The Medium

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B580 combination presents a curious case for The Medium, a game known for its fixed camera angles and heavy atmosphere. The benchmark data shows a pairing where a top-tier CPU is mated with a mid-range GPU, and the resulting frame rates reveal a system that is overwhelmingly limited by graphics processing. The measured FPS across resolutions tells a story of a GPU pushed to its limits, while the CPU sits largely idle, making this a study in bottleneck dynamics.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from the measured rows shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, pointing directly at the Intel Arc B580 as the primary limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 88 FPS, which drops to 74 FPS at 1440p and further to 58 FPS at 4K. This pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario where the rendering load scales with pixel count. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is a 15.9% reduction, while the jump from 1440p to 4K is a 21.6% reduction, showing that the GPU is not hitting a hard wall at any specific resolution but rather degrading gracefully under increasing load.

The scaling becomes more telling when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the system produces 40 FPS, which falls to 33 FPS at 1440p (a 17.5% drop) and then to 26 FPS at 4K (a 21.2% drop). The consistent percentage losses across resolution steps indicate that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the constraining factors. The Arc B580's 456.0 GB/s bandwidth and 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance are simply insufficient to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions when the visual fidelity is increased.

The most dramatic scaling occurs with the Ultra preset, which is practically unplayable at any resolution. The data shows 31 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The fact that even at 1080p Ultra the system fails to hit 60 FPS confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D, with its 12 cores and 24 threads, has ample headroom for this title, as evidenced by its high Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737, but that power is irrelevant when the GPU cannot keep up with the rendering demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's overall ranking in The Medium is 2191 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the 25th percentile of all system configurations. This ranking is not surprising given the GPU's performance tier. The Intel Arc B580 holds a percentileVsAllGpus of 68, meaning it outperforms 68% of all GPUs in the database, yet it is paired with a CPU that sits in the 91st percentile. This mismatch explains the low combo rank; the system's potential is capped by its graphics card.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals, the Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is remarkably close to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, which scores 22895 with a deltaPct of 0.6, meaning the B580 is slightly faster. However, the RTX 2080 is a card from a previous generation, and modern games like The Medium often favor newer architectures. The data also shows the Arc B580 is within 0.7% of the RTX 3080's score of 23172, which is an outlier given the RTX 3080's reputation, but the benchmark data is clear. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with a score of 55093 and a deltaPct of -0.6, are essentially tied with the 9900X3D, indicating that the CPU choice has no meaningful impact on the game's performance. The frame rates are entirely dictated by the GPU.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run The Medium at 60 FPS on any settings?*

A: No. The measured data shows that the highest average FPS achieved is 88 at 1080p with Low settings. All other settings and resolutions produce average frame rates below 60 FPS, including 74 FPS at 1440p Low and 58 FPS at 4K Low.

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

A: Based on the data, 1080p is the only resolution where playable frame rates are achievable. At 1080p with Low settings, the system reaches 88 FPS, and with Medium settings, it hits 55 FPS. Higher resolutions at any setting fail to provide a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D has an average benchmark score of 54762, which is 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF's score of 55093. It is also 1.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K's score of 54053, showing these CPUs are effectively in the same performance class.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly even at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 1080p yields only 31 FPS, which is a 43.6% drop from the High preset's 40 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra settings place a significant additional load on the Intel Arc B580's shading units and memory subsystem, overwhelming its 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B580 a better performer than the RTX 2080?

A: According to the benchmark data, the Arc B580 has an average score of 23021, while the RTX 2080 scores 22895. The deltaPct of 0.6 indicates the Arc B580 is 0.6% faster in general benchmarks, but the difference is negligible for gaming purposes.

Q: What is the role of the game's release date in these results?

A: The Medium was released on 2021-01-27, making it a relatively older title. The game's fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds are not particularly demanding on modern CPUs, which explains why the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's raw power has no bearing on the measured FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of the system's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1080p, the system delivers its best results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 88, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. Medium settings at 1080p produce an average of 55 FPS, with a minimum of 47 and a maximum of 64, showing some variance but remaining consistently playable. High settings drop the average to 40 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 31 FPS.

