The Medium

The Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the lower 11.3% of all configurations. This is a stark result for a CPU that sits in the 91st percentile among all processors, demonstrating that the integrated graphics solution is the decisive bottleneck in this pairing. The data shows a system with immense compute potential on the CPU side that is entirely constrained by a GPU in the 9th percentile of all graphics cards, with its nearest rivals being legacy mobile and OEM parts like the GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce GT 710. Benchmark results indicate that this combo is not designed for the game’s demanding fixed-camera rendering, and the overall ranking reflects the severe performance disparity between the two components.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo's overall ranking compare to its position in the CPU percentile?

A: The combo ranks 2581st out of 2911 tested configurations, placing it near the bottom of the database. In contrast, the Intel Core i7-14700F alone is in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. This massive gap between the processor's high standing and the combo's low rank indicates that the GPU is overwhelmingly limiting the system's gaming performance.

Q: Is the Arc B390's performance closer to modern discrete GPUs or older parts?

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score is 1482, and its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% higher), GeForce 800M (1.5% higher), GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% higher), and GeForce GT 710 (2.7% higher). These are all older, low-end parts, showing the GPU's performance tier is far removed from contemporary discrete solutions.

Q: What is the best playable setting for this hardware at 1080p?

A: According to the measured data, the Low preset at 1920x1080 yields an average of 51 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that approaches a smooth 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at the same resolution drops to 32 FPS, making Low the only reasonable option for acceptable frame pacing.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 53620. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6505P (0.2% lower), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (0.6% higher), and AMD EPYC 7313P (0.8% higher). The processor’s score is effectively tied with these parts, all within a 1% margin.

Q: What is the impact of going from 1080p Low to 4K Low on average FPS?

A: The average frame rate drops from 51 FPS at 1920x1080 Low to 34 FPS at 3840x2160 Low. This represents a 33% reduction in performance, a significant hit that shows the GPU struggling as pixel count increases, despite the low graphical fidelity settings.

Q: Does the Arc B390 have dedicated VRAM?

A: No. The memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," and the bandwidth is "System Dependent." This means the GPU relies entirely on the system's main memory, which is a major factor in its low benchmark scores and poor gaming performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for The Medium reveals a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, a trend that directly points to the GPU as the limiting component. At the Low settings preset, the average frame rate falls from 51 FPS at 1920x1080, to 43 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 34 FPS at 3840x2160. This is a steady decline of roughly 15.7% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 20.9% from 1440p to 4K, illustrating how the Arc B390’s fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints become more pronounced with each additional pixel.

The scaling behavior under the Medium preset is similar but with a steeper drop-off. The average FPS goes from 32 at 1080p, to 27 at 1440p, and then down to 21 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 15.6%, which is comparable to the Low preset, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 22.2%, showing that the GPU’s limitations are exacerbated at higher resolutions when more shading work is required.

For the High preset, the frame rates are already low at 1080p (23 FPS) and fall to 19 FPS at 1440p and 15 FPS at 4K. The relative performance hit is less dramatic in percentage terms because the GPU is already saturated, but the absolute numbers are so low that the game becomes unplayable at any resolution. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with frame rates of 18 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K.

The pattern across all presets is that the CPU is never the limiting factor. The i7-14700F has 20 cores and 28 threads with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, which is far more than enough for a game like The Medium. The data shows that the frame rate is almost entirely dependent on resolution and graphical settings, which are the primary workloads handled by the GPU. Since the Arc B390’s memory is system shared and dependent on the system’s bandwidth, the performance penalty at higher resolutions is likely compounded by the increased pressure on system memory for texture and geometry data, making the GPU the undeniable bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. The only rows with full min/max data are the Medium preset, which offers insight into frame pacing. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average FPS is 32, with a minimum of 27 and a maximum of 37. This indicates a relatively consistent frame time, though the 32 FPS average is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average drops to 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 and a maximum of 31, showing a similar range of variance. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 21 FPS, with a minimum of 18 and a maximum of 24, maintaining the same relative variance pattern.

For the Low preset, the results are the highest in the entire dataset. At 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS is 51, which is the only figure above 50 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low yields an average of 43 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, the average is 34 FPS. These are the only settings where the game approaches playability, though even the 1080p result falls short of a locked 60 FPS.

