To The Core

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a strong 1080p and 1440p experience in To The Core, with 4K playable at reduced settings. This combination ranks 1807th out of 2991 tested combos for this title, placing it in the upper half of the database. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with the CPU providing ample headroom at lower resolutions and the GPU becoming the primary constraint as resolution climbs.

Settings Recommendations

For To The Core, the measured FPS data across resolutions and presets provides a clear picture of where this combo performs best. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 164 FPS, which is well above typical display refresh rates and provides a smooth experience. The High preset at 1080p reaches 204 FPS average, while Medium hits 235 FPS and Low reaches 278 FPS. Given that the gap between Ultra and High is 40 FPS (164 vs 204), and the visual fidelity difference between these presets is typically noticeable, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom at 1080p. The data shows that Ultra still delivers 164 FPS, which is excellent, but High provides a more comfortable margin for demanding scenes without sacrificing much visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 110 FPS average, which remains playable but begins to show the GPU working harder. The High preset at 1440p produces 137 FPS average, a 27 FPS improvement over Ultra. Medium delivers 158 FPS, and Low reaches 187 FPS. The 1440p High setting appears to be the sweet spot for this resolution, offering 137 FPS with the visual enhancements that High typically provides over Medium. The measured Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum FPS of 134 and maximum of 182, indicating some frame variability, while High maintains a smoother experience.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes significantly. Ultra drops to 63 FPS average, which is borderline for smooth gameplay. High at 4K achieves 78 FPS average, Medium reaches 90 FPS, and Low produces 107 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 77 FPS and maximum of 104 FPS, suggesting that this setting provides the most consistent experience at this resolution. The data indicates that High at 4K (78 FPS) is acceptable, but Medium (90 FPS) offers a better safety margin against frame drops. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers 90 FPS average with a 77 FPS minimum that stays above common 60 Hz refresh rate thresholds.

Considering all resolutions, the High preset at 1440p provides the best overall experience for this combo, delivering 137 FPS average with the visual quality of High settings. For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, 1080p High at 204 FPS is the most balanced choice, while 4K users should default to Medium to maintain consistent performance above 77 FPS minimums.

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. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. The processor features an 18 MB shared L3 cache, with 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In To The Core, an idle game genre, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining consistent frame pacing and handling game logic rather than pushing extreme frame rates. The benchmark results for this CPU show strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2257. The multi-threaded results are also solid, with Cinebench R23 multicore reaching 15989 and Geekbench multicore at 8564. The CPU holds a percentile ranking of 72 against all CPUs, indicating it outperforms a majority of tested processors.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, where the CPU often becomes more relevant relative to the GPU, this combo delivers 278 FPS at Low settings and 164 FPS at Ultra. The large difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p (114 FPS) suggests that the GPU is still the limiting factor at this resolution, as the CPU would need to handle far more than 278 FPS to bottleneck. The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 12 threads provide sufficient headroom for the game's logic and draw calls at these frame rates.

Comparing to its nearest CPU rivals, the i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683, which is 0.1% below the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697) and 0.3% below the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730). It sits 0.7% below the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 (18811) and 0.9% above the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519). These margins are minimal, indicating that the i5-12400 performs on par with these alternatives in general compute tasks. For To The Core, the CPU's performance is more than adequate, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved even at 1080p Ultra.

The processor's 18 MB L3 cache and dual-channel memory support contribute to its ability to feed the GPU effectively. The data shows that at 1440p, the frame rates drop from 1080p by roughly 33% at High settings (204 to 137 FPS), which is a typical scaling pattern when the GPU becomes more involved. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for this idle game genre, which typically does not demand high core counts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz, and memory runs at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). The GPU is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process from TSMC, with 16,900 million transistors on a 149 mm² die. It has 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, 32 ROPs, 20 RT cores, and 80 tensor cores. The FP32 performance is 13.17 TFLOPS, with matching FP16 throughput.

In To The Core, the GPU's role is central to determining performance at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows a clear relationship between GPU load and frame rates. At 1080p, the GPU delivers 278 FPS at Low settings, which drops to 164 FPS at Ultra. At 1440p, the range is 187 FPS at Low to 110 FPS at Ultra. At 4K, the range narrows to 107 FPS at Low and 63 FPS at Ultra. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 107 FPS.

The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 320 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game, as the data shows no signs of memory-related stuttering at any resolution or settings. The RTX 5050 holds a percentile ranking of 66 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153, 0.6% higher), AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, 1% higher), AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, 1.6% lower), and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379, 1.6% higher). These comparisons show that the RTX 5050 performs within a narrow band of these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU's boost clock of 2572 MHz and 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are well-suited for the rendering demands of To The Core. The measured FPS data at 1080p Ultra (164 FPS) and 1440p High (137 FPS) indicates that the GPU maintains high utilization without hitting thermal or power limits. The 130 W TDP and suggested 300 W PSU provide adequate power headroom for sustained performance.

