The Medium

# The Medium with Intel Core i7-14700KF + Intel Arc B570

This combo delivers playable frame rates in The Medium only at lower resolutions and settings, with the Intel Arc B570 clearly acting as the performance ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system hits 78 FPS, but Ultra settings at any resolution drop below 35 FPS, making high-fidelity play impractical. The pairing ranks 2321st out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the lower 20% of systems for this title, meaning users should expect a decidedly mid-range experience that leans heavily on settings tuning rather than raw headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is stark and reveals a GPU-bound system. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 49 at 1080p to 41 at 1440p, then crashes to 32 at 4K — a 35% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, with the 1440p to 4K transition being particularly punishing, suggesting the Arc B570's memory bandwidth and compute resources become severely strained at higher pixel counts.

Low settings tell a similar story but with higher absolute numbers: 78 FPS at 1080p drops to 66 at 1440p and 52 at 4K. That 4K figure remains above 50 FPS, which is notable, but the 33% hit from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows the GPU is still the limiting factor. Meanwhile, Ultra settings are nearly unplayable across the board: 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 at 1440p, and 18 at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 50 FPS — a massive spread that confirms the game's settings have an outsized impact on this particular hardware.

The resolution scaling pattern indicates that the Core i7-14700KF is never the bottleneck. Even at 1080p Low, where CPU load is typically highest, the system reaches 78 FPS, but this is far below what the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads could theoretically deliver. The Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are the constraining factors, particularly at 4K where the 160-bit bus width struggles to feed the renderer. The data suggests that users targeting 4K should stick to Low settings, while 1440p offers a viable middle ground if they accept Medium at 41 FPS or drop to Low for 66 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 2321 out of 2911 systems tested in The Medium, this configuration sits in the bottom 20% of all tested combinations. That ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's modest position in the broader market — the Arc B570 holds the 65th percentile among all GPUs, which is respectable but far from top-tier. The CPU, by contrast, is a high performer, ranking in the 94th percentile among all processors.

The disconnect between CPU and GPU performance is evident when examining benchmark scores. The Core i7-14700KF achieves an average benchmark score of 70163, placing it within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX. It is 0.9% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X and 1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. These are all top-tier desktop processors, and the 14700KF's 44167 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and 6235 single-core score reinforce its high-end status.

The Arc B570, meanwhile, posts an average benchmark score of 20556, nearly matching the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% ahead) and the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% behind). It is 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon R9 M390X. These rivals are all mid-range or older mobile/desktop parts, which explains why the in-game rank is so low — the CPU is capable of far more, but the GPU holds the system back in a game like The Medium that demands substantial graphics throughput.

The practical implication is that this combo is mismatched for this title. The 14700KF's 125W TDP and Raptor Lake architecture provide ample processing power, but the Arc B570's 150W TDP and Xe2-HPG architecture cannot translate that into high frame rates at demanding settings. The 2321st rank out of 2911 is a clear signal that users should prioritize GPU upgrades if The Medium is a primary title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Low settings as the only universally playable option. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 78 FPS, which is smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p Low, it maintains 66 FPS, still comfortable. Even at 4K Low, it reaches 52 FPS, which is borderline acceptable for a slower-paced horror game. Low settings are the clear recommendation for any resolution above 1080p.

Medium settings are viable only at 1080p, where the system hits 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS. That is playable, though not ideal for fast-paced sequences. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which may cause noticeable stutter in action-heavy moments. At 4K Medium, the 32 FPS average and 27 FPS minimum make it a poor choice.

High settings are not recommended at any resolution. The 35 FPS at 1080p and 29 FPS at 1440p are below comfortable playability, and the 23 FPS at 4K is nearly unplayable. Ultra settings are even worse, with 28 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K — all below the minimum threshold for a responsive experience.

For users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, 1080p Medium offers the best compromise, delivering 49 FPS while maintaining some graphical detail. Those who value smoothness should choose 1080p Low for 78 FPS or 1440p Low for 66 FPS. The data does not support any High or Ultra configuration as a sensible choice for this hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1080p: At Low settings, the system achieves 78 FPS average. Medium settings yield 49 FPS average with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 56 FPS. High settings drop to 35 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 28 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 64% reduction in frame rate, from 78 to 28 FPS.

