To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a surprisingly robust experience in To The Core, an Idle game that clearly favors high frame rates over graphical extremes. The benchmark data shows a combination that scales predictably with resolution and settings, but the relationship between the CPU and GPU is not always straightforward. This analysis walks through the measured FPS rows to determine where the bottleneck lies, how to configure the game for the best experience, and what the numbers say about each component's role.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant, but the pattern reveals a system that is increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Medium settings, the average FPS is 204. Moving to 1440p drops this to 137, a reduction of 67 FPS. The jump to 4K further reduces the average to 78 FPS. This translates to a 62% performance loss from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings, indicating that the rendering load expands dramatically with pixel count.

The scaling factor is more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 241 FPS at 1080p, 162 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 79 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 69 FPS. This shows that even when the graphical load is minimal, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes a limiting factor at higher resolutions. The RTX 2060's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width are likely contributing to this ceiling.

At Ultra settings, the frame rates are lower across the board: 142 FPS at 1080p, 95 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K. The resolution scaling here is more linear in percentage terms, with 1080p to 1440p losing 47 FPS and 1440p to 4K losing 40 FPS. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary constraint in all scenarios, but the CPU's headroom becomes more apparent at lower resolutions where the FPS exceeds 200. At 1080p Low, the 241 FPS average indicates the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU adequately, but the GPU's architectural limits prevent higher output.

The measured rows with min and max FPS are only available for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 204 FPS with a min of 173 and max of 234. At 1440p Medium, the average is 137 FPS with a min of 116 and max of 157. At 4K Medium, the average is 78 FPS with a min of 67 and max of 90. The spread between min and max is relatively tight, suggesting consistent frame pacing and no severe stuttering. The gap between min and max grows slightly at 1440p (41 FPS) compared to 1080p (61 FPS), but at 4K it narrows to 23 FPS, indicating the GPU is working closer to its sustained limit.

Settings Recommendations

The data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four measured presets. At 1080p, Low delivers 241 FPS, Medium delivers 204 FPS, High delivers 176 FPS, and Ultra delivers 142 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 37 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 28 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 34 FPS. For players targeting 144Hz or 165Hz displays, Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot, offering a comfortable margin above the refresh rate while still providing a visual upgrade over Low.

At 1440p, the options become more constrained. Low delivers 162 FPS, Medium delivers 137 FPS, High delivers 119 FPS, and Ultra delivers 95 FPS. For a 144Hz display, Low is the only preset that maintains a consistent average above the refresh ceiling. Medium is close, but the 137 FPS average leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. High at 119 FPS is still smooth for 120Hz panels, but the data suggests Medium is the best balance of visual fidelity and performance for most users at this resolution.

At 4K, the situation changes entirely. Low delivers 93 FPS, Medium delivers 78 FPS, High delivers 68 FPS, and Ultra delivers 55 FPS. None of these presets reach 100 FPS, so the recommendation is to prioritize frame rate over visuals. Medium at 78 FPS is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS, making it the only viable option for smooth gameplay on a standard 60Hz display. High at 68 FPS is playable but leaves less margin for drops, and Ultra at 55 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, which can cause perceptible judder in fast-moving scenes.

The data indicates that the best experience per the measured rows is Medium at any resolution. It provides a meaningful improvement over Low in visual detail while retaining a playable frame rate, and it avoids the steep performance penalty of High and Ultra. The min FPS figures for Medium also show that the system does not suffer from severe dips, with the 4K minimum of 67 FPS staying well above the average of 78 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is the defining component in this configuration. Its benchmark profile shows a percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15290. The nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Radeon 680M with a deltaPct of 0.1, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM with a deltaPct of 0.6, and the AMD Radeon RX 7600 with a deltaPct of 0.8. This places the RTX 2060 in a tightly contested mid-range bracket where small margins separate competitors.

The GPU's clocks are specified at a base of 1365 MHz and a boost of 1680 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz or 14 Gbps effective. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. In To The Core, these specifications translate directly to the observed frame rates. The game is not exceptionally demanding, but the GPU's pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s and texture rate of 201.6 GTexel/s are sufficient for the measured performance. The FP32 compute of 6.451 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, yet it handles the Idle genre's rendering requirements without issue.

