The Medium

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

The Intel Arc B570 brings a 10 GB GDDR6 memory pool across a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base and boost clocks are both locked at 2500 MHz, which is an unusual configuration — there is no dynamic clock spread for the GPU to exploit under load. The memory runs at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective), and the card is built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. The shading units number 2304, paired with 144 texture mapping units and 80 render output units, while 18 ray tracing cores handle the game's visual effects.

The B570's FP32 throughput sits at 11.52 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 23.04 TFLOPS via the 2:1 ratio. Pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s. Against the broader GPU landscape, this card lands in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals in synthetic tests are remarkably close: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (just 0.1% behind), while the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (0.1% ahead). The Quadro M4000M and Radeon R9 M390X sit at 20480 and 20662 respectively, with deltas of 0.4% and -0.5%.

For The Medium, the data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher settings. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 28 FPS; at 4K Ultra, it drops to 18 FPS. This pattern points to the B570's raw compute being stretched thin by the game's heavier presets. The 10 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for the game's textures, but the 160-bit bus and 380 GB/s bandwidth may limit performance when resolution scaling demands more memory throughput. The fixed 2500 MHz clock means the card cannot dynamically boost to compensate for load spikes, so frame rates remain relatively flat within each settings tier.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern across resolutions. Starting with Low settings, the combo delivers 78 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. That is a drop of 12 FPS (15.4%) from 1080p to 1440p, and another 14 FPS (21.2%) from 1440p to 4K. The total loss from 1080p to 4K is 26 FPS, or 33.3% — meaning the GPU retains roughly two-thirds of its 1080p performance at the highest resolution.

Medium settings show a steeper decline. At 1080p, the average is 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 and maximum of 56. At 1440p, that falls to 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), a drop of 8 FPS. At 4K, the average hits 32 FPS (min 27, max 37), another 9 FPS lower. The percentage loss from 1080p to 4K is about 34.7%, closely mirroring the Low settings pattern.

High settings present a more concerning picture. The averages are 35 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K. The incremental drops are 6 FPS and 6 FPS respectively, with a total loss of 12 FPS (34.3%) from 1080p to 4K. Ultra settings, however, show the steepest absolute decline: 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K — a 10 FPS or 35.7% reduction across the three resolutions.

The consistency of these percentage losses — all hovering around 33-36% — is telling. It suggests that the scaling bottleneck is resolution-bound rather than settings-bound. The GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed proportionally as pixel count rises, regardless of whether the game runs at Low or Ultra. The B570's 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate appears to be the limiting factor; at 4K, the pixel workload quadruples from 1080p, and the card simply cannot keep pace. The frame rate halving from 1080p Low to 4K Low (78 to 52) reinforces that this is a raw throughput ceiling, not a settings-induced artifact.

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

The measured data offers a clear hierarchy for playability. At 1080p, Low settings produce a comfortable 78 FPS average, which is the highest measured across any resolution or preset. Medium settings at 1080p yield 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 — still playable for a horror title where reaction times matter less than atmosphere. High settings at 1080p drop to 35 FPS, and Ultra falls to 28 FPS, both of which border on uncomfortable for sustained gameplay.

At 1440p, the story changes. Low settings average 66 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35, making it the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. High settings at 1440p produce 29 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS — both below the threshold for fluid motion. The 1440p Medium preset, with its recorded range of 35-47 FPS, appears to be the sweet spot for this combo.

At 4K, the options narrow considerably. Low settings average 52 FPS, which is playable but visually sparse. Medium averages 32 FPS with a range of 27-37, and High drops to 23 FPS with Ultra at 18 FPS. The 4K Low setting is the only 4K preset that stays above 30 FPS, and even then it barely does so. For users prioritizing resolution over fidelity, 4K Low is the only viable choice; for those wanting balanced visuals, 1440p Medium offers the best compromise between the 41 FPS average and the 35 FPS floor.

The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most stable experience across all resolutions. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for Medium presets (35 at 1440p, 27 at 4K, 41 at 1080p), suggesting that this is the tier where frame pacing remains consistent enough to measure. Low settings likely have wider variance, while High and Ultra are so GPU-bound that they consistently underperform. The recommendation is to prioritize Medium at 1440p or 1080p, with Low reserved for 4K or for users who demand the highest frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this GPU and CPU?

A: Based on the measured data, 1080p Low delivers the highest average at 78 FPS, while 1440p Medium offers the best balance at 41 FPS average (35-47 range). 4K Low is the only 4K preset exceeding 30 FPS, averaging 52 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The B570's average benchmark score is 20556. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (0.1% higher), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 20662 (0.5% higher), and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 20480 (0.4% lower).

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 49 at 1080p to 41 at 1440p to 32 at 4K. The total loss from 1080p to 4K is 17 FPS, or approximately 34.7% of the 1080p performance.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D a high-performing CPU relative to others?

A: The CPU sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 75779. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755, scores 75738 (0.1% lower), while the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 scores 75488 (0.4% lower).

Q: What is the launch MSRP for the Intel Arc B570?

