To The Core

Intel Core i5-13400F paired with Intel Arc B370 produces a highly distinctive performance envelope in To The Core, one that is almost entirely dictated by the graphics side of the equation. The data shows a combo that can handle the game at 1080p and 1440p comfortably, but which hits a hard wall at 4K, where frame rates collapse to borderline playable levels. The CPU, a 10-core Raptor Lake part with a 4.60 GHz boost clock, is never the bottleneck; instead, the Arc B370, with its 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs, is the clear limiting factor. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS rows to explain exactly how resolution and settings interact, where the combo ranks among all tested configurations, and what each component contributes.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, revealing a GPU-bound workload where the Arc B370 saturates quickly as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 132 at 1920x1080 to 89 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 43 FPS (about 33%), and then to 51 at 3840x2160, which is another 38 FPS drop (about 43%). This pattern—where each resolution step costs roughly a third to over 40% of the remaining performance—is classic for a GPU with limited fillrate and memory bandwidth, especially one relying on System Shared memory where bandwidth is "System Dependent."

Moving to Medium settings, the same scaling holds: 112 FPS at 1080p drops to 75 FPS at 1440p (a 37 FPS decrease), then to 43 FPS at 4K (a 32 FPS decrease). The percentage losses are similar, indicating that resolution scaling is independent of the preset applied. At High settings, the numbers are 97 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K, each step losing 32 or 28 FPS. Ultra settings compress everything downward: 78 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The Ultra 4K result of 30 FPS is the lowest measured value in the entire set, and it is only 3 FPS above the 4K Low result of 51 FPS—wait, the gap between Ultra and Low at 4K is 21 FPS, but the absolute floor is 30 FPS.

What this scaling says about the limiting component is unambiguous. If the CPU were the constraint, the FPS would not fall so dramatically with resolution, since the i5-13400F’s compute load stays roughly constant regardless of pixel count. Instead, the Arc B370’s pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply overwhelmed at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p transition is the most efficient: the combo loses about 35% of performance but gains 78% more pixels, suggesting the GPU still has some headroom. The 1440p to 4K transition, however, demands 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p, and the FPS drops by nearly half in every setting, confirming that the GPU is fully maxed out. The data also shows no min FPS values for Low, High, or Ultra at any resolution, only for Medium, which means those presets likely had sustained frame delivery without worrying dips—but the Medium preset at 4K does show a min of 37 FPS, matching the High preset’s average, suggesting occasional stutters under load.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution, but the data strongly suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for most users. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers an average of 112 FPS with a min of 95 and max of 129, which is smooth and stable. High at the same resolution is 97 FPS, still excellent, but Medium’s min FPS of 95 is actually higher than High’s average of 97, indicating better frame pacing. Low at 1080p hits 132 FPS, but the visual quality loss is unnecessary when Medium is already above the 100 FPS threshold. Ultra at 1080p is 78 FPS, playable but a 30% drop from Medium, so unless the visual uplift is critical, Medium is the better trade-off.

At 2560x1440, Medium averages 75 FPS with a min of 64 and max of 87, which is the only preset at this resolution with min/max data. High runs at 65 FPS, which is still acceptable, but Medium’s 10 FPS advantage is meaningful. Low at 89 FPS is the fastest, but again, Medium provides a 75 FPS average, which is close enough and visually superior. Ultra at 1440p drops to 53 FPS, which begins to feel sluggish for an idle game, though it remains technically playable. The recommendation for 1440p is Medium, as it balances a 75 FPS average with a min FPS of 64 that never dips to the 50s.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves a truly comfortable frame rate. Low is 51 FPS, Medium is 43 FPS with a min of 37, High is 37 FPS, and Ultra is 30 FPS. For a playable experience, Low is the only viable option, since it stays above 50 FPS, while Medium’s min of 37 FPS could cause noticeable hitches. The 4K Medium min of 37 FPS is exactly the same as the 4K High average, indicating that Medium’s frame drops are severe. If 4K is the target, the data says to accept Low settings or drop to a lower resolution. Across all settings, Medium at 1080p (112 FPS) and Medium at 1440p (75 FPS) offer the highest FPS per visual quality step, making those the recommended presets for their respective resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for To The Core, this configuration of Intel Core i5-13400F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2750 out of 2991 combos. That places it in the bottom 8% of all tested pairings, which is a surprisingly low position given that the FPS numbers at 1080p are respectable. The rank reflects the entire measured spectrum, including 4K results, where the combo struggles, and it likely drags the overall score down compared to combos with more powerful GPUs. The combo’s percentile is not directly given, but the rank of 2750 out of 2991 means roughly 241 combos perform worse, and 2749 perform better. This is a stark contrast to the CPU’s individual percentile of 77% against all CPUs, showing that the GPU is the anchor.

The GPU’s own benchmark standing is even more telling. The Arc B370 has a percentileVsAllGpus of 5, meaning it outperforms only 5% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 1184 is nearly identical to rivals like the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, deltaPct -0.2%) and ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5%), and it is only 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). These are ancient or low-end parts, and the Arc B370’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it firmly in entry-level territory. When paired with a CPU that scores 25292 on average and sits at the 77th percentile, the mismatch is clear: the i5-13400F is a mid-range processor, while the Arc B370 is a bottom-tier graphics solution.

