To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 5 9600X paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a unique performance profile in To The Core. The benchmark data indicates that this combination is playable, but the experience is heavily dependent on the graphics preset selected. The measured frames per second across all resolutions show a clear hierarchy: Low settings provide the highest fluidity, while Ultra settings push the system to its limits, often resulting in sub-60 FPS gameplay at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and smooth gameplay, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 124 FPS, which is a substantial 44% improvement over the Ultra preset's 86 FPS at the same resolution. This high frame rate ensures a responsive and fluid experience, which is critical for the core loop of an Idle game where consistent interaction is key. The Medium preset also provides a measured minimum FPS of 105, indicating that frame pacing remains stable even in demanding scenes.

While the High preset offers better visuals, the performance cost is significant. At 1920x1080, High settings yield 107 FPS, which is only a 13.7% reduction compared to Medium. However, the gap widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 72 FPS, while Medium maintains 83 FPS. The data shows that the High preset's additional graphical load begins to strain the GPU more heavily as pixel count increases.

For users with 2560x1440 monitors, the Medium preset is strongly advised. The 83 FPS average at this resolution is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. In contrast, the High preset at 1440p drops to 72 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 58 FPS, which is below the ideal playability threshold for many users. The measured minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 71, showing that even the lowest frame dips remain playable.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. The Low preset is the only option that achieves an average above 60 FPS, hitting 56 FPS on Medium and 41 FPS on High. The Ultra preset at 4K is not recommended, as the 33 FPS average would likely result in a stuttery and unresponsive experience. For 4K users, the Low preset at 56 FPS is the only viable option, or they should consider reducing the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play To The Core with this hardware?*

A: The data indicates that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution for this combination. The system achieves its highest frame rates here, with the Low preset hitting 147 FPS and the Medium preset reaching 124 FPS. While 2560x1440 is playable, it requires dropping to Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS.

Q: Is the Ultra preset usable with the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B390?

A: The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1920x1080, where it achieves an average of 86 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average drops to 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for most gamers. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is not recommended, as it only produces a 33 FPS average.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 perform compared to its closest rivals in this game?

A: The Intel Arc B390's benchmark score is 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M. This indicates it offers a slight performance edge over these comparable GPUs, though the overall performance class is similar.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and High presets at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 averages 147 FPS, while the High preset averages 107 FPS. This represents a 37% decrease in frame rate when moving from Low to High settings, showing that the graphical enhancements of the High preset come at a considerable performance cost.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in To The Core?*

A: 4K gaming is possible but requires significant compromises. The Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves 56 FPS, which is playable, but the Medium preset drops to 48 FPS, and the High preset falls to 41 FPS. The Ultra preset is not viable at this resolution, with only 33 FPS.

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X's processing power contribute to the gaming experience?

A: The CPU's strong single-threaded performance, as indicated by a 3dmark single-thread score of 1253, helps ensure that frame times remain consistent in CPU-bound scenarios. Its 6 cores and 12 threads, combined with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, provide sufficient processing headroom to avoid bottlenecks at lower resolutions where the GPU can output higher frame rates.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the primary performance limiter in this configuration. Its benchmark data shows a 3dmark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This indicates it is a low-end graphics solution. The GPU's specifications reveal a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a TDP of 80 W. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster operation units, alongside 12 ray tracing cores.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared," which means it relies on the system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory architecture can impact performance, especially at higher resolutions where memory bandwidth demands increase. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," meaning its performance is tied to the host CPU's memory controller. The Ryzen 5 9600X supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

The benchmark results across resolutions clearly show the GPU's limitations. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves 147 FPS, but this drops to 56 FPS at 3840x2160 with the same settings. This 62% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K highlights how the GPU struggles with the increased pixel load. The GPU's peak performance of 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 is not sufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K.

The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is marginal. It outperforms the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX by 1.3% and the GeForce 800M by 1.5%, based on their average benchmark scores. This places it at the very bottom of the GPU performance spectrum, making it more suitable for esports titles or older games than modern, graphically intensive releases. In To The Core, an Idle game, the GPU's limitations are somewhat mitigated by the genre's less demanding visuals, but the frame rate data still shows a clear ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2643 out of 2991 tested combinations for To The Core. This places it in the bottom 11.6% of all tested systems, indicating that this is a low-performance pairing for this specific game. The ranking reflects the GPU's severe limitations, as the CPU is significantly more capable than the GPU.

The CPU alone performs well in the broader benchmark landscape. The Ryzen 5 9600X holds an 81st percentile ranking against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29713. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755GE, scores 29656, which is 0.2% lower. This shows the CPU is a competitive mid-range processor that is not the bottleneck in this system.

The stark contrast between the CPU's 81st percentile ranking and the GPU's 9th percentile ranking explains the combo's low overall position. The system is heavily imbalanced, with the GPU unable to leverage the CPU's full processing power. In To The Core, this imbalance results in the GPU consistently being the limiting factor, as evidenced by the significant frame rate drops when increasing resolution or graphical settings.

The combo's rank of 2643 suggests that many other tested systems, even those with lower-end CPUs, will outperform this pairing in To The Core if they have a more powerful GPU. The data indicates that users seeking better performance in this game would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade, as the current GPU is holding the system back.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a significant performance drop as resolution increases, clearly identifying the GPU as the primary bottleneck. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the Low preset reduces the average FPS from 147 to 99, a 32.7% decrease. Continuing to 3840x2160 further reduces the average to 56 FPS, a 43.4% drop from the 1440p result and a 61.9% drop from the 1080p result.

This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings. On the Medium preset, the frame rates are 124 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The High preset shows 107 FPS, 72 FPS, and 41 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset demonstrates the most severe scaling, with 86 FPS at 1080p dropping to 58 FPS at 1440p and finally to 33 FPS at 4K.

The percentage drops between resolutions are steeper than what would be expected if the CPU were the limiting factor. A CPU-bound scenario would typically show minimal frame rate changes across resolutions, as the processing load remains constant. The data shows a clear inverse relationship between frame rate and pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound system.

The magnitude of the performance drop also suggests that the GPU's shared memory architecture is a significant constraint. As the resolution increases, the demand for memory bandwidth grows, and the system shared memory solution struggles to keep up. This is particularly evident in the 4K results, where even the Low preset cannot maintain a 60 FPS average.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The detailed measurements provide a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all tested configurations.

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 147 FPS.
• Medium: Average 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS.
• High: Average 107 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 86 FPS.

At 1080p, the system performs admirably. The Low preset delivers a very high frame rate, and even the Ultra preset remains playable. The Medium preset shows stable frame pacing, with the minimum FPS only 15% below the average.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 99 FPS.
• Medium: Average 83 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS.
• High: Average 72 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 58 FPS.

At 1440p, the system starts to show its limitations. The Low and Medium presets maintain playable frame rates, but the High preset falls below 75 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 71 indicates that it can maintain a smooth experience even during intense moments.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 56 FPS.
• Medium: Average 48 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS and a maximum of 55 FPS.
• High: Average 41 FPS.
• Ultra: Average 33 FPS.

At 4K, the system is heavily constrained. Only the Low preset achieves a frame rate above 50 FPS, and it still falls short of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset dips to a 41 FPS minimum, which would likely result in noticeable stuttering. The High and Ultra presets are not recommended for 4K gaming, as their average frame rates are too low for a responsive experience.

The data across all resolutions confirms that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. The system's performance is directly tied to the graphical workload, and users must adjust their settings and resolution expectations accordingly to achieve a playable frame rate in To The Core.