The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a severely GPU-bound experience in The Medium, resulting in framerates that are largely unplayable at most settings and resolutions. Benchmark data shows the combo ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems. While the CPU is a top-tier performer, the integrated graphics solution acts as a significant bottleneck, capping performance far below what the processor is capable of delivering.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, confirming that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component across all tested scenarios. At Low settings, average FPS falls from 51 at 1920x1080 to 43 at 2560x1440 and further to 34 at 3840x2160, representing an 18% decline from 1080p to 1440p and a 21% additional drop from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary constraint, as resolution increases directly translate to proportional framerate losses.

At Medium settings, the same trend emerges with average FPS decreasing from 32 at 1080p to 27 at 1440p and 21 at 4K. The minimum framerates at Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 27 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K. These minimums are particularly telling, as they suggest the system struggles to maintain consistent frame pacing even at lower resolutions, with the 4K minimum dipping to just 18 FPS.

High settings produce a more compressed range, with averages of 23 FPS at 1080p, 19 FPS at 1440p, and 15 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 35%, which is slightly less severe than the 33% drop at Low settings, suggesting that the GPU is already saturated at 1080p High and additional resolution increases yield diminishing returns relative to the already low baseline.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with average FPS of 18 at 1080p, 15 at 1440p, and 12 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is exactly 33%, mirroring the Low settings pattern. This consistent scaling across all quality presets strongly indicates that the integrated GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capacity are exhausted regardless of the graphical workload, making resolution the dominant factor in performance outcomes.

The overall pattern reveals that the Arc B390 cannot deliver playable framerates at any resolution above Low settings. Even at 1080p Low, the 51 FPS average is the only configuration that approaches acceptable smoothness, while every other setting/resolution combination falls below 43 FPS. The data suggests that users seeking higher visual quality would need to reduce resolution substantially, but even 1080p Medium at 32 FPS represents a significant compromise.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a total power draw of 80 W. The GPU features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical peak performance is 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32 operations and 15.36 TFLOPS for FP16 operations, with pixel and texture rates of 60.00 GPixel/s and 120.0 GTexel/s respectively.

In The Medium, the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% slower), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% slower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (2.7% slower). This competitive positioning makes clear that the Arc B390 sits at the very bottom of the graphics performance hierarchy, which explains its inability to maintain playable framerates in a demanding horror title like The Medium.

The GPU's memory configuration uses system shared memory, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." This means the graphics processor relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, creating a potential bottleneck for texture streaming and frame buffer operations. The shared memory architecture is particularly problematic for a game like The Medium, which uses fixed camera angles and high-resolution textures that require substantial memory bandwidth to render efficiently.

The boost clock of 2500 MHz is relatively high for an integrated solution, but the low pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s reveal that the GPU's fill rate capabilities are severely limited. The 24 ROPs are insufficient for 4K resolution rendering, where the sheer number of pixels to process overwhelms the rasterization pipeline. This explains why the framerate drops to 12 FPS at 4K Ultra, as the GPU cannot physically process the pixel throughput required at that resolution.

The ray tracing cores, while present, contribute little to The Medium's performance given the overall GPU limitations. The game's horror atmosphere relies on lighting effects, but the 12 RT cores cannot compensate for the fundamental throughput deficiencies of the shading units and ROPs. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility are technically advanced, but these API features do not translate into practical performance gains when the underlying hardware is this constrained.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D provides exceptional computational capability that far exceeds what the Arc B390 can utilize in The Medium. This 12-core, 24-thread processor based on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) operates at a base clock of 4.40 GHz and boosts up to 5.50 GHz, drawing 120 W TDP. Its 128 MB of L3 cache, combined with 1 MB L2 and 80 KB L1 per core, provides ample data locality for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its high-end positioning, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 47737 and single-core score of 6739. The Geekbench multi-core score of 22884 and single-core score of 3041 further confirm its strong performance. In 3DMark tests, the processor achieves 12490 with 16 threads, 9002 with 8 threads, 4885 with 4 threads, and 2512 with 2 threads, showing excellent scaling across thread counts. The PassMark multi-thread score of 56154 places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54762.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the 9900X3D shows tight competition. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF scores 55093, which is 0.6% lower, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K scores 54053, 1.3% lower. The Intel Xeon 6505P and Intel Core i7-14700F score 53701 and 53620 respectively, representing 2.0% and 2.1% deficits. These narrow margins indicate that while the 9900X3D leads its immediate competitors, the performance gap is minimal at the CPU level.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is largely theoretical because the GPU bottleneck prevents the processor from being exercised to its full potential. The game's fixed camera angles and scripted sequences place moderate demands on CPU resources, which the 9900X3D handles effortlessly. The 24 threads provide ample headroom for background processes and game engine threads, but the measured FPS values show that CPU utilization is not the limiting factor in any configuration.

