To The Core

CPU Role - cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael, and fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz and it boosts to 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip uses the AMD Socket AM5 and supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 83.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The cache layout includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 32 MB L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU delivers a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22799 and a single-core score of 3218. Geekbench results show 12362 multicore and 2374 single-core. The 3DMark scores scale cleanly with thread count: 1902 for 2 threads, 3621 for 4 threads, 5372 for 8 threads, 6376 for 16 threads, and 6379 for max threads. The single-thread 3DMark score is 974, which indicates the boost clock is effectively utilized.

The CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of the database's recorded processors. Its average benchmark score is 24964. The nearest rivals in the database are the Intel Core i7-11850H with an average score of 24935 (0.1% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F at 25005 (-0.2% delta), the Intel Core i7-13620H at 24911 (0.2% delta), and the Intel Core 5 210H at 24872 (0.4% delta). These deltas are tiny, placing the 7500F in a tight performance cluster where no single processor holds a meaningful edge.

For To The Core, an idle genre game, the workload is typically light on CPU resources. The recorded benchmark data shows that at 1080p High settings, the combo achieves 447 FPS, which jumps to 587 FPS at Low settings. Such high frame rates suggest the CPU is not a bottleneck at these settings; the game is easily fed by the 6 cores and 12 threads. The single-thread performance, reflected in the 3DMark single-thread score of 974, is sufficient to drive the game logic and simulation loops that idle games rely on heavily.

The data indicates that the CPU's 12 threads provide ample headroom for background tasks and the game's internal timers. At 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 139 FPS, which is a GPU limitation rather than a CPU one, as the frame rate scales inversely with resolution. The CPU's role here is to sustain the minimum frame pacing; the measured Medium settings at 4K show a min FPS of 169, which is well above any playability threshold.

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F compare to its closest rival in the database?

A: The nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-11850H with an average benchmark score of 24935, only 0.1% lower than the 7500F's 24964. The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005, which is 0.2% higher. These differences are negligible in real-world terms.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking among all processors in the database?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F sits at the 77th percentile, meaning it outperforms 77% of all CPUs recorded in the database. This places it in the upper quarter of processors, though not at the very top tier.

Q: What frame rate does the combo achieve at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 516, with a minimum of 439 and a maximum of 594. The min FPS is recorded for this settings row, unlike most others which only have an average.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra setting compare to 1080p Ultra in terms of FPS?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 139, while at 1920x1080 Ultra it is 360. This represents a 61% drop in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same Ultra preset.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for To The Core?

A: The combo ranks 131 out of 3725 tested combinations in the game. This places it in the top 3.5% of all recorded combos, indicating excellent relative performance.

Q: Does the CPU have ECC memory support?

A: Yes, the Ryzen 5 7500F supports ECC memory. It uses DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s.

Resolution Scaling - how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data shows a clear pattern of frame rate reduction as resolution increases, which indicates a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 587 at 1080p to 411 at 1440p, then to 235 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 30%, and from 1440p to 4K is another 43%. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is being pushed harder by pixel count.

At High settings, the pattern is similar: 447 FPS at 1080p, 301 at 1440p (a 33% drop), and 172 at 4K (a 43% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these drops across settings suggests the limiting component is the GPU, specifically its shading and rasterization throughput, rather than the CPU or memory bandwidth.

The Medium settings row provides the only min/max data in the measured set. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 439 and the max is 594, with an average of 516. At 1440p Medium, the min is 295, the max is 399, and the average is 347. At 4K Medium, the min is 169, the max is 228, and the average is 199. The spread between min and max FPS narrows as resolution increases: 155 FPS spread at 1080p, 104 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K. This narrowing indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently saturated at higher resolutions, reducing frame time variance.

The Ultra settings show the largest relative drop: from 360 FPS at 1080p to 242 at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 139 at 4K (a 43% drop). The absolute delta from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 221 FPS, which is significant but proportionally similar to other settings. This suggests that the game's Ultra preset adds GPU load that scales with resolution, reinforcing the GPU-bound conclusion.

The data implies that at 1080p, the combo is likely CPU or memory bound at lower settings, given the 587 FPS Low result. At 4K, however, the GPU's 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are not the limiter; instead, the raw compute throughput of the AD102 chip determines the frame rate. The 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance is being fully utilized at 4K, as evidenced by the 139 FPS Ultra result.

How This Combo Ranks - use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 131 out of 3725 tested combos in To The Core. This places the combo in the 96.5th percentile of all recorded combinations, meaning it outperforms 96.5% of the database's tested systems for this game. The rank is computed from measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings, giving a holistic view of the combo's capability.

This high ranking is notable because the CPU itself only sits at the 77th percentile among all processors, while the GPU is at the 88th percentile. The combo's rank being higher than either individual component's percentile suggests that the pairing is well balanced for this specific game. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth contribute to consistent performance across all settings, while the 7500F's 6 cores and 12 threads provide enough processing power to avoid stalling the GPU.

The nearest GPU rival data shows the RTX 4090 has an average benchmark score of 60347, with rivals like the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326 (0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60140 (0.3% delta). These are professional workstation GPUs, not gaming parts, yet their scores are close. This indicates that the RTX 4090's gaming performance is in a similar ballpark to those workstation cards in synthetic tests, but the 4090's gaming-specific features and drivers deliver the observed FPS in To The Core.

The combo's rank of 131 out of 3725 means there are 130 combos that perform better. These likely include higher-end CPUs paired with the same or similar GPUs, or possibly multi-GPU setups. However, the 7500F's 3DMark 16-thread score of 6376 and max-thread score of 6379 show that it scales well with thread count, which helps in games that use multiple threads.

