The Medium

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers playable frame rates in The Medium only at lower resolutions and settings, with the data indicating a severe GPU bottleneck at higher graphical presets. The combo ranks in the 20th percentile of all tested systems, placing it firmly in the lower tier for this specific horror title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a component that is heavily constrained by the graphics card. At Medium settings, the average frame rate falls from 49 FPS at 1920x1080 to 41 FPS at 2560x1440, a 16% reduction. The decline becomes more pronounced at 4K, where the average drops to 32 FPS, representing a 35% loss compared to the 1440p result and a 35% loss compared to the 1080p result.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 78 FPS at 1080p but only 66 FPS at 1440p and 52 FPS at 4K. This indicates that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p costs 12 FPS, and the jump to 4K costs another 14 FPS. The trend is similar for High settings, with averages of 35 FPS at 1080p, 29 FPS at 1440p, and 23 FPS at 4K.

The most telling data point is the Ultra preset. At 1080p, the average is 28 FPS, which drops to 23 FPS at 1440p and further to 18 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is a 10 FPS loss, which is proportionally significant given the low starting point. This suggests that the Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 160-bit bus are insufficient to maintain performance as pixel count increases, particularly with the heavier texture and shading workloads of the higher presets.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has 20 cores and 20 threads, which is ample for a title like The Medium. The frame rate drops are directly correlated with resolution and settings, which are traditionally GPU-bound variables. The 4K High result of 23 FPS versus the 1080p Low result of 78 FPS demonstrates that the graphics card is overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and detailed assets, while the processor has headroom to spare.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2321 out of 2911 tested combos in The Medium. This places it in the bottom 20% of all systems, a position that reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's capabilities. The ranking is a direct result of the measured frame rates, which are consistently below 60 FPS at 1440p and 4K for most settings.

Benchmark results indicate that the Arc B570 is the weak link in this pairing. The GPU's average benchmark score is 20556, which places it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which scores 20534 (a 0.1% difference), and the Intel Arc A750, which scores 20582 (a -0.1% difference). These are competitive scores, but they are not sufficient for demanding titles at high resolutions.

The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64640, placing it at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P, which scores 64823 (a -0.3% difference), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, which scores 64438 (a 0.3% difference). This suggests that the processor is capable of feeding the GPU effectively, but the GPU cannot translate that data into high frame rates in The Medium.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the GPU's mid-range percentile explains the combo's low rank. A system with a 93rd percentile CPU and a 65th percentile GPU should theoretically perform better than 20% of tested combos, but the game's demanding rendering requirements expose the GPU's weaknesses. The data implies that pairing this CPU with a more powerful GPU would yield significantly better results, while the current setup is limited by the graphics card.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo in The Medium?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 78 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware?

A: At 4K, the average frame rates are 18 FPS on Ultra, 23 FPS on High, 32 FPS on Medium, and 52 FPS on Low. Only the Low preset approaches playability, while the others fall below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score is 20556. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (0.1% slower), while the Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 (0.1% faster). These are near-identical results.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate drops from 49 FPS at 1920x1080 to 41 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 8 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: The data indicates a GPU bottleneck. The CPU ranks at the 93rd percentile, while the GPU ranks at the 65th percentile. Frame rates drop significantly with resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU-limited performance.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 32 FPS, with a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system averages 78 FPS on Low, 49 FPS on Medium, 35 FPS on High, and 28 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally stable performance.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 66 FPS on Low, 41 FPS on Medium, 29 FPS on High, and 23 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at Ultra, where the average falls by 5 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 52 FPS on Low, 32 FPS on Medium, 23 FPS on High, and 18 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 27 FPS and a maximum of 37 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Low preset remains above 60 FPS, and even then, it barely clears that threshold.

The data shows that the system is only capable of delivering smooth gameplay at 1080p with Low or Medium settings. The 1440p Medium result of 41 FPS is playable but not ideal for a horror title that benefits from atmospheric detail. The 4K results are generally below 30 FPS for all presets except Low, which means that high-resolution gaming is not a strength of this combination.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary determinant of performance in The Medium. The GPU features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). These specifications place the card at the 65th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556.

The 10 GB memory capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K results suggest that the memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor. The bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is moderate by current standards, and the 160-bit bus width constrains data throughput. The frame rate drops at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the average falls to 18 FPS, indicate that the GPU cannot keep up with the texture and geometry demands of the game at that resolution.

The GPU's nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores 20582, which is 0.1% higher. This shows that the B570 is positioned at a similar performance level to its predecessor. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534, which is 0.1% lower, indicating that the B570 offers comparable rasterization performance to a mobile variant of a previous-generation GPU. The PassMark G3D score of 14195 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 provide additional context, but the in-game results are the most telling.

The GPU's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest that it is a power-efficient card, but this does not translate into high frame rates in The Medium. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution and settings changes. The 65th percentile ranking confirms that this is a mid-range card, and the game's demanding rendering engine exposes its limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a high-end processor that is not the limiting factor in this configuration. The CPU has 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It is based on the Arrow Lake architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process by TSMC, and features 30 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU's average benchmark score is 64640, placing it at the 93rd percentile of all CPUs.

The processor's nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 4464P, scores 64823, which is 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F scores 64438, which is 0.3% lower. These are marginal differences, indicating that the 265 is well-positioned among its peers. The CPU's multi-core performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 49682. Single-core performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960.

In The Medium, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The frame rates do not show signs of CPU limitation, as the performance scales with resolution and settings rather than remaining flat. The 20 cores and 20 threads provide ample headroom for the game's threading model, and the 5.30 GHz boost clock ensures responsive single-threaded performance. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s is adequate for the game's data transfer needs.

The data suggests that the CPU is overqualified for this specific GPU pairing. The 93rd percentile ranking versus the GPU's 65th percentile ranking highlights the imbalance. If the GPU were upgraded, the CPU would likely allow for higher frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is not the source of the low frame rates observed in The Medium; the GPU is.