To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a robust performance profile in To The Core, an Idle genre title released on 2024-02-14. The measured data shows a system capable of high refresh rates at 1080p and solid 60+ FPS gameplay at 4K, with the CPU and GPU each playing distinct roles depending on the resolution and settings applied.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, yet the degree of the performance drop is notably steep, indicating the Arc B570 is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At Medium settings, the average FPS falls from 191 at 1920x1080 to 128 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 63 FPS or roughly 33%. Moving further up to 3840x2160, the average drops to 73 FPS, which is a 118 FPS decline from the 1080p figure—a 62% performance loss. This substantial scaling curve points directly at the GPU struggling with the increased pixel count.

The pattern holds across other settings presets. At High settings, the system delivers 165 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The jump from 1440p to 4K alone costs 47 FPS, a 42% drop, while the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 54 FPS, a 33% drop. This non-linear scaling—where the 4K penalty is proportionally larger than the 1440p penalty—suggests that the Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM and 160-bit memory bus are being saturated as resolution increases, though the exact VRAM utilization is not part of the measured data.

Low settings show the least severe absolute drops but still follow the same trajectory: 225 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result of 87 FPS is particularly telling—even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the system cannot maintain the triple-digit frame rates seen at lower resolutions. This confirms that the bottleneck at 4K is not solely about shading complexity but also about raw pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

Ultra settings amplify the issue further. The system manages 133 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and only 51 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 51 FPS is the lowest measured value across the entire dataset, falling below the 60 FPS threshold that many users consider the minimum for smooth gameplay. The data indicates that 4K gaming is viable at Medium and High settings, but Ultra at 4K pushes the GPU past its comfortable operating range.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D brings 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. This Zen 3 architecture chip, built on a 7 nm process, features a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache—a trait that benefits game workloads requiring frequent data access. In the context of To The Core, an Idle game, the CPU's role is less about raw compute and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing and handling game logic, though the measured data does not isolate CPU-specific bottlenecks.

The CPU's benchmark scores suggest ample headroom for this title. In Cinebench R23, the chip scores 14317 in multi-core and 1452 in single-core tests. The 3DMark results show a strong scaling from 1746 in the 2-thread test to 7299 in the 16-thread test, indicating that the CPU can leverage its full thread count effectively when needed. However, at 1080p Low settings where the GPU is less stressed, the system reaches 225 FPS—this high value suggests the CPU is not holding back performance, as even a modestly strong processor could feed the GPU enough frames at this resolution.

The 5800X3D's 105 W TDP and DDR4 memory support with dual-channel configuration (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide a stable platform for the Arc B570. The CPU's PCIe Gen 4 support with 20 lanes is sufficient for the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface. The data shows that frame rates scale consistently with GPU load rather than showing erratic fluctuations that would indicate CPU stuttering or thread saturation. The single-thread performance in Geekbench (2017) and Passmark (3234) is solid, which is relevant for games that rely on a primary simulation thread.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 5800X3D and Intel Arc B570 ranks at position 2380 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places the system in the lower 20th percentile of all combinations tested, meaning roughly 80% of other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average FPS in this specific game. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the absolute FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that To The Core is not a demanding title—many lower-end components can achieve high frame rates, making the competitive field crowded.

The CPU's individual standing is much stronger. The Ryzen 7 5800X3D sits at the 80th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27896. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (avg score 27887, delta 0%), the Intel Core i9-10900K (avg score 27872, delta 0.1%), and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (avg score 27932, delta -0.1%). The performance is essentially identical to these chips, with deltas of less than 0.3%—the 5800X3D, the i9-10900K, and the Ryzen 7 6800U are virtually indistinguishable in aggregate benchmarks.