The GPU's memory capacity is a potential concern at 4K. With 6 GB of VRAM, the RTX 2060 may struggle with texture-heavy scenes at Ultra settings. The data shows Ultra at 4K drops to 55 FPS, which could be a sign of memory pressure or simply the GPU's compute limit. The fact that Low at 4K achieves 93 FPS suggests that the GPU is capable of higher throughput when memory bandwidth is less stressed. The measured FPS at Medium settings also shows a consistent pattern where the GPU is the bottleneck, as the CPU's performance headroom is not fully utilized.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Ryzen 5 7400F and RTX 2060 ranks 2339 out of 2991 combos in To The Core. This places it in the 78th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 22% of configurations perform better. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range standing more than the CPU's capabilities, as the RTX 2060's percentile rank of 58 is significantly lower than the CPU's percentile rank of 83.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance ceiling. The Intel Core i5-14600T has an average score of 32707 with a deltaPct of 0.1, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H scores 32697 with a deltaPct of 0.2, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H scores 32812 with a deltaPct of -0.2, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 scores 32662 with a deltaPct of 0.3. These margins are minuscule, indicating that the Ryzen 5 7400F is competitively positioned among its peers. The combo's rank of 2339 suggests that the GPU is holding back the system, as a stronger GPU would likely push this combination higher in the rankings.

The combo rank is a holistic measure that accounts for the interaction between CPU and GPU. In this case, the data shows a system that is well-balanced for 1080p gaming but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K. The rank of 2339 out of 2991 is a reflection of the RTX 2060's age and the increasing demands of modern games, even an Idle title like To The Core.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is optimal, with Medium settings delivering 204 FPS and Low reaching 241 FPS. At 1440p, the best average is 162 FPS on Low, while at 4K, Medium is the highest preset above 60 FPS at 78 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290. Its closest rival, the GTX 580, scores 15283 with a deltaPct of 0. The Radeon 680M scores 15270 with a deltaPct of 0.1, the RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 with a deltaPct of 0.6, and the RX 7600 scores 15171 with a deltaPct of 0.8.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The GPU is the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the CPU allows 241 FPS, but the GPU's limits show at 4K where the average drops to 93 FPS on Low and 55 FPS on Ultra. The CPU's percentile rank of 83 versus the GPU's rank of 58 confirms this imbalance.

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

A: Medium delivers 137 FPS, while Ultra delivers 95 FPS. This is a difference of 42 FPS, representing a 31% performance reduction for the higher preset.

Q: Does the 6 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K?

A: The data suggests potential memory pressure at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 55 FPS. At 4K Low, the system achieves 93 FPS, indicating that lower texture loads allow the GPU to perform better.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 2339 out of 2991 combos in To The Core. This places it in the lower-middle range, consistent with the GPU's mid-tier benchmark position.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this configuration is as follows. At 1920x1080, Low settings average 241 FPS, Medium averages 204 FPS with a min of 173 and max of 234, High averages 176 FPS, and Ultra averages 142 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low averages 162 FPS, Medium averages 137 FPS with a min of 116 and max of 157, High averages 119 FPS, and Ultra averages 95 FPS. At 3840x2160, Low averages 93 FPS, Medium averages 78 FPS with a min of 67 and max of 90, High averages 68 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS.

The Medium settings are the only ones with complete min and max data across all resolutions. The 1080p Medium range of 173 to 234 FPS shows a 61 FPS spread, while the 1440p Medium range of 116 to 157 FPS shows a 41 FPS spread, and the 4K Medium range of 67 to 90 FPS shows a 23 FPS spread. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates the GPU is more consistently loaded, reducing frame time variance.

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K is stark. At Low settings, the drop is 148 FPS (241 to 93). At Medium, the drop is 126 FPS (204 to 78). At High, the drop is 108 FPS (176 to 68). At Ultra, the drop is 87 FPS (142 to 55). The absolute FPS loss decreases as settings increase, but the percentage loss grows, with Ultra losing 61% of its 1080p performance at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21765 and a single-core score of 3072. Its PassMark multithread score is 25645, and its single-thread score is 3689.

In To The Core, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 241 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires solid single-thread performance. The CPU's boost clock of 4.70 GHz and single-core Cinebench R23 score of 3072 provide ample headroom for this task. The CPU's percentile rank of 83 against all CPUs indicates it outperforms the majority of processors in the database.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support are sufficient for the game's demands. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data locality, and the 6 cores are more than adequate for an Idle game, which typically relies on a few threads. The CPU's nearest rivals all have average scores within 0.3% of the Ryzen 5 7400F, confirming that its performance is well-matched to its peers.

The combo's rank of 2339 out of 2991 is not a reflection of CPU weakness. The data shows the CPU is capable of sustaining frame rates above 200 FPS at 1080p, which is well beyond the GPU's practical limits at higher resolutions. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking versus the GPU's 58th percentile ranking highlights that the RTX 2060 is the component that determines the system's overall position in the rankings. If the GPU were upgraded, the CPU would likely support significantly higher frame rates without becoming a limiting factor.