To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, an Idle genre title released on 2024-02-14. The measured frame rates are extraordinarily high across all tested resolutions and settings, ranging from 124.6 FPS at 4K Ultra to 550.2 FPS at 1080p Low. This pairing, ranked 114th out of 1756 tested combos, demonstrates that the hardware is far beyond what this game demands, creating a scenario where the limiting factor shifts between the CPU and GPU depending on the resolution and preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael) using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features a 32 MB shared L3 cache, 1 MB L2 per core, and 64 KB L1 per core, along with DDR5 memory support on a dual-channel bus providing 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 22992 and a single-core score of 3246, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

In To The Core, the CPU's influence is most visible at lower resolutions where frame rates soar. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 550.2 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 463.2 FPS. These numbers suggest that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 7600's single-thread performance — reflected in its 3dmark single-thread score of 999 and PassMark single-thread of 3910 — is sufficient to feed the GPU at extremely high rates. The CPU's multithreaded capability, shown by a 3dmark max-threads score of 6503, is less critical here since To The Core likely doesn't scale heavily across 12 threads. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 6499 is nearly identical to the max-threads score, indicating the processor tops out quickly under full load.

The Ryzen 5 7600's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D with an average score of 26574 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i9-12900HK at 26672 (0.2% lower), and the AMD EPYC 8024P at 26555 (0.2% higher). These close deltas suggest that in CPU-bound scenarios, the 7600 is competitive with much different architectures, though the game's frame rates at 1080p indicate the CPU is not the primary bottleneck — the sheer FPS numbers point to a well-optimized engine that lets the processor stretch its legs.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a formidable GPU based on the AD103 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process. It has 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, with 80 ray-tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. The card runs at a base clock of 2295 MHz and boosts to 2550 MHz, with memory clocked at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). It features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's compute capabilities include 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 and a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s, with a texture rate of 816.0 GTexel/s.

The RTX 4080 SUPER's benchmark results include a PassMark G3D score of 34245 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 246994, placing it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. In To The Core, the GPU's role becomes evident at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 124.6 FPS, a significant reduction from 4K Low's 214 FPS. This 89.4 FPS gap highlights how the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are stressed by increased pixel work and visual effects. The 16 GB VRAM is more than adequate for this title, as evidenced by the smooth performance even at 4K, but the architecture's raw throughput is the limiting factor at Ultra settings.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with an average score of 53489 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 53414 (0.4% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S at 52505 (2.1% higher). The RTX 4080 SUPER leads these by small margins in average benchmarks, but in To The Core, the data shows that the GPU's performance headroom is substantial — even at 4K High, it maintains 155.7 FPS, which is far beyond the refresh rates of most displays.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that indicates where the bottleneck shifts. From 1080p to 1440p, the drop in frame rates is relatively modest. For example, at High settings, the FPS goes from 400.9 at 1080p to 272.7 at 1440p, a decrease of 128.2 FPS (about 32%). From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more pronounced: 272.7 to 155.7 FPS at High settings, a reduction of 117 FPS (about 43%). This steeper decline at 4K suggests the GPU becomes the primary limiter as pixel count increases.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. 1080p Low yields 550.2 FPS, 1440p Low drops to 368.7 FPS, and 4K Low falls to 214 FPS. The 1440p-to-4K transition at Low settings shows a 154.7 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the frame rates are 326.1 FPS at 1080p, 216.8 FPS at 1440p, and 124.6 FPS at 4K. The consistent pattern across all settings — with 4K always showing the largest percentage drop — points to the RTX 4080 SUPER being the limiting component at higher resolutions, while the CPU's influence wanes as the GPU work increases.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured FPS across settings, the data suggests that High settings offer the most balanced experience. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 400.9 FPS, which is 73 FPS lower than Low but 74.8 FPS higher than Ultra. At 1440p High, 272.7 FPS is achieved, which remains well above the 144 Hz threshold for high-refresh monitors. At 4K High, 155.7 FPS is still sufficient for smooth gameplay on most displays, while Ultra drops to 124.6 FPS.

Medium settings provide a middle ground, with 463.2 FPS at 1080p, 310.4 FPS at 1440p, and 177.8 FPS at 4K. The frame rate differences between Medium and High are 62.3 FPS at 1080p, 37.7 FPS at 1440p, and 22.1 FPS at 4K. These gaps are consistent, suggesting that the visual quality improvements from Medium to High come at a predictable performance cost. Low settings, while yielding the highest FPS (550.2 at 1080p, 368.7 at 1440p, 214 at 4K), likely sacrifice too much visual fidelity for a game that already runs at high frame rates. The data indicates that High settings provide the best experience per the measured rows, offering strong performance at all resolutions without the diminishing returns seen at Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 114th out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core. This top 6.5% placement is notable, especially considering the game's Idle genre, which typically doesn't demand extreme hardware. The ranking suggests that this combo outperforms the vast majority of systems tested, but there are 113 combos ahead of it, likely featuring even higher-end CPUs or GPUs.

The combo's high rank is corroborated by its individual component percentiles: the CPU sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. However, the rank of 114 out of 1756 (top 6.5%) is better than either component's individual percentile would suggest, indicating the pairing is synergistic for this specific game. The data shows that the system is capable of frame rates far beyond typical display refresh rates, making it an overkill solution for To The Core but one that guarantees maximum smoothness. The 4K Ultra result of 124.6 FPS is still above the 120 Hz threshold, demonstrating that even the most demanding settings in this game are easily handled.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo in To The Core?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 550.2, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 124.6 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the dataset.

Q: What is the rank of this combo among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 114th out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the top 6.5% of all systems.

Q: Which settings preset offers the best balance of performance and quality?

A: High settings appear optimal, delivering 400.9 FPS at 1080p, 272.7 FPS at 1440p, and 155.7 FPS at 4K, all well above typical refresh rates.

Q: How much does performance drop from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 463.2 at 1920x1080 to 177.8 at 3840x2160, a decrease of 285.4 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance at 4K?

A: The data shows a larger percentage drop from 1440p to 4K compared to 1080p to 1440p across all settings, indicating the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact measured average FPS values for each resolution and settings combination:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 155.7 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 214 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 177.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 124.6 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 272.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 368.7 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 310.4 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 216.8 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 400.9 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 550.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 463.2 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 326.1 |

These measurements, all confirmed as directly measured data, show a consistent hierarchy: Low settings yield the highest FPS, followed by Medium, High, and Ultra. The largest absolute gap is between Low and Ultra at 1080p (224.1 FPS), while the smallest is between Medium and High at 4K (22.1 FPS). At 4K, the spread from Low to Ultra is 89.4 FPS, reflecting the GPU's workload scaling with visual complexity. The data underscores that this combo provides playable frame rates even at the most demanding 4K Ultra configuration, making it a top-tier performer for To The Core.