To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that rarely stresses modern hardware, yet the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination reveal distinct performance ceilings that shift dramatically with resolution and settings. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly capable at 1080p, but which begins to show its limits at 4K with maximum quality settings, where the GPU’s 8 GB memory frame buffer and the game’s rendering demands become the deciding factors. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, the role of the GPU, and what the scaling patterns indicate about the primary bottleneck in this specific pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 212.9. This is the lowest average at that resolution, while Low settings produce the highest at 358.9 FPS.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7600 compare to its closest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600 has an average benchmark score of 26617, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (score of 26574). It is also 0.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 8024P and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i9-11900K.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 1440p, the Low setting yields an average of 237.1 FPS, while Ultra drops this to 138.6 FPS. This represents a difference of 98.5 FPS between the two extremes.

Q: Does the RTX 3070 support modern API features relevant to this game?

A: The RTX 3070 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. Its PassMark DirectX 12 score is 85, which is lower than its DirectX 11 score of 182.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance score in Cinebench R23?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 scores 22992 points in the Cinebench R23 multi-core test and 3246 points in the single-core test. Its 3DMark max threads score is 6503.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: This specific combo (Ryzen 5 7600 + RTX 3070) is ranked 783 out of 1756 tested combinations for To The Core. This places it in the upper-middle portion of the database.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database places this combination at rank 783 out of 1756 tested combos for To The Core. This percentile position—roughly the top 45%—is notable given the hardware involved. The Ryzen 5 7600 sits in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 3070 is in the 72nd percentile for all GPUs. The fact that the paired combo ranks lower than either component’s individual percentile suggests that the game’s workload does not fully utilize the strengths of this pairing, or that another component is introducing a constraint.

Examining the CPU’s nearest rivals clarifies the processor’s standing. The Ryzen 5 7600’s average benchmark score of 26617 is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (26574, deltaPct 0.2%) and the Intel Core i9-12900HK (26672, deltaPct -0.2%). It leads the Intel Core i9-11900K by 0.3%. This indicates the 7600 is a solid mid-pack performer, but not a standout that would push a combo significantly higher in rankings. The GPU’s rivals tell a similar story; the RTX 3070’s average score of 28238 is within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, deltaPct 0.9%) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956, deltaPct 1%).

Given the idle game genre, the rank of 783 suggests that many other combos—likely those with higher-end GPUs—achieve higher average FPS, particularly at 4K. The data does not show a bottleneck that cripples performance, but it does indicate that this is not a top-tier combo for To The Core. The ranking reflects a system that delivers high, but not class-leading, frame rates across the board.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is the primary driver of frame rate differences across settings, given that the CPU is rarely stressed in an idle game. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is directly relevant to the 4K results, where Ultra settings average 81.9 FPS. The GPU’s base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1725 MHz.

The RTX 3070’s memory bandwidth and capacity become critical at higher resolutions. The measured FPS drop from 135.8 at 4K Low to 81.9 at 4K Ultra is a 53.9 FPS reduction, a steeper decline than at lower resolutions. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is working near its limits, likely constrained by memory capacity and bandwidth when textures and effects are set to maximum. The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 22214 and average benchmark score of 28238 confirm it is a capable card, but the 4K Ultra result shows a clear ceiling.

In contrast, at 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 212.9 FPS at Ultra is high enough that the CPU or game logic likely becomes the bottleneck, as the GPU has ample headroom. The RTX 3070’s role shifts from being the primary performance limiter at 4K to being underutilized at 1080p, where the game’s idle mechanics and single-threaded performance of the CPU (3DMark single-thread score of 999) may cap frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 358.9 (Low) down to 212.9 (Ultra). The Medium setting produces 303.2 FPS, while High yields 261.6 FPS. All of these figures are exceptionally smooth for any display, and the gap between Low and Ultra is 146 FPS, showing that settings have a significant impact even at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop but remain strong. Low settings produce 237.1 FPS, Medium 203 FPS, High 177 FPS, and Ultra 138.6 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 98.5 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with roughly a 30-35% reduction in FPS across all settings, indicating the GPU is beginning to handle more pixel load.

At 3840x2160, the numbers reveal the GPU’s limits more clearly. Low settings average 135.8 FPS, Medium 118.6 FPS, High 98.2 FPS, and Ultra 81.9 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 53.9 FPS, which is the smallest absolute difference across the three resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the consistent bottleneck, and raising settings has a diminishing impact on FPS compared to 1080p, where the CPU or other factors may play a larger role.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows how the performance bottleneck shifts. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 358.9 FPS. Dropping to 1440p Low reduces this to 237.1 FPS, a 33.9% decrease. At 4K Low, the FPS is 135.8, a 42.7% further reduction from 1440p. This pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, where each pixel requires more processing power.

However, the scaling is not uniform across settings. At Ultra, the FPS drops from 212.9 at 1080p to 138.6 at 1440p (a 34.9% decrease) and then to 81.9 at 4K (a 40.9% decrease from 1440p). The 4K Ultra result is particularly telling. The 81.9 FPS average is the lowest measured, and it is 131 FPS lower than the 1080p Ultra result. This suggests that the RTX 3070 is struggling with the combination of high resolution and maximum settings, likely due to the 8 GB memory frame buffer being nearly exhausted.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the system is not GPU-limited, as even Ultra settings produce over 200 FPS. The CPU’s single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 999) and the game’s idle nature likely cap performance. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, and the FPS drops scale almost linearly with pixel count. By 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, with the 81.9 FPS at Ultra being the only result that dips below 90 FPS. This scaling behavior suggests that users targeting 4K should stick to High or Medium settings to maintain higher frame rates, while 1080p and 1440p users can push Ultra without concern.