To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers playable frame rates in To The Core, but the experience is heavily dictated by settings and resolution. The data indicates that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience, particularly at 1440p and 4K, where it provides a significant frame rate cushion over High and Ultra while maintaining better visual fidelity than Low. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset achieves an average of 86 FPS, but the Medium preset's 124 FPS average ensures smoother performance with headroom for demanding scenes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data clearly shows that the Medium preset is the optimal choice for this combination. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 48 FPS average, which is 7 FPS higher than High (41 FPS) and 15 FPS higher than Ultra (33 FPS), while only sacrificing 8 FPS compared to Low (56 FPS). The medium preset also provides the only complete min/max data at 4K, with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 55 FPS, indicating consistent performance without severe drops.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 83 FPS average, which is 11 FPS higher than High (72 FPS) and 25 FPS higher than Ultra (58 FPS). The gap to Low (99 FPS) is 16 FPS, but the visual quality improvement from Medium over Low is substantial. The min/max range at 1440p Medium is 71 to 96 FPS, showing a tight 25 FPS spread that suggests stable frame pacing.

The 1920x1080 results reinforce Medium as the sweet spot. Medium achieves 124 FPS average, which is 17 FPS higher than High (107 FPS) and 38 FPS higher than Ultra (86 FPS). Low reaches 147 FPS, but the 23 FPS difference between Low and Medium is less impactful at these high frame rates. The Medium preset's min/max of 105 to 143 FPS at 1080p demonstrates that even during intense scenes, the frame rate remains well above 100 FPS.

For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, Ultra is viable at 1080p with 86 FPS, but at 1440p it drops to 58 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 33 FPS, which may be below the comfort threshold for many users. High settings are a reasonable alternative, providing 41 FPS at 4K, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 107 FPS at 1080p, but Medium consistently offers a better balance of performance and quality across all three resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer) manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. It features a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, using the AMD Socket AM4 platform with PCIe Gen 4 (20 lanes from the CPU).

In To The Core, an idle game, the CPU's role is less demanding than in action titles, but the benchmark results still show measurable scaling. The 5600X's single-thread performance, evidenced by a 3DMark single-thread score of 917 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1541, ensures that the game's primary game logic thread runs efficiently. The multi-threaded capabilities, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11,838 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 9,173, provide ample headroom for background processes and any auxiliary threads the game spawns.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 75 versus all CPUs indicates it outperforms three-quarters of the processor landscape. Its average benchmark score of 21,771 places it very close to the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (21,749, delta +0.1%) and slightly below the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (21,874, delta -0.5%) and Intel Core i7-11700 (21,891, delta -0.5%). These near-identical scores suggest that the 5600X is well-matched to its peers for this workload, and the game's frame rates are unlikely to be bottlenecked by the CPU at any tested resolution.

The fact that FPS scales consistently as resolution decreases—from 4K to 1440p to 1080p—indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor. At 1080p with Low settings, the 5600X can push the Arc B390 to 147 FPS, demonstrating that the CPU can feed the GPU sufficiently. The CPU's 12 threads and high boost clock ensure that even in complex idle-game calculations, there is no significant performance penalty.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides the best balance, achieving 83 FPS average. At 1080p Medium, the combo reaches 124 FPS, while at 4K Medium it drops to 48 FPS. The 1440p Medium setting offers a high frame rate with better image clarity than 1080p.

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

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 124 at 1080p to 83 at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and then to 48 at 4K (a 61% reduction from 1080p). This steep decline indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 1080p Ultra achieves 86 FPS average, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra drops to 58 FPS, and at 4K Ultra falls to 33 FPS. For smooth 60+ FPS gameplay, Ultra is only recommended at 1080p.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1,482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1,463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1,460), 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1,446), and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710 (1,443). This places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Does the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X bottleneck the Intel Arc B390?

A: No, the data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 147 FPS, and the FPS scales consistently with resolution changes. The CPU's average benchmark score of 21,771 is nearly identical to its closest rivals, suggesting it has sufficient headroom for this GPU.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the minimum and maximum FPS are recorded for all three resolutions. At 4K, the range is 41-55 FPS (average 48); at 1440p, it is 71-96 FPS (average 83); at 1080p, it is 105-143 FPS (average 124). These ranges indicate stable performance without severe frame drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2,643 out of 2,991 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the bottom 12% of all combinations. This low ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's performance class, as the Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 1,482.

The GPU's nearest rivals—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710—all have average scores within 1.3% to 2.7% of the Arc B390. This clustering of scores at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum explains why the combo ranks so low in the overall list. However, the CPU's strong performance (75th percentile) boosts the combo slightly above what the GPU alone would suggest.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (0.1% faster), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (0.5% slower), Intel Core i7-11700 (0.5% slower), and AMD EPYC 9554P (0.6% slower). These deltas are all under 1%, indicating that the 5600X's processing power is essentially equivalent to its closest competitors in this context.

For To The Core, an idle game that likely does not demand extreme computational resources, the combo's ranking reflects the GPU's limitations rather than a fundamental mismatch. The measured FPS at 1080p are respectable, but the 4K performance places the combo firmly in the lower tier of tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. At Medium settings, the average FPS progresses from 124 at 1080p, to 83 at 1440p, to 48 at 4K. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 42% drop from 1440p to 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar but with higher absolute values: 147 FPS at 1080p, 99 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 33% (1080p to 1440p) and 43% (1440p to 4K), showing that the GPU's workload scales consistently regardless of setting level.

High settings show 107 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K, with drops of 33% and 43% respectively. Ultra settings show 86 FPS at 1080p, 58 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K, with drops of 33% and 43% as well.

The consistent ~33% and ~43% drops across all settings strongly indicate that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a much smaller performance difference between 1080p and 1440p, since the CPU workload does not scale with resolution. The GPU's 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are modest figures, consistent with a low-end integrated graphics solution that struggles as pixel count increases.

The Arc B390's memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which means it relies on shared system memory. This architecture can lead to performance degradation at higher resolutions due to increased memory traffic, explaining the steep FPS drops observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 (4K), the combo achieves the following average frame rates: Low settings deliver 56 FPS, Medium delivers 48 FPS with a minimum of 41 and maximum of 55, High delivers 41 FPS, and Ultra delivers 33 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one at 4K with recorded min/max values, showing a 14 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the average frame rates are: Low at 99 FPS, Medium at 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 and maximum of 96, High at 72 FPS, and Ultra at 58 FPS. The Medium preset's 25 FPS spread (71-96) suggests slightly more variance at this resolution compared to 4K, but still within acceptable bounds.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the performance is notably higher: Low reaches 147 FPS, Medium achieves 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 and maximum of 143, High hits 107 FPS, and Ultra manages 86 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a 38 FPS spread (105-143), which is the largest absolute range but proportionally similar to the other resolutions.

The frame rate deltas between settings are consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 61 FPS (147 vs 86), at 1440p it is 41 FPS (99 vs 58), and at 4K it is 23 FPS (56 vs 33). This shows that the absolute performance gap between settings narrows as resolution increases, because the GPU becomes more saturated.

For players targeting 60 FPS, the Medium preset at 1440p (83 FPS) and 1080p (124 FPS) are the clear choices, while at 4K only Low (56 FPS) comes close to hitting 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K (33 FPS) is the most demanding configuration tested and should only be used for screenshots or turn-based gameplay where frame rate is less critical.