To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, an Idle genre title, with the data showing the combo ranking 67th out of 1756 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the top 3.8% of all tested systems, a remarkable result given the CPU's mid-range positioning. The measured frame rates are consistently high, even at 4K Ultra, where the system still produces 140.6 FPS, indicating this combination is far more than sufficient for the game's demands.

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 5600 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has an average benchmark score of 21765, placing it 0.6% ahead of the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635) and 0.6% behind the AMD EPYC 9554P (21899). It also trails the AMD EPYC 9534 (21900) by 0.6% and the Intel Core i7-11700F (21957) by 0.9%.

Q: What is the performance ceiling of the RTX 4090 relative to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 66473, which is 0.4% below the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733) and 0.5% above the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127). It also outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097) by 0.9% and the NVIDIA Quadro P6000 (67320) by 1.3%, though the 4090 leads in all cases.

*Q: What is the best measured performance for this combo in To The Core?*

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 500.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed closely by 471.8 FPS at 1080p Medium and 448.9 FPS at 1080p High, demonstrating that the CPU becomes the primary limiter at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the combo's performance scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, performance drops by 53.4% from 1080p (500.3 FPS) to 4K (233 FPS). The scaling is steeper at Ultra settings, where the drop is 61.2% from 1080p (362.8 FPS) to 4K (140.6 FPS), indicating that the GPU load increases significantly with resolution.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded capability?

A: The Ryzen 5 5600 has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. In Cinebench R23, it scores 18309 points in multi-core and 2584 points in single-core, showing a strong balance that supports high frame rates in this game.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's memory configuration impact 4K performance?

A: The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. This large memory pool and high bandwidth support the 173.7 FPS average seen at 4K High, ensuring no memory bottleneck even at the highest resolution tested.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the data confirms its influence on To The Core's performance. With a boost clock of 2520 MHz and 16384 shading units, the GPU provides immense raw compute power. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 1.01 TB/s bandwidth ensures that even the most demanding settings at 3840x2160 do not exhaust memory capacity. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a key driver of the high frame rates observed.

The memory subsystem is particularly relevant in an Idle game, where complex visual states and large textures can accumulate. The 4090's 384-bit bus width and 24 GB capacity mean that the GPU is never starved for data, allowing it to maintain high utilization. This is reflected in the measured results: at 4K Ultra, the system still produces 140.6 FPS, a figure that only a top-tier GPU can achieve. The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores also contribute to the overall efficiency, though To The Core does not appear to rely heavily on ray tracing based on the frame rates.

The data indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 2560x1440 Ultra, the average is 244.8 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 140.6 FPS, a 42.6% reduction. This shows that the RTX 4090 is still powerful enough to handle 4K, but the game is pushing the GPU's limits at that resolution and settings combo. The GPU's 450 W TDP and required 850 W PSU are substantial, but the performance payoff is clear in the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a clear pattern: the RTX 4090 becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU is the bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 500.3 FPS, but this drops to 413 FPS at 1440p Low and further to 233 FPS at 4K Low. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 53.4%, indicating that the GPU is being tasked more heavily.

The scaling is more pronounced at higher settings. At Ultra, the frame rate falls from 362.8 FPS at 1080p to 244.8 FPS at 1440p, and then to 140.6 FPS at 4K. This represents a 61.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is a steeper drop than at Low settings. This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces visual effects that scale disproportionately with resolution, placing a heavier load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

At 1080p, the CPU's role is more evident. The difference between 1080p Low (500.3 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (362.8 FPS) is 27.5%, while the difference between 4K Low (233 FPS) and 4K Ultra (140.6 FPS) is 39.7%. This indicates that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5600's 6 cores and 12 threads can keep up with the GPU's output, but at 4K, the GPU's workload dominates. The data suggests that for maximum frame rates, users should play at 1080p, but 4K is still highly playable with proper settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers outstanding results across all settings. The Low preset yields an average of 500.3 FPS, which is the highest recorded in the dataset. Medium settings produce 471.8 FPS, High settings achieve 448.9 FPS, and Ultra settings still manage 362.8 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 137.5 FPS, showing that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU has ample headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low settings average 413 FPS, Medium hits 345.8 FPS, High reaches 303.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 244.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 168.2 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is starting to take on more work. The 1440p results are still well above refresh rates of typical monitors, making this an ideal resolution for high-refresh gaming.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limits become more apparent. Low settings average 233 FPS, which is still very high. Medium settings produce 196.3 FPS, High settings achieve 173.7 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 140.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 92.4 FPS, a smaller gap than at lower resolutions, confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains playable, but users seeking maximum visual fidelity will see a significant drop from 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 67th out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the top 3.8% of all systems. This is a strong result, especially considering the CPU's mid-range nature. The ranking suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of performance, and the CPU does not significantly hold back the system in this game.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 79th among all CPUs indicates it is better than 79% of alternatives, but its nearest rivals are close in average score. The Ryzen 5 5600's 21765 average benchmark score is nearly identical to the Intel Xeon D-1746TER (21635) and AMD EPYC 9554P (21899), with deltas of 0.6% or less. This shows that the CPU's performance is competitive with much more expensive server parts, though the RTX 4090's 91st percentile ranking among GPUs is what truly boosts this combo.

The combo's high rank is also notable because To The Core is an Idle game, which typically does not stress hardware as much as other genres. The fact that this pairing still achieves top-tier status suggests that the game is well-optimized to leverage the GPU's capabilities. The combination of a high-end GPU with a capable mid-range CPU proves effective, as the CPU's 6 cores are sufficient for the game's single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At this resolution, the High setting averages 303.5 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most high-end monitors. This provides a smooth experience without the unnecessary frame rate overhead of Low settings, which yield 413 FPS but with reduced visual fidelity.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 is recommended, as it averages 196.3 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over High (173.7 FPS) and Ultra (140.6 FPS) while still delivering good visual quality. The 4K Medium setting ensures that the RTX 4090 is not overburdened, maintaining a high frame rate that is smoother than what Ultra can offer.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it produces 362.8 FPS, which is more than enough for any display. The difference between Ultra and High at 1080p is 86.1 FPS, but the visual enhancements from Ultra are worth the slight performance hit. The data shows that the CPU can handle 1080p Ultra without becoming a bottleneck, making it the optimal setting for this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a supporting role in this combo, but its performance is crucial for maintaining high frame rates. The CPU has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and its Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer) provides strong single-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 2584 points in single-core, which is competitive for gaming workloads.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18309 points. This is reflected in the 3DMark 16-thread test, where it scores 5641, and the PassMark multi-thread score of 21541. These results indicate that the CPU can handle the background tasks and game logic in To The Core without creating a bottleneck, even at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity.

The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 137.5 FPS, which is the largest gap across all resolutions. This suggests that the CPU's single-threaded performance is what caps the frame rate at 500.3 FPS. However, the CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for the game's demands. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking and its close performance to rivals like the Intel Core i7-11700F (0.9% behind) confirm that it is a capable partner for the RTX 4090, even if it is not the primary driver of performance.