To The Core

The Intel Core i5-12400 and Intel Arc B570 pairing delivers a highly capable 1080p and 1440p experience in To The Core, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The data shows a combination that ranks in the 80th percentile of tested systems, offering frame rates that are smooth across all settings, though the CPU’s role becomes increasingly secondary as resolution climbs.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features a three-tier cache hierarchy: 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. These specifications position it as a mainstream desktop part that launched in January 2022, and its benchmark results confirm it is far from a limiting factor in this game.

In synthetic testing, the i5-12400 delivers a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257. Its Geekbench scores are 8564 multi-core and 1848 single-core. The 3DMark thread scaling results are telling: the processor scores 1692 with 2 threads, 3012 with 4 threads, 4745 with 8 threads, and 5890 with max threads, showing near-linear scaling up to 8 threads and only modest gains beyond that, which is typical for a 6-core part. The PassMark multi-thread score is 18747, with a single-thread score of 3456.

The CPU’s percentile rank against all processors is 72, meaning it outperforms roughly seven out of ten CPUs on the market. Its closest rivals in aggregate benchmark score are the AMD EPYC 7643 (average score 18697, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730, delta -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811, delta -0.7%), and the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519, delta +0.9%). These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that the i5-12400 sits in a tightly contested performance band.

For To The Core, which is an idle game genre title, the CPU demands are likely modest. The measured frame rates show that even at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 225 FPS average. This suggests that the i5-12400’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient to feed the Arc B570 at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is highest. The single-thread performance, evidenced by the 910 3DMark single-thread score and the 2257 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is adequate for game logic and draw call processing in this title. The data indicates that the CPU is not the performance ceiling; rather, it provides a stable platform that allows the GPU to scale its output.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is a Battlemage-generation GPU built on TSMC’s 5 nm process, featuring 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It operates at a fixed clock speed of 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The card is equipped with 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. Its compute configuration includes 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. The theoretical peak performance is 11.52 TFLOPS for FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1 ratio).

In synthetic benchmarks, the Arc B570 achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 83514, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 96844. Its PassMark G3D score is 14195, with a GPU compute score of 7281. The GPU’s percentile rank against all GPUs is 65, placing it above the median. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, delta +0.1%), the Intel Arc A750 (20582, delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, delta +0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, delta -0.5%). These rivals are all within half a percentage point, meaning the Arc B570 is statistically tied with them in aggregate performance, though real-world gaming may vary.

In To The Core, the GPU’s role is decisive. The measured FPS shows that at 1080p High settings, the system achieves 165 FPS average, and at 1440p High, it drops to 111 FPS average. At 4K High, the average falls to 64 FPS. This scaling pattern demonstrates that the Arc B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 380 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title at all tested resolutions, but the raw compute power becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases. The GPU’s 80 ROPs and 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate are likely contributors to the frame rate drops at 4K, where fill-rate demands are highest. The data shows that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance in this pairing, with the CPU providing ample headroom.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the system delivers 165 FPS at 1080p, 111 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. This represents a 33% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 61% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is consistent across all settings, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component.

At Low settings, the frame rates are 225 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 32%, and from 1080p to 4K is 61%, which is nearly identical to the High settings scaling. This consistency suggests that the CPU is not introducing a bottleneck even at the lowest settings, where frame rates are highest. If the CPU were limiting, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p would show a smaller percentage drop, as the GPU would have more headroom relative to the CPU’s capability.

Medium settings show 191 FPS at 1080p, 128 FPS at 1440p, and 73 FPS at 4K, with scaling of 33% and 62% respectively. Ultra settings produce 133 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K, with drops of 33% and 62%. The uniformity of these drops—all within a 32-33% range for 1440p and 61-62% for 4K—is a strong indicator that the GPU’s pixel throughput and shading capacity are the sole determinants of performance. The i5-12400’s CPU capabilities, while strong, are not being taxed to the point of influencing these results.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (225 FPS) and Ultra (133 FPS) is 92 FPS. At 1440p, the gap is 63 FPS (152 vs 89). At 4K, the gap is 36 FPS (87 vs 51). This trend is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the absolute cost of higher settings becomes less noticeable relative to the overall frame rate as the GPU becomes more saturated. The conclusion from the resolution scaling data is unambiguous: the Arc B570 is the performance limiter, and the i5-12400 provides a stable, non-intrusive foundation.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400 powerful enough for this game?