Moving to 1440p, the performance degrades noticeably. Low settings yield 74 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium settings drop to 47 FPS with a range of 40 to 54. High settings produce 33 FPS, and Ultra settings are nearly unplayable at 26 FPS. The 4K results are the weakest, with Low settings achieving 58 FPS, Medium at 37 FPS (31 to 42), High at 26 FPS, and Ultra at 21 FPS. The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Low and Medium is roughly 30 FPS at 1080p, but this narrows to 21 FPS at 4K, suggesting that the GPU is becoming saturated at higher resolutions and the settings have less relative impact.

The minimum and maximum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 47 to 64, which is a 36.2% variance, indicating some frame pacing issues. At 1440p, the range narrows to 40 to 54, and at 4K, it is 31 to 42. This data suggests that the Medium preset is the most stable option, with frame times that are more consistent than other presets, even though the average FPS is not the highest.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's specifications are central to understanding its performance in The Medium. The GPU is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Its base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz, which is a modest clock speed for a modern GPU. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

The GPU's compute capabilities are rated at 13.67 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. In The Medium, this translates to the frame rates seen in the measured data. The game's rendering engine, with its fixed camera angles, relies heavily on pixel shading and memory bandwidth. The Arc B580's 80 ROPs are responsible for the final pixel output, and at 4K, the pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s is simply not enough to maintain high FPS. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 68 confirms that it is a mid-range performer, and the nearest rivals, including the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080, show that it trades blows with older high-end cards but does not surpass them.

The GPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks, such as a Passmark G3D score of 15748, supports the gaming results. The fact that the Arc B580's average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the RTX 2080's 22895 indicates that this is a card designed for 1080p and 1440p gaming, not for 4K. The data shows that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck in this combo, as the frame rates scale inversely with resolution and settings in a way that is characteristic of a GPU-limited system.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is an exceptionally powerful processor that plays a minimal role in this game's performance. With 12 cores, 24 threads, and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, the CPU has more than enough processing power for any gaming workload. Its 128 MB of L3 cache is a standout feature, designed to improve gaming performance by reducing memory latency. However, in The Medium, the data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking.

The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739. The Geekbench multicore score of 22884 and single-core score of 3041 further confirm its high performance. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 91 indicates that it outperforms 91% of all CPUs in the database. Yet, when paired with the Arc B580, these scores have no bearing on the game's FPS. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 12490 and max-thread score of 13795 show that the CPU can handle heavy multi-threaded workloads, but The Medium is not one of them.

The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF with a deltaPct of -0.6, show that the 9900X3D is not significantly faster than much cheaper alternatives in general benchmarks. This is a key insight: for this game, the CPU is overkill. The system would likely perform identically with a much less powerful processor, as the frame rates are entirely dictated by the Arc B580. The CPU's base clock of 4.40 GHz and boost of 5.50 GHz are more than sufficient to feed the GPU, and the data confirms that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution or settings combination.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the user's preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. For a target of 60 FPS, the only viable option is 1080p with Low settings, which achieves 88 FPS. This setting is ideal for players who prioritize smoothness and responsiveness. At 1440p, Low settings achieve 74 FPS, which is also above 60 FPS and offers a higher resolution, making it a strong alternative for users with 1440p monitors.

For a balance between visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p is the best choice. It produces an average of 55 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS target, and the data shows a stable frame time range of 47 to 64. The Medium preset at 1440p, with an average of 47 FPS, is playable but may feel slightly less smooth for action sequences. The High preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it only achieves 40 FPS at 1080p and drops below 30 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable on this system. Even at 1080p, it only manages 31 FPS, which is below the threshold for a comfortable experience. The data indicates that the visual improvements from High to Ultra do not justify the massive performance hit. The best experience is arguably the Low preset at 1440p, which offers a high resolution and 74 FPS, or the Medium preset at 1080p for those who want better visuals without sacrificing too much performance. The measured rows show that the Medium preset is the sweet spot, offering the most consistent frame times across all resolutions.