To The Core

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a distinctive performance profile in To The Core, an idle genre title released on 2024-02-14. Benchmark results show a configuration that is significantly constrained by its graphics component across all tested resolutions and settings. The data indicates that this combo ranks in the lower percentile of tested systems, with performance characteristics that align more closely with entry-level integrated graphics than with a modern desktop CPU. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to isolate the bottleneck and provide actionable settings guidance.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases, a pattern typical of GPU-limited scenarios. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 147 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops the average to 99 FPS, a reduction of 48 FPS (approximately 33%). At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 56 FPS, representing a 91 FPS drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component, as the frame rate declines nearly linearly with the increase in pixel count.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS moves from 107 at 1080p, to 72 at 1440p, down to 41 at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K at High settings is 66 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU cannot sustain performance as resolution demands grow. This is characteristic of a graphics solution with limited shading units and texture units; the Arc B390 has 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, which are modest figures for modern gaming. The 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput further confirms that raw pixel-pushing capability is the bottleneck.

Interestingly, the scaling from 1440p to 4K is slightly less severe than from 1080p to 1440p. At Low settings, the 1440p-to-4K drop is 43 FPS, while the 1080p-to-1440p drop is 48 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the CPU begins to play a more substantial role in maintaining minimum frame rates, though the overall trend remains GPU-bound. The Ryzen 7 7700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is not the constraint here; its 3dmark_16_threads score of 8859 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 19088 indicate ample headroom for this workload. The data clearly shows that resolution scaling is governed entirely by the Arc B390's capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank in To The Core is 2643 out of 2991 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems. This ranking reflects the GPU's limitations more than the CPU's strengths. The Arc B390's percentile vs all GPUs is 9, meaning it performs better than only 9% of GPUs in the database. This is a stark contrast to the Ryzen 7 7700X, which holds a percentile of 85 vs all CPUs. The pairing of a high-end CPU with a low-end GPU creates a system that underperforms relative to what the processor alone might suggest.

Looking at the GPU's nearest rivals provides context for this low ranking. The Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GT 710 (1443). These are all legacy or entry-level mobile/desktop parts, indicating that the Arc B390 operates in a performance tier far below what the Ryzen 7 7700X can support. The deltaPct values are minimal, suggesting that the Arc B390 is essentially at parity with these older GPUs, which explains why the combo rank is so low.

In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals show a much tighter cluster at the top. The Ryzen 7 7700X's average benchmark score of 35909 is only 0.3% above the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802), 0.5% above the Intel Core 7 250H (35728), and 0.7% above the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (35670). This indicates that the CPU is competitively positioned within its class, but the GPU drags the overall system ranking down. The combo rank of 2643 is therefore almost entirely attributable to the Arc B390's weak 3D performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 1482.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this combo's To The Core performance. Its architecture is Xe3-LPG on a 3 nm process from Intel, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. The memory configuration is System Shared, with bandwidth listed as System Dependent, meaning it borrows from the Ryzen 7 7700X's DDR5 memory, which has a dual-channel bus and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. This shared memory setup is a significant limitation, as it competes with the CPU for bandwidth and introduces latency that a dedicated VRAM pool would avoid.

The GPU's 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile, and its nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts from over a decade ago. The GT 520MX, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710 all score within 2.7% of the Arc B390, confirming that this is not a gaming-class GPU. With 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, 24 ROPs, and 12 ray tracing cores, the Arc B390 is architecturally capable of rendering, but its pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are insufficient for high-resolution gaming. The FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS is modest, and the FP16 rate of 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1) does not compensate in this title.

