The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely constrained experience in The Medium, with benchmark results indicating that the integrated-class GPU is the overwhelming performance bottleneck. Despite the CPU’s high-end specifications, the measured frame rates at all resolutions and settings fall below playable thresholds, placing this combo in the bottom percentile of all tested configurations.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D brings substantial processing power to this pairing. It is an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz, boosting to 5.20 GHz, and it features a 96 MB shared L3 cache alongside 1 MB of L2 and 80 KB of L1 per core. The CPU’s synthetic benchmarks reflect its high performance tier: it scores 23,230 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 2,080 in single-core, with a Geekbench multicore score of 18,696 and a single-core score of 2,964. In 3DMark, it achieves 10,081 with 16 threads and 1,212 in single-thread tests.

However, these impressive numbers do not translate into playable frame rates in The Medium. The data shows a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU sits idle relative to the graphics workload. The CPU’s percentile ranking of 87 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39,768, places it far above the GPU’s percentile of 5. The nearest rivals for the CPU, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (deltaPct 0.4) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (deltaPct -0.7), show that the 9800X3D is performing within a narrow band of similar processors, confirming that its compute capacity is not the limiting factor here.

The core and thread configuration matters for The Medium in theory, as the game can utilize multiple threads for its fixed-camera rendering and audio processing. Yet, the measured FPS data reveals that even at 1080p Low, where CPU load is typically highest relative to GPU, the average frame rate is only 46 FPS. At 1080p Ultra, that drops to 16 FPS. This pattern indicates that the CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are never saturated, because the GPU cannot feed frames fast enough. The 16-thread 3DMark score of 10,081 versus the 8-thread score of 8,252 shows scaling, but the game never reaches a point where this scaling matters. In essence, the CPU is overqualified for this task, with its 120W TDP and AM5 socket representing a high-end platform that is wasted on the integrated graphics.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

*Q: What is the best average frame rate achievable with this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 46, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only setting/resolution combination that approaches a minimally playable experience, though it still falls short of smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU’s performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1,184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, scores 1,186 (deltaPct -0.2), while the ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1,190 (deltaPct -0.5). The AMD Radeon HD 7650M is slightly faster at 1,192 (deltaPct -0.7), and the AMD FirePro M2000 is slower at 1,168 (deltaPct 1.4). These rivals are all legacy or low-end parts, confirming the B370’s entry-level positioning.

Q: Does increasing resolution from 1080p to 4K halve the frame rate?

A: No, the drop is more severe. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 46 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p (a 15% drop) and then to 30 at 4K (a 35% drop from 1440p). At High settings, the decline is steeper: 21 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K, which is a 33% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2,681 out of 2,911 tested combinations in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 8% of all combos, confirming that it is among the least capable setups for this game.

Q: Are there any settings where the minimum FPS is recorded?

A: Yes, the only rows with min and max FPS data are at Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 29 FPS with a minimum of 24 and a maximum of 33. At 1440p Medium, the average is 24 FPS (min 21, max 28), and at 4K Medium, the average is 19 FPS (min 16, max 22). This indicates some frame pacing inconsistency, but the ranges are narrow.

Q: Does the CPU’s high single-thread score help in this game?

A: No, the data shows no benefit. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score is 1,212, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2,080, both indicating strong single-thread performance. Yet, the measured FPS at 1080p Low is only 46, which is 23% lower than the 60 FPS target that such a CPU would normally enable in a well-optimized title. This suggests the GPU is the sole limiter.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the resolution scaling across all settings reveals a consistent pattern of frame rate degradation that points directly at the GPU as the bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS progresses from 46 at 1080p, to 39 at 1440p, and finally to 30 at 4K. This represents a 34.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a relatively modest drop for such a large pixel count increase. In a CPU-limited scenario, the frame rate would remain nearly constant across resolutions, as the processor would be the limiting factor. The fact that FPS scales down as resolution increases indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity are being overwhelmed.

The High settings show a similar but more pronounced decline: 21 FPS at 1080p, 17 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. This is a 33.3% drop from 1080p to 4K, but the absolute numbers are so low that the percentage difference is less meaningful. The Medium settings, which have min/max data, show the same trend: 29 FPS at 1080p (min 24, max 33), 24 FPS at 1440p (min 21, max 28), and 19 FPS at 4K (min 16, max 22). The narrowing range from 1080p to 4K suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is more consistently saturated, reducing frame time variance.

Ultra settings produce the lowest results, with 16 FPS at 1080p, 14 FPS at 1440p, and 11 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 31.3%, which is the smallest percentage change across all settings. This is counterintuitive at first glance, but it makes sense when considering that at Ultra, the GPU is already so overburdened at 1080p that adding more pixels has less relative impact. The data implies that the Intel Arc B370’s 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply insufficient for this game’s rendering demands, even at the lowest resolution. The component limiting performance is unambiguously the GPU, as the CPU’s resources remain untapped.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo ranks 2,681 out of 2,911 tested combinations in The Medium, which places it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s abysmal performance, as the CPU is in the 87th percentile of all processors. The disparity between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s 5th percentile creates a massive imbalance, where the combo’s overall rank is dragged down entirely by the graphics component.

