To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 pairing delivers a remarkably consistent experience in To The Core, an idle game where the data shows the GPU is rarely the limiting factor. This combination produces high frame rates across all tested resolutions, but the performance scaling reveals a clear pattern: the CPU is doing the heavy lifting, and the RTX 5060 has significant headroom left on the table. The measured results indicate this is a highly capable setup for this title, though the way performance scales suggests that users with higher refresh rate displays will find the most value here.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this system. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 334 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 225 FPS, a reduction of 32.6% from the 1080p figure. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 128 FPS, which is 61.7% lower than the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions—the GPU is not being fully utilized, so reducing resolution does not yield proportional gains.

The High settings preset shows a similar trend. At 1080p High, the average is 245 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 165 FPS, and at 4K High, it reaches 94 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K High is 151 FPS, or a 61.6% decrease. Interestingly, the drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings (71 FPS difference) is nearly identical to the drop from 1080p to 1440p (80 FPS difference), suggesting a fairly linear scaling curve that is typical when the GPU starts to become more involved.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest absolute decline. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 197 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, that falls to 132 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 76 FPS. The total reduction from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 121 FPS, a 61.4% drop. This consistency across all four presets—each showing roughly a 61-62% reduction from 1080p to 4K—indicates that the game's rendering load scales uniformly with resolution, but the absolute numbers remain high enough that even the weakest result (76 FPS at 4K Ultra) is perfectly playable.

What this scaling reveals about the limiting component is nuanced. The fact that 1080p Low produces 334 FPS while 1080p Ultra produces 197 FPS—a 137 FPS difference driven purely by settings—shows that the GPU does have an impact on performance. However, the CPU-bound nature of the Ryzen 5 7400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosting up to 4.70 GHz, becomes apparent when comparing resolution scaling at the same settings. The 4K Low result of 128 FPS being only slightly lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 197 FPS suggests that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the resolution increase, but the game's logic and simulation demands keep the CPU engaged.

How This Combo Ranks

In To The Core, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1270 out of 2991 tested combos. That places it in the 42.5th percentile of all combinations tested for this game, meaning roughly 57.5% of tested combos perform better. This ranking is noteworthy because the raw FPS numbers are quite high—the lowest average recorded across all tests is 76 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank suggests that while this combo delivers smooth, playable performance, it is not at the top of the leaderboard for this title.

The ranking becomes more understandable when considering the nature of To The Core as an idle game. Such games often have simulation logic that can be heavily single-threaded or dependent on specific CPU features. The Ryzen 5 7400F's benchmark scores show a single-core Cinebench R23 result of 3072, which is solid but not spectacular. Its overall percentile ranking of 83 among all CPUs indicates that it is better than most processors in general workloads, yet the combo's 42.5th percentile ranking in this game suggests that other components or configurations are better suited to the specific demands of this title.

Comparing to the CPU's nearest rivals, the Ryzen 5 7400F holds its own in general benchmarks. It is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600T in average benchmark score, 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H by 0.2%. These margins are negligible in real-world terms, and the game's ranking reflects that the CPU is not the primary differentiator here. The GPU, ranked in the 72nd percentile among all GPUs, is similarly mid-pack in general performance, but its nearest rivals—the AMD Radeon 860M and NVIDIA GeForce MX550—are both integrated or entry-level parts, which highlights how the RTX 5060's specific feature set may not align perfectly with this game's requirements.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 brings 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 2280 MHz with a boost clock of 2497 MHz. These specifications are adequate for To The Core, but the game's performance data suggests that the GPU is not being pushed to its limits. The fact that 4K Low (128 FPS) is only 39 FPS slower than 1080p Low (334 FPS) indicates that the GPU has substantial headroom—the resolution increase does not proportionally increase the GPU load in a way that would expose a bottleneck.

The GPU's VRAM capacity of 8 GB is worth examining in the context of this game. At 4K Ultra, the system still produces 76 FPS, and the minimum FPS recorded across all tests is 92, which occurs at 4K Medium. This suggests that even at the highest resolution and settings, the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient for this title. The game does not appear to be VRAM-limited, as the performance degradation from Medium to Ultra at 4K (109 FPS down to 76 FPS, a 30.3% reduction) is consistent with increased shader complexity rather than memory capacity constraints.

