To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that places minimal demands on the rendering pipeline, yet the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B370 combination reveals a surprisingly consistent performance hierarchy across its four quality presets. At 1080p, the pairing delivers a playable experience at every setting, with the Low preset achieving 132 FPS and the Ultra preset still holding 78 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 54 FPS drop, indicating that while the GPU is the primary bottleneck, the CPU’s 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides ample headroom to prevent frame pacing issues. The data suggests that this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate monitors at lower settings, or for 60 FPS locked gameplay at Medium or High presets, where the balance between visual fidelity and frame rate is most favorable.

Settings Recommendations

For the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B370 pairing in To The Core, the measured FPS data points to the Medium preset as the optimal choice for most users, particularly at 1440p and 4K resolutions. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 75 FPS average, which is 13 FPS higher than High (65 FPS) and 22 FPS higher than Ultra (53 FPS). The Medium preset also provides measurable frame time consistency, with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 87 FPS, suggesting stable performance without severe dips. This makes Medium the sweet spot for 1440p, offering a 23 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining visual quality that is only one step below the highest tier.

At 1920x1080, the High preset emerges as the recommended choice for users seeking a balance between quality and performance. The data shows 97 FPS at High, which is a 19 FPS improvement over Ultra (78 FPS) but still 35 FPS below Low (132 FPS). For 1080p displays with 144 Hz refresh rates, the High preset’s 97 FPS is sufficiently smooth, and the jump to Low for 132 FPS sacrifices too much visual fidelity for an idle game where the graphical differences may be less impactful. The measured minimum at 1080p Medium is 95 FPS, which indicates that even during complex on-screen animations, the combo maintains a floor above 90 FPS at this resolution.

For 4K (3840x2160), the data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra, which drops to 30 FPS average, and instead using Medium, which achieves 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS and maximum of 50 FPS. While 43 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold, it is the highest playable setting at this resolution, as High only offers 37 FPS and Low 51 FPS. The Low preset at 4K provides the best frame rate (51 FPS) but at a significant visual cost. Given that To The Core is an idle game, where gameplay pacing is less dependent on twitch reflexes, the Medium preset at 4K offers the best compromise between the 43 FPS average and the visual enhancements over Low.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data indicates that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with all settings ranging from 78 FPS (Ultra) to 132 FPS (Low). At 1080p Medium, the combo achieves 112 FPS, which is the highest average across all tested presets at any resolution, making it the most comfortable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 30, which is the lowest score in the entire measured dataset. This is 8 FPS below the 4K High preset (37 FPS) and 13 FPS below the 4K Medium preset (43 FPS), indicating that Ultra is not viable for this combo at 4K.

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

A: The data shows a clear GPU bottleneck, as the frame rate scales significantly with resolution and settings. For example, at 1080p Low, the combo hits 132 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 51 FPS, a 61% reduction. The CPU’s 3DMark max threads score of 8479 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18760 suggest it is not the primary constraint, as even the lowest GPU-bound scenario (4K Ultra at 30 FPS) does not indicate CPU saturation.

Q: What is the frame time consistency at 1440p Medium?

A: The 2560x1440 Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 64 and a maximum of 87, with an average of 75 FPS. This 23 FPS spread between minimum and maximum indicates moderate frame time variance, but the 64 FPS minimum ensures that the experience remains above the 60 FPS threshold for most of the gameplay.

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

A: The combo ranks 2750 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the Intel Arc B370’s GPU performance, which has a percentile ranking of 5% against all GPUs, while the CPU ranks in the 87th percentile.

Q: Does the combo support high refresh rates at 1080p?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves 132 FPS, which exceeds the 120 Hz refresh rate threshold. At Medium settings, the 112 FPS average is still suitable for 100 Hz displays, but the Ultra preset’s 78 FPS is better suited for 75 Hz monitors.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B370 combination holds a rank of 2750 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all configurations tested (where a lower rank is worse). This ranking reflects the significant imbalance between the two components: the CPU is a high-end desktop processor with an 87th percentile ranking against all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 5th percentile against all GPUs. The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck, as the combo’s performance is consistent with entry-level integrated graphics rather than a discrete solution.

The combo’s position in the bottom 8% of tested configurations is driven by the Intel Arc B370’s limited compute capabilities. The GPU’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it within 1% of rivals like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, deltaPct -0.2) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5). This proximity to decade-old mobile and desktop GPUs explains why the combo struggles to exceed 132 FPS even at 1080p Low. The CPU’s performance, by contrast, is competitive with modern processors, as its average benchmark score of 40081 is within 0.6% of the Intel Core i9-13905H (40313, deltaPct -0.6) and 0.4% of the AMD Ryzen 9 270 (40246, deltaPct -0.4).

