To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT paired with the Intel Arc B370 is a peculiar combination, and the measured data for To The Core reveals a system that is heavily constrained by its graphics processor. The Intel Arc B370, an integrated part with a 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs, delivers playable but unspectacular frame rates. The Ryzen 7 5800XT, meanwhile, is a desktop-class 8-core, 16-thread processor with an 81st percentile ranking, providing ample compute headroom that this game simply does not appear to use. The benchmark results across resolutions and presets show a clear pattern: the GPU is the bottleneck, and the CPU's significant power remains mostly untapped. This analysis will interpret the measured FPS data, contextualize the combo's rank, and provide practical settings advice for owners of this specific pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combo in To The Core points to a narrow but clear optimum in the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the Medium setting delivers an average of 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over High, which averages 97 FPS, and it is only 20 FPS behind the Low preset's 132 FPS average. The trade-off is favorable: the jump from Low to Medium costs 20 FPS on average, but the visual upgrade is typically significant in most titles, and the minimum of 95 FPS ensures the experience stays smooth. The Ultra preset, conversely, is a poor choice, as it drops the average to 78 FPS at 1080p, which is a 30% reduction from Medium.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same pattern holds. Medium provides 75 FPS on average, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS. High sits at 65 FPS, while Low achieves 89 FPS. At this resolution, Medium remains the best balance, as it keeps the average comfortably above 60 FPS, which is the baseline for smooth gameplay. The minimum of 64 FPS is also reassuring, suggesting that even in more demanding scenes, the frame rate will not dip below the playable threshold. Ultra at 1440p drops to 53 FPS, which is a noticeable step down in fluidity.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more challenging. Medium is the only preset with a recorded minimum FPS, showing 37 to 50 FPS with an average of 43. High averages 37 FPS, Low averages 51 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. For 4K, the Low preset is the only one that provides a comfortable margin above 30 FPS, but it still averages just 51. Medium is playable for those who prefer visual quality, but the low minimum of 37 FPS might feel stuttery in action-heavy moments. The data suggests that for a consistent experience at 4K, Low is the safest choice, while Medium is a viable option for users who prioritize image quality over absolute smoothness.

The overall recommendation is to use the Medium preset for all resolutions. At 1080p and 1440p, it offers the best combination of frame rate and visual fidelity, with averages of 112 and 75 FPS respectively. At 4K, Medium is still a reasonable choice, but users should be prepared for occasional dips to 37 FPS. The High preset is a slight downgrade from Medium with no clear benefit, and Ultra is consistently the worst performer, sacrificing too much performance for marginal visual gains. The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates, is only recommended for 4K where the GPU is otherwise overmatched.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2750 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, which is a direct reflection of the GPU's weak performance. The Intel Arc B370 has a percentile rank of 5 among all GPUs, meaning it performs better than only 5% of the graphics cards in the database. Its average benchmark score is 1184 in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test, which is a minimal load for a modern part. The nearest rivals for the GPU are all older, low-end parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (deltaPct of -0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (deltaPct of -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (deltaPct of -0.7%). The only component the Arc B370 beats is the AMD FirePro M2000, and it does so by a mere 1.4%.

This GPU-centric ranking is not surprising given the CPU's profile. The Ryzen 7 5800XT is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. It has a percentile rank of 81 among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score is 29879. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H with a deltaPct of 0, the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS at -0.3%, and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X at 0.6%. This is a top-tier desktop processor, but its performance is irrelevant when paired with a GPU that ranks in the 5th percentile. The combo rank of 2750 out of 2991 is almost entirely determined by the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is more than capable of handling the game's demands.

The data indicates that any of the four nearest rival GPUs would produce nearly identical results, with deltaPct values within 1.4% of each other. This means the combo's ranking is not an outlier; it is simply the expected outcome of pairing a high-end CPU with a very low-end GPU. For users with this combo, the rank is a clear signal that the graphics processor is the limiting factor, and any upgrade to the GPU would dramatically improve the system's standing.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the primary constraint in this system. Its specifications are modest: 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, 20 raster output units, and 10 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz, which boosts to 2400 MHz. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1). The TDP is just 25 W, and it uses system-shared memory, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM. The GPU's memory bandwidth is "System Dependent," which is a critical weakness for gaming.

The measured FPS data reflects this. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 132 FPS. At Medium, it drops to 112 FPS, and at High, it drops to 97 FPS. At Ultra, it falls to 78 FPS. This scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 41% reduction in frame rate, which is a significant penalty for each preset increase. The same pattern is seen at 1440p, where Low gives 89 FPS, Medium gives 75 FPS, High gives 65 FPS, and Ultra gives 53 FPS. At 4K, the differences compress, with Low at 51 FPS, Medium at 43 FPS, High at 37 FPS, and Ultra at 30 FPS.