The GPU's compute capabilities, including 3840 shading units and 120 tensor cores, are more than adequate for an idle game. The PassMark G3D score of 20891 places it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 26331 is 1.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT 50th Anniversary. However, the game's performance scaling—where 1080p Low produces 334 FPS but 4K Ultra produces only 76 FPS—shows that the GPU is capable of handling the workload, but the game's frame rate ceiling at lower resolutions is being set by the CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is exceptional across all settings. Low settings produce 334 FPS average, which is the highest recorded number in the entire dataset. Medium settings reduce this to 282 FPS, with a minimum of 240 FPS and a maximum of 325 FPS. High settings drop to 245 FPS, and Ultra settings bottom out at 197 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 137 FPS, showing that even the most demanding preset at this resolution leaves plenty of performance on the table for a high refresh rate monitor.

At 2560x1440, the numbers remain strong but show the expected reduction. Low settings average 225 FPS, Medium settings average 190 FPS with a minimum of 161 FPS and maximum of 218 FPS, High settings average 165 FPS, and Ultra settings average 132 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium (161 FPS) is still above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors, indicating that frame pacing should be smooth even during demanding scenes.

At 3840x2160, the system finally starts to show some strain, though the results are still playable. Low settings produce 128 FPS, Medium settings produce 109 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 125 FPS, High settings produce 94 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 76 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 92 FPS is the lowest recorded minimum in the entire dataset, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider the baseline for smooth gameplay.

The Medium settings presets are the only ones that include both minimum and maximum FPS values, providing the most complete picture of performance stability. At 1080p Medium, the range is 240-325 FPS, a 85 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range is 161-218 FPS, a 57 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 92-125 FPS, a 33 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions suggests that the frame time consistency improves as the GPU becomes more evenly loaded, which is a positive indicator for gameplay smoothness.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p display, the data strongly supports using Ultra settings. The 197 FPS average at 1080p Ultra is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many gaming monitors offer, and the 137 FPS reduction from Low to Ultra is worth the visual fidelity gain in an idle game where you may be staring at the screen for extended periods. Even at 1080p Ultra, the system has 53 FPS of headroom above a 144 Hz display's refresh rate, ensuring that frame drops are unlikely to be noticeable.

For 1440p users, the recommendation depends on the monitor's refresh rate. At 1440p High, the 165 FPS average exactly matches a 165 Hz display, making this the ideal pairing for that class of monitor. If the display is 144 Hz, then 1440p Ultra at 132 FPS provides a better visual experience with a 12 FPS buffer above the refresh rate. For 120 Hz displays, 1440p Ultra is still the best choice, as the 132 FPS average provides adequate headroom.

For 4K users, the decision is more nuanced. The 76 FPS at 4K Ultra is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. The 94 FPS at 4K High provides a better balance, offering a 24% improvement over Ultra while still delivering high visual quality. For users prioritizing smoothness above all else, 4K Medium at 109 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS is the safest choice, as the data shows it maintains a minimum above 90 FPS throughout the test.

The overall best experience per the measured rows appears to be 1440p High settings. This configuration produces 165 FPS average, which saturates most high refresh rate monitors, while the 4K High result of 94 FPS indicates that the visual quality at 1440p High is not dramatically worse than the highest settings. The 1440p Medium minimum of 161 FPS also suggests that frame stability at this resolution is excellent, making it the sweet spot for this combo.

FAQ

Q: Is the RTX 5060 strong enough for 4K gaming in this title?

A: Yes, the data shows 76 FPS at 4K Ultra and 128 FPS at 4K Low. Even the worst case scenario (4K Ultra) produces playable frame rates, though 4K High at 94 FPS offers a better balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7400F compare to its closest competitors?

A: In average benchmark scores, the Ryzen 5 7400F is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14600T, 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H, and 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360. It trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H by 0.2%, making these four CPUs effectively identical in general performance.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Ultra, the system produces 132 FPS average, which is 12 FPS below a 144 Hz display's maximum refresh rate. The 1440p High preset produces 165 FPS, which exceeds 144 Hz, but for maximum visual quality, Ultra is still viable since the frame rate stays above 120 FPS.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related performance issues. The 4K Ultra preset produces 76 FPS, and the minimum FPS across all tests is 92 at 4K Medium, indicating that 8 GB is sufficient for this game at all tested settings and resolutions.

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

A: This combination ranks 1270 out of 2991 tested combos, placing it in the 42.5th percentile. This means approximately 57.5% of tested combos perform better in this specific game, despite the high absolute FPS numbers.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The performance scaling indicates the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p. The 334 FPS at Low settings and 197 FPS at Ultra settings both represent very high frame rates, but the relatively small drop from 1080p to 1440p (334 to 225 FPS at Low) suggests the GPU has significant headroom that the CPU cannot fully utilize.