The combo rank of 2750 also implies that other combos with similar CPUs but stronger GPUs would rank much higher, and the data on the CPU’s nearest rivals confirms its capability. The Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25284 (deltaPct 0), the Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362 (deltaPct -0.3%), and the Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (deltaPct -0.3%), all within 0.3% of the i5-13400F’s 25292. The Ryzen 7 6800H is 0.4% faster at 25201, which is counterintuitive but within noise. This means the CPU is not the differentiator; the GPU is, and its low percentile is the primary reason the combo ranks so poorly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a full matrix of 12 combinations across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 132 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. Medium averages 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 129, showing a 34 FPS spread between min and max. High averages 97 FPS, and Ultra averages 78 FPS. The 1080p results are all above 75 FPS, meaning the combo is fully playable at this resolution on any setting, with Low and Medium offering the smoothest experience.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 89 FPS, Medium averages 75 FPS (min 64, max 87), High averages 65 FPS, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. The Medium preset’s min of 64 FPS is still above 60, making it the only preset at 1440p that never drops below that threshold. High and Ultra are playable but with less headroom. At 3840x2160, Low averages 51 FPS, Medium averages 43 FPS (min 37, max 50), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 30 FPS. The 4K results are the weakest, with no preset reaching 60 FPS, and Ultra at 30 FPS is barely acceptable for an idle game that may not require rapid reactions.

The min/max data is only present for Medium settings at all three resolutions, which is notable. At 1080p Medium, the min of 95 FPS and max of 129 FPS indicate a 34 FPS range, suggesting some environmental or scene-based variance. At 1440p Medium, the range is 23 FPS (64 to 87), and at 4K Medium, the range is 13 FPS (37 to 50). The shrinking range at higher resolutions suggests that as the GPU becomes more saturated, frame times become more consistent, with less variance from CPU-driven spikes. The absence of min/max for other presets might mean those runs had no notable dips, or the data collection focused on Medium for frame pacing analysis. Overall, the FPS breakdown shows a linear scaling with settings at each resolution, with Low being about 40-50% faster than Ultra, and resolution being the dominant factor.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor (IGP) based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process. It has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 ROPs, with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS. The memory is "System Shared," meaning it uses the system’s RAM rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth listed as "System Dependent." This is a critical detail because it means the GPU’s performance is tied to the memory speed and capacity of the i5-13400F’s DDR4 or DDR5 setup, which is not specified in the data.

In To The Core, the GPU’s role is dominant. The 4K results show a hard ceiling: even at Low settings, the 51 FPS average is barely over half of the 1080p Low score of 132 FPS. This is a fillrate and bandwidth limitation. The 20 ROPs are responsible for pixel output, and at 4K (8.3 million pixels), the 48.00 GPixel/s rate translates to a theoretical max of about 5.8 frames per second if fully saturated, but the actual 51 FPS at Low suggests the game is not purely fillrate-bound; texture and shader work also matter. The 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 is modest, and the boost clock of 2400 MHz is high for an IGP but insufficient for heavy loads.

The GPU’s benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it at the 5th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all over a decade old, like the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, deltaPct -0.5%). This indicates that the Arc B370 is not a gaming-focused part; it is an integrated solution for portable or low-power devices, with a TDP of 25 W and no power connectors. The data shows that in To The Core, it performs admirably at 1080p but fails to deliver a solid 4K experience. The lack of dedicated VRAM means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which likely exacerbates the 4K drop. For an idle game, the 1080p and 1440p results are acceptable, but the GPU is the clear bottleneck in this combo, as evidenced by the 5th percentile ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Raptor Lake series, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with a 65 W TDP. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and its benchmarks show strong multi-threaded performance: a 3DMark max threads score of 7307, Cinebench R23 multicore of 22604, and Passmark multithread of 25032. Its single-thread scores are also solid, with a 3DMark single thread of 960 and Geekbench singlecore of 1996. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 25292 places it at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.4% in either direction.

In To The Core, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU and handle game logic, and the data suggests it is more than adequate. The FPS scaling with resolution shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck: if it were, the 1080p and 4K scores would be closer, since the CPU workload would not increase with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly 60% from 1080p to 4K at every setting, which is a GPU-driven pattern. The i5-13400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads are likely overkill for an idle game, which typically has low thread usage, but the high boost clock of 4.60 GHz ensures that any single-threaded tasks are handled quickly.

The CPU’s 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 and 4-thread score of 3459 show that it scales well with thread count, but the game’s demands are likely met by even a few cores. The Passmark single thread score of 3634 is strong, and the Cinebench R23 singlecore of 3191 indicates that the CPU has excellent per-core performance. The data does not show any CPU-specific FPS metrics, but the fact that the combo ranks 2750 out of 2991, despite the CPU being at the 77th percentile, confirms that the CPU is not the weak link. If the CPU were underpowered, the rank would be higher relative to the GPU’s low percentile, but instead, the rank is almost entirely tied to the GPU’s 5th percentile. The CPU’s 20 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel memory support also help ensure that the system memory bandwidth, while shared with the GPU, is sufficient for the game’s demands at lower resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play To The Core with this combo?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 is the best resolution, with all presets averaging above 78 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 75 FPS, which is also playable, but 4K (3840x2160) struggles, with only Low averaging above 50 FPS.

Q: Which settings preset provides the most stable frame rate?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min/max FPS data at all resolutions, showing a min of 95 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K. The min FPS values are closest to the averages, suggesting more consistent frame pacing compared to other presets.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 has an average benchmark score of 1184, which is 0.2% slower than the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), 0.5% slower than the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and 1.4% faster than the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). It ranks at the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks at the 77th percentile with an average score of 25292, while the GPU ranks at the 5th percentile with a score of 1184. The FPS drops significantly with resolution, which is a GPU-bound pattern.

Q: What is the highest FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 132, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 112 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, which has a max FPS of 129.

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combos in To The Core?*

A: This combo ranks 2750 out of 2991 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all configurations. This low rank is primarily due to the GPU’s weak performance, as the CPU is above average.