The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core i5-13400F + Intel Arc B390

This combination pairs a mid-range desktop processor with an integrated graphics solution, and The Medium's measured frame rates reveal a system that is heavily constrained by its GPU across every resolution and settings preset. The Intel Core i5-13400F provides substantial multi-threaded processing capability, while the Intel Arc B390 operates as an integrated part with performance characteristics that place it near the bottom of tested graphics hardware. Benchmark results across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K show a pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the GPU consistently acting as the limiting factor.

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

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node with a die size of 215 mm². It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, drawing 65 W TDP from an Intel Socket 1700 platform. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support spans both DDR4 and DDR5 through a dual-channel memory bus, with PCIe Gen 5 providing 16 lanes from the CPU.

Synthetic benchmarks position this processor solidly in the upper-middle tier of all CPUs, with a percentile ranking of 77 and an average benchmark score of 25292. Multi-threaded performance is strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 22604, Geekbench multicore scores 11068, and PassMark multithread yields 25032. Single-thread results are comparatively modest, with Cinebench R23 singlecore at 3191 and Geekbench singlecore at 1996. The 3DMark thread scaling tests show a progression from 1880 at 2 threads to 7314 at 16 threads, indicating good scaling up to the full thread count.

In The Medium, the CPU's role appears secondary given the measured frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 51 FPS average, which is the highest recorded across all configurations. The processor's capability to feed the GPU is evident in that the frame rates do not collapse at lower resolutions where CPU overhead typically becomes more prominent. However, the game is a horror title from 2021-01-27, and its engine likely benefits from the 16 threads available here. The nearest rival comparisons show the i5-13400F sits within 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201 score) and essentially matches the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS at 25284, while being 0.3% behind both the Intel Core 5 120 (25362) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios, suggesting the CPU provides consistent, predictable performance that does not bottleneck even the modest GPU output seen here.

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

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor built on the Xe3-LPG architecture, part of the Arc Graphics-M (Panther Lake) generation, fabricated on Intel's 3 nm process node. Its clock speeds range from a 300 MHz base to a 2500 MHz boost, but critically, its memory configuration is "System Shared" for size, type, bus width, and bandwidth — meaning it relies entirely on system memory with bandwidth described as "System Dependent." It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores. The compute capabilities include 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 15.36 TFLOPS FP16 (with 2:1 ratio), with pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The TDP is rated at 80 W, and it uses no power connectors since it is an IGP with a slot width designation of "IGP."

The GPU's benchmark presence is minimal, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482. Its percentile ranking against all GPUs is 9, placing it in the bottom decile of tested graphics hardware. The nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA entries: the GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463 (1.3% behind), GeForce 800M scores 1460 (1.5% behind), GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446 (2.5% behind), and GeForce GT 710 scores 1443 (2.7% behind). These comparisons illustrate that the Arc B390, despite its modern architecture and process node, delivers performance in line with decade-old entry-level discrete GPUs.

In The Medium, the GPU's limitations are stark. The game demands significant graphics resources, and the Arc B390's shared memory configuration means it competes with the CPU for system memory bandwidth. This likely explains why frame rates remain low even at 1080p, where the CPU could otherwise push higher numbers. The 12 ray tracing cores are present but largely irrelevant at these performance levels, as the measured frame rates suggest that enabling any RT feature would be impractical. The GPU's 24 ROPs constrain fill-rate-heavy scenes, which a horror game with fixed camera angles and detailed environments may exploit heavily.

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

Analyzing the measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 51 FPS at 1080p to 43 FPS at 1440p (a 15.7% reduction) and further to 34 FPS at 4K (a 33.3% reduction from 1080p). At Medium settings, the progression goes from 32 FPS at 1080p to 27 FPS at 1440p (15.6% drop) and 21 FPS at 4K (34.4% drop). High settings show 23 FPS at 1080p, 19 FPS at 1440p (17.4% drop), and 15 FPS at 4K (34.8% drop). Ultra settings follow the same pattern: 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p (16.7% drop), and 12 FPS at 4K (33.3% drop).

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings presets is telling. A CPU-bound system would show minimal FPS variation between 1080p and 4K, since the CPU workload remains constant while GPU load increases. Here, the frame rate declines by roughly one-sixth when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and by one-third when moving to 4K. This indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at all resolutions. The Arc B390's rendering pipeline simply cannot keep up with the pixel count increase, even though the i5-13400F has ample headroom. The data suggests that reducing resolution does help — 1080p Low is the only configuration that approaches playability — but the GPU's low pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s limit throughput regardless of CPU capability.

