To The Core

Intel Core i5-10400F pairs with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 to deliver a broad performance envelope in To The Core, an idle genre title that scales heavily with resolution and graphical presets. The measured data, drawn from 1080p through 4K across four settings tiers, indicates a configuration that remains fluid at high resolutions while exposing CPU limitations only at the lowest preset. This analysis breaks down the benchmark rows, the component roles, and the combo’s standing among the 1,756 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 233.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 153.2 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 85.4 FPS at 3840x2160 — a total reduction of 63.4% from the 1080p baseline. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, indicating the RTX 4060 is the limiting component as resolution climbs. The same pattern appears at Medium settings, where 265.1 FPS at 1080p drops to 178.4 FPS at 1440p and 104.8 FPS at 4K, a 60.5% decline. Low settings show the smallest relative drop: 313.9 FPS at 1080p, 208 FPS at 1440p, and 122 FPS at 4K, a 61.1% reduction. This consistency across presets suggests that the resolution scaling is driven by the GPU’s rendering throughput rather than by settings-specific bottlenecks.

At Ultra settings, the 4K result of 73.1 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, while the 1080p Ultra result of 183.8 FPS remains comfortably high. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra (110.7 FPS) is the largest of any preset, confirming that the most demanding quality tier amplifies the GPU’s workload. Conversely, the smallest absolute gap between 1080p and 4K occurs at Low settings (191.9 FPS), which still represents a substantial drop. The data shows no scenario where higher resolutions yield a smaller performance penalty, meaning the RTX 4060’s memory bandwidth and compute capacity are the primary constraints at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, frame rates exceed 180 FPS on every preset, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom and that the CPU may begin to influence results, particularly at Low settings where 313.9 FPS approaches the practical limits of the processor’s single-thread capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F contributes 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14,168. Single-thread performance, measured via 3dmark_single_thread at 688 and Passmark single-thread at 2,541, is modest but adequate for an idle game like To The Core, which typically relies on a few threads for simulation logic. The multi-threaded scores — 12,115 in Passmark multithread and 10,297 in Cinebench R23 multicore — show solid scaling across the 12 threads, but the game’s frame rates at Low settings suggest that the CPU can become a limiting factor when GPU load is minimal.

At 1080p Low, the 313.9 FPS average is the highest in the dataset, and the jump from Low to Medium (265.1 FPS) is only 48.8 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High (233.2 FPS) is smaller still. This compression at high frame rates indicates that the CPU’s per-core throughput, reflected in the 3dmark_2_threads score of 1,350, may cap performance below what the GPU could theoretically deliver. The boost clock of 4.30 GHz helps maintain these high averages, but the 14 nm Comet Lake architecture’s 2.90 GHz base clock limits sustained load performance. Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-10400F sits within 1.2% of the AMD Ryzen Embedded V2546 and 1.1% of the Intel Core i5-8500, confirming that its CPU-bound performance is typical for its class. In To The Core, the CPU role is secondary at 1440p and 4K, where GPU load dominates, but at 1080p Low, the processor’s 12 threads and 12 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient to feed the RTX 4060 up to roughly 314 FPS before hitting a ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows show that the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 265.1 FPS, which is 48.8 FPS above High (233.2 FPS) and 81.3 FPS below Low (313.9 FPS), but the visual quality improvement over Low is substantial without the performance penalty of stepping to High. At 1440p, Medium produces 178.4 FPS, a 25.2 FPS increase over High (153.2 FPS) and a 29.6 FPS decrease from Low (208 FPS). At 4K, Medium hits 104.8 FPS, which is 19.4 FPS above High (85.4 FPS) and 17.2 FPS below Low (122 FPS). These figures indicate that Medium provides a 60–70% frame rate uplift over Ultra at every resolution while maintaining a smooth experience, especially at 4K where Ultra drops to 73.1 FPS.

