To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that rarely stresses modern hardware, yet the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 reveals a combination that delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings. The benchmark results show this combo ranks 1225th out of 3725 tested combinations, placing it in the top third of all systems tested for this title, with performance that scales predictably from 4K Ultra down to 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in To The Core?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 396, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 267 at 2560x1440 Low and 152 at 3840x2160 Low, showing a clear resolution scaling pattern.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in overall benchmark scores?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX has an average benchmark score of 76212, placing it 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76155) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75779). It trails the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P by 0.4% (76492) and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX by 0.4% (76513).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its closest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER at 0.1% higher (54209), while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% higher (54828).

Q: Which resolution and settings combination produces the most balanced 4K experience?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 129 average FPS with a minimum of 110 and maximum of 148. This is 39 FPS higher than Ultra (90 avg) while remaining 23 FPS below High (112 avg), making Medium the most consistent high-refresh 4K option.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 90, which remains above standard 60 FPS thresholds. However, this is the lowest result across all tested configurations, representing a 56.5% drop from the 1080p Low maximum of 396 FPS.

Q: How significant is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the gap between Low (267 avg) and Ultra (157 avg) is 110 FPS, representing a 41.2% reduction. The Medium preset (225 avg) sits closer to Low, while High (195 avg) is nearly midway between Medium and Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 serves as the primary rendering engine for To The Core, and its specifications directly explain the measured performance tiers. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, the GPU has ample memory capacity and throughput for any texture or buffer demands this idle title can generate. The 2205 MHz base clock and 2505 MHz boost clock provide the raw execution rate, while 9728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs handle pixel and texture processing across all tested resolutions.

The GPU's Ada Lovelace architecture, built on a 5 nm TSMC process with 45,900 million transistors, delivers 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. This raw throughput explains why even at 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo maintains 90 average FPS. The RTX 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs positions it well above typical gaming hardware, and the measured data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system produces 396 FPS, which is more than four times the 4K Ultra result. The 320 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate this is a high-power desktop-class GPU, and the PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the game's data transfer needs.

The benchmark results show the GPU scales predictably with resolution. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings reduces average FPS from 234 to 157, a 32.9% decrease. Further scaling to 4K Ultra drops performance to 90 FPS, another 42.7% reduction. This scaling pattern suggests the RTX 4080 is not memory-bandwidth-limited in this title, as the 716.8 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient even at 4K. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than adequate for To The Core's requirements, as evidenced by the fact that even the most demanding preset (4K Ultra) maintains 90 FPS without apparent memory-related stutters.

The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores only 0.1% higher in average benchmark scores (54209 vs 54247), indicating the two cards are essentially performance equals. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and Radeon 8060S score 2.6% and 2.7% higher respectively, but the RTX 4080's measured performance in To The Core demonstrates that synthetic benchmark deltas do not always translate directly to game-specific results.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its 16 cores and 32 threads are far more than To The Core requires as an idle game. The CPU's 2.50 GHz base clock and 5.40 GHz boost clock, combined with 64 MB of L3 cache, ensure that any CPU-side game logic, asset streaming, or background processing never becomes a bottleneck. The Zen 4 architecture on a 5 nm TSMC process with 13,140 million transistors delivers substantial single-thread performance, evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6030 and multi-core score of 42713.

The 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs places the 8945HX in the top 5% of processors tested, and its average benchmark score of 76212 confirms this positioning. The PassMark multi-thread score of 51405 and single-thread score of 3907 indicate balanced performance across both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. For To The Core specifically, the CPU's 32 threads are likely underutilized, but the high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures that any single-threaded game logic executes with minimal latency.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provides fast data access for both the CPU and GPU. The 28 PCIe Gen 5 lanes (CPU only) offer substantial I/O bandwidth, though the RTX 4080 uses PCIe 4.0 x16, which is backward compatible. The integrated Radeon 610M graphics are irrelevant for this configuration since the discrete RTX 4080 handles all rendering, but the CPU's 55 W TDP in the mobile segment suggests this is a high-performance laptop processor that can sustain boost clocks under load.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the 8945HX is effectively tied with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% delta). The AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX score 0.4% higher, but these are enterprise-class processors with different thermal and power characteristics. In To The Core, the CPU's performance headroom means that frame rates are almost certainly GPU-limited, even at 1080p Low where the system achieves 396 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 1225th out of 3725 tested combos for To The Core, placing it in the 32.9th percentile of all configurations tested for this game. This ranking reflects the fact that To The Core is an idle genre title that does not heavily tax even mid-range hardware, so the top rankings are likely occupied by systems with extreme overclocks or specialized configurations that excel in this specific workload.