Settings Recommendations - which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides four settings presets at three resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 587 FPS, Medium delivers 516 FPS, High delivers 447 FPS, and Ultra delivers 360 FPS. All of these are far above any display's refresh rate, so the choice is about visual quality versus frame rate headroom. The Medium preset shows a min FPS of 439, which is the only recorded min at 1080p, indicating that even the lowest frame in that preset is extremely high.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts: Low gives 411 FPS, Medium gives 347 FPS, High gives 301 FPS, and Ultra gives 242 FPS. The Medium preset again has recorded min/max data, with a min of 295 and a max of 399. These frame rates are still well above typical 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, so the Ultra preset at 242 FPS remains viable for high-refresh displays.

At 4K, the differences become more relevant: Low gives 235 FPS, Medium gives 199 FPS, High gives 172 FPS, and Ultra gives 139 FPS. The Medium preset has a min of 169 FPS, which is still above 144Hz. The Ultra preset at 139 FPS is just below a 144Hz refresh rate, meaning a 120Hz display would be fully satisfied but a 144Hz display would occasionally miss frames.

The data suggests that for the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate stability, the Medium preset is the most consistent choice across all resolutions. It provides the only min/max data, showing a 59 FPS spread at 4K, which indicates stable frame pacing. The High preset at 4K delivers 172 FPS, which is a good middle ground, but the Medium preset's min FPS of 169 at 4K is only 3 FPS lower than High's average, making Medium the safer choice for maintaining consistent frame delivery.

The Ultra preset at 4K, at 139 FPS average, is the only measured configuration that falls below 144 FPS. For users with 120Hz displays, this is still sufficient, but the data shows that the step from High to Ultra at 4K costs 33 FPS, which is a 19% reduction. The step from Medium to High at 4K costs 27 FPS, or 14%. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot where the visual quality improvements from higher settings yield diminishing returns relative to the frame rate cost.

Measured FPS Breakdown - resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 587, Medium at 516, High at 447, and Ultra at 360. The Medium preset also records a minimum of 439 and a maximum of 594 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 227 FPS, meaning the Ultra preset delivers 61% of the Low preset's frame rate. This is a substantial drop, indicating that the Ultra preset at 1080p is heavily GPU-dependent despite the low resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 411, Medium at 347, High at 301, and Ultra at 242. The Medium preset has a minimum of 295 and a maximum of 399 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 169 FPS, and Ultra delivers 59% of Low's frame rate. Compared to 1080p, the percentage difference between Low and Ultra is nearly identical (61% vs 59%), suggesting that the relative cost of Ultra settings is consistent across these two resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low at 235, Medium at 199, High at 172, and Ultra at 139. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 169 and a maximum of 228 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 96 FPS, with Ultra delivering 59% of Low's frame rate. This 59% figure is remarkably consistent across all three resolutions, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a fixed 41% performance penalty relative to Low, regardless of resolution.

The resolution scaling within each settings preset is also consistent. For Low settings, the FPS values are 587, 411, and 235 for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The ratio from 1080p to 1440p is 0.70, and from 1440p to 4K is 0.57. For Medium, the values are 516, 347, and 199, with ratios of 0.67 and 0.57. For High, the values are 447, 301, and 172, with ratios of 0.67 and 0.57. For Ultra, the values are 360, 242, and 139, with ratios of 0.67 and 0.57. The 1440p to 4K ratio of 0.57 is identical across all settings, which strongly indicates a GPU-bound scenario where the pixel count is the primary factor.

The Medium preset is the only one with min/max data at all three resolutions. The min-to-max ratios are: 0.74 at 1080p (439/594), 0.74 at 1440p (295/399), and 0.74 at 4K (169/228). This consistent 74% ratio suggests that frame time variance is proportional to average FPS, with the GPU maintaining a similar level of consistency across resolutions.

GPU Role - VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with the AD102 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It contains 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die, with a transistor density of 125.3M per mm². The GPU has 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, 176 ROPs, 128 RT cores, and 512 tensor cores. Its base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz, and the memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed.

The memory subsystem consists of 24 GB of GDDR6X on a 384-bit bus, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This is a substantial amount of VRAM that ensures the game's assets and textures are fully resident in video memory at any resolution, eliminating any potential VRAM-related stuttering. The pixel rate is 443.5 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 1,290.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 82.58 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 82.58 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio).

The GPU's benchmark scores include a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223, Geekbench OpenCL of 255416, and Vulkan of 271631. The PassMark G3D score is 38194, with a GPU compute score of 26613. Its percentile versus all GPUs is 88, meaning it outperforms 88% of the database's recorded GPUs. The average benchmark score is 60347.

The nearest GPU rivals in the database are the Intel Arc Pro A60 with an average score of 60326 (0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 at 60140 (0.3% delta), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 61896 (-2.5% delta), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 at 58657 (2.9% delta). These deltas are small, indicating that the RTX 4090's synthetic benchmark performance is comparable to those professional cards, though the gaming FPS in To The Core is what matters for this analysis.

The GPU's role in To The Core is evident from the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU delivers 587 FPS at Low settings, which is well above what the CPU can likely generate, suggesting the CPU is not the limiter. At 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 139 FPS, which is a 76% reduction from the 1080p Low result. This reduction aligns with the 4x pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K, confirming that the GPU's rasterization throughput is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The RTX 4090's 450 W TDP and triple-slot design are part of its physical characteristics, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU's compute resources are well-utilized in this game. The 24 GB VRAM and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are likely not bottlenecks, as the game is an idle genre title that does not typically require massive texture streaming. Instead, the GPU's raw shading power, represented by the 82.58 TFLOPS FP32, drives the frame rates observed across all settings and resolutions.