To contextualize this rank, consider that the GPU’s nearest rivals are all legacy parts from over a decade ago. The ATI Radeon HD 5770, which scores 1,190 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, is a 2009-era card, and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M is a mobile part from 2012. The fact that the B370 performs comparably to these ancient chips explains why the combo rank is so low. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 7700, have average scores around 40,081, which is 0.8% higher than the 9800X3D’s 39,768. This shows that the CPU is performing as expected for its class, but that performance is irrelevant when the GPU cannot deliver playable frame rates.

The rank of 2,681 out of 2,911 means that only 230 tested combos are worse. Those likely involve even older or more constrained integrated graphics. For a system with a flagship 2024 CPU, this ranking is catastrophic, indicating that the pairing is fundamentally mismatched. The data suggests that any discrete GPU from the past decade would outperform this setup, as the B370’s performance is on par with hardware that is two generations old. The combo rank is a clear verdict: this configuration is not viable for The Medium at any settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Panther Lake chip and Xe3-LPG architecture, manufactured on a 3nm process by Intel. Its specifications reveal why it struggles so severely. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1,280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. It features 10 ray tracing cores, but the memory configuration is the most telling limitation: it uses "System Shared" memory with a "System Dependent" bandwidth. This means the GPU relies on the CPU’s DDR5 memory, which has a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s for the Ryzen 7 9800X3D. However, the shared nature of this memory means it is also used for the CPU’s workloads, creating contention.

The GPU’s compute capabilities are minimal: 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 and 12.29 TFLOPS FP16, with a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. These numbers place it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1,184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. The nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, which scores 1,186, and the AMD FirePro M2000 at 1,168. The B370’s performance is so low that it is statistically indistinguishable from these 2010-era parts.

For The Medium, which is a horror game with fixed camera angles and heavy use of volumetric lighting and post-processing, the GPU’s lack of dedicated VRAM is critical. The "System Shared" memory means that at 4K Ultra, the GPU may be competing with the CPU for memory bandwidth, further reducing performance. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 11 FPS, which is unplayable. Even at 1080p Low, the 46 FPS average is only possible because the GPU is using minimal texture detail and effects. The GPU’s 25W TDP and IGP slot width confirm it is designed for basic tasks, not gaming. The data shows that the B370’s shading units and ROPs are insufficient to handle The Medium’s rendering pipeline, regardless of the CPU’s capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo’s performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings yield an average of 46 FPS, Medium yields 29 FPS (minimum 24, maximum 33), High yields 21 FPS, and Ultra yields 16 FPS. No min/max data is provided for Low, High, or Ultra, indicating that only Medium was tested for frame time variance. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 65.2% drop in performance, from 46 FPS down to 16 FPS, which is a steep penalty for visual quality improvements.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with lower absolute numbers. Low settings produce 39 FPS average, Medium produces 24 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 28), High produces 17 FPS, and Ultra produces 14 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 64.1%, similar to 1080p. The Medium settings show a range of 7 FPS between minimum and maximum, which is slightly tighter than the 9 FPS range at 1080p, suggesting more consistent frame times at higher resolution due to GPU saturation.

At 3840x2160, the results are the worst. Low settings average 30 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS (minimum 16, maximum 22), High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The Low to Ultra drop is 63.3%, which is the smallest percentage change across all resolutions. This is because at 4K, even Low settings are likely exceeding the GPU’s capabilities, so the relative difference between settings narrows. The Medium settings at 4K have a 6 FPS range, which is the smallest variance of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is consistently bottlenecked.

Across all resolutions, the only configuration that reaches 30 FPS or above is Low settings at 1080p and 1440p, with 46 and 39 FPS respectively. At 4K Low, the average is exactly 30 FPS, which is borderline playable but not smooth. Every other setting/resolution combination falls below 30 FPS, with Ultra settings at all resolutions being effectively unplayable. The data shows that this combo cannot maintain a stable 30 FPS at any setting above Low, and even at Low, only 1080p provides a comfortable margin above that threshold.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured FPS data, the only viable option for playing The Medium with this combo is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 46 FPS. This is the only configuration that approaches a playable experience, though it still falls short of the 60 FPS target that most gamers prefer. The 46 FPS average suggests that there will be noticeable stutters during scene transitions or heavy effects, but it is the least bad option available.

The Low preset at 1440p yields 39 FPS, which is also borderline playable but with more frequent frame drops. At 4K Low, the average is exactly 30 FPS, which is at the minimum threshold for playability but will feel sluggish in a horror game that relies on atmospheric tension. The Medium preset, which has min/max data, shows 29 FPS at 1080p (min 24, max 33), meaning it will dip below 25 FPS during intense moments, which is likely to be distracting.

For players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, the High preset at 1080p (21 FPS) or 1440p (17 FPS) might be acceptable for a slow-paced horror game, but the data suggests that the experience will be severely compromised. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as the 11-16 FPS range makes the game feel like a slideshow, and the visual improvements are unlikely to compensate for the loss of fluidity.

The best experience per the measured rows is unequivocally Low at 1080p. This setting provides the highest average FPS (46) and the largest margin above the 30 FPS playability threshold. The data implies that players should accept significant visual compromises to achieve functional gameplay. The Medium preset at 1080p is a secondary option, but its 24 FPS minimum is risky. In summary, this combo requires the lowest settings and resolution to be usable, and even then, the experience is far from ideal. The GPU is the sole limiting factor, and the CPU’s power is entirely wasted.