The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B580 presents a specific performance profile in The Medium, a horror title that clearly favors lower settings for playable frame rates. The measured data indicates that this combination is not designed for maximum visual fidelity at higher resolutions, requiring users to make significant compromises to achieve smooth gameplay. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where settings and resolution directly dictate the playability of the title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this hardware combination is achieved at the Low preset across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 88 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo. This provides a substantial performance buffer and ensures a fluid experience. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset still maintains a playable average of 74 FPS, making it a viable option for users with higher-resolution monitors. Even at 3840x2160, the Low preset yields an average of 58 FPS, which is borderline but often considered acceptable for a slower-paced horror title.

The Medium preset is a secondary option, but it comes with a significant performance cost. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 88 to 55, a reduction of 33 FPS. This drop becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions, with the 1440p Medium average falling to 47 FPS and the 4K Medium average falling to 37 FPS. While 1440p Medium might be acceptable for some, the 4K Medium result is not ideal for consistent smoothness. The High and Ultra presets are largely impractical for this game on this hardware. The High preset only manages averages of 40 FPS at 1080p, 33 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with scores dropping to 31 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and a very low 21 FPS at 4K. These results are below the threshold for a consistently smooth experience.

The data suggests that the best experience is found by prioritizing frame rate over visual fidelity. The Low preset is the only guaranteed way to achieve high frame rates, making it the clear recommendation for the majority of users. For those with 1080p displays who can tolerate some visual compromises, the Medium preset could be considered, but the Low preset offers a much safer and more consistent performance margin.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo can achieve in The Medium?*

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 88, which is achieved at the 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this hardware capable of running the game at 4K resolution with playable frame rates?

A: Yes, but only with significant settings compromises. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 58 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 37 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended, as they yield 26 FPS and 21 FPS respectively.

Q: How much of a performance difference is there between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. The Low preset averages 88 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages only 31 FPS, representing a 57 FPS decrease when switching to the highest visual quality settings.

Q: What is the performance impact of increasing the resolution from 1080p to 4K on the Medium preset?

A: The average frame rate drops from 55 FPS at 1920x1080 to 47 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 37 FPS at 3840x2160. This shows a clear scaling penalty as the resolution increases.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B580's performance more consistent at lower settings?

A: The data indicates so. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min and max FPS values. At 1080p, the frame rate ranges from 47 to 64 FPS. At 1440p, it ranges from 40 to 54 FPS, and at 4K, it ranges from 31 to 42 FPS. The lack of min/max data for other presets suggests they may be less stable.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested configurations in this game?

A: The comboRankInGame data places this configuration at rank 2191 out of 2911 tested combos. This indicates that it performs in the lower-mid range of all tested systems for this specific title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580's role in these results is central, as the frame rates scale dramatically with the game's graphical settings. The GPU is based on the Xe2-HPG architecture and is a discrete solution with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. Its core clocks are listed at a base and boost of 2670 MHz. In the context of The Medium, the data shows that the GPU is the primary factor limiting performance at higher settings. The steep drop in average FPS from the Low preset to the Ultra preset at every resolution points to the GPU's compute and memory resources being overwhelmed by the increased graphical load.

For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 57 FPS, a clear indication that the GPU is the bottleneck. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a notable specification, and while the game can run at 4K, the low frame rates at High and Ultra suggest that memory capacity is not the sole constraint; the GPU's raw processing power is insufficient for these settings. The Arc B580's performance profile, as indicated by its benchmark scores, places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 and RTX 3080, which shows its mid-range positioning. The measured FPS data confirms that this GPU delivers playable performance only when the game's demands are reduced to the Low or, in some cases, Medium preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B580 achieves a rank of 2191 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the 25th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that the majority of other hardware configurations deliver higher frame rates in this game. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's performance, which is a limiting factor at higher settings. The CPU's performance is relatively strong, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at demanding presets.

This low ranking suggests that users with this specific hardware will have to make more significant compromises on visual quality than users with higher-ranked combos. While the frame rates at Low settings are playable, the overall experience is not comparable to what a top-tier system would achieve. The data shows that this combo is not well-suited for high-refresh-rate gaming at high fidelity in this title, and its rank reflects that. The system's performance is acceptable for a budget-conscious build, but it is firmly placed in the lower tier of results for this specific game.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is significant and clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component. On the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 88 at 1080p to 74 at 1440p, a 14 FPS decrease, and then to 58 at 4K, another 16 FPS decrease. This pattern shows a steady decline as the pixel count increases. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 55, 47, and 37 FPS across the same resolution steps. The High preset drops from 40 to 33 to 26 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls from 31 to 26 to 21 FPS.

The consistent and substantial FPS drop at each resolution step, particularly at higher settings, points directly to the GPU being the bottleneck. A CPU-bound scenario would typically show a smaller difference between 1080p and 1440p, with the frame rate plateauing as the resolution increases. Here, the frame rate continues to fall sharply at every step, which indicates that the Intel Arc B580's rendering capabilities are being saturated as the number of pixels to process increases. The data strongly suggests that users should choose a resolution based on their desired settings; 4K is only viable on Low, while 1080p is the only resolution that allows for a comfortable frame rate buffer on the Medium preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a detailed look at the performance envelope of this combo.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 88 FPS average.
• Medium: 55 FPS average, with a minimum of 47 FPS and a maximum of 64 FPS.
• High: 40 FPS average.
• Ultra: 31 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the performance decreases:

• Low: 74 FPS average.
• Medium: 47 FPS average, with a minimum of 40 FPS and a maximum of 54 FPS.
• High: 33 FPS average.
• Ultra: 26 FPS average.

At 3840x2160, the results show the most significant drop:

• Low: 58 FPS average.
• Medium: 37 FPS average, with a minimum of 31 FPS and a maximum of 42 FPS.
• High: 26 FPS average.
• Ultra: 21 FPS average.

These numbers illustrate a clear hierarchy. The Low preset is the only one that consistently provides frame rates above 60 FPS, and only at 1080p. The Medium preset offers a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, but with a lower average. High and Ultra presets should be avoided for a smooth experience, as they fall below 40 FPS at all resolutions. The min and max FPS data for the Medium preset shows a frame time variance that is typical for a game of this type, but the averages are the most reliable indicator of the overall experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In the context of The Medium, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The benchmark scores for the CPU are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. This indicates that the processor has ample headroom for gaming workloads.

However, the measured FPS data in this game shows a consistent pattern of GPU limitation. The frame rates drop significantly with increased graphical settings, which is a classic sign of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU is likely capable of feeding the GPU with enough data, but the GPU cannot render the frames fast enough at higher settings. The CPU's high single-core performance should ensure that it does not become a limiting factor in most scenarios, and its performance in this game is likely more than adequate. The data suggests that any performance issues in The Medium are almost entirely attributable to the Intel Arc B580, not the processor.