A: The launch MSRP is 219 USD. The GPU has a 150 W TDP and requires a 450 W suggested power supply, with a dual-slot form factor and a single 8-pin power connector.

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

A: This combination of AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2321 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations tested for this game.

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

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using TSMC's 4 nm process. It has 16,630 million transistors across a 2x 70.6 mm² die, with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz. The TDP is 170 W, and it supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth. The L3 cache totals 128 MB, with 80 KB L1 and 1 MB L2 per core. PCIe Gen 5 connectivity is provided with 24 lanes, and integrated Radeon Graphics are present.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU demonstrates exceptional multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 42018, with a single-core score of 2259. Geekbench reports 26736 multicore and 3064 single-core. The 3DMark results show 16374 for 16 threads, 17184 for max threads, and 1292 for single-thread. PassMark scores include 70255 for multithread, 243209 for integer math, and 159724 for floating point math. The average benchmark score is 75779, placing it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs.

The nearest CPU rivals are tightly clustered. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 scores 75738 (0.1% lower), the Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D scores 75716 (0.1% lower), the EPYC 8224P scores 75582 (0.3% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 scores 75488 (0.4% lower). This means the 9950X3D is essentially at parity with its closest competitors, leading by less than half a percent.

For The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The game is a horror title with fixed camera angles and moderate CPU demands, and the 16-core/32-thread configuration provides far more processing headroom than the game likely requires. The high boost clock of 5.70 GHz helps with single-threaded tasks, but the benchmark data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor across all resolutions. The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache and 32 threads are unlikely to be fully utilized by this title, meaning the bottleneck is firmly on the graphics side. The near-parity with rival CPUs in synthetic tests suggests that swapping to a comparable processor would not meaningfully change The Medium's frame rates.

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

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are as follows: Low settings produce 78 FPS, Medium produces 49 FPS (with a range of 41 to 56), High produces 35 FPS, and Ultra produces 28 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at this resolution with recorded minimum and maximum values, indicating consistent frame pacing. The spread from Low to Ultra is 50 FPS, showing that settings choices have a dramatic impact at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the averages shift downward: Low delivers 66 FPS, Medium delivers 41 FPS (min 35, max 47), High delivers 29 FPS, and Ultra delivers 23 FPS. The Medium range of 35-47 shows a 12 FPS variance, which is tighter than the 15 FPS variance at 1080p. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 43 FPS, slightly less pronounced than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 52 FPS, Medium at 32 FPS (min 27, max 37), High at 23 FPS, and Ultra at 18 FPS. The Medium range at 4K is 10 FPS, the narrowest of all resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is hitting a consistent performance ceiling. The Low to Ultra spread is 34 FPS, the smallest across all resolutions.

Comparing across resolutions for each setting: Low goes from 78 to 66 to 52 (a 26 FPS total drop), Medium goes from 49 to 41 to 32 (17 FPS total), High goes from 35 to 29 to 23 (12 FPS total), and Ultra goes from 28 to 23 to 18 (10 FPS total). The absolute FPS drops shrink as settings increase, but the percentage losses remain consistent around 33-36%, reinforcing that resolution scaling is the dominant factor.

The data also reveals that the gap between Low and Ultra widens at lower resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra is 64.1% slower than Low (28 vs 78 FPS). At 1440p, Ultra is 65.2% slower (23 vs 66 FPS). At 4K, Ultra is 65.4% slower (18 vs 52 FPS). This consistency indicates that the settings-based performance penalty scales proportionally with resolution, rather than being additive.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2321 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. That places it in the 79.7th percentile of combinations tested — meaning roughly 20% of tested combos perform worse, and 80% perform better. The rank of 2321 puts this setup firmly in the lower-middle tier of the database.

The rank is somewhat surprising given the individual component strengths. The CPU sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Yet the combined performance in The Medium is below average. This discrepancy highlights the GPU-bound nature of this title; the powerful 9950X3D cannot compensate for the B570's limitations. The 16-core/32-thread processor is overkill for a game that likely uses only a fraction of its capacity, while the B570's 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth become the limiting factors.

The rank of 2321 also suggests that many combos with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs outperform this pairing. The data implies that for The Medium, GPU selection matters far more than CPU selection. A combo with a mid-range CPU and a higher-tier GPU would likely rank better, assuming the CPU can maintain minimum frame rates. The B570's nearest GPU rival, the Arc A750 (0.1% higher synthetic score), would likely produce nearly identical results, while a combo with a GPU in the 90th percentile or above would move this ranking substantially higher.

The fact that this combo ranks in the bottom 20% despite strong synthetic scores on both components underscores the importance of game-specific optimization. The Medium's fixed camera angles and horror aesthetics may not stress the CPU at all, leaving the B570 to handle all the visual work. The 18 ray tracing cores on the B570 are present, but the game's performance at Ultra settings (18 FPS at 4K) suggests that ray tracing or other advanced features are too demanding for this card. Users seeking better rankings in The Medium would need to consider a different GPU — the data shows that CPU upgrades from this point would yield negligible gains.