The measured FPS data supports this analysis. At 1080p Ultra, the combo averages 86 FPS, which is playable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 33 FPS, which is not smooth. The GPU's 80 W TDP and IGP slot width indicate that this is an integrated solution, not a discrete card, which explains its performance ceiling. The absence of a launch MSRP and power connectors further confirms that this is a low-power, integrated part. The data shows that the Arc B390 is the limiting component at every resolution and settings combination, with the CPU never becoming the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's capabilities across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 147 (Low) to 86 (Ultra). The Medium preset yields 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 and maximum of 143, while High produces 107 FPS. These figures indicate that 1080p is the most viable resolution for this combo, with even Ultra settings maintaining an average above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 99 FPS, Medium averages 83 FPS (min 71, max 96), High averages 72 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. The 1440p Ultra result is the first point where the average dips below 60 FPS, suggesting that users targeting this resolution will need to use High or lower settings for a consistent experience. The Medium preset's minimum of 71 FPS indicates that frame pacing remains acceptable, but the headroom is shrinking.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles. Low settings average 56 FPS, Medium averages 48 FPS (min 41, max 55), High averages 41 FPS, and Ultra averages 33 FPS. None of the 4K presets achieve a 60 FPS average, and the Ultra preset's 33 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in most scenarios. The Medium preset's minimum of 41 FPS shows that even mid-range settings can produce stutter-prone frame rates at 4K. The data suggests that 4K is only playable at Low settings, and even then, the 56 FPS average is borderline.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution shows a consistent drop. At 1080p, the difference between Low (147 FPS) and Ultra (86 FPS) is 61 FPS. At 1440p, the difference is 41 FPS (99 to 58). At 4K, the difference is 23 FPS (56 to 33). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is already saturated at 4K Low, so additional settings changes have less impact. The CPU's role is minimal, as the Ryzen 7 7700X's single-thread score of 1090 (3dmark) and passmark_single_thread score of 4190 are more than sufficient for this title's demands.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a high-end desktop processor that is vastly underutilized in this combo. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on Zen 4 architecture (codename Raphael), provide substantial compute headroom. The base clock of 4.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.40 GHz are among the highest in the database, and the 5 nm process node from TSMC with 6,570 million transistors ensures efficient operation. The CPU's cache hierarchy — 64 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and 32 MB shared L3 — is generous for gaming workloads.

Benchmark scores confirm the CPU's strength. The cinebench_r23_multicore score of 19088 and geekbench_multicore score of 12451 place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The passmark_multithread score of 35686 and passmark_integer_math score of 112601 indicate that the CPU can handle heavy parallel workloads. For To The Core, an idle genre game, the CPU's single-thread performance is the most relevant metric. The 3dmark_single_thread score of 1090 and cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 1987 are robust, ensuring that game logic and AI calculations are not bottlenecks.

The CPU's nearest rivals — AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, Intel Core 7 250H, AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, and Intel Core Ultra 9 185H — all have average scores within 0.7% of the 7700X. This tight clustering shows that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo; any of these processors would yield nearly identical FPS results when paired with the Arc B390. The data shows that the CPU's 105 W TDP and DDR5 memory support (dual-channel, 83.2 GB/s) are more than adequate for the GPU's needs. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU, and the CPU's role is to provide stable frame delivery without introducing stutter, which it does effectively given the measured minimums.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For users prioritizing smooth gameplay at 1080p, the Ultra preset's 86 FPS average is acceptable, but the Medium preset at 124 FPS (min 105, max 143) offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 107 FPS is also viable, but Medium provides a 17 FPS improvement over High with only a modest visual reduction. For the smoothest experience, Low settings at 147 FPS ensures maximum fluidity, though this sacrifices visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 83 FPS (min 71, max 96) is the recommended choice. It maintains a minimum above 70 FPS, which is sufficient for most gameplay. High at 72 FPS is playable but leaves little margin for dips, while Ultra at 58 FPS falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Low at 99 FPS is the safest option for competitive play, but Medium offers a better visual experience without significant frame rate loss. The data indicates that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot for this resolution.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 56 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but it still falls short of 60 FPS. Medium at 48 FPS (min 41, max 55) is borderline, with minimums that may cause noticeable stutter. High at 41 FPS and Ultra at 33 FPS are not recommended for smooth gameplay. Users at 4K should accept that this combo cannot deliver high-quality visuals at high frame rates; Low settings are the only viable choice, and even then, the experience will be suboptimal. For the best overall experience, the data supports using Medium at 1080p or 1440p, where the combo provides a balance of quality and performance.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the most viable resolution, with all settings presets averaging above 86 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 80 FPS, while 3840x2160 maxes out at 56 FPS on Low settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score of 1482 is only 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M, 2.5% higher than the GT 625 OEM, and 2.7% higher than the GT 710, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X a bottleneck in this configuration?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 19088 and a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1090, are far above what To The Core requires. The GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions and settings.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 Ultra is 58 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Users should select High (72 FPS) or Medium (83 FPS) for better performance.

Q: Does the combo rank reflect the CPU or GPU performance?

A: The combo rank of 2643 out of 2991 is driven by the GPU's 9th percentile performance. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking shows it is a high-end part, but the Arc B390's weak 3D results drag the overall system ranking down.

Q: What settings preset provides the best experience at 1080p?

A: The Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 124 FPS and a minimum of 105 FPS. This provides a 38 FPS improvement over Ultra (86 FPS) while maintaining visual quality that is only modestly reduced.