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

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 51 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. Medium settings yield 32 FPS average with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 37 FPS, providing the only configuration with min/max data that shows a relatively tight range. High settings drop to 23 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 18 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 33 FPS, representing a 64.7% performance decrease when moving from the lowest to highest quality preset.

At 2560x1440, all settings shift down by roughly 4-5 FPS. Low averages 43 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS with min/max of 23 and 31, High averages 19 FPS, and Ultra averages 15 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 28 FPS at this resolution, but the proportional relationship remains similar. The Medium preset's min/max range of 23-31 FPS shows a wider variance than at 1080p, suggesting increased frame time inconsistency as the GPU struggles with more pixels.

At 3840x2160, the system is barely functional for gaming. Low settings pull 34 FPS average, which is playable but only at minimal quality. Medium drops to 21 FPS with min/max of 18 and 24, High sinks to 15 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 12 FPS. The 4K Low result is particularly interesting because it shows that even with dramatically reduced graphical fidelity, the GPU cannot exceed mid-30s FPS. This reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the system — the i5-13400F could theoretically handle higher frame rates, but the Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 compute is insufficient for 4K rendering in this title.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 11.3% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU's severe limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities, as the i5-13400F's average benchmark score of 25292 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU's 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs is the dominant factor dragging this combo down.

The disparity between component rankings is instructive. A CPU that outperforms 77% of alternatives is paired with a GPU that outperforms only 9% of alternatives, and the combined rank of 2581/2911 reflects that imbalance. In practical terms, this combo would be expected to struggle with any modern 3D title, but The Medium's horror aesthetic with fixed camera angles and pre-rendered elements may be less demanding than open-world games — yet the measured results show even this title overwhelms the GPU. The rank suggests that among the 2911 combos tested, only 330 perform worse, and those likely feature even older or more limited integrated graphics solutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers the highest average FPS at 51, making it the only configuration that exceeds 30 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low drops to 43 FPS, and at 3840x2160, Low falls to 34 FPS. The 1080p resolution is clearly the most viable for playable frame rates.

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-13400F bottleneck the Intel Arc B390 in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results indicate the opposite — the GPU is the limiting factor. The consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K (approximately one-third reduction at 4K across all settings) signal a GPU-bound system. The CPU's 16 threads and high multi-core scores suggest it has significant headroom that the GPU cannot utilize.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710 (1443). These are all older, low-end GPUs, indicating the Arc B390 competes at the entry level.

Q: Is the Medium preset a good middle ground for this system?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p yields 32 FPS average with a range of 27-37 FPS, which is the only preset that provides both min and max frame data. It represents a 37.3% performance drop from Low (51 FPS) but a 39.1% improvement over High (23 FPS). Whether this is acceptable depends on the need for visual quality versus frame rate stability.

Q: What does the combo's rank of 2581 out of 2911 mean?

A: This rank places the combination in the bottom 11.3% of all tested combos for The Medium. It reflects the GPU's 9th percentile standing among all GPUs, despite the CPU's 77th percentile ranking. The overall rank is dragged down by the integrated graphics solution's limited rendering capabilities.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: The measured data shows Ultra settings produce 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. None of these reach 30 FPS, and the 4K result is below 15 FPS, making Ultra settings impractical for actual gameplay at any resolution tested.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that achieves consistently playable frame rates is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which averages 51 FPS. This is the sole setting that exceeds the 30 FPS threshold commonly considered the minimum for acceptable gameplay. At 2560x1440, Low settings drop to 43 FPS, which remains playable but requires sacrificing resolution for graphical quality. The 3840x2160 Low setting at 34 FPS is marginally playable but with significant visual compromises.

For players prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, the Medium preset at 1080p offers 32 FPS with a measured range of 27-37 FPS, providing a somewhat stable experience that includes min/max data suggesting consistent frame pacing. However, the data shows that High and Ultra presets at any resolution fail to reach 30 FPS, with Ultra at 1080p achieving only 18 FPS and Ultra at 4K falling to 12 FPS. The recommendation is to use Low settings at 1080p for the best balance, or Medium at 1080p if the player can tolerate occasional dips below 30 FPS. The 1440p and 4K resolutions are only viable with Low settings, and even then, the 4K result of 34 FPS is borderline. The system's GPU limitations make any preset above Medium impractical, and the data strongly suggests that this combo is best suited to 1080p gaming with reduced graphical settings.