To The Core

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a remarkably fluid experience in To The Core, an idle game where frame rates are exceptionally high across all tested configurations. The combination ranks 805th out of 1,756 tested combos, placing it in the upper half of the database, though the sheer performance on display suggests the ranking is more indicative of the game's modest demands than any limitation of this hardware. At 1080p, even the most demanding Ultra preset achieves an average of 209.3 FPS, while dropping to Low yields 356.2 FPS, making this a setup that will never strain to keep a high-refresh-rate display satisfied.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The average frame rate at 2560x1440 with High settings is 172.6 FPS. This is a significant jump from the 100.4 FPS observed at 4K with the same settings, highlighting how resolution scaling impacts this particular title.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19,221, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K's score of 19,210, showing a negligible 0.1% difference. It is slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,167) by 0.3% and behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19,364) by -0.7%.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 sits in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28,238. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, scores 27,985, placing it just 0.9% behind the RTX 3070.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest frame rate at 4K?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 yields the highest average frame rate of 136 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 118.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 78.4 FPS, showing a substantial 57.6 FPS difference between the lowest and highest presets.

Q: Is the frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings sufficient for a 240Hz monitor?

A: The average frame rate of 209.3 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is below the 240 FPS threshold required to fully saturate a 240Hz display. To take advantage of such a monitor, dropping to Medium (301.7 FPS) or Low (356.2 FPS) would be necessary.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The CPU achieves a Passmark single-thread score of 3,481, while its multithread score is 19,433. In Cinebench R23, the single-core score is 2,332 versus a multi-core score of 16,518, indicating that the six-core processor scales efficiently with additional threads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz can boost up to 4.40 GHz, providing a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core are adequate for feeding the GPU in an idle game like To The Core, which does not appear to be heavily threaded based on the observed frame rates.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU demonstrates strong scaling from 2 to 16 threads. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 5,895, which is only marginally higher than the max-thread score of 5,912, indicating that the processor's performance plateaus quickly. More tellingly, the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,518 is nearly seven times the single-core score of 2,332, meaning the processor can leverage its full thread count when needed. However, given that the game maintains over 200 FPS at 1080p even on Ultra settings, the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. The processor's Passmark multithread score of 19,433 places it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, with its closest rival being the Intel Core i7-8700K, which it matches within 0.1%. This parity suggests that for this title, the i5-12400F offers comparable computational headroom to an older flagship, which is more than sufficient for the game's physics and logic updates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is built on the Ampere architecture using Samsung's 8 nm process, with a chip containing 17,400 million transistors. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 1725 MHz, combined with 5,888 shading units, delivers a peak FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS, which is more than adequate for an idle game's rendering demands.

The GPU's performance in standard benchmarks shows it is a capable mid-to-high-end part. Its Passmark G3D score of 22,214 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 123,479 are strong indicators of raw compute power. The RTX 3070's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it in a competitive position, though its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, trails by a mere 0.9% in average score. In practice, the GPU's influence on To The Core is evident in the resolution scaling. At 4K with Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops to 78.4 FPS, which is still playable but shows a 27% reduction compared to the High preset's 100.4 FPS. This scaling is consistent with the GPU being the primary limiter at higher resolutions, while at 1080p, the frame rates are so high (over 350 FPS on Low) that the CPU and game engine likely become the limiting factors.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination holds the 805th position out of 1,756 tested combos in To The Core. This places it just inside the top half of all configurations, which is a notable result given the hardware's specifications. The ranking suggests that while this combo is not at the absolute top tier, it is positioned among a large cluster of similarly performing systems. The percentile ranking of the CPU (77th) and GPU (72nd) individually are both above average, yet the combo rank of ~46th percentile indicates that many other combinations of higher-end parts can achieve better raw frame rates in this title.

The data shows that this combo is more than capable of delivering high frame rates at mainstream resolutions. At 1440p with High settings, it achieves 172.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard and comfortably into high-refresh-rate territory. The gap between this combo and the top performers is likely minimal in actual gameplay, as idle games rarely push hardware to its limits. The score of 100.4 FPS at 4K High is particularly noteworthy, as it demonstrates that this mid-range pairing can handle 4K gaming in this specific title without major compromises. The combo's rank could be seen as conservative, as the measured data indicates that the hardware is delivering performance that exceeds what its position might suggest.

Settings Recommendations

For players using this combo, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and display refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 209.3 FPS, which is sufficient for most 144Hz monitors but falls short of 240Hz displays. To fully utilize a 240Hz panel, the Medium preset at 301.7 FPS or Low at 356.2 FPS are better choices, offering a significant frame rate increase with likely minimal visual difference in an idle game's simple graphics.

At 2560x1440, the High preset provides 172.6 FPS, which is an excellent balance for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Ultra preset at 142.6 FPS is still very smooth and visually richer, making it the recommended choice for those prioritizing image quality without sacrificing responsiveness. The Low preset at 240.6 FPS is available for competitive play, but the visual downgrade may not be worth the extra frames in a non-competitive genre.

For 4K gaming at 3840x2160, the High preset at 100.4 FPS is the best experience, offering a substantial improvement over the Ultra preset's 78.4 FPS while maintaining a smooth frame rate. The Medium preset at 118.4 FPS is a viable alternative for those who prefer slightly higher performance, but the High preset's balance of fidelity and speed makes it the standout choice. The Low preset at 136 FPS is only recommended for players with very high refresh rate 4K displays, as the visual compromise is noticeable in this resolution. Overall, the data suggests that High or Medium presets at any resolution offer the most favorable balance of visual quality and frame rate for this hardware combination.