To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an extreme pairing for an idle game like To The Core. The data shows a combination of a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 processor based on the Raphael architecture, running on the AMD Socket AM5 platform, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This CPU is matched with the top-tier RTX 4090, which features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus and an AD102 chip built on the Ada Lovelace architecture. The benchmark results reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, but still maintains exceptionally high frame rates even at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

In To The Core, the Ryzen 5 7400F's specifications suggest it has ample headroom for this title. With 6 cores and 12 threads, it provides the necessary parallelism for modern game logic and background tasks, but the game's idle genre likely does not stress all cores heavily. The CPU's performance metrics, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21765 and a single-core score of 3072, place it in the 83rd percentile compared to all CPUs. This indicates that while it is not a top-tier HEDT processor, its single-threaded performance is strong enough to feed the RTX 4090 in most scenarios.

The relationship between the CPU and GPU in this combo is clear: the RTX 4090 is the dominant component. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 564 FPS, a number so high that it is likely limited by the CPU's ability to issue draw calls and process game state rather than the GPU's rendering capacity. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3689 and its 32 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient for this task, but the massive frame rates indicate a potential bottleneck. However, the data shows that the CPU handles this load effectively, as frame rates scale predictably with resolution increases, which typically shifts the burden to the GPU.

When compared to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 7400F shows a performance delta of 0.1% against the Intel Core i5-14600T, 0.2% against the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, and 0.3% against the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, while being 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H in average benchmark score. These negligible differences mean that for To The Core, any of these CPUs would perform nearly identically. The real story is that the 7400F’s 4.70 GHz boost clock provides enough single-thread speed to avoid becoming a major limiting factor, even at 1080p where the RTX 4090 is capable of producing over 500 FPS. The CPU's role is to keep up with the GPU's output, and the data suggests it does so adequately for a game of this type.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. The game offers four presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. Across all resolutions, the jump from Low to Medium incurs a modest performance hit, while the jump from High to Ultra is more significant. The data shows that the Medium preset provides a substantial frame rate buffer while still offering a visual upgrade over Low.

At 4K, the Medium preset delivers an average of 199 FPS with a minimum of 169 FPS and a maximum of 228 FPS. This is a significant improvement over the Ultra preset, which drops to 139 FPS. Given that the game is an idle title and likely does not have demanding visuals, the Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice for a smooth experience, as it maintains a frame rate well above 144 Hz for high-refresh-rate displays. The High preset at 4K produces 172 FPS, which is also excellent, but the 27 FPS gain from High to Medium is substantial and may be worth the slight visual reduction.

For users with 1440p or 1080p monitors, the choice is more flexible. At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 347 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 301 FPS and 242 FPS, respectively. At 1080p, Medium averages 516 FPS, High produces 447 FPS, and Ultra still achieves a very playable 360 FPS. The data indicates that the Low preset at 1080p yields 564 FPS, but this is likely unnecessary for a smooth experience. The best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset across all resolutions. It provides a significant performance headroom over High and Ultra, ensuring that any transient dips in frame rate, as seen in the 4K Medium minimum of 169 FPS, stay well above the refresh rate of most monitors. The Ultra preset is only advisable for those who prioritize maximum visual quality over all else, as it still produces playable frame rates at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data across the three tested resolutions reveals the scaling behavior of this combo and highlights the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 564 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 411 FPS, a drop of 27%. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 235 FPS, which is 58% lower than the 1080p result. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For example, at Ultra settings, the frame rates are 360 FPS at 1080p, 242 FPS at 1440p, and 139 FPS at 4K.

This scaling indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The GPU's rendering workload grows with the number of pixels, and the data shows a clear, predictable decline in FPS as resolution increases. The CPU's performance is relatively constant across resolutions, meaning that the frame rate drop is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's pixel throughput limits. The RTX 4090's 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are being taxed by the higher pixel counts.

At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU likely becomes the limiting factor, as the GPU has spare capacity. The fact that 1080p Low (564 FPS) is only 37% higher than 1440p Low (411 FPS) supports this, as the scaling is not linear with pixel count, indicating the CPU is holding back the GPU at the lowest resolution. However, by 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and the FPS is determined by its raw compute power. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced for 4K gaming, as the CPU does not prevent the GPU from achieving high frame rates, but the GPU is the definitive performance ceiling at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 125 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the top 4.2% of all tested systems, which is an exceptional result. This high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 4090's immense power, as the CPU is a mid-range part. The data suggests that this combo outperforms the vast majority of other pairings, likely including those with more powerful CPUs but weaker GPUs.

The ranking implies that for an idle game like To The Core, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining overall performance. The RTX 4090's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc Pro A60 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48, have nearly identical average benchmark scores, but the RTX 4090's gaming performance in this title is clearly superior, given its 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking is also above average, but it is not the reason for this combo's high placement.

The 125th rank of 2991 means that only 124 other tested combinations produced higher frame rates. These are likely pairings of the RTX 4090 with higher-tier CPUs like the Ryzen 9 or Core i9 series, which could push FPS slightly higher at 1080p where the CPU bottleneck is more pronounced. However, at 4K, the difference would be negligible, as the GPU is the limiting factor. For a 4K gaming setup, this combo offers near-top-tier performance, and the data shows that the CPU is not a significant hindrance to the GPU's capabilities in this specific title.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: The data suggests it is a minor bottleneck at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 500 FPS. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's performance is sufficient to avoid major restrictions.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 4K 144Hz monitor?

A: The Medium preset at 4K delivers 199 FPS average with a minimum of 169 FPS, which is comfortably above 144 Hz. The High preset at 172 FPS is also viable, but Medium provides a larger buffer for demanding scenes.

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

A: At the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 564 FPS at 1080p to 235 FPS at 4K, which is a 58% reduction. At the Ultra preset, it drops from 360 FPS to 139 FPS, a 61% reduction.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 125th out of 2991 tested combos, placing it in the top 4.2% of all systems tested in To The Core.

Q: Does the CPU's performance affect the 4K results?

A: No. At 4K, the frame rates are determined by the GPU's rendering capability. The CPU's single-thread performance is adequate to keep up with the GPU's output, as evidenced by the high frame rates.

Q: What is the FPS difference between the Medium and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset averages 347 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 242 FPS. This represents a 105 FPS difference, making Medium significantly faster.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 in To The Core is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: Average 564 FPS
• Medium: Average 516 FPS, Minimum 439 FPS, Maximum 594 FPS
• High: Average 447 FPS
• Ultra: Average 360 FPS

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: Average 411 FPS
• Medium: Average 347 FPS, Minimum 295 FPS, Maximum 399 FPS
• High: Average 301 FPS
• Ultra: Average 242 FPS

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: Average 235 FPS
• Medium: Average 199 FPS, Minimum 169 FPS, Maximum 228 FPS
• High: Average 172 FPS
• Ultra: Average 139 FPS

These figures show a consistent scaling pattern. At every resolution, the Medium preset offers the best balance of frame rate and visual quality, with 4K Medium maintaining an average above 190 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, but even at 4K, it exceeds 139 FPS average, which is still playable on high-refresh-rate displays. The minimum FPS data, available for the Medium preset, shows that the system maintains a floor above 169 FPS at 4K, ensuring a smooth experience without significant stutters.