To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 pairing in To The Core shows a dramatic shift in performance characteristics depending on the resolution targeted. This is an idle game, but the measured frame rates indicate a workload that scales heavily with both CPU and GPU resources, making the resolution scaling analysis particularly revealing.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a steep and consistent drop in average FPS as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, though the magnitude of the drop varies significantly by settings preset. At the Ultra preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 sees average frame rates fall from 186.5 FPS to 71.2 FPS—a reduction of roughly 62%. This indicates that at 4K Ultra, the GPU is being pushed hard, and the rendering load is the primary constraint on performance.

The High preset tells a similar story. Average FPS drops from 232.1 at 1080p to 154.9 at 1440p, then further down to 89.4 at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K here represents a 43% performance penalty, which is substantial and points to the RTX 4060's 128-bit memory bus and 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth becoming a limiting factor at higher pixel counts. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory also becomes more taxed at 4K, though the game's idle genre likely keeps texture demands modest.

At Medium settings, the pattern holds: 264.5 FPS at 1080p, 177.5 at 1440p, and 104.7 at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K is 41%, slightly less severe than at High, suggesting that lower graphical complexity reduces the GPU's workload enough to mitigate some of the bandwidth pressure. However, the trend is unmistakable—this is a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions.

The Low preset provides the clearest evidence of where the bottleneck shifts. Here, 1080p delivers 313.3 FPS, 1440p drops to 207.9, and 4K still manages 122.6 FPS. The 4K result at Low is nearly double the 4K Ultra result (122.6 vs 71.2), which demonstrates that reducing settings has a massive impact on GPU load. Yet even at Low, the 4K frame rate is less than half of the 1080p figure, indicating that the GPU remains the limiting component throughout.

What is striking is that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 313.3 FPS. This is an extremely high frame rate that suggests the CPU is still able to feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, despite the Ryzen 5 2600's age. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, appear sufficient for this title at 1080p, as the GPU takes over as the primary constraint once resolution climbs. The scaling pattern across all presets shows a smooth, predictable decline, with no anomalous spikes or collapses, indicating a well-balanced pairing that degrades gracefully under load.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 is the dominant performance driver in this combination, and its specifications explain the measured results. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, the GPU operates with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz. These clock speeds are modest compared to some higher-tier cards, but they are paired with 3072 shading units and 96 texture mapping units, allowing for substantial parallel throughput.

The GPU's memory subsystem is a critical factor. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the RTX 4060 delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a relatively narrow bus for a modern GPU, and the 4K results reflect this constraint. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 71.2 is the lowest measured across all configurations, and the gap between 4K Low (122.6 FPS) and 4K Ultra (71.2 FPS) is a 42% difference. This spread shows that the GPU's compute capabilities, rated at 15.11 TFLOPS for FP32, are sufficient to handle the game's demands, but memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M with an average score of 23321 (a delta of -0.6%), and the Intel Arc B580 at 23021 (a delta of 0.7%). These close scores indicate that the RTX 4060 sits in a competitive mid-range tier, and its performance in To The Core aligns with this positioning. The GPU's percentile ranking of 66 against all GPUs places it in the upper-mid range, and the measured FPS figures in this game are consistently high enough to provide smooth gameplay across all tested settings.

The GPU also supports modern APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which allow it to handle the game's rendering efficiently. The 96 tensor cores and 24 ray tracing cores are present, though an idle game like To The Core likely does not leverage these heavily. The power envelope of 115 W TDP and a suggested PSU of 300 W indicate an efficient card, but these are not factors in the measured frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 995th out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the middle of the distribution, which is a reasonable outcome given the components' ages and performance tiers. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 19616, ranks in the 77th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU's average score of 23181 places it in the 66th percentile against all GPUs.

This mid-pack ranking suggests that while the pairing delivers strong absolute frame rates, there are many other combinations that achieve higher performance in this specific game. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-1345U with an average score of 19691 (a delta of -0.4%) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U at 19508 (a delta of 0.6%). These close deltas indicate that the Ryzen 5 2600 is performing right at its expected level, neither overperforming nor underperforming relative to similar processors.

The GPU's ranking is similarly tight, with the AMD Radeon RX 6600M just 0.6% ahead and the Intel Arc B580 just 0.7% behind. This suggests that the RTX 4060 is delivering performance consistent with its class, and the combo's 995th rank is a reflection of the entire system's capabilities rather than a single component holding it back. The data shows that the combo falls in the 56th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning over half of the tested systems outperform it, but it also beats a significant portion of the field.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in To The Core?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 313.3 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest is 71.2 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-1345U?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 has an average benchmark score of 19616, which is 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-1345U's score of 19691.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth, and how does it affect 4K performance?

A: The RTX 4060 has a memory bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s over a 128-bit bus. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 71.2 FPS, which is the lowest result, suggesting bandwidth constraints at high resolutions.

Q: Does the combo perform better at 1440p High or 4K Medium?

A: At 1440p High, the average FPS is 154.9, while at 4K Medium, it is 104.7. The 1440p High configuration delivers a significantly higher frame rate.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested combinations in this game?

A: The combo ranks 995th out of 1756 tested combinations, placing it in the middle of the performance distribution.

Q: How much does the Ultra preset cost in performance compared to Low at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the Ultra preset averages 186.5 FPS, while Low averages 313.3 FPS. This represents a 40% reduction in average FPS when using Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in To The Core. At 1920x1080, all settings presets deliver playable frame rates, but the choice depends on whether the user prioritizes visual quality or raw FPS. The Low preset achieves 313.3 FPS, which is excessive for most displays, while Ultra still manages 186.5 FPS. Given the high baseline, the Ultra preset is the best choice at 1080p, as it provides the highest visual fidelity without dropping below 186 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

At 2560x1440, the High preset offers a balanced experience at 154.9 FPS, while Medium delivers 177.5 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 125 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 19% reduction compared to High. For users with 144Hz displays, the Medium preset is recommended, as it maintains an average FPS above 170 while still offering improved visual quality over Low. The Low preset at 207.9 FPS is only advisable for competitive play where maximum frame rates are paramount.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent, and settings management is crucial. The High preset averages 89.4 FPS, which is playable for most users, while Medium offers 104.7 FPS for a modest visual trade-off. The Ultra preset at 71.2 FPS is the only configuration that dips below 90 FPS, and it should be avoided unless the user has a 60Hz display and prioritizes visuals above all else. The Low preset at 122.6 FPS is the best option for 4K gaming, as it provides a significant FPS boost over High while remaining visually acceptable for an idle game. Overall, the data suggests that Medium at 4K and Ultra at 1080p offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across the measured configurations.