To The Core

Resolution Scaling

The recorded data for To The Core shows a clear progression of frame rates as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 516 FPS at 1080p to 371 FPS at 1440p and finally to 212 FPS at 4K. This represents a 59% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which indicates that the GPU is becoming increasingly burdened as pixel count grows.

At Medium settings, the pattern continues with 467 FPS at 1080p, 314 FPS at 1440p, and 180 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K amounts to 61%, a slightly steeper decline than what Low settings exhibit. High settings show 405 FPS at 1080p, 272 FPS at 1440p, and 156 FPS at 4K, a 61% reduction as well. Ultra settings produce 326 FPS at 1080p, 219 FPS at 1440p, and 125 FPS at 4K, again a 62% decline.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all four settings presets suggests that the scaling behavior is dominated by the GPU's rendering workload rather than CPU limitations. In a CPU-bound scenario, the frame rate would typically plateau or decline much more modestly at lower resolutions, but here every resolution step produces a substantial frame rate reduction.

The minimum recorded frame rates at Medium settings provide additional insight. At 1080p, the minimum is 397 FPS with a maximum of 537 FPS. At 1440p, the minimum drops to 267 FPS with a maximum of 361 FPS. At 4K, the minimum is 153 FPS with a maximum of 207 FPS. The frame time consistency appears to scale proportionally with the average, maintaining a similar ratio of minimum to average across resolutions.

This data indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the primary limiting component at 1080p and 1440p, but the gap between resolutions narrows in absolute terms as the GPU approaches its limits at 4K. The 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to prevent memory capacity from becoming a bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that even Ultra settings at 4K maintain a playable 125 FPS average.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 315 out of 3725 tested combinations in To The Core. This places the combo in the top 8.5% of all tested pairings, which is a strong showing for a processor that launched in 2020 paired with a GPU from 2022.

The CPU itself ranks in the 75th percentile against all processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 21771. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H with a score of 21749 (0.1% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U at 21874 (0.5% higher), the Intel Core i7-11700 at 21891 (0.5% higher), and the AMD EPYC 9554P at 21899 (0.6% higher). These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that the 5600X sits in a tightly contested performance band.

The GPU performs at the 86th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER at 54209, a mere 0.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (2.6% higher), and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757 (2.7% higher). The fact that the RTX 4080's closest competitor is its own SUPER variant, with such a small delta, suggests that this GPU is very well positioned in the performance hierarchy.

Given that both components rank highly individually, the combo's 315th position out of 3725 configurations reflects a well-balanced pairing. The Ryzen 5 5600X provides sufficient single-thread performance to feed the RTX 4080 in this idle genre game, where frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate does this combo achieve at 4K Ultra settings in To The Core?

A: The recorded average frame rate is 125 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the lowest average across all tested configurations, but it remains well above typical display refresh rates.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5600X compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The 5600X scores 21771 on average, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 4800H (21749), 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 6650U (21874), 0.5% lower than the Intel Core i7-11700 (21891), and 0.6% lower than the AMD EPYC 9554P (21899).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce an average of 371 FPS while Ultra settings produce 219 FPS. This is a difference of 152 FPS, or approximately 41% lower performance at Ultra compared to Low.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 outperform the RTX 4080 SUPER in the database?

A: No. The RTX 4080 scores 54247 on average, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209. The regular 4080 is 0.1% higher, which is within measurement noise and effectively a tie.

Q: What is the minimum recorded frame rate for this combo at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum frame rate recorded at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 153 FPS, with a maximum of 207 FPS and an average of 180 FPS.

Q: How many total combinations does this combo outperform in To The Core?

A: This combo ranks 315th out of 3725 tested combinations, meaning it outperforms 3410 other CPU and GPU pairings in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 516 FPS, Medium settings average 467 FPS with a minimum of 397 and maximum of 537, High settings average 405 FPS, and Ultra settings average 326 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 190 FPS, which gives users substantial headroom to increase visual quality while maintaining very high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 371 FPS at Low, 314 FPS at Medium with a minimum of 267 and maximum of 361, 272 FPS at High, and 219 FPS at Ultra. The spacing between settings presets remains fairly consistent, with each step up in quality costing roughly 45 to 55 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 212 FPS at Low, 180 FPS at Medium with a minimum of 153 and maximum of 207, 156 FPS at High, and 125 FPS at Ultra. The frame rate deltas between presets compress slightly at 4K, with Low to Medium differing by 32 FPS, Medium to High by 24 FPS, and High to Ultra by 31 FPS.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones that include minimum and maximum values in the dataset. At 1080p, the variance between minimum and maximum is 140 FPS. At 1440p, the variance narrows to 94 FPS. At 4K, the variance is 54 FPS. This tightening of the frame time distribution at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more consistent as it becomes the clear bottleneck.

