To The Core

# To The Core with AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + Intel Arc B390

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the Intel Arc B390 presents a striking contrast in hardware capability, and the measured frame rates in To The Core reveal a system where the graphics solution is the clear performance bottleneck. The Arc B390, an integrated graphics part based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs, while the 12-core Zen 5 processor ranks in the 92nd percentile among CPUs. This imbalance manifests directly in the FPS data across resolutions and settings, making the combo's 2643rd place out of 2991 tested combinations unsurprising.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the pattern reveals more than simple pixel-count scaling. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 147 FPS at 1920x1080 to 99 FPS at 2560x1440 — a 33% reduction — and then to 56 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a further 43% drop from 1440p. This scaling curve is not linear; the 4K penalty is disproportionately severe, indicating the GPU is running out of fillrate and shading capacity as pixel count quadruples.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds: 124 FPS at 1080p, 83 FPS at 1440p, and 48 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 33% and 42% respectively, nearly identical to Low. This consistency suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU's raw throughput rather than memory bandwidth or driver overhead, since the relative penalty does not change with workload intensity. The Arc B390's 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs, combined with a 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 rate, are simply being overwhelmed by the pixel and texture demands of higher resolutions.

High settings show a similar pattern: 107 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 41 FPS at 4K. The 1440p-to-4K drop is 43%, matching the other presets. Ultra settings, however, tell a slightly different story. From 86 FPS at 1080p to 58 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 33 FPS at 4K (a 43% drop), the same ratios appear. This uniformity across all four presets strongly implies that resolution scaling in To The Core is purely GPU-bound, with the CPU having ample headroom to feed frames at every tested configuration.

The data further suggests that the integrated GPU's memory architecture — System Shared, with system-dependent bandwidth — does not introduce a resolution-specific bottleneck. If shared memory bandwidth were the constraint, the 4K penalty would likely worsen at higher settings as texture working sets grow. Instead, the consistent 33%/43% split across presets points to compute and rasterization limits, not memory pressure. For players targeting 4K, the Arc B390 delivers playable but modest results, with even Low settings only reaching 56 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice for this combo, particularly at lower resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS, which is only 23 FPS below Low's 147 FPS but substantially ahead of High's 107 FPS. The frame time consistency, evidenced by the min/max spread of 38 FPS, is reasonable for an idle-genre title where input latency is less critical than visual clarity.

At 1440p, Medium again provides the best experience relative to its neighbors. The 83 FPS average, with a 71 FPS minimum and 96 FPS maximum, keeps gameplay smooth while offering better visual fidelity than Low's 99 FPS. The gap to High is 11 FPS, which is noticeable but not game-breaking. The 71 FPS minimum ensures that even demanding scenes stay above typical 60 FPS thresholds, making Medium the safe recommendation for 1440p.

At 4K, the recommendation shifts toward Low. Medium's 48 FPS average with a 41 FPS minimum risks dropping below comfortable playability in busy moments, while Low's 56 FPS provides a more stable foundation. The 15 FPS difference between Low and Medium at 4K is proportionally larger than at lower resolutions, and the 41 FPS minimum at Medium could result in stutter. High at 4K drops to 41 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 33 FPS — both below the threshold for consistent smoothness in most scenarios.

Ultra settings are the least compelling option across all resolutions. At 1080p, Ultra's 86 FPS is 38 FPS below Medium, a significant sacrifice for what is presumably marginal visual improvement in an idle game. At 1440p, Ultra's 58 FPS is 25 FPS below Medium, and at 4K, Ultra's 33 FPS is barely above the slideshow territory. The data shows no scenario where Ultra provides a better experience than Medium or Low, given the frame rate penalties involved.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so sharply from 1440p to 4K?

A: The measured data shows a consistent 43% reduction in average FPS when moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 across Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings. This uniformity indicates the Intel Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 24 ROPs are the limiting factors, as the relative penalty does not change with preset complexity.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X holding back the Intel Arc B390?

A: No. The Ryzen 9 9900X ranks in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253. The GPU ranks in the 9th percentile, and the FPS scaling patterns — consistent percentage drops across resolutions — indicate the CPU has ample headroom.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming?

A: Medium provides the best balance, delivering 124 FPS average with a 105 FPS minimum and 143 FPS maximum. Low is faster at 147 FPS, but the 23 FPS gain comes at the cost of visual quality. High and Ultra are slower at 107 FPS and 86 FPS respectively.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: Barely. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 56, and at Medium it drops to 48 with a 41 FPS minimum. High (41 FPS) and Ultra (33 FPS) fall below comfortable playability. The data shows 4K is possible but only at lower presets.

