The Medium

The Medium, a fixed-camera horror title built on a heavily GPU-bound rendering path, presents an extreme challenge for the Intel Arc B390 integrated graphics paired with the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X. The measured data shows a system that is fundamentally constrained by its graphics solution, regardless of the processor's capabilities. Across all resolutions and presets, the average frame rates remain in the low double digits to mid-fifties, indicating that the experience is consistently limited by the GPU's fill rate and shading power rather than by the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data indicates a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 51 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches playability. Moving up to Medium at the same resolution drops the average to 32 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 23 FPS and 18 FPS, respectively. The relative scaling is steep; the jump from Low to Medium represents roughly a 37% reduction in frame rate, and the progression to Ultra from Medium is a further 44% decline.

For 1440p, the pattern persists but with a lower ceiling. Low yields 43 FPS on average, Medium 27 FPS, High 19 FPS, and Ultra 15 FPS. At 4K, the situation becomes dire; Low produces 34 FPS, Medium 21 FPS, High 15 FPS, and Ultra drops to just 12 FPS. Given that the data shows no preset at any resolution that consistently holds above 60 FPS, the recommendation is to prioritize the Low preset. At 1080p, this is the only setting that provides a frame rate above the 30 FPS threshold, which is typically considered the minimum for a playable experience in a slow-paced horror title.

The Medium preset, while offering a modest visual upgrade, does not provide a playable experience at any resolution, with its best result being 32 FPS at 1080p. The High and Ultra presets are effectively non-viable, as they consistently produce averages in the teens or low twenties, which would result in stuttery and unresponsive gameplay. Therefore, for any attempt at playing The Medium with this hardware combination, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that yields an average frame rate high enough to be considered acceptable.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor with a 3 nm process node and a boost clock of 2500 MHz. Its shading units number 1536, supported by 48 texture mapping units and 24 render output units. The compute capability is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The memory is system shared, meaning its bandwidth is directly dependent on the host system’s RAM, which is a significant bottleneck for a title like The Medium that relies on high-resolution textures.

The GPU’s benchmark percentile is 9th among all tested GPUs, placing it in the lowest decile of performance. Its average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482 points. The nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 points, and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 points. The Arc B390 is only 1.3% faster than the GT 520MX and 1.5% faster than the 800M, illustrating that its performance class is comparable to entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago.

This GPU-centric bottleneck is starkly evident in the measured FPS data. The fact that lowering the resolution from 1080p to 4K at the Low preset only reduces the average frame rate from 51 FPS to 34 FPS shows that the GPU is not just fill-rate limited but also heavily dependent on the resolution’s pixel count. The game’s fixed-camera angles and complex volumetric effects, typical of the horror genre, place a high load on the shading units, which this GPU cannot handle at higher quality settings. The data shows that the GPU is the sole limiting factor, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the number of pixels being rendered.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The processor’s benchmark results show it is a high-end part, with a percentile ranking of 92nd among all CPUs. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 32172, and its single-core score is 2253. In Geekbench, it achieves 22174 multi-core and 3010 single-core. These numbers place it firmly in the top tier of consumer processors.

Given this CPU’s immense computational power, its role in The Medium’s performance is entirely passive. The measured frame rates show no indication of CPU limitation; the FPS does not improve when the resolution is lowered, which would typically happen if the CPU were the bottleneck. Instead, the frame rates drop as resolution increases, confirming the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU’s 64 MB of L3 cache and DDR5 memory support are more than sufficient to handle the game’s logic and streaming, but they cannot compensate for the GPU’s lack of raw throughput.

The data suggests that the Ryzen 9 9900X is not being utilized to its potential in this configuration. In a system with a capable discrete GPU, this processor would likely deliver significantly higher frame rates. However, in this pairing, the CPU sits mostly idle, waiting for the Arc B390 to complete its rendering tasks. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900 with an average score of 58115, show that the Ryzen 9 9900X is in a similar performance class, but this does not translate into any tangible benefit for The Medium due to the GPU bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested, which is a direct reflection of the GPU’s low performance percentile. The CPU’s high percentile of 92 does not boost the combo’s ranking because the game’s performance is almost entirely dependent on the graphics solution.