All recorded frame rates exceed 120 FPS even at the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra), which indicates that this combo is capable of driving high refresh rate displays at any resolution and quality level tested in To The Core.

Settings Recommendations

The data shows that Ultra settings at 1080p produce 326 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. At 1440p, Ultra settings deliver 219 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 144 Hz refresh rate displays. At 4K, Ultra settings drop to 125 FPS, which remains above the 120 FPS threshold for high refresh rate gaming.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, Ultra settings at 1440p appear to be the sweet spot. The 219 FPS average provides a substantial margin above typical 144 Hz displays, and the visual uplift from High to Ultra is the smallest frame rate cost among the preset transitions. Moving from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 53 FPS, while at 4K it costs 31 FPS, and at 1080p it costs 79 FPS.

Medium settings offer the most balanced experience when considering the minimum frame rate data. At 1440p, Medium produces 314 FPS average with a 267 FPS minimum, meaning even the worst-case frame time stays well above 240 Hz. At 4K, Medium yields 180 FPS average with a 153 FPS minimum, which still clears 144 Hz.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates across all resolutions, with 516 FPS at 1080p, 371 FPS at 1440p, and 212 FPS at 4K. These figures are primarily useful for competitive play or for users with very high refresh rate displays (240 Hz or higher), particularly at 1080p and 1440p.

Given that this is an idle genre game, the frame rate demands are likely less critical than in fast-paced action titles. The data suggests that High settings at 4K, with 156 FPS average, offers a compelling combination of visual quality and performance. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is 31 FPS, which may not justify the additional GPU load depending on display capabilities.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Vermeer. It operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and boosts up to 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor uses 7 nm process technology from TSMC and fits in the AMD Socket AM4.

Synthetic benchmark results show the CPU's capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 11838 in multicore and 1541 in single-core. Geekbench results are 9173 multicore and 1989 single-core. The 3DMark tests show a progression from 917 in single-thread to 5588 in max-threads, which indicates good scaling across its 12 threads. The Passmark single-thread score is 3364, while multithread is 21858.

In To The Core, the CPU's role is evident from the resolution scaling behavior. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 516 FPS. This very high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates at an exceptional rate. The fact that frame rates continue to scale down as resolution increases indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any tested configuration.

The 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient memory throughput for this idle genre game. The 5600X's single-core performance, evidenced by its 917 score in 3DMark single-thread and 1541 in Cinebench R23 single-core, is particularly relevant for games that rely heavily on a primary simulation thread.

The CPU's 75th percentile ranking against all processors places it in the upper quartile, and its average benchmark score of 21771 is within 0.6% of its nearest rivals. This indicates that the 5600X delivers performance competitive with much newer and more expensive processors in synthetic workloads, and the game measurements confirm that it does not hold back the RTX 4080 in To The Core.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD103 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process from TSMC. It contains 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2205 MHz and boosts to 2505 MHz, with memory running at 1400 MHz or 22.4 Gbps effective.

Memory specifications are substantial: 16 GB of GDDR6X on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. It also includes 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

The pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS. The GPU draws up to 320 W and requires a 700 W power supply, using a single 16-pin power connector. It occupies a triple-slot form factor with dimensions of 310 mm length, 140 mm height, and 61 mm width.

In To The Core, the GPU's performance is the dominant factor in frame rate outcomes. The resolution scaling analysis shows that frame rates decline consistently as pixel count increases, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound workload. The RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, confirms its position in the upper echelon of graphics hardware.

The Passmark G3D score of 34457 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 263779 provide additional context for the GPU's raw compute capabilities. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 indicates strong DirectX 12 performance, which is relevant for a modern title like To The Core.

The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores only 0.1% higher in average benchmark score, making the two effectively equivalent in synthetic tests. The measured game frame rates for this combo, reaching 516 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrate that the RTX 4080 has ample headroom even in an idle genre game with relatively modest rendering demands. The 16 GB VRAM capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, memory allocation is unlikely to become a limiting factor.