The Medium

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a very constrained experience in The Medium, with the measured frame rates indicating that playable settings are limited to the lowest presets. Based on the data, the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, delivering 46 FPS at 1080p. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 29 FPS, a significant 17 FPS reduction, which places it below the threshold for comfortable play. At higher resolutions, the Low preset also struggles, with 39 FPS at 1440p and 30 FPS at 4K. Therefore, the best experience per the measured rows is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which offers the highest average frame rate and the only setting that keeps the game playable without major compromises.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo reveals a clear hierarchy: the Low preset is the only one that yields an average frame rate above 40 FPS, specifically 46 FPS at 1080p. The Medium preset at 1080p drops to 29 FPS, which is a substantial loss of 17 FPS, or roughly 37% lower than Low. This indicates that the step from Low to Medium is not a minor adjustment but a major performance cliff. The High preset at 1080p further reduces the average to 21 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields just 16 FPS, both of which are below the standard for smooth gameplay.

The data suggests that the game engine's visual fidelity scaling is heavily taxing on this hardware. For any resolution above 1080p, even the Low preset fails to maintain 60 FPS, with 1440p producing 39 FPS and 4K producing 30 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p yields 24 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 19 FPS. The High and Ultra presets become nearly unplayable at 1440p and 4K, with averages ranging from 14 to 17 FPS. Consequently, the optimal experience is strictly confined to the Low preset at 1080p. This is the only configuration where the average FPS exceeds 45, providing a playable, albeit visually modest, experience.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution, as indicated by its bus interface and slot width, and its performance data shows a very low standing. Its average benchmark score is 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. This is reflected in its nearest rivals, which are older discrete cards like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 and the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, with the Arc B370 scoring 0.5% lower and 0.2% lower than these respective cards. The GPU's memory is marked as "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's main memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," which can be a bottleneck for texture-heavy scenes.

The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with an FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. These specifications, while indicating a capable integrated unit for basic tasks, are insufficient for demanding games like The Medium at higher settings. The measured FPS data confirms this, as the average frame rates drop drastically when moving from Low to Ultra settings. The GPU is clearly the limiting factor in this combo, as the CPU's performance is not the primary constraint at these low frame rates. The data shows that the GPU is unable to handle the increased shader complexity and memory bandwidth demands of higher presets.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 46, which is achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the Medium preset at 1080p compare to the Low preset?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average FPS of 29, which is 17 FPS lower than the Low preset's 46 FPS, representing a significant performance drop.

*Q: Is this combo capable of running The Medium at 4K resolution with playable frame rates?*

A: At 3840x2160, the highest average FPS is 30, which occurs only on the Low preset. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets yield 19, 14, and 11 FPS respectively, which are not playable.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like on the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset has measured minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, it ranges from 24 to 33 FPS, at 1440p from 21 to 28 FPS, and at 4K from 16 to 22 FPS, indicating some variability but a stable downward trend with resolution.

Q: How does the GPU's overall performance ranking compare to other graphics cards?

A: The Intel Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its performance is nearly identical to older cards like the ATI Radeon HD 5770, which has a score of 1190.

Q: What is the impact of the GPU's shared memory architecture?

A: The GPU uses "System Shared" memory with "System Dependent" bandwidth, meaning it borrows from the main system RAM. This architecture is likely a contributing factor to the low performance, as it can limit the data throughput for high-resolution textures.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2681 out of 2911 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, indicating that it is a lower-performing configuration for this specific title. The combo's rank reflects the GPU's severe performance limitations, which drag down the overall capability of the system. The CPU, while not a top-tier performer, is not the primary cause of this low ranking.

The GPU's percentile of 5% against all GPUs is a strong indicator of its position. The CPU, by contrast, sits in the 71st percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. This disparity suggests that the CPU is relatively more capable than the GPU. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon HD 7650M and AMD FirePro M2000, have average scores of 1192 and 1168, respectively, with the Arc B370 being 0.7% slower and 1.4% faster than these cards. This shows that the GPU is performing in a class with hardware from over a decade ago. Consequently, the combo's overall rank is primarily a reflection of the GPU's low standing, as the data shows it cannot deliver the frame rates required for a good experience in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear trend of decreasing performance as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 46 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p (a 7 FPS drop) and then to 30 at 4K (a further 9 FPS drop). This represents a 35% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K. For the Medium preset, the averages are 29, 24, and 19 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively, showing a similar pattern of decline.

This scaling pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU, which has a multi-core score of 14340 in Cinebench R23, is likely not the bottleneck at these low frame rates. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is a direct result of the GPU having to render an increasing number of pixels. The fact that even the Low preset cannot maintain 60 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 30 FPS at 4K, shows that the GPU is overwhelmed by the resolution demands. The data implies that reducing the resolution is the most effective way to improve frame rates, while adjusting the settings has a similar but less pronounced effect. The consistent FPS deltas across resolutions suggest a linear scaling of the GPU's workload, further confirming it as the primary performance bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080 resolution, the measured average FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 46 FPS, Medium produces 29 FPS, High produces 21 FPS, and Ultra produces 16 FPS. The Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 24 and a maximum of 33. This shows a clear degradation in performance as the visual quality increases. The difference between Low and Ultra is a substantial 30 FPS, highlighting the GPU's inability to handle higher graphical loads.

Moving to 2560x1440 resolution, the average FPS decreases across all settings. The Low preset yields 39 FPS, Medium yields 24 FPS (with a min of 21 and max of 28), High yields 17 FPS, and Ultra yields 14 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most significant on the Low preset, losing 7 FPS. At 3840x2160, the performance is the lowest. The Low preset averages 30 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS (with a min of 16 and max of 22), High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The data indicates that only the Low preset at 1080p crosses the 45 FPS threshold, while all other configurations fall below 40 FPS, with many dropping into the teens and single digits. The frame time data for the Medium preset shows that the range between minimum and maximum FPS is relatively tight, suggesting a consistent, albeit low, frame rate rather than erratic stuttering.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. Its synthetic benchmarks show a balanced profile, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024. The CPU's average benchmark score is 17177, placing it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, which is a respectable position for a mid-range desktop processor.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that the system is heavily GPU-bound, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when increasing resolution or settings. The CPU's relatively high percentile ranking compared to the GPU's 5th percentile suggests that the processor has enough headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU is simply unable to render frames fast enough. For instance, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 46 FPS, which is a low number for a CPU like the i5-11400F, further indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 12 threads are likely sufficient for the game's logic and physics, but the graphics workload is what dictates the final frame rate. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield a significant performance increase, while the CPU would not be a bottleneck in such a scenario.