This poor ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data. A combo ranking this low suggests that the system is outmatched by the vast majority of other configurations, including those with mid-range CPUs and entry-level discrete GPUs. The data indicates that the combo is not suitable for running The Medium at acceptable performance levels, as even the best-case scenario (1080p Low) yields an average of only 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for a smooth experience.

The discrepancy between the CPU’s high ranking and the combo’s low ranking highlights a severe system imbalance. The Ryzen 9 9900X is a top-tier processor, but it is paired with a GPU that is in the bottom 10th percentile. This creates a situation where the system’s gaming performance is dictated entirely by its weakest link, making the powerful CPU effectively redundant for this specific title. The combo rank serves as a cautionary data point about matching high-end CPUs with integrated graphics.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior across resolutions provides clear evidence of a GPU-bound system. At the Low preset, the average FPS moves from 51 at 1080p, to 43 at 1440p, and finally to 34 at 4K. This represents a 16% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 33% drop from 1080p to 4K. For a GPU-bound scenario, this scaling is expected, as the number of pixels increases by 78% from 1080p to 1440p and by 300% from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate does not drop proportionally, indicating that other factors like memory bandwidth and shading complexity also play a role.

For the Medium preset, the averages are 32 FPS at 1080p, 27 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 34%, which is similar to the Low preset. The Ultra preset shows a more dramatic decline, with 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. The fact that the Ultra preset at 4K is only 12 FPS, while Low at 1080p is 51 FPS, shows that the GPU is overwhelmed by the combination of high settings and high pixel count.

This scaling pattern confirms that the limiting component is the GPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU would be doing the same amount of work regardless of the output resolution. The data shows a consistent decline in FPS as resolution increases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-limited system. The Arc B390’s system-shared memory also contributes to this, as the bandwidth becomes more constrained with higher resolutions that require larger framebuffers.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS for each preset is as follows: Low yields 51 FPS, Medium yields 32 FPS, High yields 23 FPS, and Ultra yields 18 FPS. The Medium preset has recorded minimum and maximum FPS of 27 and 37, respectively, showing some variance but remaining firmly in the unplayable range for smooth action. The Low preset is the only one that breaks the 30 FPS barrier, providing a marginally playable experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the data shows a shift downward. The Low preset averages 43 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS with a min-max range of 23 to 31, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The Medium preset’s maximum of 31 FPS is still below the ideal 60 FPS target, and the average of 27 FPS is below the 30 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for a consistent experience.

At 3840x2160, the performance is critically low. The Low preset averages 34 FPS, Medium averages 21 FPS with a min-max range of 18 to 24, High averages 15 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. The data shows that even at the lowest settings, 4K resolution pushes the GPU to its limits, resulting in frame rates that are only suitable for screenshots, not gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 12 FPS, is effectively a slideshow.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this system in The Medium?

A: The data shows that the Low preset at 1920x1080 yields an average of 51 FPS, which is the highest average across all measured configurations. All other presets at any resolution produce averages below 43 FPS, making Low at 1080p the only viable option for a remotely playable experience.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X or the Intel Arc B390 the bottleneck?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the limiting component. The frame rates scale consistently with resolution, dropping from 51 FPS at 1080p Low to 34 FPS at 4K Low. This is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck, as the CPU’s workload does not change based on resolution.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 perform compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 points. It is 1.3% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 points, and 1.5% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, which scores 1460 points. This places it in a very low performance tier.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking for The Medium?

A: The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and the Arc B390 ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combos. This puts it in the bottom 11% of all systems, reflecting the GPU’s limited capabilities despite the CPU’s high performance.

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 4K, even the Low preset only achieves an average of 34 FPS. The Medium preset averages 21 FPS, while High and Ultra are 15 FPS and 12 FPS, respectively. These frame rates are too low for a playable experience at that resolution.

Q: Why does the CPU’s high benchmark score not help in this game?

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X has a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a percentile ranking of 92. However, The Medium is heavily GPU-bound, and the Arc B390’s 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is insufficient to handle the game’s rendering load. The CPU’s power is irrelevant when the GPU cannot produce frames fast enough.