To The Core

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in To The Core presents a fascinating study in bottleneck dynamics, where a 6-core Zen 3 processor meets one of the most powerful consumer GPUs ever made. The data reveals a system that is almost entirely GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but which begins to show the processor's limitations at 1080p, where the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread capabilities become the deciding factor in pushing frame rates past the 400 FPS mark. This configuration, ranked 93rd out of 1756 tested combos, offers a clear view into how an Idle game scales with extreme hardware, and the measured FPS values suggest that the experience is overwhelmingly smooth, but the path to that smoothness is not linear across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are substantial and tell a clear story about where the performance ceiling lies. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 421.3 at 1920x1080 to 300.3 at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 29%, and then to 171.8 at 3840x2160, which is a further 43% drop. This steep decline as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario; the RTX 4090's rendering workload scales directly with pixel count, and the data shows it is the primary limiter in this configuration from 1440p upwards.

However, the scaling pattern is not uniform across all quality presets. When looking at Low settings, the 1080p to 1440p drop is from 471.6 to 409.2 FPS, a moderate 13% decrease, but the jump to 4K brings a much larger 42% reduction to 237.1 FPS. This suggests that at lower settings and lower resolutions, the CPU has more headroom to feed frames, but the GPU's raw pixel-pushing power still becomes the decisive factor at 4K. The data implies that the RTX 4090 is the limiting component in almost every scenario, but the Ryzen 5 5500's influence becomes more apparent at 1080p, where the FPS differences between presets are compressed, indicating that the CPU is starting to cap the maximum achievable frame rate.

GPU Role

The GeForce RTX 4090's specifications are central to interpreting these numbers. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s is immense, and the 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than sufficient for an Idle game like To The Core. The base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high for any GPU, and the data suggests that these clocks are being utilized effectively to push the high frame rates seen in the 4K benchmarks. The GPU's percentile rank of 91 versus all GPUs positions it in the top tier, and its average benchmark score of 66473 reflects its immense theoretical throughput.

In the measured results, the GPU's role is most evident in the 4K resolution scaling. The gap between Low (237.1 FPS) and Ultra (140.6 FPS) at 4K is a 96.5 FPS difference, which is a direct consequence of the increased shading, texture, and memory demands of higher quality settings. This is a clear indication that the RTX 4090 is being tasked with heavier work, and the performance scales down accordingly. The fact that even at 4K Ultra the system still achieves 140.6 FPS shows that this GPU is not struggling, but rather that the game's engine is capable of using the available hardware resources to maintain high performance. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present, but for this title, the standard rasterization performance appears to be the primary driver of the results.

FAQ

Q: Why is the FPS at 1080p with Low settings (471.6) not much higher than with High settings (421.3)?

A: This smaller gap, compared to the larger differences at higher resolutions, indicates that the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is becoming a limiting factor at 1080p. With lower graphical demands, the CPU's ability to process game logic and submit draw calls becomes the bottleneck, preventing the RTX 4090 from reaching even higher frame rates.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 20875, which places it 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897) and 0.2% behind the Intel Core i5-12600T (20917). It is also 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7J13 (20845), showing that its multi-threaded performance is very competitive with these other processors.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile compared to all other GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, indicating it is among the top-performing graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 66473 is slightly higher than the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733) by 0.4%, but the RTX 4090 has a much higher score than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097) by 0.9%.

Q: What is the best resolution to use for the highest average FPS in this combo?

A: According to the measured data, 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average FPS at 471.6. However, even at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system maintains an average of 140.6 FPS, which is still a very high and playable frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU's 6-core, 12-thread configuration limit the GPU's performance?

A: The data suggests that at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as seen by the large FPS differences between settings. At 1080p, the FPS is compressed across settings, which suggests the CPU's single-thread performance (with a 3DMark single-thread score of 836) is starting to cap the maximum output, limiting the GPU from fully stretching its legs.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's memory bandwidth affect the 4K results?