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

A: The Arc B390's average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it 1.3% above the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% above the GeForce 800M (1460), and 2.7% above the GeForce GT 710 (1443). These are all entry-level parts, confirming the integrated GPU's limited performance tier.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12-core configuration matter for this game?

A: The CPU's multi-threaded capability, evidenced by a Passmark multithread score of 54643 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 22174, is far beyond what To The Core likely requires. The consistent FPS results across settings suggest the game is not CPU-limited with this processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates span a wide range depending on settings. Low delivers the highest average at 147 FPS, followed by Medium at 124 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. High drops to 107 FPS, and Ultra is the slowest at 86 FPS. The 61 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates that settings have a substantial impact on this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low remains the fastest preset at 99 FPS, with Medium closely behind at 83 FPS (minimum 71, maximum 96). High falls to 72 FPS, and Ultra to 58 FPS. The 41 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is narrower than at 1080p, suggesting that resolution scaling compresses the differences between presets as the GPU becomes more constrained.

At 3840x2160, Low leads at 56 FPS, Medium follows at 48 FPS (minimum 41, maximum 55), High drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 33 FPS. The 23 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the smallest of the three resolutions, further confirming that the GPU's limits dominate at higher pixel counts. The Medium preset's min/max range of 14 FPS at 4K (41 to 55) is tighter than at lower resolutions, indicating that frame pacing becomes more consistent when the GPU is fully saturated.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this combo's performance. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GT 520MX (1463), GeForce 800M (1460), GT 625 OEM (1446), and GT 710 (1443). The Arc B390 outperforms these by margins of 1.3% to 2.7%, which is statistically negligible and confirms its position at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy.

The GPU's clock behavior — a 300 MHz base and 2500 MHz boost — shows a wide dynamic range, but the 80 W TDP and integrated form factor (IGP slot width, no power connectors) constrain sustained performance. The 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs are modest figures, and the pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s translates directly to the observed FPS limits. The system-shared memory, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent," means the GPU relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory subsystem, which for the Ryzen 9 9900X operates at 89.6 GB/s dual-channel.

The 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the theoretical ceiling for compute, and the 4K results suggest the GPU is hitting close to that limit. At 4K Ultra, 33 FPS translates to roughly 0.5 megapixels per frame at 8.3 million pixels, which aligns with the available fillrate. The fact that Low settings at 4K reach 56 FPS — a 70% improvement over Ultra — indicates that reducing shading complexity (likely through lower-quality effects and lighting) frees up enough compute to offset the resolution burden.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a top-tier desktop processor, ranking in the 92nd percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 57498. Its 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), operate at a 4.40 GHz base clock and 5.60 GHz boost clock. The CPU's benchmark results are uniformly strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core hits 32172, single-core reaches 2253, and Geekbench scores are 22174 multi-core and 3010 single-core. Passmark tests show 54643 for multithread, 4672 for single-thread, and 181056 for integer math.

In the context of To The Core, an idle genre game, the CPU's role is likely minimal. The measured FPS data shows no signs of CPU limitation — the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound scenario. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed and the CPU would be most likely to bottleneck, the 147 FPS average does not suggest any processor constraint. The Ryzen 9 9900X's single-thread performance, crucial for game logic and draw calls, is strong enough that it never becomes the limiting factor in any measured configuration.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015 (average score 57555, 0.1% slower), AMD EPYC 7313 (57399, 0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-14900 (58115, 1.1% slower), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323, 1.4% slower). These margins are within noise, indicating the Ryzen 9 9900X delivers performance on par with high-end server and desktop parts. For this game, the CPU's 64 MB of L3 cache and 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes are more than sufficient, and the integrated Radeon Graphics are not used since a discrete (albeit integrated-class) Arc B390 is present.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2643rd out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems. This ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GPU, which sits in the 9th percentile, while the CPU is in the 92nd percentile. The disparity between the two components creates a system where the processor's capability is largely wasted in this game, as the GPU cannot translate CPU headroom into higher frame rates.

The rank of 2643 suggests that most other combos in the database achieve better performance, likely by pairing weaker CPUs with stronger GPUs. The Arc B390's nearest GPU rivals — GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710 — are all parts from a decade ago, indicating that the integrated GPU is competing with hardware from an entirely different era. In contrast, the Ryzen 9 9900X's rivals are modern EPYC and Core i9 processors, underscoring the mismatch.

For players considering this combo, the data implies that the Ryzen 9 9900X would be better paired with a significantly more powerful GPU to achieve a balanced system. Conversely, the Arc B390 could be paired with a much weaker CPU without losing meaningful performance in To The Core, since the GPU is the binding constraint in every measured scenario. The 2643rd rank reflects this lopsided pairing, and the FPS data confirms that the GPU's 9th-percentile standing is the single most important factor in determining this combo's in-game performance.