To The Core

The pairing of a 2018-era six-core AMD Ryzen 5 2600 with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 produces a fascinating, if lopsided, benchmark profile in To The Core. The data shows that this combination, ranked 305th out of 1756 tested combos, is capable of delivering exceptionally high frame rates, but the experience varies significantly based on how the settings and resolution are configured. The measured results reveal that this is a setup where the GPU is rarely the limiting factor, making the choice of preset the most critical decision for the user.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data indicates that the "Low" preset delivers the most extreme performance headroom, but it is not necessarily the optimal experience. At 1920x1080, the Low setting produces an average of 343.8 FPS, which is the highest measured result across all configurations. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. The "Medium" preset offers a more compelling balance, providing 326 FPS at 1080p, which is only a 5.2% reduction from Low while presumably offering better visual quality.

For users prioritizing smoothness above all else, the "High" preset is a strong contender. At 2560x1440, High yields 271.2 FPS, while at 1920x1080 it reaches 308.6 FPS. These numbers are well above the refresh rate of virtually any display, making the visual improvements of High over Medium a worthwhile trade for the relatively small FPS dip. The most demanding "Ultra" preset still maintains playable, if not blistering, frame rates: 283.4 FPS at 1080p and 250.1 FPS at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the picture becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset drops to 142.2 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 41.2% decrease from the Low setting's 241.7 FPS. Given the massive performance headroom at lower resolutions, the data suggests that 4K Ultra is the best way to leverage the RTX 5090's power in this title, as it remains comfortably above 144 FPS. Therefore, the recommended preset is Ultra for 4K users, while High is the sweet spot for those on 1440p or 1080p displays, offering a blend of high fidelity and performance that leaves no frame rate on the table.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090's specifications are formidable, and the benchmarks show how they translate into raw speed for this idle game. The GPU is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process at TSMC, housing 92,200 million transistors. Its core configuration includes 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. This massive array of compute units is supported by 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The memory clocks run at 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective, while the GPU's base and boost clocks are listed at 2017 MHz and 2407 MHz, respectively.

The sheer size of the VRAM pool—32 GB—is significant even for a title like To The Core, which is not graphically demanding. The data shows that this GPU is never bottlenecked by memory capacity or bandwidth in the measured scenarios. The performance difference between settings is more likely tied to the GPU's compute load, which affects its ability to render at higher detail levels. The GPU's FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s provide the horsepower to push frame rates past 300 FPS at 1080p, indicating that the RTX 5090 is operating well below its theoretical limits in this game. Its percentile ranking of 94 vs. all GPUs confirms its elite status, and its average benchmark score of 84,306 places it at the top of the stack, with its nearest rival, the RTX 5090 D, only 0.1% behind.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and RTX 5090 pairing occupies the 305th position out of 1,756 total combos. This places the setup in the top 17.4% of all tested configurations. The ranking is a direct result of the enormous performance ceiling of the GPU, despite the older CPU. The Ryzen 5 2600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz, holds a percentile rank of 77 vs. all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 19,616 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-1345U (19,691, -0.4% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19,508, +0.6% delta).

This data suggests that in To The Core, the CPU is not a significant bottleneck. The combo rank of 305 reflects a system that can achieve high frame rates, but it is far from the top 100, which are likely dominated by newer, higher-clocked processors paired with this same GPU. The performance gap is not due to a lack of GPU power but rather the potential for the older CPU to limit frame pacing in certain scenarios, even if the average FPS numbers remain high. The fact that this 6-core/12-thread CPU from 2018 can pair with the flagship 2025 GPU to reach 305th place underscores that To The Core is heavily GPU-bound, allowing the RTX 5090 to stretch its legs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data offers a clear picture of scaling across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 343.8 FPS, which is the absolute peak performance recorded. Moving to Medium drops the average to 326 FPS, and High further reduces it to 308.6 FPS. The Ultra preset yields 283.4 FPS at this resolution. The differences are relatively modest, with a 17.6% gap between Low and Ultra, indicating that even the most demanding settings are handled with ease.

At 2560x1440, the results show a tighter grouping. The Low preset still leads with 301.5 FPS. Medium is close behind at 282.5 FPS, and High follows at 271.2 FPS. The Ultra preset rounds out the field at 250.1 FPS. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra here is 17.0%, similar to 1080p, but the overall frame rates are slightly lower, reflecting the increased pixel count. The 1440p results are all above 250 FPS, suggesting that this resolution is the practical ceiling for maintaining maximum refresh rates.

At 3840x2160, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset delivers 241.7 FPS, which is a 29.7% drop from its 1080p counterpart. Medium produces 204.7 FPS, High yields 177.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 142.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 41.2%, a significant gap that highlights the increased load on the GPU's shading units and ROPs. Despite this, even the 4K Ultra result of 142.2 FPS is above the 120 FPS threshold, making it a viable option for high-refresh 4K monitors. The data confirms that the RTX 5090 scales predictably with resolution, with the 4K Ultra setting being the only configuration that approaches a more conventional load for this class of GPU.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play To The Core with this combo?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 offers the best balance, with all presets yielding over 250 FPS. At 1920x1080, frame rates exceed 283 FPS even on Ultra, while 3840x2160 results in a wider performance spread, from 241.7 FPS on Low down to 142.2 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Low to Ultra settings?

A: The performance penalty varies by resolution. At 1920x1080, the difference is 17.6% (from 343.8 FPS to 283.4 FPS). At 2560x1440, the drop is 17.0% (from 301.5 FPS to 250.1 FPS). At 3840x2160, the gap widens significantly to 41.2% (from 241.7 FPS to 142.2 FPS).

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: Based on the combo ranking of 305 out of 1,756, the pairing performs well, but the CPU's position in the 77th percentile of all CPUs suggests it is not the primary driver of performance. The high average FPS numbers indicate that the game is not heavily CPU-dependent, though the older CPU may limit the system from reaching the top 100 ranks.

*Q: Is the RTX 5090's 32 GB VRAM necessary for To The Core?*

A: The measured data does not indicate any VRAM limitations. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory is far beyond what this game requires, as evidenced by the consistently high frame rates across all settings. The GPU's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 512-bit bus provide ample headroom for this title.

Q: How does this combo compare to the RTX 5090's nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 84,306, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 5090 D (84,241) and 0.2% higher than the RTX 5050 Mobile (84,171). It is also 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (83,209), indicating that the desktop 5090 is marginally faster than its closest alternatives.

Q: What is the refresh rate target for 4K gaming with this setup?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 142.2 FPS, which is suitable for 120 Hz displays. The High preset at 177.4 FPS is better suited for 144 Hz monitors, while the Low preset at 241.7 FPS can approach 240 Hz capabilities, though visual quality is sacrificed.