To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and Intel Arc B580 combination delivers a remarkably fluid experience in To The Core, an idle game that scales heavily with both resolution and graphics presets. The measured data shows a system capable of triple-digit frame rates across most settings, with the primary trade-off occurring at 4K Ultra where performance dips to 58 FPS average. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to determine the optimal settings, the respective roles of the CPU and GPU, and how this pairing ranks among other tested configurations.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for To The Core reveals a clear hierarchy across presets, but the best experience depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 150 FPS, which is already far beyond the needs of a smooth idle game. However, the jump from Ultra to High at this resolution is substantial, increasing the average to 187 FPS, a gain of 37 FPS. The Medium preset offers an even higher 216 FPS average, while Low tops out at 255 FPS. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors at 1080p, the Medium preset provides the best balance, as it maintains an average well above 200 FPS while the minimum FPS is recorded at 183, ensuring no perceptible stutter.

At 2560x1440, the story shifts slightly. The Ultra preset drops to a 101 FPS average, which is still perfectly playable. High settings yield 126 FPS, and Medium reaches 145 FPS, with a minimum of 123 FPS. For a 144Hz monitor, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, as its average of 145 FPS is close to the refresh ceiling and the minimum of 123 FPS stays within the variable refresh rate window. Low settings at 1440p provide a 172 FPS average, but the visual fidelity loss is unnecessary given the headroom.

The most demanding scenario is 3840x2160. Here, the Ultra preset falls to a 58 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS threshold often considered the baseline for smooth gameplay. High settings recover to 72 FPS, while Medium provides 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS. Low settings at 4K reach 98 FPS. For 4K displays, the High preset is the optimal choice, as it delivers a comfortable 72 FPS average without the visual compromise of Low or Medium. The data indicates that the Ultra preset is simply too demanding for this GPU at 4K, while High offers the best visual quality per frame.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved with this CPU/GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 255, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 3840x2160, the High preset averages 72 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 83 FPS. However, the Ultra preset drops to a 58 FPS average, which is below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on the High preset?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 187 at 1920x1080 to 126 at 2560x1440, and further to 72 at 3840x2160. This represents a 115 FPS difference between 1080p and 4K.

Q: Is the Medium preset viable for high-refresh-rate gaming at 1440p?

A: Yes, at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 145, with a minimum of 123 FPS. This makes it an excellent choice for a 144Hz display.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 255 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 150 FPS. The difference is 105 FPS in favor of Low settings.

Q: Does the system provide consistent frame pacing, or are there significant dips?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 183 FPS against a 216 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 123 FPS against a 145 FPS average. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 71 FPS against an 83 FPS average. These dips are consistent and modest, indicating stable performance.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the primary driver of frame rate scaling in To The Core, as evidenced by the steep drop in performance as resolution increases. The GPU operates with a boost clock of 2670 MHz and features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for an idle game, which typically does not have large texture footprints. The 12 GB capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no memory spillover that would cause severe stuttering.

The GPU’s shading units (2560) and texture mapping units (160) are the likely bottlenecks at higher resolutions and presets. The data supports this: at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 58, which is a 61% reduction from the 150 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This scaling pattern indicates that the Arc B580’s compute resources are fully saturated at 4K Ultra. In contrast, the CPU is not the limiting factor, as evidenced by the strong performance at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work per frame.

The Arc B580’s 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for this title. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068 places it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Arc B580 is essentially on par with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, showing a 0.6% performance advantage, and 0.7% faster than the RTX 3080 in the averaged benchmarks. This suggests that the B580 is a competent mid-range performer, and its ability to hit 72 FPS at 4K High in To The Core reflects the game’s relatively low graphical demands.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5500X3D and the Intel Arc B580 ranks 2221 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the 74th percentile of all configurations in the database. While this might seem like a middling rank, it is important to contextualize this within the game’s genre. As an idle game, To The Core does not demand top-tier hardware to achieve excellent playability. The rank is more a reflection of the absolute ceiling of the hardware rather than its suitability.

