The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely GPU-limited experience in The Medium. Across all tested resolutions, average frame rates range from 11 FPS at 4K Ultra to 46 FPS at 1080p Low, placing this combination at rank 2681 out of 2911 tested combos. The data indicates that playable performance is only achievable at the lowest settings, and even then, only at 1080p does the frame rate approach a playable threshold. The Arc B370, with its 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, acts as the definitive bottleneck, while the CPU's substantial multi-threaded capabilities remain largely untapped by this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data makes the optimal settings path unambiguous. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 46 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that surpasses the 30 FPS line. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 29 FPS, and while this is numerically close, the High and Ultra presets fall to 21 FPS and 16 FPS respectively, confirming a steep and immediate performance penalty for each incremental quality increase.

For 1440p, the situation degrades further. The Low preset yields 39 FPS, which remains the only viable option at this resolution. Medium at 1440p produces 24 FPS, High produces 17 FPS, and Ultra produces 14 FPS. The pattern is consistent: only the Low preset provides an average frame rate above 30 FPS, and only at 1080p and 1440p. At 4K, even Low settings deliver just 30 FPS, which is marginal at best, with Medium dropping to 19 FPS.

The data strongly suggests that for any playable experience, the Low preset is mandatory. Given that the 1080p Low result (46 FPS) is the highest recorded score, it is the only setting that offers both playability and a reasonable performance buffer. Choosing Medium at 1080p (29 FPS) sacrifices 17 FPS for a modest visual upgrade, which is a poor trade-off given the GPU's limited headroom. The High and Ultra presets should be avoided entirely, as their average frame rates are below 22 FPS at every resolution, classifying the experience as a slideshow rather than a game. The recommendation is clear: 1080p with the Low preset is the sole configuration that delivers a functional frame rate, making it the best experience per the measured rows.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary performance limiter in this combination. Its benchmark results are exceptionally low, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in its performance class are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (scoring 1186, 0.2% faster), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (scoring 1190, 0.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (scoring 1192, 0.7% faster). This positions the Arc B370 within a performance bracket that is over a decade old, explaining the consistently low frame rates observed in The Medium.

The GPU's specifications confirm its integrated-class nature. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Memory is "System Shared," meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and relies on the system's main memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." This shared memory architecture is a significant disadvantage for a game like The Medium, which typically requires substantial memory bandwidth for its fixed-camera scenes and high-resolution textures. The GPU's 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs are insufficient for the demands of modern rendering, a fact corroborated by its pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The performance data shows a direct correlation between the GPU's weakness and the game's frame rates. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p is 30 FPS (46 vs 16), which is a direct consequence of the GPU being unable to handle the increased shader and texture workloads. The fact that the 4K Low preset (30 FPS) matches the 1080p Medium preset (29 FPS) suggests that the GPU is equally overwhelmed by resolution scaling and settings complexity. The Arc B370 is a 25 W part with no power connectors, designed for integrated use, and its performance in this test reflects that constraint. The data shows that no amount of CPU power can compensate for this GPU's fundamental lack of rendering capability in this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an exceptionally powerful processor that is almost entirely idle during gameplay due to the GPU bottleneck. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228. The PassMark multi-thread score is 41318, and the single-thread score is 4704, placing the CPU in the 92nd percentile of all processors. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (0.1% faster), the Intel Core i9-14900 (0.5% faster), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (0.7% faster), indicating that the 9850X3D is at the top of the desktop CPU hierarchy.

The CPU's specifications are equally impressive. It features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It has a 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is a massive pool of high-speed memory that benefits gaming workloads. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. However, in The Medium, these capabilities are irrelevant because the frame rates are dictated by the GPU. The data shows that across all settings and resolutions, the FPS values are consistently low, with the highest average being 46 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a wider variance between resolutions at the same settings, but the drop from 1080p Low (46 FPS) to 1440p Low (39 FPS) to 4K Low (30 FPS) is a classic signature of a GPU bottleneck.

