The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the Intel Arc B370 produces a severely constrained experience in The Medium, with the integrated graphics solution acting as a decisive bottleneck across all tested resolutions and settings. The data shows a combination that ranks in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, making it unsuitable for playable frame rates at any quality preset above Low.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured rows, the Low preset at 1920x1080 is the only configuration that approaches a playable experience, delivering an average of 46 FPS. The Medium preset at the same resolution drops to 29 FPS, while High and Ultra average 21 FPS and 16 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the Arc B370's 3DMark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which puts it 0.2% behind the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and 0.5% behind the ATI Radeon HD 5770. It is 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000, but all of these scores are effectively within a 1.5% margin of each other.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p Low and 4K Low?

A: The average frame rate falls from 46 FPS at 1920x1080 Low to 30 FPS at 3840x2160 Low. This represents a 35% reduction in average FPS when moving from the lowest resolution to the highest resolution at the same preset.

Q: Does increasing the resolution from 1440p to 4K impact the Medium preset's minimum FPS?

A: Yes. The Medium preset at 2560x1440 shows a minimum of 21 FPS, while at 3840x2160 the minimum drops to 16 FPS. The maximum FPS also falls from 28 to 22 across this resolution step.

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

A: The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F at 36945, showing a 0% delta. It is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and 0.5% ahead of the Intel Core i9-12900T.

Q: What is the Ultra preset's average FPS at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the combo averages 14 FPS. This is identical to the 14 FPS average seen at 3840x2160 High, indicating that the GPU is equally overwhelmed by either high resolution or high graphical fidelity.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, operating with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its memory configuration is entirely system-dependent, with the GPU relying on shared system memory for both capacity and bandwidth, which means its performance scales with the host platform's memory subsystem rather than dedicated VRAM.

The GPU's raw compute capabilities are modest, with a FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places the Arc B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, a figure that directly correlates with the sub-30 FPS averages observed across most of the The Medium measurement set. The integrated nature of the chip, with a 25 W TDP and no dedicated power connectors, confirms that this is not designed for high-end gaming workloads.

In the context of The Medium, the GPU's limitations are immediately apparent. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 29, which is below the 30 FPS threshold typically associated with a baseline playable experience. The GPU's shared memory architecture means that the 10-core, 10-thread Core Ultra 5 225 CPU has to compete with the graphics workload for memory bandwidth, further exacerbating performance issues in a game that presents a fixed-camera horror experience with heavy rendering demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and the Intel Arc B370 ranks 3439 out of 3724 tested combos in The Medium, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the fundamental mismatch between the CPU's relatively strong processing capabilities and the GPU's severely limited graphics throughput.

The CPU itself is not the limiting factor in this pairing. The Core Ultra 5 225 sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938 that puts it on par with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta) and ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D by 0.2%. In contrast, the Arc B370 sits in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with a score that trails the ATI Radeon HD 5770 by 0.5%. This disparity explains why the combo's overall rank is so low; the GPU's performance ceiling dictates the entire gaming experience.

The measured FPS data confirms this analysis. Across all twelve tested configurations, the average FPS never exceeds 46, and that peak is achieved only at the lowest resolution and settings. The Ultra preset at 4K averages just 11 FPS, which is below the minimum threshold for even a slideshow-like presentation. The rank of 3439 out of 3724 is a direct consequence of these sub-30 FPS averages dominating the dataset, with only the 1080p Low configuration offering anything resembling a smooth experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its best results, though the numbers remain low across the board. The Low preset averages 46 FPS, which is the highest average recorded in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 29 FPS, with a minimum of 24 FPS and a maximum of 33 FPS. High averages 21 FPS, and Ultra falls to 16 FPS. These figures show a consistent decline as settings increase, with a 65% reduction from Low to Ultra at the same resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades further. Low averages 39 FPS, a 15% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium averages 24 FPS, with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS. High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 36%, which is similar to the 1080p gap but at lower absolute values.

At 3840x2160, the results become largely unplayable. Low averages 30 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration to reach the 30 FPS mark. Medium averages 19 FPS, with a minimum of 16 FPS and a maximum of 22 FPS. High averages 14 FPS, and Ultra averages 11 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 63%, indicating that the GPU is so saturated that even reducing settings cannot recover meaningful performance.

The data shows a clear pattern: the Arc B370 is incapable of maintaining 30 FPS at any settings above Low, regardless of resolution. The only configuration that achieves a 30+ FPS average is 1080p Low, and even that result is marginal.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 46 at 1080p to 39 at 1440p to 30 at 4K. This represents a 35% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is relatively moderate compared to the settings-based drops, suggesting that the GPU is already near its limit even at the lowest resolution.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The average FPS drops from 29 at 1080p to 24 at 1440p to 19 at 4K, a 34% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The minimum FPS follows a similar trajectory, falling from 24 to 21 to 16 across the three resolutions. The High and Ultra presets show even steeper absolute declines, with High falling from 21 to 17 to 14 FPS and Ultra falling from 16 to 14 to 11 FPS.

These scaling patterns indicate that the limiting component is unequivocally the GPU. The Core Ultra 5 225's compute capabilities, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891, are far in excess of what The Medium requires. The GPU, however, with its 1280 shading units and 40 TMUs, cannot process the game's geometry and effects at higher resolutions. The result is that resolution scaling produces linear FPS losses, with no evidence of CPU bottlenecking at any tested configuration.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the only viable setting for this combo is the Low preset at 1920x1080, which delivers an average of 46 FPS. This is the sole configuration in the entire dataset that exceeds the 30 FPS threshold, and it does so with a comfortable margin. All other settings and resolution combinations fall below 30 FPS, with most falling well below.

The Medium preset at 1080p averages 29 FPS, which is technically close to 30 FPS but includes a minimum of 24 FPS. This means the experience would be inconsistent, with noticeable frame drops during demanding scenes. The Low preset at 1440p averages 39 FPS, which is higher than 1080p Medium, indicating that players should prioritize resolution over visual fidelity when using this hardware.

For players who insist on higher resolutions, the Low preset at 1440p is the next best option, with an average of 39 FPS. The 4K Low preset averages 30 FPS, but this comes with the understanding that the minimum FPS data is not provided, making it a riskier proposition. The Ultra presets at any resolution are effectively unplayable, with averages ranging from 11 to 16 FPS, and should be avoided entirely.

The data suggests that the Arc B370 is not suited for The Medium at any settings above Low. The game's fixed-camera angles and detailed environments place demands on the GPU that the 5th-percentile hardware cannot meet. Players using this combo should expect to play at 1080p Low for any semblance of acceptable performance, and even then, the experience will be marginal by modern gaming standards.