To The Core

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, an Idle game released on February 14, 2024. The measured data reveals a combination that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the modest 4-core processor still manages to keep pace at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 500 FPS. This analysis examines the measured FPS across three resolutions and four quality presets, exploring how the hardware components interact with the game’s engine and what the resulting rankings imply for system builders.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The performance curve from 1080p to 4K shows a dramatic and consistent decline, indicating a clear shift in the system’s bottleneck. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 371 FPS at 1920x1080 to 250 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 121 FPS, and then further to 143 FPS at 3840x2160, another 107 FPS drop. The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: from 299 FPS at 1080p, it falls to 201 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 115 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-limited scenario at higher resolutions, where the RTX 4070 Ti’s rendering workload increases with pixel count, while the CPU’s role diminishes.

The Low preset provides the clearest evidence of this shift. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 506 FPS, but this falls to 341 FPS at 1440p and 195 FPS at 4K. The absolute drop from 1080p to 1440p is 165 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 146 FPS, which is nearly as large. If the CPU were the primary constraint, we would expect the frame rate to plateau at lower resolutions, but the data shows a steady decline, suggesting the GPU is still the limiting factor even at 1080p, albeit with more headroom. The fact that 1080p Low yields 506 FPS, while 1080p Ultra yields 299 FPS, reinforces that the game scales its GPU load with both resolution and settings.

Comparing the Medium preset’s minimum FPS values further illustrates the resolution impact. At 4K Medium, the minimum FPS is 140, while at 1440p Medium it is 245, and at 1080p Medium it is 364. The minimum FPS drops by 105 when moving from 1440p to 4K, and by 119 when moving from 1080p to 1440p. These ratios suggest that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, which are fixed specifications of the RTX 4070 Ti, become progressively more stressed as resolution increases. The data implies that for players targeting 4K, the RTX 4070 Ti is the definitive bottleneck, while at 1080p, the CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads may start to influence the upper bounds of performance.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the high frame rates observed. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. For an Idle game like To The Core, which likely does not require extensive texture data, this memory subsystem is more than adequate, allowing the 143 FPS average at 4K High to be maintained without hitting VRAM capacity limits. The core clocks are set at a base of 2310 MHz and a boost of 2610 MHz, which contributes to the raw compute throughput that scales with resolution.

The GPU’s architecture, Ada Lovelace, is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a transistor count of 35,800 million on a 294 mm² die. This density enables the 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is the key metric for rasterization in this game. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (115 FPS) versus 4K Low (195 FPS) shows a 80 FPS swing, indicating that the GPU’s shading units, of which there are 7680, are heavily utilized when quality settings increase. The texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s are also relevant, as higher settings likely increase texture filtering and pixel shading workloads.

The RTX 4070 Ti’s memory clock is listed at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective, and this speed is critical for maintaining consistent frame times at high resolutions. The fact that the 4K Medium preset achieves a minimum FPS of 140, which is only 3 FPS below the 4K High average, suggests that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor; otherwise, the minimum would suffer more significantly. The GPU’s 80 ROPs handle the final pixel output, and the 12 GB VRAM ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the game’s assets fit comfortably within the frame buffer. The data shows no signs of stuttering or memory thrashing, which points to the GPU’s specifications being well-matched to the game’s demands.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 485th out of 3725 total combos for To The Core. This places it in the top 13% of all tested systems, which is a strong result for a processor that is positioned in the lower end of the Desktop market segment. The rank is likely influenced by the GPU’s high percentileVsAllGpus score of 84, which indicates it outperforms 84% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 68, meaning it is more mid-pack.

The combination’s rank of 485 is notable because the CPU is not a high-end part. The Core i3-12100F has an avgBenchmarkScore of 13494, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355 with a deltaPct of 0, meaning they are virtually equal in average score. Other rivals like the Intel Core i5-9500 (deltaPct 0.3) and the Intel Core 5 120UL (deltaPct -0.7) show that the CPU’s raw compute is comparable to older or lower-tier parts. However, when paired with the RTX 4070 Ti, which has an avgBenchmarkScore of 44795, the system’s gaming performance is boosted significantly, allowing it to outrank many combos that might have more balanced but slower component pairings.