The CPU's performance headroom is so vast that it could easily handle higher frame rates, but the Arc B370 cannot deliver them. The Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 3551 and single-core score of 343 further demonstrate the CPU's dominance. This is a case where the processor's 120 W TDP and top-tier benchmarks are wasted, as the game only requires a fraction of its compute capability. The data indicates that upgrading the GPU would yield massive performance gains, while the CPU would have no trouble keeping up with a much faster graphics card. In this specific pairing, the CPU is not a contributing factor to the poor performance; it is a spectator to the GPU's struggle.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in The Medium?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with the Low preset is the only configuration that provides a playable experience, achieving an average of 46 FPS. All other settings at this resolution fall below 30 FPS, and higher resolutions only reduce performance further.

Q: How does the 4K performance compare to 1080p at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 46 FPS at 1080p to 30 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 16 FPS or roughly 35%. At Medium settings, the drop is from 29 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 10 FPS.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D the reason for the low frame rates?

A: No. The CPU is a top-tier processor, ranking in the 92nd percentile. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900, is only 0.5% slower. The low frame rates are directly caused by the Intel Arc B370 GPU, which ranks in the 5th percentile.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 1440p achieves an average of 39 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves only 14 FPS. This is a 25 FPS difference, demonstrating the massive performance cost of the Ultra settings on this GPU.

Q: How does this system rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The combination ranks 2681 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested. This confirms that the hardware is fundamentally underpowered for this game.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The data shows a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS, with an average of 29 FPS. This narrow range indicates that the GPU is consistently hitting its performance ceiling without significant variance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, further confirming the GPU is the sole bottleneck. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 46 FPS at 1080p to 39 FPS at 1440p, and then to 30 FPS at 4K. This is a reduction of 7 FPS (15%) from 1080p to 1440p, and another 9 FPS (23%) from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 16 FPS, representing a 35% decrease in performance. This scaling is consistent with the GPU's fillrate limitations, as the pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s is severely taxed by the four-fold increase in pixel count from 1080p to 4K.

The same pattern holds for the other settings. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 29 at 1080p to 24 at 1440p to 19 at 4K. At High settings, it goes from 21 at 1080p to 17 at 1440p to 14 at 4K. At Ultra settings, it goes from 16 at 1080p to 14 at 1440p to 11 at 4K. In every case, the frame rate drops as resolution increases, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload does not scale with pixel count. The fact that the frame rates consistently drop with resolution proves that the Arc B370's rendering pipeline is saturated.

The scaling is also non-linear, with a proportionally larger drop occurring between 1440p and 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p. For Low settings, the 1080p to 1440p drop is 7 FPS, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 9 FPS. This suggests that the GPU's memory bandwidth, being system shared and dependent, becomes even more of a limiting factor at higher resolutions where the data footprint is larger. The data shows that this system is only marginally capable at 1080p Low, and any attempt to increase resolution or settings results in an immediate and severe performance penalty. The scaling analysis leaves no doubt: the limiting component is the GPU, and its weakness is exacerbated by every increase in rendering resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average FPS for each resolution and settings combination tested.

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 46 FPS average
• Medium: 29 FPS average, with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS
• High: 21 FPS average
• Ultra: 16 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 39 FPS average
• Medium: 24 FPS average, with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS
• High: 17 FPS average
• Ultra: 14 FPS average

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 30 FPS average
• Medium: 19 FPS average, with a minimum of 16 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS
• High: 14 FPS average
• Ultra: 11 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy. The 1080p Low setting is the only point where the average FPS exceeds 40, and it is the only playable configuration. The 1080p Medium setting (29 FPS) and 1440p Low setting (39 FPS) are the only other configurations that approach playability, but both fall short of the 30 FPS standard. All other combinations fall below 25 FPS, with the 4K Ultra setting being the absolute worst at 11 FPS. The min/max data for the Medium settings shows a tight range of 7-9 FPS variance, indicating stable but low performance. The gap between the Low and Ultra presets is consistent across resolutions, with a difference of 30 FPS at 1080p, 25 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. This decreasing delta suggests that at lower resolutions, the settings have a more pronounced impact, while at 4K, the resolution itself is the dominant constraint. Every measured data point confirms that this hardware combination is fundamentally unsuited for The Medium beyond the most minimal graphical settings.