The Medium

The Medium is exceptionally demanding, and this combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B390 places near the bottom of the database for this title. With a combo rank of 2581 out of 2911 tested configurations, this system is firmly in the bottom 11% of all tested combos. The data shows that this pairing struggles to maintain playable frame rates at most settings, with only the Low preset at 1080p and 1440p crossing the 40 FPS threshold. This is not a configuration for smooth horror immersion; it is a setup that will require significant compromises to run at all.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark data places this combo at rank 2581 out of 2911 tested configurations for The Medium. This ranking reflects a fundamental mismatch between the game's requirements and the hardware's capabilities. The Intel Arc B390, acting as an integrated GPU, holds a percentile rank of 9 among all GPUs, indicating that it performs better than only a small fraction of the database's graphics processors. The CPU, while a six-core desktop part, sits at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, which is a middling position that does little to compensate for the GPU's limitations. The result is a system that is outpaced by the vast majority of tested hardware in this specific workload.

The nearest rivals for the GPU in the database—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—are all older, low-end parts. The Arc B390's average score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the GT 520MX, and just 2.7% higher than the GT 710. This proximity to legacy budget GPUs underscores how limited the graphics performance is here. For a game like The Medium, which relies on heavy visual effects and rendering, this level of GPU performance is a severe bottleneck. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, are within a fraction of a percent in average score, confirming that the processor is not the primary issue; rather, it is the graphics subsystem that drags the overall ranking down.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this combo's performance, and the data indicates it is a major limiting component. Its memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it has no dedicated VRAM and instead borrows from system memory. This architecture is typical for integrated graphics and is a significant disadvantage in a memory-intensive title. The GPU's clock speeds show a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz, but the practical impact is minimal given the shared memory bandwidth, which is listed as "System Dependent." The card features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray tracing cores. While these specifications sound capable on paper, the measured performance in The Medium tells a different story.

At 4K resolution with High settings, the Arc B390 produces an average of 15 FPS, which is unplayable. Dropping to Low settings at the same resolution only brings the average up to 34 FPS, still below a smooth 60 FPS target. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts. This suggests that the B390's raw compute power is insufficient for the demands of this game. The fact that the GPU's memory bandwidth is "System Dependent" means that performance can vary wildly based on the rest of the system, but even in the best case, the frame rates are low. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS is a theoretical peak that is not realized in this gaming workload, as evidenced by the consistent sub-60 FPS results across all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 51 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings, the frame rate drops to 43 FPS, a 15.7% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 34 FPS, which is a 33.3% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling is severe and indicates that the GPU is struggling to fill the increasing pixel counts. The pattern holds across other settings as well. With High settings, the frame rate goes from 23 FPS at 1080p to 19 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 15 FPS at 4K. Each step up in resolution costs a significant number of frames, confirming that the Arc B390 is the limiting component.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck, as the frame rate scaling is consistent with GPU limitations. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar frame rates across resolutions, since the processor's workload does not increase with pixel count. Instead, the frame rates drop sharply at higher resolutions, which is a classic sign of a GPU that is maxed out. For example, the Medium preset at 1080p yields 32 FPS, but at 4K it drops to 21 FPS. This 34.4% reduction is substantial. The conclusion is straightforward: to get better performance, the resolution must be lowered, and even then, the gains are modest. The jump from 4K Ultra (12 FPS) to 1080p Ultra (18 FPS) shows a 50% improvement, but the absolute numbers remain too low for a comfortable experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run The Medium at 60 FPS?

A: No. The highest average FPS recorded across all tested settings and resolutions is 51 FPS, achieved at 1080p with Low settings. All other configurations produce lower averages, with the worst being 12 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data shows no configuration reaches the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the frame rates approach playability. At 1080p Low, the average is 51 FPS. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 43 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 34 FPS. The performance scaling indicates that 1080p is the most viable option.

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

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score is 1482. This is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710. These are all very low-end parts, and the performance differences are minimal, placing the B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The frame rates drop significantly as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU, with a 47th percentile rank, is not the main constraint, as its performance is more than adequate relative to the GPU's output.

Q: What are the minimum FPS numbers for the Medium preset?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum FPS data. At 1080p, the minimum is 27 FPS with an average of 32. At 1440p, the minimum is 23 FPS with an average of 27. At 4K, the minimum is 18 FPS with an average of 21. These minimums show that even the average frame rates are not stable, and dips are frequent.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: No. The Ultra preset yields an average of 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. These results are all far below the threshold for smooth gameplay, making the Ultra preset unsuitable for this hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the only reasonable choice for this combo is the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 51, which is the highest recorded score in the entire dataset. This is the only setting that approaches a playable level, though it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p yields an average of 32 FPS, which is a 37.3% drop from Low and is likely to feel stuttery in a horror game that relies on atmosphere. The High preset at 1080p drops further to 23 FPS, and Ultra falls to 18 FPS, both of which are effectively unplayable.

At higher resolutions, the situation is worse. The 1440p Low preset provides 43 FPS, which is playable but with noticeable compromises. However, dropping to Medium at 1440p reduces the average to 27 FPS, which is a significant step down. The 4K Low preset at 34 FPS is the only 4K option that breaks the 30 FPS barrier, but it is still not a comfortable experience. The data strongly suggests that the best experience is at 1080p with the Low preset. While the visual quality will be reduced, it is the only configuration that allows the game to run at a frame rate that is close to acceptable. Higher presets only serve to make an already difficult situation worse, with diminishing returns on visual fidelity for a large loss in performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running on the Intel Socket 1151 platform. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 9 MB L3 cache. This is a solid mid-range processor for its time, but in the context of The Medium, its role is secondary to the GPU. The CPU's benchmark scores are modest, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935. Its Geekbench multi-core score is 5141, and its single-core score is 1389, placing it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

The data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this combo. The frame rate scaling with resolution points directly to the GPU as the limiting factor. If the CPU were the constraint, we would expect to see similar frame rates at 1080p and 4K, but the measured results show a significant drop at higher resolutions. The CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of -0.2% and 0.4% respectively. This indicates that the CPU is performing as expected for its class. The processor has enough headroom to feed the GPU, but the GPU's low performance means that the CPU's capabilities are largely untapped. In this specific game, the i5-9400 is not the reason for the poor frame rates; it is simply a passenger on a GPU that is overwhelmed by the workload.