To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that rarely stresses modern hardware, yet the measured results for this AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B370 combination reveal a system where the integrated GPU is the decisive bottleneck at every resolution. The data shows a playable experience at 1080p and 1440p, but the frame rates collapse at 4K, making settings management critical for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this specific hardware pairing. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 112 FPS, which is a significant 34 FPS jump over the Ultra preset's 78 FPS average. The jump from Medium to High only costs 15 FPS (from 112 to 97), but the jump from High to Ultra costs another 19 FPS (from 97 to 78). Given that this is an idle game where the visual difference between High and Ultra is often subtle, the Medium preset provides a comfortable frame rate cushion without sacrificing the core experience.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is also the recommended starting point, delivering 75 FPS on average. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while High drops to 65 FPS and Ultra falls to 53 FPS. The 4K resolution tells a different story entirely. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only manages 51 FPS average, and Medium drops to 43 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is effectively unplayable at 30 FPS average. For 4K users, the data suggests that Low is the only viable preset for maintaining a frame rate in the 50s, and even then, the experience is marginal.

The measured FPS range for the Medium preset at 1080p (95 min to 129 max) shows that the frame rate is stable enough for an idle game, where sudden dips are less jarring than in fast-paced genres. At 1440p Medium, the range tightens to 64-87 FPS, indicating less headroom but still acceptable stability. The data strongly suggests avoiding Ultra at any resolution above 1080p, as the performance penalty is disproportionate to the visual gains.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run To The Core at 4K with playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that 4K is only viable on the Low preset, which achieves an average of 51 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 43 FPS, and High falls to 37 FPS. Ultra at 4K is the worst case at 30 FPS average. For a consistently smooth experience, 1440p or 1080p is recommended.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 132 FPS average, while the Ultra preset achieves 78 FPS average. This represents a 54 FPS drop, or roughly a 41% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B370's performance align with its benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B370 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770. The measured FPS in To The Core reflects this low-end positioning, with frame rates that are adequate for an idle game at lower resolutions but insufficient for demanding 4K scenarios.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X3D's CPU performance influence the game's frame rates?

A: The CPU's benchmark results, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737 and a single-core score of 6739, indicate it is a high-end processor. In To The Core, the CPU does not appear to be the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale directly with resolution and settings changes that affect GPU load. The CPU's 3DMark max threads score of 13795 shows it can handle heavy multi-threaded tasks, but this idle game does not appear to require that level of processing power.

Q: Should I use the Medium or High preset at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset delivers 75 FPS average, while High delivers 65 FPS average. The 10 FPS difference is noticeable, and given that the Medium preset's minimum of 64 FPS stays above 60, it is the safer choice for maintaining a consistent frame rate. High's average is above 60, but it lacks the headroom of Medium.

Q: Is the Arc B370's shared system memory a limitation for this game?

A: The GPU uses System Shared memory with system-dependent bandwidth. The measured frame rates, particularly the significant drop at 4K (from 51 FPS on Low to 30 FPS on Ultra), suggest that memory bandwidth and capacity constraints become more pronounced at higher resolutions. The data indicates this is a limiting factor for high-resolution play.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is the clear limiting component in this configuration. Its specifications paint a picture of a very low-end integrated solution: a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output units. The pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with an FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. The TDP is just 25 W, which is typical for an integrated graphics processor.

The measured FPS data directly reflects these modest specifications. At 1080p, the GPU can push 132 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 78 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 54 FPS penalty, which is a substantial 41% reduction. At 1440p, the same settings comparison shows a drop from 89 FPS to 53 FPS, a 36 FPS penalty. At 4K, the Low preset only manages 51 FPS, and Ultra drops to 30 FPS.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1184 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (avg score 1186) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (avg score 1190), which are both older, low-end parts. The deltaPct values are minimal, ranging from -0.7% to +1.4% against these rivals, confirming that the Arc B370 sits at the very bottom of the performance hierarchy. The data indicates that this GPU is only suitable for an idle game like To The Core at lower resolutions and settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS for each preset is as follows: Low achieves 132 FPS, Medium achieves 112 FPS (with a range of 95 to 129 FPS), High achieves 97 FPS, and Ultra achieves 78 FPS. The frame rate drops are consistent between each settings tier, with the largest single drop occurring between High and Ultra (19 FPS).

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low achieves 89 FPS, Medium achieves 75 FPS (with a range of 64 to 87 FPS), High achieves 65 FPS, and Ultra achieves 53 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is 10 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is 12 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become marginal. Low achieves 51 FPS, Medium achieves 43 FPS (with a range of 37 to 50 FPS), High achieves 37 FPS, and Ultra achieves 30 FPS. The 4K data shows that even the lowest settings cannot maintain a solid 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is effectively unplayable for any action-oriented gameplay, though it may be tolerable for an idle game.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in settings costs roughly 15-20% of the frame rate, and each step up in resolution (from 1080p to 1440p to 4K) roughly halves the frame rate for the same settings. For example, the High preset goes from 97 FPS at 1080p, to 65 FPS at 1440p, to 37 FPS at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are severe and indicate a GPU-bound scenario. At the High preset, the average FPS falls from 97 at 1080p to 65 at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 37 at 4K (a further 43% drop from 1440p). At the Low preset, the drop is from 132 FPS at 1080p to 89 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop) and then to 51 FPS at 4K (a 43% drop from 1440p).

The consistency of these percentage drops across different settings suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU's raw rendering capability, not the CPU or memory subsystem. The Arc B370's pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply too low to handle the increased pixel count at higher resolutions.

The 4K results show a particularly harsh scaling curve. The Medium preset at 4K (43 FPS) is barely faster than the Ultra preset at 1440p (53 FPS), which illustrates how quickly the GPU hits its ceiling. The data suggests that the Arc B370 is best utilized at 1080p, where it can maintain playable frame rates across all settings. At 1440p, users must stick to Low or Medium for a smooth experience. At 4K, only Low is viable, and even then, the 51 FPS average is borderline.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a high-end desktop processor with 12 cores and 24 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU features 128 MB of L3 cache, which is substantial for gaming workloads. Its benchmark scores are strong: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 47737, a single-core score of 6739, and a Geekbench multicore score of 22884 with a single-core score of 3041.

In the context of To The Core, the CPU's performance is more than sufficient. The game is an idle title, and the measured FPS data shows that the frame rates are entirely dependent on the GPU's capabilities. The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark averages include the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (avg score 55093) and the Intel Core i7-14700F (avg score 53620), with deltaPct values ranging from -0.6% to +2.1%. This places the 9900X3D in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, confirming it is a top-tier processor.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this system. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, and the CPU's high single-thread and multi-thread scores (3DMark single-thread score of 1269, max threads score of 13795) suggest it can easily feed the Arc B370 with draw calls and game logic. The CPU's 3DMark 2-thread score of 2512 and 4-thread score of 4885 also show strong low-thread performance, which is relevant for games that are not heavily multi-threaded. In this case, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is effectively waiting on the GPU, and the overall system performance is defined by the Arc B370's limitations.