The combo's ranking is somewhat modest relative to the individual component rankings: the CPU sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The gap between component percentiles and combo ranking suggests that To The Core's performance ceiling is reached relatively quickly, and additional hardware capability beyond a certain threshold yields diminishing returns. The measured FPS data supports this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the system produces 396 FPS, which is likely near the game's engine limit or display synchronization cap.

Within the context of the 3725 tested combos, the 1225th ranking means 2600 configurations performed better in To The Core. This is not a reflection of weak hardware, but rather an indication that the game's simple graphics and idle mechanics do not differentiate between high-end and ultra-high-end systems as much as more demanding titles would. The RTX 4080's 86th percentile GPU ranking and the 8945HX's 95th percentile CPU ranking suggest this combo should handle any other game in the benchmark database with significantly better relative standing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides the most balanced experience for To The Core with this hardware combination. At this configuration, the system delivers 225 average FPS with a minimum of 192 and maximum of 259, ensuring smooth gameplay with substantial headroom above typical 144 Hz displays. The 192 minimum FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate never approaches uncomfortable levels.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 3840x2160 is the recommended choice, delivering 129 average FPS with 110 minimum and 148 maximum. This configuration offers 39 FPS more than Ultra (90 avg) while maintaining visual quality that is likely indistinguishable from High (112 avg) in an idle game context. The 110 minimum FPS ensures consistent performance even during complex on-screen animations.

At 1920x1080, the Medium preset (335 avg, 285 min, 385 max) is recommended over Low (396 avg) because the additional visual quality comes at a modest 15.4% performance cost while still maintaining frame rates far above any display refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 1080p (234 avg) is also viable, but the 30.1% drop from Medium makes it less appealing unless maximum visual fidelity is prioritized over the already-abundant frame rate headroom.

The data shows that the Low preset at any resolution provides the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality that the RTX 4080 can easily afford. The High preset offers a middle ground, but the Medium preset consistently delivers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. For competitive play or maximum responsiveness, the Low preset at 1440p (267 avg) provides 18.7% more FPS than Medium (225 avg) while maintaining sufficient visual clarity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest frame rates across all settings. The Low preset delivers 396 average FPS, which is the maximum measured result in the entire dataset. Medium follows at 335 average FPS with a minimum of 285 and maximum of 385, representing a 15.4% reduction from Low. High produces 290 average FPS, a 13.4% drop from Medium. Ultra delivers 234 average FPS, which is 40.9% below Low and 30.1% below Medium.

The 2560x1440 resolution shows a consistent scaling pattern. Low produces 267 average FPS, which is 32.6% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium delivers 225 average FPS (192 min, 259 max), a 15.7% reduction from Low. High achieves 195 average FPS, 13.3% below Medium. Ultra produces 157 average FPS, which is 41.2% lower than Low and 30.2% lower than Medium. The scaling factors between resolutions are remarkably consistent, suggesting the GPU scales linearly with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops are more pronounced. Low produces 152 average FPS, which is 43.1% lower than the 1440p Low result and 61.6% lower than 1080p Low. Medium delivers 129 average FPS (110 min, 148 max), a 15.1% reduction from Low. High achieves 112 average FPS, 13.2% below Medium. Ultra produces 90 average FPS, which is 40.8% lower than Low and 30.2% lower than Medium. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (110) is higher than the average FPS at 4K Ultra (90), indicating that the Medium preset provides more consistent performance.

The overall pattern shows that each resolution step (1080p to 1440p to 4K) reduces frame rates by approximately 33-43%, and each settings step (Low to Medium to High to Ultra) reduces performance by roughly 13-15% per step. The Medium preset at all resolutions provides the best balance, with minimum FPS values that remain above 110 even at 4K. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that drops below 100 average FPS, but it still maintains 90 FPS, which is sufficient for smooth gameplay in an idle title.