The fact that the rank is 485 out of 3725 suggests that while the GPU does the heavy lifting, the CPU is not entirely holding the system back in this game. If the CPU were a severe bottleneck, we would expect the rank to be lower, closer to the bottom quartile. Instead, the data indicates that the i3-12100F’s 4 cores and 8 threads, running at a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU in To The Core, even at 1080p where frame rates approach 500. This rank confirms the game’s lower CPU demands, which is consistent with its Idle genre.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the system achieves its highest frame rates. The Low preset delivers an average of 506 FPS, Medium delivers 428 FPS, High delivers 371 FPS, and Ultra delivers 299 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum FPS of 364 and a maximum of 492, showing a tight range that indicates stable performance. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a drop of 207 FPS, which is the largest relative difference among the three resolutions.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but begin to show the GPU’s workload. The Low preset averages 341 FPS, Medium averages 288 FPS, High averages 250 FPS, and Ultra averages 201 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 245 FPS and a maximum of 331 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low is 165 FPS, at Medium it is 140 FPS, at High it is 121 FPS, and at Ultra it is 98 FPS. This pattern shows that higher settings have slightly smaller absolute drops, which is consistent with the GPU becoming more pixel-bound rather than shading-bound.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still playable but notably lower. The Low preset averages 195 FPS, Medium averages 165 FPS, High averages 143 FPS, and Ultra averages 115 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a minimum of 140 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K at Low is 146 FPS, at Medium it is 123 FPS, at High it is 107 FPS, and at Ultra it is 86 FPS. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 115 FPS, which is above the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that the RTX 4070 Ti is more than capable of handling this title at the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate headroom. At 1920x1080, even the Ultra preset delivers an average of 299 FPS, which is far above any display’s refresh rate. Since the Low preset at 1080p yields 506 FPS, the data suggests that players with high-refresh monitors could benefit from Medium settings, which still achieve 428 FPS and have a minimum of 364 FPS, providing a smooth experience without sacrificing too much visual quality. The High preset at 371 FPS is also viable, but the jump to Ultra costs 72 FPS for what might be marginal visual gains.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 288 FPS is the sweet spot, offering a minimum of 245 FPS that ensures no drops below 240 Hz. The High preset at 250 FPS is also excellent, but the Ultra preset at 201 FPS might be preferable for those who prioritize image quality over raw frame rate, as it still exceeds 200 FPS. The Low preset at 341 FPS is only recommended for competitive play where maximum frame rate is essential, but the difference between Low and Medium is 53 FPS, which is less significant than the visual improvements from Medium.

At 3840x2160, the choice is more nuanced. The Ultra preset at 115 FPS is the best for visual fidelity, and it remains above the 100 FPS mark, making it ideal for 4K displays with a 120 Hz refresh rate. The High preset at 143 FPS offers a better balance, providing 28 FPS more than Ultra. The Medium preset at 165 FPS is the recommended choice for most users, as it maintains a high average with a minimum of 140 FPS, ensuring no drops below 120 FPS. The Low preset at 195 FPS is unnecessary for this resolution, as the visual downgrade is likely to be noticeable on a large screen, and the frame rate gain over Medium is only 30 FPS.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its L3 cache is 12 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus. In the context of To The Core, an Idle game, the CPU’s role is to manage game logic, entity updates, and draw calls, which are typically not as demanding as in action-heavy genres. The benchmark results for the CPU show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674, indicating that its per-thread performance is strong despite having only 4 physical cores.

The measured FPS data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. However, at 1080p Low, the system achieves 506 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that could be constrained by the CPU’s ability to process the game’s simulation thread. The CPU’s 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and passmark single-thread score of 3444 show that it has decent single-core performance, but the 4-core limit might cause occasional frame pacing issues at extreme frame rates. The fact that the 1080p Ultra preset drops to 299 FPS, which is 207 FPS lower than Low, indicates that the GPU workload increases significantly with settings, but the CPU is still able to keep up.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the Intel Core 3 N355 (deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core i5-9500 (deltaPct 0.3), which are older or lower-tier parts. This comparison suggests that the i3-12100F is not a high-end CPU, yet the combo rank of 485 out of 3725 proves that it is sufficient for this game. The data implies that To The Core does not require high core counts, and the 4 cores at 4.30 GHz are enough to drive the RTX 4070 Ti to its limits in most scenarios. For users with a 144Hz 1080p monitor, the CPU can deliver 371 FPS on High, which is more than enough, and the bottleneck is rarely the processor.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The system achieves an average of 371 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is well above the refresh rate of any common monitor.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 485th out of 3725 tested combos for To The Core, placing it in the top 13% of all systems in the database.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the frame rates drop from 195 FPS at Low to 115 FPS at Ultra, showing a strong GPU workload dependency.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 2560x1440 is 245 FPS, with an average of 288 FPS and a maximum of 331 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 Ti have enough VRAM for this game at 4K?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, and the data shows no performance degradation, indicating that VRAM is sufficient for this game.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the Intel Core i3-12100F?

A: The launch MSRP of the Intel Core i3-12100F is $97, which reflects its positioning as a budget Desktop processor.