To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that behaves nothing like a typical idle title in terms of hardware demand, and the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but surprisingly CPU-limited at 1080p. The combo ranks 369th out of 1,756 tested configurations, placing it in the top 21% of all systems, which is a strong result for a mid-range pairing. The data reveals that this system delivers exceptional frame rates across all settings, but the scaling behavior between resolutions tells a clear story about where the bottleneck shifts.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Ultra settings, the system produces 274.1 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 183.6 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 106 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 61.3% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at Ultra, a steep decline that indicates the RTX 5070 is being pushed to its limits as pixel count increases. The 4K Ultra result of 106 FPS is still highly playable, but the scaling curve shows diminishing returns as resolution climbs.

The pattern holds across all settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 466.4 FPS at 1080p, 313.6 FPS at 1440p, and 180.3 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32.7%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 42.5%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the limiting component well before 4K. At Medium settings, the numbers are 396.7 FPS at 1080p, 263.9 FPS at 1440p, and 148.5 FPS at 4K, showing a similar 62.6% total reduction from 1080p to 4K.

What the data indicates is that at 1080p, the system is not fully GPU-bound, as evidenced by the massive headroom at Low settings where the CPU likely becomes the constraint. The fact that 1080p Low produces 466.4 FPS while 1080p Ultra produces 274.1 FPS — a 70.1% difference — suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU's single-thread performance and memory bandwidth start to matter. However, once the resolution increases to 1440p and beyond, the GPU's rendering workload dominates, and the scaling becomes more predictable.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, built on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, with 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 cache per core. The CPU's benchmark results show strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,943, which places it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs tested.

In the context of To The Core, the CPU's role becomes evident at 1080p where frame rates exceed 400 FPS at lower settings. The 1080p Low result of 466.4 FPS suggests that the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render at higher settings, but at Low settings, the CPU's 12 threads and 4.70 GHz boost clock are sufficient to avoid becoming a bottleneck. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20,851 indicates strong multi-threaded capability, which helps in an idle game where background simulation tasks may run concurrently with rendering.

However, the data shows that the CPU's influence diminishes as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 106 FPS, which is far below the CPU's capability ceiling. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 is adequate for this workload, and the 4 nm process node keeps power efficiency high with a 65 W TDP. The nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X with a virtually identical average score of 25,057, confirm that the 8400F offers competitive multi-threaded performance, but the single-thread advantage from Zen 4 is what matters most for high-refresh gaming.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the data shows it is the primary driver of performance differences across settings. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 2512 MHz and 6,144 shading units provide substantial compute throughput, with an FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 29,137 places it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs, which is slightly higher than the CPU's percentile ranking.

The GPU's role is most apparent when examining the performance delta between settings at the same resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low (180.3 FPS) and Ultra (106 FPS) is 74.3 FPS, a 70.1% reduction. This large gap indicates that the GPU's shading units, ROPs (80), and texture units (192) are heavily loaded when higher-quality effects are enabled. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game, as evidenced by consistent performance without any signs of memory-related stuttering or frame drops in the measured data.

The RTX 5070's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 with an average score of 41,441 (0.6% lower) and the AMD Radeon Pro 580X at 41,991 (0.7% higher). This places the RTX 5070 in the same performance tier as the previous generation's flagship, which explains why the 4K Ultra result of 106 FPS is achievable. The GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are not directly relevant to To The Core, but they contribute to the overall compute capability that allows for high frame rates even at Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this combination. At 4K, the High preset delivers 130.9 FPS, which is 23.5% faster than Ultra (106 FPS) but only 11.8% slower than Medium (148.5 FPS). The High preset appears to be the sweet spot at 4K, offering a significant performance boost over Ultra while maintaining higher visual quality than Medium.

At 1440p, the situation changes. The High preset produces 229.1 FPS, which is 24.8% faster than Ultra (183.6 FPS) and only 13.2% slower than Medium (263.9 FPS). Given that 1440p High already exceeds 200 FPS, there is little reason to drop below High unless a user has a 240 Hz or higher refresh rate monitor. The Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers 183.6 FPS, which is above the 144 Hz threshold, but the performance cost of Ultra is not justified when High offers such a marginal visual difference at this resolution.

At 1080p, the data shows that all settings produce frame rates above 270 FPS, with Low reaching 466.4 FPS and Ultra at 274.1 FPS. The recommendation here is to use High or Ultra, as the system has enough headroom to run maximum settings while still maintaining refresh rates well above 240 Hz. The Low preset at 1080p yields 466.4 FPS, but this is only useful for competitive scenarios where every frame matters, as the visual quality trade-off is significant.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 369th out of 1,756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the 79th percentile of all configurations. This is a strong result that reflects the GPU's high performance percentile (83rd) and the CPU's solid 82nd percentile ranking. The combo outperforms many systems with more expensive components, primarily because the RTX 5070's 12 GB GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are well-suited to this game's rendering requirements.

The ranking is particularly notable because the CPU and GPU are not perfectly matched in benchmark percentiles. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25,064 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (25,057), a much older processor, while the GPU's average score of 41,687 is comparable to the RTX 3090 (41,441). This suggests that the system's overall ranking is driven more by GPU performance than CPU performance, which aligns with the resolution scaling analysis showing the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in To The Core?

A: The data shows that 1440p High delivers 229.1 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. At 4K High, the system still achieves 130.9 FPS, making both resolutions viable depending on display capabilities.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The 1080p Low result of 466.4 FPS compared to 4K Ultra at 106 FPS suggests that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's 6 cores and 4.70 GHz boost clock may become a limiting factor, but the frame rates are so high that this is only relevant for extreme refresh rate displays.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to the RTX 3090 in this system?

A: The RTX 5070 has a slightly higher average benchmark score of 41,687 compared to the RTX 3090's 41,441, a 0.6% difference. This indicates near-identical performance, which is reflected in the 4K Ultra result of 106 FPS.

Q: Is 12 GB of VRAM sufficient for To The Core?

A: Yes, the measured data shows consistent frame rates across all settings and resolutions, with no indications of VRAM limitations. The 672.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than adequate for this game's texture and geometry demands.

Q: What settings should I use for competitive play at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1080p produces 466.4 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate. If visual quality is less important than raw frame rate, Low is the recommended choice, though High at 340 FPS is also above competitive thresholds.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 369th out of 1,756 tested configurations, placing it in the top 21% of all systems tested for To The Core.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 in To The Core is as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system achieves 180.3 FPS at Low settings, 148.5 FPS at Medium, 130.9 FPS at High, and 106 FPS at Ultra. The progression shows a consistent 15-20 FPS drop for each step up in quality, with the largest gap between Medium and High (17.6 FPS) and the smallest between High and Ultra (24.9 FPS).

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the results are 313.6 FPS at Low, 263.9 FPS at Medium, 229.1 FPS at High, and 183.6 FPS at Ultra. The scaling here is steeper than at 4K, with a 49.7 FPS difference between Low and Medium, and a 45.5 FPS difference between High and Ultra.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system produces 466.4 FPS at Low, 396.7 FPS at Medium, 340 FPS at High, and 274.1 FPS at Ultra. The 1080p results show the largest absolute differences between settings, with a 69.7 FPS gap between Low and Medium, and a 65.9 FPS gap between High and Ultra.

Across all resolutions, the Low setting consistently delivers the highest frame rates, while Ultra delivers the lowest. The data shows that the system maintains playable frame rates at every resolution and settings combination, with the minimum measured result being 106 FPS at 4K Ultra. This indicates that the combo is capable of handling To The Core at maximum settings even at 4K, while providing ample headroom for high refresh rate gaming at 1440p and 1080p.