To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptional frame rates in To The Core, an Idle game that clearly favors high-refresh-rate displays. The measured data shows this combination achieving triple-digit averages even at 4K resolution, indicating a massive performance headroom for a genre typically associated with low graphical overhead. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, settings scaling, and the specific roles of the CPU and GPU in producing these results.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The benchmark data records an average of 253.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is the most demanding preset tested at the lowest resolution, yet it still produces a frame rate that far exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F's average benchmark score of 25064 places it nearly identically to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores 25057 (a delta of 0%). It is also within a fraction of a percent of the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (25099, -0.1%) and the AMD EPYC 9474F (25103, -0.2%).

Q: What is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 291.8 on Low settings to 170.5 on Ultra settings. This represents a significant 121.3 FPS difference, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a substantial load on the GPU.

Q: Does the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM appear to be a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests it is not a constraint at these settings. The GPU maintains high average FPS across all tested resolutions, from 428.8 at 1080p Low to 101 at 4K Ultra, with no indication of a performance cliff that would typically signal VRAM capacity issues.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested hardware combinations?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination is ranked 457th out of 1756 tested combos for To The Core. This places it in the top 26% of all configurations based on measured performance.

Q: What is the single-threaded performance of the Ryzen 5 8400F?

A: The CPU scores 951 in the 3dmark_single_thread test and 3684 in the passmark_single_thread test. These scores, combined with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, indicate strong per-core performance that is beneficial for games that rely on a few fast threads.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed in To The Core. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for the data demands of an Idle game at the tested resolutions. The GPU's Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm process, operates with a boost clock of 2475 MHz. This clock speed, combined with 5888 shading units, allows for massive pixel throughput, evidenced by the 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate.

The data shows the GPU's scaling under load. At 1080p, the lowest resolution, the GPU is likely not the primary bottleneck, as frame rates scale dramatically between settings. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the GPU's workload grows. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 101, a figure that still represents excellent playability but is a clear step down from the 253.3 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This indicates that while the CPU can feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the RTX 4070's raw compute power (29.15 TFLOPS FP32) becomes the defining factor for performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs further contextualizes its strength, showing it outperforms a large majority of the field.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display capabilities. For a standard 60 Hz display, even the most demanding preset at 4K is excessive. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 101 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target.

For users with high-refresh-rate monitors (144 Hz or higher), the Medium preset appears to offer the best balance. At 1440p, Medium delivers an average of 248.1 FPS, which is sufficient for a 240 Hz display and a significant improvement over the 170.5 FPS of Ultra. At 1080p, the Medium preset reaches 362.8 FPS, ensuring the GPU remains well ahead of even the fastest displays. The High preset is also a strong candidate, offering 314.6 FPS at 1080p and 210.7 FPS at 1440p. The data suggests that the Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (428.8 FPS at 1080p), is unnecessary for any current display technology and likely sacrifices visual fidelity for unattainable performance. The Ultra preset, while playable, shows the largest performance penalty, making it a choice for those who prioritize image quality over raw frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 457 out of 1756 tested combinations places it in the upper quartile of all systems tested for To The Core. This is a strong showing, indicating that the pairing of the Ryzen 5 8400F and RTX 4070 is well-balanced for this title. The CPU's average benchmark score (25064) is nearly identical to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25057), suggesting that the 8400F is not a performance outlier in general compute tasks.

However, its ranking in this specific game is more telling. The combination's position in the top 26% suggests that the RTX 4070's strengths are being fully utilized. The GPU's own benchmark scores, including a passmark_g3d score of 26927, place it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. When paired with a CPU that is also above average (82nd percentile), the resulting combo is expected to perform well. The rank of 457 implies that 1299 other tested combos were slower, which is a significant number. This suggests that many other systems, likely with less powerful GPUs or CPUs, cannot match the frame rates achieved here. The data indicates that this combo is a high-performance option that will not struggle with the demands of To The Core.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases. The most significant drop occurs between 1080p and 1440p. For example, on High settings, the average FPS falls from 314.6 at 1920x1080 to 210.7 at 2560x1440, a decrease of 103.9 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is less severe in absolute terms but still substantial; on High settings, the average drops from 210.7 to 123.7 FPS.

This pattern suggests that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound or limited by the game's engine logic, allowing the GPU to render frames at an extremely high rate. As the resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload becomes more dominant. The fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop (103.9 FPS on High) is larger than the 1440p to 4K drop (87 FPS on High) indicates that the GPU is taking over as the primary limiting component. The 4K results, with a range from 164.9 FPS on Low to 101 FPS on Ultra, still show that the GPU has considerable headroom, but the law of diminishing returns is evident. The data implies that for users with a 4K display, the RTX 4070 is the definitive bottleneck, whereas at 1080p, the CPU's capability to issue draw calls is the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a complete matrix of average FPS across all tested resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 428.8 FPS. The Medium preset sees a reduction to 362.8 FPS. High settings further reduce the average to 314.6 FPS. The Ultra preset, the most demanding, still delivers a very high 253.3 FPS average.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 291.8 FPS. The Medium preset follows with 248.1 FPS. High settings produce an average of 210.7 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to a still-impressive 170.5 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 164.9 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 139.2 FPS. High settings average 123.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the only configuration that falls below the 120 FPS mark, with an average of 101 FPS. These numbers show that the system remains highly playable at all tested settings, with the Ultra 4K preset being the only one that might challenge a very high refresh rate display.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a crucial role in achieving the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. Its Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Phoenix, operates at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boosts up to 4.70 GHz. This high boost clock is reflected in its 3dmark_single_thread score of 951, which is essential for games that are not heavily multi-threaded. While To The Core is an Idle game and may not use all 12 threads, the CPU's strong single-core performance ensures it can keep up with the GPU's frame generation.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, as shown by its cinebench_r23_multicore score of 20851. This indicates that even in scenarios where the game does utilize multiple cores, the 8400F is more than capable. The L3 cache of 16 MB (shared) provides a decent amount of fast memory for the CPU to work with. The data from the FPS breakdown suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as the GPU is not being fully stressed. The fact that the 1080p Low preset produces 428.8 FPS, while the 4K Ultra preset produces 101 FPS, points to the CPU's ability to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The 8400F's 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is a solid performer, and its 65 W TDP indicates an efficient design that does not compromise on the clock speeds needed for gaming.