To The Core

The pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces extraordinary frame rates in To The Core, but the distribution of those results across resolutions tells a clear story about which component governs performance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 526.6 FPS, yet at 4K with Ultra settings, it falls to 141.3 FPS. This 73% reduction from the peak figure indicates a shift in bottleneck as resolution climbs. The data shows that at lower resolutions, the system is likely constrained by the CPU's ability to feed frames, while at higher resolutions, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the dominant factor. The measured results place this configuration at rank 59 out of 1756 tested combos, which is a strong showing for a processor with only 4 cores and 8 threads.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate curve from 1080p to 4K shows how the limiting component changes with pixel count. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 526.6 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 413.1 FPS, a 21.6% decrease. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average falls further to 236.4 FPS, which represents a 55.1% reduction from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern suggests that the RTX 4090 still has headroom at 1080p, but the i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads create a ceiling that prevents the GPU from being fully utilized. The gap between 1440p and 4K is larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, indicating that the GPU starts to become more relevant as resolution increases. At 4K Ultra, the average of 141.3 FPS is still high by most standards, but it is 73.2% lower than the 1080p Low result, showing that the GPU is now the primary constraint. The pattern across all settings confirms that this game becomes progressively more GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU bottleneck diminishing as pixel count rises.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 brings substantial hardware to this test, with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz provide the raw throughput needed for high frame rates. In To The Core, the GPU's role becomes evident when comparing settings at the same resolution. At 4K, the average FPS ranges from 141.3 at Ultra to 236.4 at Low, a difference of 95.1 FPS that is entirely attributable to GPU workload. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are part of the Ada Lovelace architecture, though this idle game likely does not heavily utilize ray tracing or AI features. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate are more relevant to the rasterization demands of this title. The passmark G3D score of 38194 places the RTX 4090 in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 66473 is within 0.4% of the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and 0.5% of the NVIDIA Tesla P40. The 24 GB VRAM capacity is far beyond what this game requires, as shown by the minimal difference between High and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, High produces 449 FPS while Ultra produces 358.5 FPS, a 90.5 FPS gap that reflects the increased shading and texture demands rather than memory capacity limitations.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are modest by modern standards, but the single-thread performance is strong for its class. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 and multi-core score of 11912 indicate that the CPU can handle lightly threaded workloads well, but its 4-core limit shows in heavily threaded scenarios. In To The Core, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the 526.6 FPS result likely approaches the maximum frame rate the processor can generate. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859 and 8-thread score of 4026 show that scaling beyond 4 threads provides only a 40.8% improvement, confirming that additional cores would not dramatically change this game's performance. The CPU's percentile rank of 72 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 13516, places it near the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534 and is only 0.1% slower. This comparison is notable because the Threadripper is a workstation-class chip with far more cores, yet the i3-12100F matches its average score in these tests. The 58 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform make this a power-efficient choice, though the 4-core design means it will be the limiting factor in CPU-bound scenarios, as evidenced by the smaller FPS gains from lowering resolution at 1080p compared to 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 526.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-core performance compare to its nearest rival?

A: The i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13516, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX's 13534 score.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average is 358.5 FPS, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 141.3 FPS, a difference of 217.2 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM become a limiting factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM limitations, as the frame rates remain high even at 4K Ultra, suggesting the 24 GB capacity is more than sufficient for this title.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to the Tesla T4?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 66473, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4's 66733 score.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 59th out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves rank 59 out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the top 3.4% of all configurations. This high ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's exceptional performance, as the CPU's 4-core design would typically hold back such a powerful graphics card in many titles. However, the data shows that this game is not heavily CPU-bound, allowing the RTX 4090 to stretch its legs. The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 is 1.8% higher than the Intel Core i7-7700K's 13280, and 0.6% higher than the Intel Core i3-10105's 13430, showing that it competes well with older and similarly priced processors. The GPU's average benchmark score of 66473 is 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40's 66127, though it trails the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 by 0.9%. In practical terms, this combo delivers over 140 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is a level of performance that very few configurations can match. The rank of 59 out of 1756 suggests that most higher-ranked combos likely feature more powerful CPUs, but the i3-12100F's strong single-thread performance and the game's modest CPU requirements allow this pairing to punch well above its processor class.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, all presets produce excellent frame rates, with Low at 526.6 FPS, Medium at 498.7 FPS, High at 449 FPS, and Ultra at 358.5 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs only 27.9 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 90.5 FPS, making Medium the most efficient choice at this resolution for those seeking a balance between visual quality and performance. At 2560x1440, the pattern continues with Low at 413.1 FPS, Medium at 348 FPS, High at 302 FPS, and Ultra at 245.4 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra here is 56.6 FPS, suggesting that Ultra may not be worth the visual gain for the performance loss. At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain high but the scaling becomes more pronounced: Low at 236.4 FPS, Medium at 200.7 FPS, High at 172.4 FPS, and Ultra at 141.3 FPS. For 4K gaming, High settings provide a 31.1 FPS advantage over Ultra while still maintaining a strong average of 172.4 FPS. For the best overall experience, the data suggests using High settings at 1440p, which yields 302 FPS and represents a good middle ground. At 4K, High settings are recommended over Ultra, as the 31.1 FPS difference is more noticeable than the visual improvements in this idle game. The Low preset at any resolution is only advisable for competitive play where maximum frame rates matter, as the visual downgrade is substantial.