To The Core

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a remarkably consistent experience in To The Core, with the data showing that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor only at the highest resolutions. At 1080p, the combo posts exceptional frame rates across all settings, from 171 FPS at Ultra to 292.1 FPS at Low, indicating that the CPU is feeding the GPU effectively and the bottleneck is firmly on the graphics card even at this lower resolution. Moving to 1440p, the average FPS drops are proportional and predictable, with the Ultra preset still maintaining a smooth 114.4 FPS. The 4K results tell a different story: the Ultra preset falls to 65.8 FPS, and even the High preset only manages 82.1 FPS, revealing that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed hard by the pixel count. This data suggests that for a game with "Idle" genre mechanics, the combo is more than capable for high-refresh 1440p gaming, but 4K users will need to make meaningful preset sacrifices to maintain fluidity.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results show a clear scaling pattern that shifts the bottleneck from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU as resolution increases. From 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS at High settings drops from 212.8 to 145.3, a reduction of approximately 32%. This is a moderate decline that suggests the system is still well-balanced, with both the six-core Comet Lake CPU and the Turing-based GPU contributing to the workload. However, the jump from 1440p to 3840x2160 at High settings is steeper, falling from 145.3 to 82.1 FPS, a 43% decrease. This steeper drop indicates the GPU is starting to saturate, as the RTX 2070 SUPER's 2560 shading units and 160 TMUs are forced to handle over four times the pixel count of 1080p. The data confirms that the Intel Core i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads boosted up to 4.30 GHz, is not the limiting component at 4K; instead, the 12 nm TU104 chip's raw throughput is what holds the combo back. At 1080p, the story reverses: the 292.1 FPS at Low settings versus 171 FPS at Ultra shows a spread of over 120 FPS, which is a much wider gap than at 4K where the spread is only 46 FPS between Low and Ultra. This tighter range at 4K is strong evidence that the GPU is the bottleneck, as raising settings has less relative impact when the resolution itself is already taxing the hardware.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in To The Core?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 provides the best balance of performance and visual quality. At High settings, the combo delivers 145.3 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on modern monitors, while 4K at Ultra drops to 65.8 FPS, which may not be smooth enough for all players.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: Based on benchmark scores, the RTX 2070 SUPER sits at the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 22206 is 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A400, 0.9% higher than the GTX TITAN Z, and 2.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 5700, but it trails the RTX 4060 Mobile by 2.3%.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F a bottleneck for the RTX 2070 SUPER?

A: The evidence suggests no, especially at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the combo achieves up to 292.1 FPS at Low settings, showing the CPU can keep up. The 4K results, where FPS scales more with settings, indicate the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the 6-core, 12-thread processor.

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

A: The measured data shows a significant gap: Low settings produce 292.1 FPS, while Ultra produces 171 FPS. This is a 70.8% increase in performance from Ultra to Low, meaning that players prioritizing maximum frame rates can gain a substantial advantage by lowering settings.

Q: Is this combo ranked highly among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1073 out of 1756 tested combinations in To The Core, placing it in the upper-middle tier. This rank reflects the balanced nature of the pairing, as it outperforms many budget-oriented combos but is not in the top tier reserved for flagship CPUs and GPUs.

Q: Does the game favor the CPU or GPU more?