The processor's 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth over dual-channel DDR5 would normally benefit a game like The Medium, which requires rapid data access for its atmospheric environments. However, the GPU's system shared memory architecture means both CPU and GPU compete for the same memory bandwidth, potentially creating contention that further limits performance. The 9900X3D's large L3 cache partially mitigates this by reducing main memory accesses for CPU-side workloads, but the GPU's demands remain unmet.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the best-case scenario for this combo, Low settings produce an average of 51 FPS, representing the only configuration that approaches playable framerates. Medium settings drop to 32 FPS average with minimums of 27 and maximums of 37. High settings yield 23 FPS average, while Ultra settings fall to 18 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra at 1080p spans 33 FPS, showing that graphical settings have a substantial impact even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance penalty becomes more pronounced. Low settings average 43 FPS, a 16% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 27 FPS with a range of 23 to 31 FPS. High settings produce 19 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 15 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 28 FPS, slightly narrower than at 1080p, indicating diminishing returns as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the framerates become largely unplayable across all settings. Low settings average 34 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration above 30 FPS. Medium settings average 21 FPS with a range of 18 to 24 FPS. High settings drop to 15 FPS average, and Ultra settings bottom out at 12 FPS. The 4K Low result of 34 FPS is technically playable but represents a significant visual compromise given the Low preset.

The Medium settings provide the most complete data with minimum and maximum values at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 27-37 FPS range shows moderate variance. At 1440p, the 23-31 FPS range tightens slightly. At 4K, the 18-24 FPS range demonstrates that even the minimum framerates are consistently below 25 FPS, making 4K Medium unsuitable for gameplay. The consistency of these ranges suggests the GPU maintains steady frame delivery rather than exhibiting spikes, but the absolute values remain too low for smooth play.

Across all resolutions, the progression from Low to Ultra settings shows a clear pattern: each step up in quality costs roughly 8-10 FPS at 1080p, 7-9 FPS at 1440p, and 6-7 FPS at 4K. This diminishing penalty at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the additional workload from higher settings becomes less impactful when the resolution already overwhelms the graphics processor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combinations in The Medium, placing it in the 11th percentile of all systems. This low ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the CPU's 91st percentile performance cannot compensate for the graphics processor's 9th percentile standing. The disparity between CPU and GPU capability creates a massive imbalance that severely limits real-world gaming performance.

The ranking data reveals that this combo performs worse than 88.6% of all tested systems, despite featuring a top-tier processor. This outcome demonstrates that in GPU-bound games like The Medium, the graphics solution dominates the performance equation regardless of CPU strength. The 2581st rank puts this system in the company of much older or lower-end configurations, as the Arc B390's integrated nature fundamentally restricts its gaming capabilities.

When considering the CPU's nearest rivals, the 9900X3D's slight performance advantage over the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (0.6%), Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (1.3%), Intel Xeon 6505P (2.0%), and Intel Core i7-14700F (2.1%) would theoretically provide a small edge in CPU-bound scenarios. However, in The Medium's measured results, these differences are entirely masked by the GPU bottleneck. The combo's rank would likely improve with a discrete GPU, but the data as measured reflects the severe limitation imposed by the Arc B390.

The GPU's nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% slower), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1.5% slower), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% slower), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (2.7% slower), all sit in a similar performance tier. This clustering at the bottom of the GPU hierarchy confirms that the Arc B390 is among the weakest graphics solutions available, making the 2581st rank unsurprising given the hardware combination.

The 2911 total tested combinations represent a wide spectrum of systems, and this combo's placement in the bottom 11% indicates that users would need to make substantial compromises to achieve playable framerates in The Medium. The only viable configuration is 1080p Low at 51 FPS, which sacrifices most visual quality for acceptable smoothness. Every other setting or resolution combination falls below 43 FPS, making the system unsuitable for the game's intended atmospheric experience.

FAQ

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

A: The only configuration that achieves playable framerates is 1920x1080 with Low settings, producing an average of 51 FPS. All other tested settings at 1080p fall below 32 FPS, and every 1440p and 4K configuration averages below 43 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D a bottleneck in The Medium?

A: No, the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 9900X3D's 91st percentile performance and 47737 Cinebench R23 multi-core score far exceed the demands of the game, but the GPU's 9th percentile standing creates a severe bottleneck that caps framerates.

Q: What framerate can users expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo averages 21 FPS with a minimum of 18 FPS and maximum of 24 FPS. This is below playable thresholds and represents a significant visual quality compromise even at the minimum resolution tested.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in The Medium?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 11% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Does the CPU's performance advantage over its rivals translate to better gaming results?

A: No, the CPU's 0.6% to 2.1% performance advantage over its nearest rivals is entirely masked by the GPU bottleneck. The measured FPS values in The Medium are determined almost exclusively by the Arc B390's limited graphics capabilities.