The GPU, however, is more mid-pack. The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556 and sits at the 65th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (avg score 20534, delta 0.1%), the Intel Arc A750 (avg score 20582, delta -0.1%), and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (avg score 20480, delta 0.4%). The Arc B570 is essentially tied with these cards in average benchmark performance, with deltas of 0.1% or less. This suggests that the GPU's 65th percentile standing combined with the CPU's 80th percentile standing results in a combo rank that is dragged down by the GPU's relative position.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 225 FPS, Medium yields 191 FPS with a minimum of 162 and maximum of 219, High delivers 165 FPS, and Ultra drops to 133 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 92 FPS, which is a 41% difference—this indicates that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, and the settings preset has a substantial impact on frame rates.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 152 FPS at Low, 128 FPS at Medium (with min 109 and max 147), 111 FPS at High, and 89 FPS at Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS, a 41% reduction. Notably, the 1440p Ultra result of 89 FPS is still comfortably above 60 FPS, showing that this resolution is well within the system's capabilities for all settings presets.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress significantly. Low settings average 87 FPS, Medium averages 73 FPS (with min 62 and max 84), High averages 64 FPS, and Ultra averages 51 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 36 FPS, a 41% reduction—the same proportional gap as at other resolutions, confirming that the settings presets scale consistently regardless of resolution. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 62 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while the High preset's average of 64 FPS suggests occasional dips below 60 FPS are likely.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation), features 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. It operates with a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, and its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) across a 160-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. The GPU's FP32 compute is rated at 11.52 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s.

The GPU's benchmark results show strong DirectX 11 performance (Passmark score of 118) but weaker DirectX 12 (score of 72) and DirectX 10 (score of 65) results. The Vulkan score in Geekbench is 96844, significantly higher than the OpenCL score of 83514, suggesting the architecture favors Vulkan workloads. The Passmark G3D score of 14195 and G2D score of 661 provide a broad picture of the GPU's capabilities.

In To The Core, the GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 225 FPS Low result. However, at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The 51 FPS Ultra result at 4K is likely constrained by the GPU's memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s and the 160-bit bus width, which may struggle with the higher memory pressure of 4K rendering. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking against all GPUs aligns with its mid-range positioning, and its performance in this game mirrors that standing—capable but not exceptional at the highest resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Medium settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 191 FPS average with a minimum of 162 FPS—this ensures smooth gameplay with no risk of drops below high refresh rate thresholds. At 1440p, Medium averages 128 FPS with a minimum of 109 FPS, still comfortably above 100 FPS. At 4K, Medium averages 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS, which maintains a playable experience above the 60 FPS mark.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity. At 1440p, High delivers 111 FPS average, which is still excellent. However, at 4K, High drops to 64 FPS average, and the lack of a reported minimum FPS (the data shows null for min/max) makes it difficult to guarantee consistent frame times. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it delivers 133 FPS and 89 FPS respectively. At 4K, Ultra's 51 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold and is not recommended for smooth gameplay.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (225 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, 87 FPS at 4K), comes with the expected visual compromises. For users with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, Low could be justified, but Medium provides a 34 FPS improvement over Low in terms of visual quality with only a 34 FPS frame rate penalty (225 to 191). The data indicates Medium is the sweet spot for this combination.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run To The Core at 4K with smooth frame rates?*

A: Yes, but only at Medium or Low settings. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 73 with a minimum of 62 FPS, which stays above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K High, the average drops to 64 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 51 FPS, which is below 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Medium settings, the average FPS drops from 191 at 1080p to 128 at 1440p, then to 73 at 4K. This represents a 62% total reduction from 1080p to 4K, with the largest single drop occurring between 1440p and 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: At 1080p, the GPU has headroom, as shown by the 225 FPS Low result. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep resolution scaling and the Arc B570's 65th percentile GPU ranking versus the CPU's 80th percentile ranking.

Q: What settings preset provides the highest minimum FPS at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset has the only reported minimum FPS at 1440p, which is 109 FPS. The Low, High, and Ultra presets at 1440p do not have min/max values in the measured data, but their averages are 152, 111, and 89 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, which is within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and Intel Arc A750 (20582). The AMD Radeon R9 M390X is slightly higher at 20662, a 0.5% delta.

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS at 1080p is 225, achieved at Low settings. At Medium, the average is 191 FPS, at High it is 165 FPS, and at Ultra it is 133 FPS.