For users prioritizing maximum smoothness on high-refresh displays, Low settings at 1080p (313.9 FPS) or 1440p (208 FPS) are the strongest choices, but the frame rate gains diminish beyond 200 FPS where the CPU becomes a factor. High settings offer a middle ground: 233.2 FPS at 1080p and 153.2 FPS at 1440p, both well above the 144 Hz threshold, while 4K at 85.4 FPS is playable but not ideal for competitive play. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p (183.8 FPS) or 1440p (123.4 FPS) where the visual fidelity is worth the performance cost; at 4K, the 73.1 FPS average falls below the 75 Hz refresh threshold common on budget monitors. The data suggests that Medium is the default recommendation, with Low reserved for maximum frame rates and High or Ultra for visual quality at 1080p or 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 1,002nd out of 1,756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the 57th percentile of all configurations. This mid-tier ranking reflects the CPU’s 73rd percentile standing and the GPU’s 66th percentile standing, with the combo’s overall position dragged down by the CPU’s relative weakness at 1080p Low where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The GPU alone, with an average benchmark score of 23,181, sits close to its nearest rivals: 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, while 0.7% above the Intel Arc B580 and 0.8% above the AMD Radeon 760M. This tight clustering means the RTX 4060’s performance is representative of its class, but the combo’s rank is influenced by the CPU’s ability to keep up in CPU-light scenes.

The 1,002nd rank out of 1,756 indicates that more than half of tested combos outperform this pairing in To The Core, likely due to stronger processors paired with similar or better GPUs. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo still delivers high frame rates in absolute terms — 183.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 73.1 FPS at 4K Ultra — so the rank reflects relative performance among enthusiast configurations rather than playability. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% higher average score) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% lower), show that the i5-10400F is not a performance outlier, and the combo’s rank could improve with a higher-clocked processor that reduces the 1080p Low bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, packs 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, yielding 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 3,072 shading units and 48 ROPs drive a pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute at 15.11 TFLOPS. These specs align with the observed scaling: at 4K, the GPU’s bandwidth and compute are taxed, producing 85.4 FPS at High and 73.1 FPS at Ultra, while at 1080p, the same hardware easily exceeds 230 FPS on all presets. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for To The Core at any resolution, as the game’s idle genre likely uses modest texture footprints, but the 128-bit bus limits memory bandwidth compared to wider-memory GPUs.

The RTX 4060’s boost clock of 2460 MHz and base clock of 1830 MHz provide the raw speed needed for high frame rates, and its 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores support advanced features without impacting the measured results. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 23,181 places it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 19,545 and a DirectX 12 score of 76. In To The Core, the GPU is the primary driver of performance at 1440p and 4K, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops with resolution. At 1080p, the GPU remains the bottleneck only at Medium and higher settings; at Low, the CPU takes over, as the 313.9 FPS result is closer to the CPU’s theoretical maximum. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for this title, but the 4K Ultra result of 73.1 FPS shows that the GPU is the limiting factor when both resolution and settings are maximized.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1440p High (153.2 FPS) or 1440p Medium (178.4 FPS) as the sweet spot, balancing visual quality and high frame rates. 4K is playable at Medium (104.8 FPS) but drops to 73.1 FPS at Ultra, while 1080p exceeds 183 FPS on all presets.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the 313.9 FPS average is the highest measured value, and the small gaps between Low, Medium, and High (48.8 FPS and 31.9 FPS) suggest the Intel Core i5-10400F’s single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 688) may cap frame rates. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 23,181 is 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M, 0.7% below the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti, 0.7% above the Intel Arc B580, and 0.8% above the AMD Radeon 760M. These are synthetic scores, not game-specific FPS.

Q: Is 4K Ultra playable with this setup?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo delivers 73.1 FPS, which is above 60 FPS but below the 75 Hz refresh rate common on budget displays. For smoother 4K, dropping to High (85.4 FPS) or Medium (104.8 FPS) is recommended.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1,002nd out of 1,756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the 57th percentile. This is a mid-tier position, reflecting the CPU’s 73rd percentile and GPU’s 66th percentile standings.

Q: Does the GPU’s VRAM capacity affect performance in this game?

A: The RTX 4060 has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 272.0 GB/s bandwidth, and the measurable FPS data shows no anomalies that would indicate VRAM exhaustion. The 4K Ultra result of 73.1 FPS is more likely limited by compute and bandwidth than by memory capacity.