The Medium

The data for The Medium on the Intel Core i5-12400 with the Intel Arc B580 reveals a system that is heavily constrained by graphics workload, with the CPU showing headroom even at lower resolutions. The measured frames per second (FPS) across the three tested resolutions paints a clear picture: this is a GPU-bound pairing for most settings, though the gap between Low and Ultra presets suggests a significant performance scaling curve that warrants investigation.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent, indicating that the Arc B580 is the primary limiting factor. At Low settings, the system delivers 89 FPS at 1920x1080, which falls to 72.1 FPS at 2560x1440 (a reduction of 18.9%), and then to 60.5 FPS at 3840x2160 (a further reduction of 16.1% from 1440p). This scaling shows that even on the lowest preset, the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates as pixel count increases, with the 4K result being just 68% of the 1080p performance.

The pattern becomes more severe at higher settings. With the High preset, the average FPS drops from 38.3 at 1080p to 30.9 at 1440p, and finally to 28.1 at 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic degradation: 33.9 FPS at 1080p, 27.4 FPS at 1440p, and a barely playable 21.9 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the game’s higher presets introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading resources, rather than the CPU. The data implies that at 1080p, the i5-12400 can feed the B580 adequately, but the GPU’s compute capacity becomes the bottleneck as resolution climbs, particularly noticeable in the 4K Ultra figure which is nearly 36% lower than the 1080p Ultra result.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings 6 cores and 12 threads to the table, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its architecture, Alder Lake-S, is built on a 10 nm process, and the processor uses an 18 MB shared L3 cache. Benchmark results show a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a max-thread score of 5890, placing it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs. In the context of The Medium, these specifications appear more than sufficient, as the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is nearly uniform across settings, suggesting the CPU is not the limiting component.

At 1080p Low, the system hits 89 FPS, but this is the only scenario where the CPU might start to feel pressure; the drop to 60.5 FPS at 4K Low is a 32% decline, which is less about CPU capability and more about GPU fill rate. The i5-12400’s nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-9700 (with an average score delta of 0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-11600K (delta of 0.4%), show that this chip is competitively positioned. In this game, the data indicates that the CPU’s 12 threads are adequate for handling the game’s logic and draw calls, as the frame rate differences between 1080p and 1440p at Medium (54.1 down to 45.6) are modest and align with GPU-bound behavior. The CPU’s performance is not the story here; it simply provides a stable platform for the Arc B580 to operate within its limits.

Settings Recommendations

For a balanced experience, the Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 54.1 FPS, which is a 42% improvement over High (38.3 FPS) and only a 9% drop from Low (89 FPS) — but with likely better visual fidelity. At 1440p, Medium hits 45.6 FPS, which is playable for a horror title, while High drops to 30.9 FPS. At 4K, Medium falls to 36.2 FPS, which is borderline but still better than High (28.1 FPS) and far superior to Ultra (21.9 FPS).

The Low preset offers the highest frame rates — 89 FPS at 1080p, 72.1 FPS at 1440p, and 60.5 FPS at 4K — making it the only viable option for 4K at a smooth 60 Hz refresh. However, the jump from Low to Medium is substantial in terms of visual quality in a game like The Medium, which relies on atmospheric lighting and shadows. Given the data, the recommendation is to use Medium for 1080p and 1440p if you prioritize a stable 45-55 FPS experience, and to reserve Low for 4K. Ultra is not recommended, as even at 1080p it only achieves 33.9 FPS, which is below the threshold for a comfortable experience. The measured rows show that High is a poor middle ground, offering only marginal gains over Medium in some cases while costing significant performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1311 out of 1689 tested combos for The Medium. This places it in the bottom 22% of all system pairings, which is a notable position given the individual components’ standings. The GPU itself is in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, and the CPU is in the 77th percentile, yet their combined performance in this specific game is underwhelming relative to the broader database. This discrepancy suggests that The Medium is particularly demanding on the Arc B580’s architecture, or that the driver overhead for this Intel GPU on this title is higher than average.

Compared to the GPU’s nearest rivals, the Arc B580’s average benchmark score of 23021 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon 760M (22999, delta 0.1%) and the NVIDIA P106-100 (22950, delta 0.3%), but it trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (23181, delta -0.7%). The ranking implies that in this game, the combo performs worse than what the raw benchmark scores would predict, likely due to the game’s specific rendering techniques that may not align with the B580’s Xe2-HPG architecture. For a system aiming for high-end play, this rank signals that users should expect frame rates below the median for this title, reinforcing the need to rely on lower presets for acceptable performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage) using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. The GPU has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a base and boost clock of 2670 MHz. Its FP32 performance is 13.67 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

In The Medium, the GPU’s 12 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for the game’s textures, even at 4K, but the data suggests that the memory bandwidth and compute throughput are the limiting factors. The drop from Low to Medium at 4K is significant (60.5 to 36.2 FPS, a 40% reduction), indicating that the GPU is heavily taxed by the additional shading and post-processing effects. The B580’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068 and PassMark G3D score of 15748 reflect its mid-range positioning, but in this horror title, the performance is closer to lower-tier rivals. The RTX 4060, which is just 0.7% ahead in average benchmark score, would likely perform better here based on the combo rank, but the data only shows the measured FPS for the B580. The GPU’s 190 W TDP and 8-pin power connector suggest it is a power-efficient card, but that efficiency does not translate to high frame rates in this workload. The evidence points to the Arc B580 being the bottleneck across all settings, with the CPU offering minimal assistance in overcoming these frame rate ceilings.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all presets are playable, with Low hitting 89 FPS and Medium at 54.1 FPS.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?*

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 60.5 FPS. At Medium, 4K drops to 36.2 FPS, and at Ultra it falls to 21.9 FPS, which is not a smooth experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400’s average benchmark score is 19850, which is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-9700 (19831, delta 0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (19894, delta -0.2%).

Q: Is the GPU more powerful than an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060?

A: In average benchmark score, the Arc B580 (23021) is slightly lower than the RTX 4060 (23181), with a delta of -0.7%, indicating a very close performance level.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Low delivers 72.1 FPS, while Ultra delivers 27.4 FPS, representing a 62% drop in performance when moving to the highest preset.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU in this setup?

A: The data shows a GPU-bound scenario, as FPS scales inversely with resolution and settings, while the CPU’s 12 threads and boost clock of 4.40 GHz appear to provide adequate headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 89 FPS on Low, 54.1 FPS on Medium, 38.3 FPS on High, and 33.9 FPS on Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 34.9 FPS, which is the largest jump in the resolution, indicating that Medium adds significant visual effects that cost performance.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 72.1 FPS on Low, 45.6 FPS on Medium, 30.9 FPS on High, and 27.4 FPS on Ultra. Here, the gap between Low and Medium narrows to 26.5 FPS, while High and Ultra are only 3.5 FPS apart, suggesting diminishing returns at higher presets.

At 3840x2160, the numbers are 60.5 FPS on Low, 36.2 FPS on Medium, 28.1 FPS on High, and 21.9 FPS on Ultra. This resolution shows the steepest relative drop from Low to Ultra, with a 63.8% reduction in FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, highlighting the GPU’s struggle with the highest pixel count and settings. The progression across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: Low is always playable, Medium is acceptable at 1080p and 1440p, and High/Ultra are only viable at 1080p for users who prioritize visuals over frame rate.