A: Given that the FPS drops from 292.1 at 1080p Low to 65.8 at 4K Ultra, the game appears to be heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The CPU's performance, as measured by its 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU until the resolution becomes extremely demanding.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global ranking for To The Core, this combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER holds position 1073 out of 1756 tested combos. This places it in the 61st percentile of all configurations, which is a respectable showing for a mid-range pairing from the 10th Gen Intel and 20-series NVIDIA eras. The CPU's individual standing is stronger, with a 73rd percentile rank among all processors, meaning the i5-10400F outperforms nearly three-quarters of its peers. Its average benchmark score of 14168 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7552, which scores 14115 with a delta of just 0.4%, and it also edges out the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.8%. The GPU, by contrast, sits at the 65th percentile, with an average score of 22206 that places it just 0.5% behind the RTX A400 and 2.5% ahead of the RX 5700. The fact that the combo's overall rank is lower than the CPU's individual percentile suggests that the GPU is holding the pairing back slightly in this game, which aligns with the resolution scaling data showing the GPU becoming the bottleneck at 4K. For an idle game like To The Core, this ranking indicates the combo is more than adequate for smooth gameplay, but users chasing top-tier 4K performance would need a more powerful GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest raw performance: Low settings produce 292.1 FPS, Medium 247.2 FPS, High 212.8 FPS, and Ultra 171 FPS. These numbers show a clear linear progression, with each step up in quality costing a noticeable but manageable amount of performance. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show more strain: Low drops to 192.7 FPS, Medium to 167.4 FPS, High to 145.3 FPS, and Ultra to 114.4 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 34% across all settings, indicating a uniform scaling behavior. At 3840x2160, the performance takes a more significant hit: Low produces 111.8 FPS, Medium 97.9 FPS, High 82.1 FPS, and Ultra 65.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 46 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than the 121.1 FPS gap at 1080p, reinforcing the conclusion that the GPU's limits are being reached at higher resolutions. Notably, the data shows that even at 4K Low, the combo maintains over 100 FPS, which is impressive for a card with a base clock of 1605 MHz and boost of 1770 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operating at 14 Gbps effective and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for this game, as no stutter-inducing memory bottlenecks are apparent in the average FPS figures.

Settings Recommendations

For players targeting 144 Hz monitors, the data recommends 1080p with Medium or High settings, as both deliver over 200 FPS (247.2 and 212.8 FPS respectively). At 1440p, High settings at 145.3 FPS is the sweet spot, providing a smooth experience that matches most high-refresh displays, while Ultra at 114.4 FPS is still playable but falls short of 144 Hz. For 4K users, the recommendation is to stick with Low or Medium settings, as these produce 111.8 and 97.9 FPS respectively, both above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as 65.8 FPS, while technically playable, leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The measured data shows that the performance difference between Medium and High is relatively small—around 15% at each resolution—so players should prioritize High settings for better visual fidelity without sacrificing much frame rate. Conversely, the jump from High to Ultra costs roughly 20-25% performance at every resolution, making Ultra a luxury option for those with lower refresh rate monitors. Given that this is an idle game, where reaction times are less critical, players might prefer higher visual quality over maximum FPS, but the data clearly shows that Medium or High presets offer the best balance of smoothness and image quality across all three resolutions tested.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, combined with 12 MB of shared L3 cache, provide solid single-threaded and multi-threaded performance for gaming. In benchmark tests, it scores 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 4748 in 3DMark 16-thread, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297. These numbers place it at the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, indicating it outperforms the majority of processors on the market. The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, 0.4% slower), AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277, 0.8% faster), Intel Core i5-8500 (14332, 1.1% faster), and AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 (14336, 1.2% faster). For To The Core, the CPU's role is clearly to keep the GPU fed, and the data shows it does so effectively. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 292.1 FPS, which confirms the CPU's ability to process game logic and draw calls quickly. The 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for an idle game, which typically does not require heavy multi-threading. The CPU's 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth ensure it does not bottleneck the GPU's PCIe 3.0 x16 interface.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture using a 12 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 545 mm² containing 13,600 million transistors. It features 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores, with a base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures. The card's FP32 performance is rated at 9.062 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 18169 in Passmark G3D and 98316 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it at the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (22307, 0.5% faster), GTX TITAN Z (22006, 0.9% slower), RTX 4060 Mobile (22729, 2.3% faster), and AMD Radeon RX 5700 (21670, 2.5% slower). For To The Core, the GPU is the dominant factor in determining frame rates, especially at higher resolutions. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo only manages 65.8 FPS, which is below the 100 FPS threshold achieved at 4K Low. This indicates that the GPU's pixel processing rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s are being fully utilized at 4K. The 215 W TDP and dual-slot cooler with a 6-pin and 8-pin power connector are appropriate for the performance level, and the card's 267 mm length makes it compatible with most mid-tower cases. Overall, the RTX 2070 SUPER proves to be a capable partner for the i5-10400F, delivering excellent performance at 1080p and 1440p, while requiring settings adjustments at 4K to maintain playable frame rates.