The lack of dedicated VRAM is likely a major factor. With system-shared memory, the GPU must compete with the CPU for bandwidth, and the "System Dependent" bandwidth means performance can vary wildly based on the rest of the system. The low pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s also suggests that higher resolutions will stress the ROPs, which is why the 4K results are so low. The Arc B370's 5th percentile ranking and its benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 (a modern DirectX 12 test) confirm that this is a part designed for basic tasks, not demanding gaming. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at every resolution and preset, and its performance limits the entire system.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best preset to use for this CPU/GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: The Medium preset provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality. At 1080p, it averages 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS. At 1440p, it averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS. At 4K, it averages 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS, which is still playable but less consistent.

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

A: This combo ranks 2750 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the bottom 8% of all systems. The low rank is almost entirely due to the Intel Arc B370, which has a 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT a good match for the Intel Arc B370?

A: No, the data shows a significant mismatch. The Ryzen 7 5800XT has an 81st percentile ranking among CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879. The GPU, however, ranks in the 5th percentile with a score of 1184. The CPU is far more capable than the GPU, making the graphics card the definitive bottleneck.

Q: What are the nearest rivals to the Intel Arc B370 in this game?

A: The nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (deltaPct of -0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (deltaPct of -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (deltaPct of -0.7%). The Arc B370 only outperforms the AMD FirePro M2000, and that is by a margin of 1.4%.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B370 have dedicated video memory?

A: No, it uses "System Shared" memory. This means the memory size, type, and bus width are all "System Shared," and the bandwidth is "System Dependent." This lack of dedicated VRAM is a likely contributor to the GPU's low performance in this game.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 132 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 78 FPS. This is a 54 FPS difference, representing a 41% reduction in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest preset.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a clear and expected drop in frame rate as resolution increases, but the pattern reveals important details about the limiting component. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo achieves 112 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the same settings drop to 75 FPS, a 33% reduction. Moving to 4K, the average falls to 43 FPS, a further 43% reduction from 1440p. This scaling is consistent across all presets, but the magnitude of the drop is more severe at higher settings.

For example, at Low settings, the frame rate goes from 132 FPS at 1080p, to 89 FPS at 1440p, to 51 FPS at 4K. This is a 61% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 78 FPS, 53 FPS, and 30 FPS, respectively, which is a 62% drop. The fact that the percentage drop is similar across presets suggests that the GPU is consistently the bottleneck, regardless of the workload. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a smaller difference between 1080p and 4K, as the CPU's workload does not scale with resolution. Instead, the frame rate drops proportionally with the pixel count, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound system.

The data also shows that the gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 32 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is struggling to maintain performance as the pixel count increases, likely due to its limited ROP count of 20 and its system-shared memory bandwidth. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s is low, and at 4K, the GPU is simply overwhelmed. The 4K Low preset average of 51 FPS is the only playable option at that resolution, and even that is barely above the 30 FPS threshold for playability in many titles.

The resolution scaling confirms that the Intel Arc B370 is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 5800XT, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, has more than enough processing power to handle the game's logic at any resolution. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth limitations. Users with this combo should expect to lower settings at 4K to maintain playable frame rates, while 1080p and 1440p are more manageable with the Medium preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800XT is a high-end desktop processor, but its role in To The Core is secondary due to the GPU's limitations. The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Vermeer), with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. It has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 64 KB of L1 per core. The TDP is 105 W, and it supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. It is built on a 7 nm process by TSMC, with 4,150 million transistors.

In benchmark tests, this CPU shows strong performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23794 in multicore and 3359 in single-core. In 3DMark, it scores 7683 in the 16-thread test and 959 in the single-thread test. In PassMark, the multithread score is 28053, and the single-thread score is 3535. These scores place the CPU in the 81st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29879. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 7840H (deltaPct 0), the AMD Ryzen 7 8845HS (deltaPct -0.3%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 9600X (deltaPct 0.6%). This is a capable processor that can handle demanding workloads.

However, in To The Core, the CPU's performance is not the limiting factor. The measured FPS data shows that the system is GPU-bound at all resolutions and settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates that are similar across different resolutions, since the CPU's workload is independent of resolution. Instead, we see a significant drop in FPS as resolution increases, which indicates the GPU is the constraint. For example, at Medium settings, the FPS goes from 112 at 1080p, to 75 at 1440p, to 43 at 4K. This is a clear sign that the GPU is unable to keep up with the increasing pixel count.

The CPU's high core count and clock speed are more than sufficient for an idle game like To The Core. The game's genre suggests it is not heavily threaded, and even a single core of the 5800XT would likely be enough to run the game's logic. The 3DMark single-thread score of 959 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3359 indicate strong per-core performance, which is important for games that rely on a few threads. The 8 cores and 16 threads provide headroom for background tasks and future games, but they are not being fully utilized in this specific title. In this pairing, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with data, and it does so without becoming a bottleneck. The data shows that any performance issues in To The Core are directly attributable to the Intel Arc B370, not the Ryzen 7 5800XT.