To The Core

FAQ

*Q: What is the best-performing settings preset for this CPU/GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: Based on the measured FPS rows, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rates at every resolution: 255 FPS at 1920x1080, 172.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and 94.5 FPS at 3840x2160. The Ultra preset delivers the lowest averages: 150.9 FPS, 101 FPS, and 55.7 FPS respectively.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 7600X has an average benchmark score of 26272. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850U, scores 26262, a delta of 0%. The Ryzen 7 7735U scores 26305 (-0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 5655GE scores 26320 (-0.2% delta). The Ryzen 7 5700X scores 26214, which is 0.2% higher than the 7600X.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all GPUs, and which rival is closest?

A: The Intel Arc B580 sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 760M with an average score of 22999, a delta of 0.1% from the Arc B580's 23021 average. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 is 0.7% behind, and the RTX 4060 Mobile is 1.3% ahead.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU appear to be the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The data shows a steep drop from 84.7 FPS at 4K Medium to 55.7 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 34% reduction. This large sensitivity to settings at 3840x2160 indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution, as the CPU's performance headroom (evidenced by high 1080p scores) cannot compensate for the GPU workload increase.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600X?

A: The launch MSRP is $299.

Q: What is the GPU's memory size and type, and how does it compare to its predecessor?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with 456.0 GB/s bandwidth. Its predecessor is Alchemist. The memory clock is 2375 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy across all three resolutions: Low produces the highest average FPS, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra as the most demanding preset. At 1920x1080, the Low preset reaches 255 FPS, which is 40 FPS higher than Medium (215.1 FPS) and 104.1 FPS higher than Ultra (150.9 FPS). The gap between Medium and High is 31.5 FPS, while High to Ultra drops by 32.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds but with compressed margins. Low yields 172.6 FPS, Medium drops to 142.7 FPS (a 17.3% reduction), and High falls to 123.4 FPS. Ultra at 101 FPS is 41.4% below Low. This suggests that even at 1440p, the Low preset provides a substantial smoothness advantage for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the differences become more pronounced in absolute terms. Low runs at 94.5 FPS, Medium at 84.7 FPS, High at 72.4 FPS, and Ultra at 55.7 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 38.8 FPS, which is proportionally similar to 1080p but with lower absolute values.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset appears to strike the optimal balance. At 1080p it delivers 215.1 FPS, which exceeds most display refresh rates. At 1440p it maintains 142.7 FPS, comfortably above 120 Hz. At 4K it provides 84.7 FPS, which is playable. The Low preset is only recommended if maximum frame rate is the sole priority, while Ultra is viable at 1080p (150.9 FPS) but drops below 60 FPS at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 255 to 172.6 at 1440p (a 32.3% reduction) and then to 94.5 at 4K (a 63% reduction from 1080p). This is a nearly linear scaling with pixel count, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario.

At Medium settings, the drop is from 215.1 FPS at 1080p to 142.7 at 1440p (33.7% lower) and 84.7 at 4K (60.6% lower). The High preset shows 183.6 FPS at 1080p, 123.4 at 1440p (32.8% lower), and 72.4 at 4K (60.6% lower). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings suggests the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions above 1080p.

Ultra settings show a slightly different pattern: 150.9 FPS at 1080p, 101 at 1440p (33.1% lower), and 55.7 at 4K (63.1% lower). The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that this setting combination exceeds the GPU's comfortable envelope.

The data indicates that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, has sufficient headroom at 1080p to push frame rates above 250 FPS at Low settings, but the GPU cannot maintain that throughput as pixel count increases. The 1080p Low result of 255 FPS is more than double the 4K Low result, reinforcing that resolution scaling is the dominant factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages are: Low at 255 FPS, Medium at 215.1 FPS, High at 183.6 FPS, and Ultra at 150.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 104.1 FPS, with each step down in settings yielding a meaningful gain. The Low-to-Medium gain is 39.9 FPS, Medium-to-High is 31.5 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 32.7 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the values are: Low at 172.6 FPS, Medium at 142.7 FPS, High at 123.4 FPS, and Ultra at 101 FPS. The total spread is 71.6 FPS. The step gains are 29.9 FPS (Low to Medium), 19.3 FPS (Medium to High), and 22.4 FPS (High to Ultra). Every preset at 1440p remains above 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the data shows: Low at 94.5 FPS, Medium at 84.7 FPS, High at 72.4 FPS, and Ultra at 55.7 FPS. The spread narrows to 38.8 FPS in absolute terms. The Low-to-Medium gain is 9.8 FPS, Medium-to-High is 12.3 FPS, and High-to-Ultra is 16.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only one below 60 FPS.

Comparing across resolutions for the same setting, the 1080p-to-1440p drop is consistent at roughly 32-34% for all presets. The 1440p-to-4K drop is also consistent, ranging from 40.7% (Low) to 44.9% (Ultra). This consistency suggests the game scales predictably with pixel count.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation), has a 12 GB GDDR6 memory pool on a 192-bit bus, yielding 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The GPU's base and boost clocks are both 2670 MHz, with a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s. Its FP32 throughput is 13.67 TFLOPS.

The GPU's benchmark results place it at the 66th percentile, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3068. Its PassMark G3D score is 15748, and its Geekbench Vulkan score is 109672. The closest rival is the AMD Radeon 760M (0.1% delta), while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 trails by 0.7%.

In To The Core, the GPU's role is evident from the resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the 255 FPS result indicates the GPU can handle the workload when pixel count is modest. However, at 4K, even Low settings drop to 94.5 FPS, showing that the GPU's rasterization throughput is the constraining factor. The 12 GB VRAM is ample for this idle genre game, but the GPU's raw compute limits higher settings at 4K.

The Arc B580's 20 ray tracing cores and 2560 shading units provide the architecture's baseline, but To The Core appears to rely on traditional rasterization. The consistent FPS drops across settings indicate the GPU's shading and texture units, not its memory bandwidth, are the primary limiters at 4K.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 4 (Raphael) architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The cache configuration includes 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3. It supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and uses the AMD Socket AM5 platform.

The CPU's benchmark profile shows strong single-thread performance: 1060 in 3DMark single-thread, 3406 in Cinebench R23 single-core, and 4135 in PassMark single-thread. Multi-thread results are equally robust: 24128 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 28390 in PassMark multi-thread. The CPU sits at the 83rd percentile among all CPUs.

In To The Core, the CPU's contribution is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 255 FPS average suggests the processor can feed the GPU sufficiently at moderate resolutions. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is well-suited for the game's threading model. The 5.30 GHz boost clock provides the single-thread headroom that idle games often favor.

The CPU's nearest rivals, all with average scores within 0.2% of the 7600X's 26272, indicate that this processor is near the top of its performance class. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6879 and max-thread score of 6845 show minimal scaling beyond 8 threads (5715), suggesting the game's workload may not fully utilize all 12 threads. However, the single-thread score of 1060 in 3DMark and 2892 in Geekbench single-core indicate strong per-core performance that benefits frame pacing.