The High preset shows a steep decline from the Low preset. At 1920x1080 High, the average FPS is 23, which is less than half of the Low preset’s 51 FPS. This suggests that the High preset enables graphical features that are particularly taxing on the Arc B390’s limited shader resources (1536 shading units). At 2560x1440 High, the average is 19 FPS, and at 3840x2160 High, it falls to 15 FPS.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding and produces the lowest frame rates. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 18. At 2560x1440 Ultra, it is 15 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Ultra, it is 12 FPS. These numbers are effectively slideshows, making the Ultra preset unusable for any practical gaming scenario. The data confirms that the combo’s performance envelope is extremely narrow, with only the Low preset at 1080p providing a frame rate that could be considered marginally acceptable.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant limiting factor in this combo, and its specifications explain why. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, along with 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with an FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. These are modest figures for a modern graphics solution, and the data shows that the GPU’s average benchmark score of 1482 puts it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all low-end NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX is 1.3% faster, the GeForce 800M is 1.5% faster, the GeForce GT 625 OEM is 2.5% faster, and the GeForce GT 710 is 2.7% faster. This places the Arc B390 in the same performance class as decade-old entry-level discrete graphics, which is a critical context for understanding its results in The Medium. The game, released in 2021, has demanding rendering requirements, and this GPU simply lacks the raw throughput to handle them at acceptable frame rates.

The memory configuration is another major issue. The memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as "System Shared," meaning the GPU has no dedicated VRAM. Its bandwidth is "System Dependent," which means performance is tied to the system’s memory speed and implementation. This is a significant disadvantage for a game like The Medium, which features high-resolution textures and complex scenes that require fast access to large amounts of data. The lack of dedicated memory likely contributes to the severe FPS drops at higher resolutions, as the shared memory bus becomes a bottleneck. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 is the only benchmark available, and it reinforces the GPU’s low standing in the performance hierarchy.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is an exceptionally powerful processor that is completely unchallenged by The Medium. With 20 cores, 28 threads, a base clock of 2.10 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, it has more than enough computational headroom for this game. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides ample fast storage for game logic and AI calculations. Its benchmark scores are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122, a Geekbench multi-core score of 19620, and a Passmark multithread score of 41317.

The CPU’s average benchmark score is 53620, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Xeon 6505P (0.2% lower), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (0.3% higher), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (0.6% higher), and AMD EPYC 7313P (0.8% higher). This shows that the i7-14700F is competitive with high-end server and desktop parts, all within a 1% margin of each other. In the context of The Medium, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s fixed-camera angle logic, character interactions, and background simulations, all of which are easily managed by 28 threads.

The data does not show any indication of CPU bottlenecking. The FPS differences across resolutions and settings are entirely consistent with GPU-bound behavior. For instance, the jump from 1080p Low (51 FPS) to 1080p High (23 FPS) is a 55% drop, which is a massive change that can only be explained by the GPU’s inability to handle the increased graphical workload. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would be similar across different settings at the same resolution. The CPU’s single-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2429, is also more than sufficient for the game’s main thread, which typically handles the core game loop. In this pairing, the CPU is effectively idle, waiting on the GPU to render each frame.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only viable configuration for this combo is the Low settings preset at 1920x1080. This is the sole data point that achieves an average FPS above 50, with a value of 51. While this is not a locked 60 FPS, it is the closest to a playable experience that this hardware can offer. The Medium preset at 1080p, with an average of 32 FPS, is a significant downgrade in smoothness and is not recommended for a game that relies on atmospheric tension and precise timing.

At higher resolutions, the Low preset becomes increasingly unplayable. The average FPS drops to 43 at 2560x1440 and 34 at 3840x2160, both of which are below the threshold for acceptable motion clarity. The Medium preset at any resolution is also not recommended, as the frame rates range from 32 FPS at 1080p down to 21 FPS at 4K, all of which will result in noticeable stutter. The High and Ultra presets are entirely out of the question, with frame rates falling to single digits at 4K Ultra (12 FPS) and low teens elsewhere.

The data suggests that the user should prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. The difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is 19 FPS (51 vs. 32), which is a 37% improvement by choosing Low. Given the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking and its proximity to the GeForce GT 710, the system is not capable of rendering The Medium with modern graphical features enabled. The recommended approach is to set the resolution to 1920x1080 and the settings to Low, and accept that the game will look dated but will run at a more consistent 51 FPS average. Any attempt to increase visual quality will result in a disproportionate loss of performance, making the game feel unresponsive and detracting from the horror experience.