The Medium

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the Intel Arc B580 produces a middling result in The Medium, ranking 1321st out of 1689 tested combos. That places this configuration in the bottom quarter of all systems, a position driven almost entirely by the GPU’s inability to maintain playable frame rates at higher settings. The CPU itself is a strong performer—sitting at the 84th percentile among all processors—but the Arc B580, at the 66th percentile among GPUs, becomes the bottleneck in nearly every measured scenario. The data shows a system that can handle the game’s lower presets comfortably but falls apart under the weight of Ultra settings or 4K resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1321 out of 1689, this pairing sits in the 22nd percentile of all tested combinations for The Medium. That is a poor showing for a CPU that benchmarks well above average. The i5-12600KF’s average benchmark score of 27827 puts it statistically even with the Intel Core i9-10900K (deltaPct 0), the Intel Core i5-12600K (deltaPct -0.1), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H (deltaPct -0.2), while edging out the Intel Core i7-13700H by 0.4%. In synthetic tests, this CPU is clearly not the limiting factor. The Arc B580, however, tells a different story. Its average benchmark score of 23021 places it within 0.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, 0.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon 760M, and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA P106-100. Despite that competitive synthetic showing, the measured frame rates in The Medium reveal that the GPU cannot translate its compute potential into consistent gaming performance at higher loads. The ranking reflects this disconnect: the combo underperforms relative to what the CPU’s percentile would suggest, with the GPU dragging the overall result down.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF strong enough for this game?

A: Yes. The CPU sits at the 84th percentile of all processors and scores 23444 in Cinebench R23 multicore, which is more than sufficient for The Medium. The bottleneck is clearly the GPU, as frame rates drop dramatically when settings increase.

Q: How does the Arc B580 compare to the RTX 4060 in this pairing?

A: The Arc B580’s average benchmark score of 23021 is only 0.7% lower than the RTX 4060’s 23181. In practice, this near-parity in synthetic tests does not rescue the game’s frame rates, which remain low at high and ultra settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 87.8 FPS average, which is the only measured configuration that clears 60 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 75.3 FPS average, which is still playable. 4K is not viable except at Low settings, where it averages 55.9 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings?

A: No. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 33.9, which is below smooth playability. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 24.5 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 18.4 FPS. These numbers indicate the GPU is overwhelmed by the Ultra preset.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance factor in?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 3309 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is strong. The game’s frame rates scale poorly with resolution increases, confirming that the GPU, not the CPU, is the limiting component.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM of the Arc B580 an advantage here?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is ample for this game’s textures. The low frame rates at high settings are not due to VRAM capacity but rather the GPU’s compute throughput.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. From 1080p to 1440p at Low settings, average FPS drops from 87.8 to 75.3, a 14.2% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Low settings, the average falls further to 55.9, another 25.8% drop. This scaling curve is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where pixel count directly impacts performance. At High settings, the degradation is steeper: 1080p averages 38.1 FPS, 1440p drops to 36.0, and 4K falls to 26.0. The relative stability between 1080p and 1440p High (only a 5.5% decrease) suggests the GPU is already saturated at 1080p, and adding pixels has diminishing marginal impact until 4K. The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling, with 33.9 FPS at 1080p, 24.5 at 1440p, and 18.4 at 4K—a 45.7% total drop from 1080p to 4K. This indicates that at Ultra settings, the Arc B580 is operating far beyond its comfortable envelope, and every additional pixel causes a disproportionate performance penalty. The CPU’s strong multi-threaded scores (7956 in 3DMark 16-thread, 23444 in Cinebench R23 multicore) confirm it is not the source of this scaling behavior.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its only clearly playable results. Low settings produce an average of 87.8 FPS, which is smooth and responsive. Medium settings drop to 56.3 FPS average, still acceptable for a horror title. High settings average 38.1 FPS, which is borderline, while Ultra averages 33.9 FPS, entering stutter territory. The gap between Low and Medium is 31.5 FPS, indicating a heavy cost for the first step up in quality. Moving to 2560x1440, Low settings average 75.3 FPS, which remains playable. Medium averages 45.6 FPS, High averages 36.0 FPS, and Ultra averages 24.5 FPS. The Medium-to-High transition at 1440p costs only 9.6 FPS, suggesting the GPU is already constrained. At 3840x2160, only Low settings approach playability with an average of 55.9 FPS. Medium drops to 37.1 FPS, High to 26.0 FPS, and Ultra to 18.4 FPS. The 4K Low result is notable because it is only 35.8% slower than the 1080p Low result, showing that the Arc B580 can still deliver a decent experience if settings are kept minimal. Across all resolutions, the pattern is consistent: Low settings are the only preset that allows the GPU to stretch its legs, while every other preset pushes it into sub-60 FPS territory.

Settings Recommendations

The data points to a single sensible configuration: Low settings. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 87.8 FPS, which provides a smooth experience without any tweaking. At 1440p Low, the 75.3 FPS average is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, making this the best balance of visual clarity and performance for users with higher-resolution monitors. The 4K Low result of 55.9 FPS is intriguing—it is just below 60 FPS but still playable for a slow-paced horror game, and it demonstrates that the Arc B580 has enough raw memory bandwidth (456.0 GB/s) to handle 4K if the shading load is minimal. Medium settings are only recommended at 1080p, where the 56.3 FPS average is playable, but the drop from Low to Medium costs 31.5 FPS, which is a steep price for modest visual gains. High and Ultra settings should be avoided entirely. At 1080p High, the 38.1 FPS average introduces noticeable judder, and at 1440p Ultra, the 24.5 FPS average makes the game feel sluggish. The measured numbers show that the Arc B580’s 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance is simply insufficient for The Medium’s higher presets, regardless of resolution. Users should prioritize frame rate over fidelity here, as the game’s horror atmosphere relies on smooth motion to maintain tension. The 10-core, 16-thread i5-12600KF will not hold the system back at any of these settings, so the recommendation is purely GPU-driven. For the best experience, set the resolution to 1440p and select Low, which delivers 75.3 FPS average while keeping the GPU within its comfort zone.