The RTX 5050's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility ensure it can handle the game's rendering features. The GPU's 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are available for any ray-traced or AI-enhanced features, though the idle game genre typically does not heavily rely on these. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s provide the fill rate needed for the high frame rates observed at 1080p and 1440p.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1807th out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the top 60% of all tested combinations, indicating that while it is not a top-tier setup, it performs competently for this game. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, with the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's solid rasterization power.

The combo's ranking suggests that many other combinations outperform it, likely featuring higher-end CPUs and GPUs. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo still delivers excellent playable performance at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K requiring settings adjustments. The rank of 1807 out of 2991 corresponds to roughly the 40th percentile, meaning about 60% of tested combos achieve better performance in this game.

In context, the CPU's percentile ranking of 72 is higher than the GPU's percentile of 66, suggesting that the CPU is relatively stronger compared to its peers than the GPU. This imbalance means that at lower resolutions, the CPU may have unused headroom, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. The combo rank reflects this dynamic, positioning the system as a balanced mid-range option that can handle most gaming scenarios.

The data shows that this combo performs best at 1080p, where it can push beyond 200 FPS at High and Medium settings. The 1440p performance is also strong, with High settings delivering 137 FPS. The 4K performance is the weakest aspect, with only Medium settings providing a comfortable 90 FPS average. This scaling pattern suggests that the combo is optimized for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being a secondary consideration.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The High preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 204 FPS, which provides a strong balance between visual quality and performance. Ultra achieves 164 FPS, while Medium reaches 235 FPS and Low hits 278 FPS. The High setting offers the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom.

Q: Does this system handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset achieves 90 FPS average with a minimum of 77 FPS, which is playable. High drops to 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63 FPS. Low reaches 107 FPS. The Medium preset is recommended for 4K to maintain consistent performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035. It is 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153), 1% below the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237), 1.6% above the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713), and 1.6% below the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379). These differences are minimal in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 278 FPS, and at Ultra it reaches 164 FPS. The large gap between settings indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. The i5-12400's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 910) and boost clock of 4.40 GHz provide sufficient headroom.

Q: What is the CPU's memory and cache configuration?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has 80 KB L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, though the memory bandwidth is not specified in the data.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 1807th out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the upper 60% of all tested systems, indicating competent performance for this game without being a top-tier configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo spans three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a complete picture of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 278 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. The Medium preset at 1080p achieves 235 FPS average, with a minimum of 200 FPS and maximum of 270 FPS. High at 1080p produces 204 FPS average, and Ultra reaches 164 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 114 FPS drop, representing a 41% reduction in frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 187 FPS, Medium averages 158 FPS with a minimum of 134 and maximum of 182, High averages 137 FPS, and Ultra averages 110 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 77 FPS, a 41% reduction, matching the percentage seen at 1080p. The Medium preset at 1440p shows the most variation, with a 48 FPS gap between minimum and maximum.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 107 FPS, Medium averages 90 FPS with a minimum of 77 and maximum of 104, High averages 78 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra at 4K is 44 FPS, a 41% reduction, consistent with the other resolutions. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the performance relationship between settings is uniform across resolutions.

The frame data reveals that the Medium preset shows the only recorded minimum and maximum values, with 200-270 FPS at 1080p, 134-182 FPS at 1440p, and 77-104 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium may exhibit more frame variability than other presets, though the averages remain solid. The High and Ultra presets have no recorded minimum or maximum values in the data, indicating more stable frame delivery.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important characteristics about this combo's bottleneck behavior. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 204 FPS at 1080p to 137 FPS at 1440p, a 33% reduction, and then to 78 FPS at 4K, a 43% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is 126 FPS, representing a 62% decrease. This scaling pattern is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the number of pixels increases fourfold from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate does not drop proportionally due to other bottlenecks.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar: 278 FPS at 1080p drops to 187 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and then to 107 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). The total drop is 171 FPS, a 62% decrease. This consistency across settings suggests that the resolution scaling is independent of the settings preset, pointing to a uniform bottleneck behavior.

The Medium preset shows 235 FPS at 1080p, 158 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction), and 90 FPS at 4K (43% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset follows the same pattern: 164 FPS at 1080p, 110 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction), and 63 FPS at 4K (43% reduction). The uniform 33% and 43% reductions across all settings indicate that the limiting component scales consistently with resolution.

The data suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at all resolutions above 1080p. The transition from 1080p to 1440p increases pixel count by 78%, but frame rates only drop by 33%, suggesting that the CPU still provides enough headroom at 1440p. The transition from 1440p to 4K increases pixel count by 125%, with frame rates dropping by 43%, indicating that the GPU is becoming more constrained. At 4K, even the Low preset only achieves 107 FPS, which is lower than the 1080p Ultra performance of 164 FPS, confirming that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at this resolution.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal, as its performance ceiling appears well above the frame rates achieved. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads, combined with its 4.40 GHz boost clock, provide enough processing power to avoid becoming a limiting factor even at 1080p Low where the system reaches 278 FPS. The consistent percentage drops in frame rate across resolutions and settings reinforce the conclusion that the RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 320 GB/s bandwidth are the determining factors for performance in To The Core.