A: The 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth is a key factor in maintaining high frame rates at 3840x2160. The data shows that even at High settings, the system achieves 171.8 FPS, which is likely supported by the GPU's ability to quickly feed textures and geometry data to the processing cores, avoiding memory-related stalls.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from a peak of 471.6 on Low settings to a minimum of 361.8 on Ultra. The Medium preset achieves 440 FPS, and High comes in at 421.3 FPS. This shows a 109.8 FPS spread between the lowest and highest quality settings at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales down, with Low delivering 409.2 FPS, Medium at 349.9 FPS, High at 300.3 FPS, and Ultra at 240.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 168.5 FPS, demonstrating the increased GPU workload. At 3840x2160, the results are 237.1 FPS for Low, 198.2 FPS for Medium, 171.8 FPS for High, and 140.6 FPS for Ultra. The spread here is 96.5 FPS, which is smaller than at 1440p, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint even at Low settings.

The pattern is consistent: resolution increases cause a significant drop in FPS across all settings, and the relative performance difference between presets is largest at 1440p. This suggests that the RTX 4090 is most sensitive to the combination of resolution and quality settings at that middle ground, while at 1080p, the CPU's influence is more pronounced, and at 4K, the GPU is fully saturated.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. Its 16 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth are moderate figures, and its benchmark scores show a processor with solid multi-threaded capabilities, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429. However, its single-thread score of 2319 in the same test is less impressive, which is a crucial detail for an Idle game.

The CPU's role in these results becomes apparent when looking at the 1080p data. The FPS at High (421.3) is closer to the FPS at Low (471.6) than it is at 4K (171.8 vs 237.1). This compression suggests that the CPU is hitting a performance ceiling, and the GPU is not the only factor at play. The processor's 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and 2-thread score of 1645 are relatively low, indicating that the game's main thread might be struggling to keep up with the GPU's output at lower resolutions. In contrast, the 3DMark max-thread score of 5411 shows the CPU can handle multi-threaded workloads, but the game likely does not scale perfectly across all 12 threads. The data implies that while the RTX 4090 is the star of the show at 4K, the Ryzen 5 5500 is the limiting factor at 1080p, preventing the system from reaching even more extreme frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the best experience depends on the user's display and preference for visual fidelity. For a 1080p monitor, the Medium preset at 440 FPS or the High preset at 421.3 FPS are both excellent choices, as they provide a significant visual upgrade over Low (471.6 FPS) with only a minimal frame rate penalty. The Ultra preset at 361.8 FPS is also viable, but the 60 FPS jump from Medium to Ultra may not be worth the visual difference for a game in this genre.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset at 349.9 FPS offers the best balance, as it is nearly 50 FPS faster than High (300.3 FPS) while still providing a higher level of detail than Low (409.2 FPS). At 4K, the High preset at 171.8 FPS is a strong recommendation, as it is 31 FPS faster than Ultra (140.6 FPS) while maintaining a high level of visual quality. The Low preset at 237.1 FPS is the fastest option, but the visual compromise is likely too great for a game that appears to be graphically simple. The data suggests that the Medium or High presets are the "sweet spot" for this combination, as they offer high frame rates without sacrificing the game's visual presentation.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination is ranked 93rd out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core. This is an exceptionally high ranking, placing the system in the top 5.3% of all configurations tested. This result is primarily driven by the RTX 4090's immense power, which ensures high frame rates even at 4K, but the ranking also reflects the CPU's ability to avoid being a complete bottleneck.

The CPU's percentile rank of 79 versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20875, is respectable, but it is not a top-tier processor. However, the GPU's 91st percentile ranking and its average benchmark score of 66473 are far more influential in this game's performance. The data indicates that while the CPU is competent, the GPU is the dominant factor in this combo's high ranking. The fact that this combo achieves 140.6 FPS at 4K Ultra confirms the GPU's power, and the ranking reflects that the system is capable of delivering an extremely high-performance experience, even if the CPU is a weaker link in the chain.