The CPU itself sits in the 85th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 37018. Its nearest rivals are incredibly close: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (a 0.2% difference), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 36938 (also a 0.2% difference), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (a -0.2% difference). This clustering indicates that the 5500X3D is a solid mid-range CPU, but it is not a standout performer in raw compute. Similarly, the GPU’s 68th percentile ranking and its tight grouping with the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080 suggest it is a predictable performer.

The rank of 2221 suggests that many other combos feature more powerful GPUs that push higher frame rates at 4K Ultra. However, for the vast majority of users playing at 1080p or 1440p, this combo’s performance is far above the requirements for a smooth idle game experience. The data shows that the limiting factor for a higher rank is the GPU’s performance at the 4K Ultra preset, where it falls below 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how To The Core scales with resolution. On the High preset, the average FPS drops from 187 at 1920x1080 to 126 at 2560x1440, and then to 72 at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is almost perfectly linear with the increase in pixel count, suggesting that the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

On the Medium preset, the scale is similar: 216 FPS at 1080p, 145 FPS at 1440p, and 83 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 71 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 62 FPS. This pattern indicates that the rendering load is the dominant factor. The Low preset shows the same trend, with 255 FPS at 1080p, 172 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling. At 1080p, it averages 150 FPS. This drops to 101 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 58 FPS at 4K. The 4K result is particularly telling, as it is the only scenario where the system fails to maintain 60 FPS. This indicates that the Arc B580’s compute resources, specifically its 2560 shading units, are overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and the Ultra preset’s additional effects. The data strongly suggests that the GPU is the limiting component in this system, as the CPU’s performance is consistent across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS table for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D + Intel Arc B580 in To The Core is as follows:

• 1920x1080 (1080p):
• Low: 255 FPS average
• Medium: 216 FPS average, 183 FPS minimum, 248 FPS maximum
• High: 187 FPS average
• Ultra: 150 FPS average

• 2560x1440 (1440p):
• Low: 172 FPS average
• Medium: 145 FPS average, 123 FPS minimum, 167 FPS maximum
• High: 126 FPS average
• Ultra: 101 FPS average

• 3840x2160 (4K):
• Low: 98 FPS average
• Medium: 83 FPS average, 71 FPS minimum, 95 FPS maximum
• High: 72 FPS average
• Ultra: 58 FPS average

At 1080p, the system is heavily GPU-bound, but the CPU has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 200 FPS on lower presets. The minimum FPS on Medium (183) is still higher than the average FPS of the Ultra preset (150), highlighting the cost of enabling the highest visual fidelity. At 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, providing a 145 FPS average that is smooth on most displays. The 4K results show a clear grading: Low is viable at 98 FPS, Medium is better at 83 FPS, High is the best quality option at 72 FPS, and Ultra is not recommended due to the 58 FPS average.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.00 GHz. A key feature is its large 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is a hallmark of the X3D series. This cache is particularly beneficial in gaming scenarios where data locality is high, though its impact on To The Core is less pronounced given the game’s idle genre.

The CPU’s PassMark multi-thread score is 20363, and its single-thread score is 2941. These figures place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. In To The Core, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The high frame rates at 1080p, where the CPU typically has to work harder, suggest that the 5500X3D is not a bottleneck. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system hits 255 FPS, which is a strong indicator that the CPU can handle the game’s simulation overhead without breaking a sweat.

The processor’s 105W TDP and 7nm process node ensure efficient operation. Its memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is adequate, though not exceptional. The nearest rival comparison shows that the 5500X3D is virtually identical in performance to the Ryzen 5 5600F and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225, both with a 0.2% delta. This means that swapping the 5500X3D for either of these CPUs would yield no measurable difference in this game. The CPU’s performance is sufficient to keep up with the Arc B580 across all tested resolutions, as the GPU remains the definitive limiting factor.