A: Yes, the data confirms this. The CPU achieves a 72nd percentile rank among all processors, and the system reaches 225 FPS at 1080p Low settings. The CPU’s single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark and 2257 in Cinebench R23 is more than adequate for the game’s logic demands, as evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale consistently with resolution, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck, not the CPU.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, placing it in a statistical tie with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, delta +0.1%), the Intel Arc A750 (20582, delta -0.1%), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480, delta +0.4%), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (20662, delta -0.5%). All deltas are under half a percentage point, meaning the Arc B570 is essentially equivalent to these rivals in aggregate synthetic performance.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 111 FPS at 2560x1440 resolution with High settings. This is a smooth experience for most display refresh rates. For comparison, the system achieves 64 FPS at 4K High, showing that 1440p is a sweet spot for this GPU.

Q: Does the 10 GB VRAM on the Arc B570 cause any issues in this game?

A: The data does not indicate any VRAM-related problems. The game runs at all tested resolutions and settings, including 4K Ultra which achieves 51 FPS average. The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for To The Core's demands, as there are no outlier frame rate collapses that would suggest memory swapping or capacity overflow.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 2380 out of 2991 tested combos, which places it in the 80th percentile (top 20%). This is a strong showing, indicating that the i5-12400 and Arc B570 pairing outperforms roughly 80% of all tested configurations in this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for performance in this game?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The scaling data shows a consistent 32-33% drop in FPS from 1080p to 1440p and a 61-62% drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings. This uniform scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, meaning the Arc B570’s compute and pixel throughput determine the frame rates, while the i5-12400 provides sufficient headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2380 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places the system in the 80th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms 80% of the field. This is a strong result for a mid-range pairing, indicating that the combination of a 6-core CPU and a 10 GB GPU is well-matched for this title.

The ranking reflects the system’s ability to deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with the measured data showing 165 FPS at 1080p High and 111 FPS at 1440p High. The 4K performance, while lower at 64 FPS High, is still playable. The rank of 2380 suggests that while the system is not at the top of the charts—reserved for high-end combinations with flagship CPUs and GPUs—it sits comfortably in the upper quintile, offering a level of performance that exceeds the majority of tested systems.

The fact that this combo ranks in the 80th percentile is notable given the individual component percentiles: the CPU is at the 72nd percentile and the GPU is at the 65th percentile. The combination outperforms what the individual percentiles might suggest, indicating that the pairing is synergistic for this particular game. The CPU’s strength in single-threaded tasks (evidenced by a 910 3DMark single-thread score) and the GPU’s balanced compute and memory configuration appear to complement each other well in To The Core's workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. All data points are average FPS unless otherwise noted.

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 225 FPS average
• Medium: 191 FPS average (minimum 162, maximum 219)
• High: 165 FPS average
• Ultra: 133 FPS average

At 1080p, the system delivers exceptional performance, with even the Ultra preset exceeding 130 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 92 FPS, showing that the GPU has ample headroom at this resolution to accommodate higher visual fidelity.

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 152 FPS average
• Medium: 128 FPS average (minimum 109, maximum 147)
• High: 111 FPS average
• Ultra: 89 FPS average

At 1440p, all presets remain above 85 FPS, providing a smooth experience for high-refresh-rate monitors. The scaling from 1080p shows a consistent 32-33% reduction across all settings, confirming the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 87 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average (minimum 62, maximum 84)
• High: 64 FPS average
• Ultra: 51 FPS average

At 4K, the system remains playable across all settings, though the Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS. The minimum recorded FPS at 4K Medium is 62, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 60 FPS for that preset. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a 61-62% reduction across all settings, further reinforcing that the GPU is the sole performance limiter.

The data shows a clear and consistent pattern: the i5-12400 provides a stable CPU platform that never becomes a bottleneck, while the Arc B570’s performance scales predictably with resolution and settings. For gamers targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo delivers high refresh rate performance. For 4K, the system can handle the game at medium-to-high settings with frame rates in the 60-75 range, making it a versatile pairing for To The Core.