1440p: Low settings produce 66 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 41 FPS average with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS. High settings reach 29 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 43 FPS, a 65% decline.

4K: Low settings manage 52 FPS average. Medium settings yield 32 FPS average with a minimum of 27 FPS and maximum of 37 FPS. High settings fall to 23 FPS average, and Ultra bottoms out at 18 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 34 FPS, a 65% reduction.

Across all resolutions, the Medium setting consistently shows the largest minimum-to-maximum variance, with a 15 FPS spread at 1080p, 12 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium settings produce the most variable frame pacing, likely due to dynamic scene complexity. Low settings show no recorded minimum or maximum, indicating a steadier experience.

The data reveals that the Arc B570's performance scales almost linearly with resolution at the same settings. From 1080p to 4K at Low, the drop is from 78 to 52 FPS (33%). At Medium, it goes from 49 to 32 FPS (35%). At High, from 35 to 23 FPS (34%). At Ultra, from 28 to 18 FPS (36%). This consistent ~34% decline across settings confirms a purely GPU-bound workload with no CPU-related variance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the definitive performance limiter in this configuration. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest for a card in the 65th GPU percentile. The 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units are arranged in a configuration that delivers 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, but the 18 ray tracing cores do not appear to provide meaningful help in this title, given the low frame rates at higher settings.

The card's clocks are fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). This lack of boost headroom means the GPU cannot dynamically increase performance under load, which partially explains why frame rates drop so sharply when settings increase. The 150W TDP and dual-slot design suggest a power-constrained part, and the PCIe 4.0 x8 interface may also limit data transfer in CPU-heavy scenes, though the benchmark data does not show CPU bottlenecking.

The Arc B570's benchmark results show a passmark G3D score of 14195 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649. Its Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844 and OpenCL score of 83514 are solid, but these synthetic tests do not translate to strong The Medium performance. The card's nearest rivals — the RTX 3070 Mobile, Arc A750, Quadro M4000M, and Radeon R9 M390X — all cluster within 0.5% of its average score, yet none are known for high-end 4K gaming performance.

The 10 GB memory capacity is sufficient for The Medium's requirements at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the 380.0 GB/s bandwidth becomes a bottleneck. The 4K Medium result of 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS, indicates the card is struggling to stream textures and geometry fast enough. Users should note that the GPU's 65th percentile ranking means it outperforms a majority of cards, but this game's particular demands expose its weaknesses.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF holding back the Arc B570 in The Medium?

A: No. The CPU ranks in the 94th percentile among all processors with an average benchmark score of 70163, while the GPU sits in the 65th percentile. The consistent ~34% frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates a purely GPU-bound workload, with no evidence of CPU limitation.

Q: What is the best settings/resolution combination for smooth gameplay?

A: The data supports 1080p Low at 78 FPS as the smoothest option, followed by 1440p Low at 66 FPS. For better visuals, 1080p Medium at 49 FPS (minimum 41, maximum 56) is the highest playable configuration. All High and Ultra settings fall below 35 FPS at any resolution.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in The Medium?

A: Only at Low settings, where it achieves 52 FPS. At Medium, it drops to 32 FPS with a 27 FPS minimum, which is not recommended. High and Ultra at 4K produce 23 FPS and 18 FPS, respectively, which are effectively unplayable.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 2321st out of 2911 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 20% for this game. The CPU is competitive with the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2% ahead) and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (1% behind), but the GPU only matches the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% ahead) and Intel Arc A750 (0.1% behind).

Q: Why do frame rates drop so much when going from Low to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS falls from 78 at Low to 28 at Ultra, a 64% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 66 to 23 (65% reduction), and at 4K, from 52 to 18 (65% reduction). This consistent decline indicates the Arc B570's 11.52 TFLOPS compute and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for the increased shading and texture demands of higher presets.

Q: Is the Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM enough for this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, it appears sufficient, as the frame rate drops are consistent with compute limitations. At 4K Medium, the 32 FPS average with 27 FPS minimum suggests memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s on a 160-bit bus) is becoming a constraint, though the card's 10 GB capacity is not directly identified as the cause in the data.