The Medium

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very specific performance profile in The Medium, one that is almost entirely dictated by the graphics solution. The CPU is a modern 10-core part, but the GPU sits at the 9th percentile of all tested graphics cards, making it the clear bottleneck in this pairing. The benchmark data shows a system that can achieve playable frame rates only when settings and resolution are aggressively reduced, and even then, the experience is best described as a compromise rather than a smooth ride. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, scaling behavior, and what you can realistically expect from this combination.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 51 at 1920x1080 to 43 at 2560x1440, a 15.7% reduction for a 77.8% increase in pixels. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 34 FPS, which is a 33.3% reduction from the 1080p figure. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating the Arc B390's rendering pipeline and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors, not the CPU.

The scaling becomes even more dramatic at higher quality presets. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 32 at 1080p to 27 at 1440p (a 15.6% drop) and then to 21 at 4K (a 34.4% drop from 1080p). At High settings, the numbers are 23, 19, and 15 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively, showing a linear degradation that suggests the GPU is hitting a hard compute ceiling. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at any resolution, with averages of 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K.

What this tells a builder is that the Arc B390 is not designed for high-resolution gaming. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with the best case being 34 FPS at Low settings, which is below the threshold for a comfortable experience. The 1440p results are playable only at Low settings (43 FPS). The data strongly suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, where the GPU can muster a reasonable frame rate at lower presets. The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal; the i5-14400F has ample headroom, as evidenced by its strong Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645, but the GPU simply cannot keep up with the increased pixel workload at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend entirely on your target resolution and tolerance for frame rate dips. At 1920x1080, the Low preset is the only one that consistently delivers a playable experience, with an average of 51 FPS. This is the clear recommendation for a smooth game. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 32 FPS, which is borderline; it is playable but may feel stuttery in action-heavy scenes. The High preset at 23 FPS and Ultra at 18 FPS are not recommended, as they fall below the 30 FPS threshold for a decent experience.

For 2560x1440, the Low preset (43 FPS) is the only viable option. The Medium preset at 27 FPS is a stretch, and the High (19 FPS) and Ultra (15 FPS) presets are effectively slideshows. At 3840x2160, the data shows that even Low settings (34 FPS) are marginal, and Medium (21 FPS) and above are unplayable. The pattern is clear: you must sacrifice visual quality for playability.

The practical advice is to start at Low settings at 1080p. If you have a variable refresh rate monitor, you might be able to tolerate Medium settings at 1080p, as the minimum FPS of 27 is close to the average. However, for a stable experience, Low is the safest bet. The game is a horror title where atmosphere matters, but 51 FPS at Low settings with a smooth frame pacing will feel better than 18 FPS at Ultra with constant stutter. The data does not support any attempt to run this game at higher resolutions unless you are willing to accept a significantly degraded experience.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 11.3% of all system configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's low benchmark scores. The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 1482, which places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in that benchmark are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% slower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% slower). These are all legacy or entry-level parts, underscoring that the B390 is not a gaming-focused product.

The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer. The i5-14400F sits at the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32279. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U (32233, 0.1% slower), the Intel Core i9-11900 (32226, 0.2% slower), the AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS (32354, 0.2% faster), and the Intel Core i7-12800H (32121, 0.5% slower). This indicates the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic, but its performance is entirely wasted when paired with a GPU that is this weak.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's low percentile creates a severe bottleneck. The combo rank of 2581 reflects the overall system performance, which is dragged down by the graphics card. In practical terms, this means the i5-14400F is not the limiting factor in this game; the Arc B390 is. Upgrading the CPU would yield no measurable benefit, whereas upgrading the GPU would transform the system's performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data is taken directly from the measured FPS table for The Medium.

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 51 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Medium: Average 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS.
• High: Average 23 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Ultra: Average 18 FPS (no min/max data provided).

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 43 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Medium: Average 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS.
• High: Average 19 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Ultra: Average 15 FPS (no min/max data provided).

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 34 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Medium: Average 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 FPS and a maximum of 24 FPS.
• High: Average 15 FPS (no min/max data provided).
• Ultra: Average 12 FPS (no min/max data provided).

The data reveals a consistent pattern: for every preset, the frame rate drops by roughly 15-20% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and then another 20-30% when moving from 1440p to 4K. The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data, showing a narrow 10 FPS window at each resolution, which suggests the frame pacing is relatively consistent, but the overall performance is too low for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that exceeds 50 FPS, making it the single viable option for this hardware.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo play The Medium at 4K?*

A: Technically yes, but not well. The best 4K result is 34 FPS at Low settings. At Medium, High, and Ultra, the average FPS drops to 21, 15, and 12 respectively, which are all unplayable.

Q: What is the best setting to use with this hardware?

A: The data shows that Low settings at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that delivers a consistently playable frame rate, with an average of 51 FPS. Any higher preset or resolution will result in average FPS below 43.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-14400F the reason for the low frame rates?

A: No. The CPU is at the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with a strong Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645. The bottleneck is the Intel Arc B390, which is at the 9th percentile of all GPUs and has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other systems in this game?

A: It ranks 2581 out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 11.3% of systems. This is a poor result, driven almost entirely by the GPU's low performance.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers for this game?

A: The only preset with min FPS data is Medium. At 1080p, the min is 27 FPS; at 1440p, it is 23 FPS; and at 4K, it is 18 FPS. No min FPS data is available for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390 a discrete graphics card?

A: The data lists it as an "IGP" (Integrated Graphics Processor) with a bus interface of "IGP" and a slot width of "IGP". It has a TDP of 80 W and uses system-shared memory, indicating it is an integrated solution rather than a discrete card.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 20 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are robust: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21645 and a single-core score of 3055, along with a Geekbench multicore score of 11268. These numbers place it at the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, firmly in the mid-range to upper-mid-range tier for processing power.

In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, AI, and physics, while the GPU renders the frames. Given the low frame rates observed, it is clear that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The game's performance is entirely bound by the Arc B390's rendering capabilities. This is evident from the fact that the FPS scales almost linearly with resolution and settings, which are GPU-bound workloads. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, but the data shows a significant drop from 1080p to 4K.

The i5-14400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for this title, and its high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3055) ensures that it won't cause stutter in CPU-intensive scenes. The data suggests that the CPU is effectively idle, waiting for the GPU to finish its work. This is a classic case of an unbalanced system where the processor is far more capable than the graphics solution. For a builder, this means that the i5-14400F is a solid foundation for a future GPU upgrade, but in its current configuration, its potential is untapped. The CPU's performance headroom is wasted, and the user experience is dictated by the GPU's limitations.