in this class, suggesting that the B580’s memory bandwidth and 12 GB VRAM are well-suited for games that scale gracefully with reduced quality. Overall, the combo’s rank indicates that users should temper expectations for high-fidelity gaming, but the data confirms it is a capable 1080p and 1440p performer at conservative settings.