To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a unique performance envelope in To The Core, an Idle genre title. The data indicates that this combination, ranked 2643 out of 2991 tested combos, delivers playable frame rates primarily at 1080p and 1440p resolutions, but struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K. Benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where the CPU significantly outperforms the GPU in relative standing, making the graphics processor the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the optimal settings for this hardware pairing. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 147 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded across all configurations. This makes it the best choice for competitive or high-refresh-rate gameplay, as it remains well above the 144 Hz threshold. The Medium preset offers a substantial visual upgrade while still maintaining a smooth 124 FPS average, with a minimum of 105 FPS ensuring that dips do not disrupt the experience. For users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw speed, the High preset at 107 FPS is still viable, but the Ultra preset drops to 86 FPS, which may feel less responsive in a genre that often relies on incremental feedback.

Moving to 2560x1440, the story changes slightly. The Low preset is the only configuration that breaks the 90 FPS barrier, achieving 99 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 83 FPS, which is still smooth for most users, but the High preset at 72 FPS shows diminishing returns. The Ultra preset at 58 FPS is borderline for a smooth experience, as it approaches the lower threshold of what is generally considered fluid motion. At 3840x2160, the data suggests that the hardware is overextended. The Low preset manages 56 FPS, which is playable, but all higher presets fall below 48 FPS. The Ultra preset at 33 FPS is not recommended for a satisfactory experience.

The best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p with the Medium preset. This configuration provides a 124 FPS average, which is high enough for smooth motion, while offering a significant improvement in visual quality over the Low preset. The minimum FPS of 105 ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate remains stable. Alternatively, the Low preset at 1080p is the only option that fully utilizes a 144 Hz display, but the quality trade-off may not be worth it for all users. At 1440p, the Low preset at 99 FPS is the most balanced option, as it avoids the significant frame rate penalties seen in the Medium and High presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It features a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This processor is built on a 5 nm process node from TSMC and supports DDR5 memory on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. The CPU’s benchmark results show strong single-thread and multi-thread performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12,735 and a single-core score of 1,852. In Geekbench, it scores 13,413 multi-core and 2,521 single-core.

The CPU's performance context is established by its nearest rivals. The data shows the Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26,324, placing it in the 78th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest competitor, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, scores 26,274, which is a 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS is slightly faster at 26,402, putting the 7600 at a -0.3% deficit. The Intel Core i9-11900KF scores 26,212, which is 0.4% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U scores 26,187, a 0.5% difference. These results indicate that the Ryzen 5 7600 is a well-balanced processor that sits comfortably in the mid-to-high range of desktop CPUs.

In To The Core, an idle game, the CPU's role is less about rendering complex scenes and more about managing game logic, simulation tick rates, and background calculations. The Ryzen 5 7600’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 999 and PassMark single-thread score of 3,910, is crucial for maintaining consistent frame pacing. The multi-thread capabilities, with a 3DMark max-threads score of 6,503 and PassMark multi-thread score of 27,058, ensure that the game's background processes do not cause stutters. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration, as its percentile ranking and benchmark scores are substantially higher than those of the GPU.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, part of the Arc Graphics-M (Panther Lake) generation. It features a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. The GPU relies on system-shared memory, meaning its VRAM size, type, and bus width are all classified as "System Shared," and its memory bandwidth is "System Dependent." The GPU has 1,536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32 and 15.36 TFLOPS for FP16, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark results are quite limited, with only a single 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482. This places the Arc B390 in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, indicating that its performance is significantly below average. The nearest rivals highlight its low standing. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1,463, which is 1.3% lower, while the GeForce 800M scores 1,460, a 1.5% difference. The GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1,446, which is 2.5% lower, and the GeForce GT 710 scores 1,443, a 2.7% difference. These comparisons show that the Arc B390 is only marginally faster than legacy entry-level discrete GPUs, which is a critical factor in its gaming performance.

In To The Core, the GPU is responsible for rendering the game's visuals. The low GPU percentile ranking directly correlates with the measured FPS data. The GPU's reliance on system-shared memory means that its performance is heavily dependent on the speed of the system's DDR5 memory and the memory bus. This is a likely contributor to the significant frame rate drops observed at higher resolutions. The GPU's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are modest numbers, which explains why the pixel and texture fill rates are relatively low. The data indicates that the Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck in this pairing, as the CPU is capable of feeding it more frames than it can render, particularly at 1440p and 4K resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this hardware?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 147 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its closest rival?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26,324. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, scores 26,274, which represents a 0.2% difference in favor of the Ryzen 5 7600.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B390 a dedicated graphics card?

A: No, the Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with a slot width of "IGP" and uses system-shared memory for its VRAM.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 99 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 58 FPS. This represents a difference of 41 FPS between the two settings.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1080p Medium settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 124 FPS, with a minimum FPS of 105 and a maximum of 143.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710?

A: The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1,482. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 has a score of 1,443, which is 2.7% lower than the Arc B390.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend in how performance scales with resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 147 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the same preset drops to 99 FPS, a reduction of 48 FPS (approximately 33%). At 3840x2160, the Low preset further drops to 56 FPS, a reduction of 43 FPS from the 1440p result (approximately 43%). This pattern holds across all settings presets. For example, the Medium preset goes from 124 FPS at 1080p, to 83 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 48 FPS at 4K.

The scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. The frame rate drops are not linear with the pixel count increase. The jump from 1080p to 1440p represents a 1.78x increase in pixels, yet the framerate drops by a factor of 1.48x (from 147 to 99). The jump from 1440p to 4K represents a 2.25x increase in pixels, yet the framerate drops by a factor of 1.77x (from 99 to 56). This suggests that the GPU is becoming saturated, and the rendering workload is outpacing its capabilities. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences between resolutions, as the CPU's workload would remain relatively constant. The data strongly points to the GPU's limited fill rate and memory bandwidth as the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table outlines the exact average frame rates measured for each resolution and settings combination. The data shows a consistent hierarchy where lower settings and lower resolutions yield higher frame rates.

• 1920x1080, Low: Average 147 FPS.
• 1920x1080, Medium: Average 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS.
• 1920x1080, High: Average 107 FPS.
• 1920x1080, Ultra: Average 86 FPS.
• 2560x1440, Low: Average 99 FPS.
• 2560x1440, Medium: Average 83 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS.
• 2560x1440, High: Average 72 FPS.
• 2560x1440, Ultra: Average 58 FPS.
• 3840x2160, Low: Average 56 FPS.
• 3840x2160, Medium: Average 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS.
• 3840x2160, High: Average 41 FPS.
• 3840x2160, Ultra: Average 33 FPS.

The data shows that the step from Low to Medium settings at 1080p costs 23 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 17 FPS, and the step from High to Ultra costs 21 FPS. At 1440p, the same steps cost 16 FPS, 11 FPS, and 14 FPS, respectively. At 4K, the steps cost 8 FPS, 7 FPS, and 8 FPS. This indicates that the absolute cost of each settings tier decreases as resolution increases, because the GPU is already so heavily loaded that the relative impact of each setting change is smaller. Overall, the results confirm that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting factor, and users should prioritize resolution over settings for the best balance of image quality and frame rate.