When comparing the combo’s ranking to its component parts, the data reveals a stark contrast. The CPU’s 87th percentile ranking suggests it could drive much higher frame rates if paired with a more capable GPU, but the Arc B370’s 5th percentile ranking limits the entire system. For an idle game like To The Core, which typically has low graphical demands, this combo still manages to deliver playable frame rates at all tested presets, but the rank of 2750 indicates that most other tested combinations—likely those with discrete GPUs—outperform it by a wide margin. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is the clearest indicator of the GPU’s constraint, as even the most demanding settings fail to leverage the CPU’s 8-core, 16-thread architecture.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B370 spans three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings achieve 132 FPS, Medium achieves 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 129 FPS, High achieves 97 FPS, and Ultra achieves 78 FPS. This resolution shows the widest spread between presets, with a 54 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, indicating that the GPU’s pixel throughput (48.00 GPixel/s) is the limiting factor as settings increase.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop noticeably but remain playable. Low settings deliver 89 FPS, Medium delivers 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS and maximum of 87 FPS, High delivers 65 FPS, and Ultra delivers 53 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at the same settings shows a 43 FPS drop at Low (132 to 89) and a 23 FPS drop at Medium (112 to 75). This scaling is less severe than the jump to 4K, suggesting that the GPU can still handle moderate resolution increases with acceptable performance degradation.

At 3840x2160, the combo’s limitations become apparent. Low settings produce 51 FPS, Medium produces 43 FPS with a minimum of 37 FPS and maximum of 50 FPS, High produces 37 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS. The 4K results show a compressed range of only 21 FPS between Low and Ultra (51 to 30), compared to the 54 FPS spread at 1080p. This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is saturated across all settings, and further quality increases yield diminishing returns. The 4K Medium result of 43 FPS is the only setting at this resolution that provides both a minimum above 30 FPS (37 FPS) and a maximum of 50 FPS, making it the most viable option for 4K users.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B370 in To The Core provides clear evidence of a GPU-bound workload. Moving from 1080p Low (132 FPS) to 1440p Low (89 FPS) results in a 43 FPS drop, or a 32.6% reduction. Continuing to 4K Low (51 FPS) from 1440p Low results in a further 38 FPS drop, or a 42.7% reduction. The cumulative drop from 1080p Low to 4K Low is 81 FPS, representing a 61.4% decrease in frame rate.

This scaling pattern is consistent with the GPU’s specifications, which list a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. At 1080p (1920x1080), the total pixel count is approximately 2.07 million, while at 4K (3840x2160), it is approximately 8.29 million—a fourfold increase. The measured FPS drop of 61.4% is less than the 300% increase in pixel count, suggesting that the game’s idle genre does not fully saturate the GPU’s pixel pipeline, and other factors like draw calls or shader complexity play a role.

The data also shows that the CPU’s role in resolution scaling is minimal. The Ryzen 7 7700’s bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 memory support provide sufficient data throughput to feed the GPU at all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS across resolutions at the same settings, but the significant drops (e.g., 97 FPS at 1080p High to 65 FPS at 1440p High) confirm that the GPU is the limiting component. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS, which is exactly half of the 1080p High result of 97 FPS at a similar quality level, further reinforces this conclusion.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 plays a supporting role in To The Core, as the game’s idle genre does not heavily utilize multi-threaded processing. The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz, provide more than enough compute power for this workload. The 3DMark benchmark scores illustrate this: the single-thread score is 1049, while the 2-thread score is 2043, the 4-thread score is 3931, the 8-thread score is 6933, and the max-thread score is 8479. The near-linear scaling from 2 to 8 threads indicates excellent multi-core efficiency, but the game does not appear to leverage this capability fully.

The CPU’s Cinebench R23 scores of 1930 (single-core) and 18760 (multi-core) place it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081. This places it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (40048, deltaPct 0.1) and within 0.2% of the Intel Core 5 221E (40144, deltaPct -0.2). In the context of To The Core, the CPU’s performance is far above what the game requires, as evidenced by the fact that the combo’s FPS at 1080p Low (132 FPS) is likely limited by the GPU’s frame rendering time rather than the CPU’s frame submission time.

The CPU’s L3 cache of 32 MB (shared) and L2 cache of 1 MB per core provide ample storage for game logic and asset data, while the 5 nm process node (TSMC) ensures low latency. The memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 bus is more than sufficient for this game, as the GPU shares system memory (labeled "System Shared" for both memory size and bandwidth). The CPU’s integrated Radeon Graphics is not used in this configuration, but its presence does not affect performance. The data suggests that even a significantly weaker CPU could maintain the same frame rates in To The Core, making the Ryzen 7 7700 overkill for this specific title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the dominant factor in determining this combo’s performance in To The Core, and its limitations are evident across all measured resolutions. The GPU is based on the Xe3-LPG architecture (Panther Lake chip) with 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2400 MHz and base clock of 300 MHz yield a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. These specifications place the GPU in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all older or lower-tier parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, deltaPct -0.2), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, deltaPct -0.7), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, deltaPct 1.4). This clustering around similar scores confirms that the Arc B370’s performance is comparable to mobile GPUs from over a decade ago, which directly explains the frame rates observed in To The Core.

The GPU’s memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the CPU’s DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which in this configuration is the CPU’s 83.2 GB/s. This shared memory architecture is a significant limitation for an idle game that may store large textures or assets in VRAM, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth. The measured FPS at 4K (ranging from 30 to 51 FPS) reflects this constraint, as higher resolutions require more memory bandwidth to fill the frame buffer. The GPU’s TDP of 25 W and IGP slot width indicate that it is designed for portable devices, not desktop gaming, which explains its poor performance relative to the CPU.