To The Core

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, ranking 21st out of 1,756 tested combos. This places the configuration in the top 1.2% of all tested systems, driven by the GPU's massive 32 GB frame buffer and the CPU's strong multi-threaded capacity. The data shows that the RTX 5090 is the dominant component here, with the i5-13400F providing sufficient headroom to exceed 500 FPS at 1080p in lower settings, though the gap between settings narrows significantly at 4K, indicating the GPU's limits are reached.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: The combo ranks 21st out of 1,756 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.2% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25,236, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D. It also leads the AMD EPYC 9474F and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 by 0.5%.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded in the measured data?

A: The highest recorded average is 559.8 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest measured average is 144.8 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5090 have, and what is its boost clock?

A: The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz and a base clock of 2017 MHz. Memory speed is 1750 MHz, translating to 28 Gbps effective.

Q: What are the CPU's core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It has 20 MB of shared L3 cache.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's average benchmark score compare to its closest rival?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 84,306, which is 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D. It is 1.3% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 but 1.6% behind the NVIDIA CMP 40HX.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the primary driver of frame rates in To The Core. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a 512-bit bus delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for the game's demands. The card's boost clock of 2407 MHz, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, allows it to sustain high output across all tested resolutions. The data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the combo still produces 144.8 FPS, a figure that would be impossible without the GPU's raw compute power—104.8 TFLOPS FP32 and 21760 shading units.

The GPU's role becomes more apparent when comparing settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Ultra to Low increases average FPS from 372.2 to 559.8, a 50.4% improvement. However, at 4K, the same settings change yields a smaller relative gain, moving from 144.8 to 241.1 FPS (66.5% higher). This suggests that while the CPU can feed the GPU at lower resolutions, the GPU's rendering load at 4K becomes the limiting factor. The RTX 5090's 176 ROPs and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate ensure that even at higher settings, the card maintains playable frame rates, but the scaling pattern shows diminishing returns as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 21 out of 1,756 puts it in the 98.8th percentile of all tested configurations for To The Core. This is an elite standing, reflecting the synergy between a top-tier GPU and a mid-range but capable CPU. The RTX 5090's percentile ranking of 94 against all GPUs underscores its position near the top of the performance hierarchy, while the i5-13400F's 82nd percentile against all CPUs shows it is a solid, if not flagship, partner.

The data indicates that the combo outperforms the vast majority of systems, but there is headroom above it. The 20 combos ranked higher likely feature even more powerful CPUs, though the FPS deltas are not provided. What is clear is that the i5-13400F does not bottleneck the RTX 5090 to a significant degree in this title. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25,236 is within 0.5% of its nearest rivals, including the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which suggests that alternative CPU choices would yield nearly identical frame rates. The ranking reflects the GPU's dominance; the RTX 5090's average score of 84,306 is 1.3% higher than the AMD Radeon PRO W6600, showing that the graphics card is the differentiator here.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—across four settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, the combo delivers 559.8 FPS on Low, 527.1 FPS on Medium, 464.2 FPS on High, and 372.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high rates; even at Ultra, the frame rate exceeds 370 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors.

Moving to 1440p, performance remains strong: Low produces 426.1 FPS, Medium 358.4 FPS, High 310.8 FPS, and Ultra 249.5 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, averaging around 25-30% lower FPS, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. At 4K, the numbers become more demanding: Low delivers 241.1 FPS, Medium 207.5 FPS, High 178.1 FPS, and Ultra 144.8 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measurement below 150 FPS, but it remains highly playable for an idle game.

The pattern across resolutions reveals that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher settings. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 187.6 FPS (a 50.4% difference), while at 4K, the same gap is 96.3 FPS (a 66.5% difference). This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU's workload scales more steeply, reducing the impact of CPU-side differences. The data suggests that the i5-13400F is sufficient for this GPU, as even at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 559.8 FPS without hitting a CPU ceiling.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the optimal choice, delivering 310.8 FPS. This resolution offers a 77.7% increase in frame rate over 4K High (178.1 FPS) while maintaining a sharp image. If the user prefers maximum visual fidelity, 4K Ultra at 144.8 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

For competitive play or maximum frame rates, 1080p Low yields 559.8 FPS, which is 50.4% higher than 1080p Ultra (372.2 FPS). However, the difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 32.7 FPS (5.8%), suggesting that Medium is a better trade-off for improved visuals with minimal performance loss. At 1440p, the Medium preset (358.4 FPS) offers a 15.4% advantage over High (310.8 FPS), making it a strong choice for users with 144Hz monitors who want a margin of safety. The data shows that the combo is so powerful that even 4K Medium (207.5 FPS) exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming displays, so the recommendation depends on the monitor's capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the computational foundation for this combo. With 10 cores and 16 threads, it offers strong multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21,279 and a Passmark multithread score of 25,032. Its boost clock of 4.60 GHz and 20 MB of shared L3 cache ensure responsive single-threaded performance, as shown by a 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,301.

In To The Core, an idle game, the CPU's role is less demanding than in action titles, but the data shows it is not a bottleneck. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7,314 indicates that the CPU can handle multiple threads efficiently, which is beneficial for background tasks or game logic. The CPU's average benchmark score of 25,236 places it 0.1% ahead of the i7-13620H and 0.5% behind the Ryzen 5 5600X3D, meaning that swapping to a rival CPU would yield negligible FPS changes. The 65W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it an accessible choice, though the data does not compare power consumption directly. The CPU's performance is sufficient to push the RTX 5090 to 559.8 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the graphics card is the primary constraint in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how performance scales from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 559.8 at 1080p to 426.1 at 1440p and then to 241.1 at 4K. This represents a 23.9% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 43.4% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The pattern is similar for other settings: at Ultra, the drop is from 372.2 to 249.5 to 144.8 FPS, corresponding to 33.0% and 42.0% decreases, respectively.

These scaling percentages indicate that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 2.25x, yet the FPS drops by roughly 42-43%, which is close to the theoretical scaling of 1/2.25 (44.4%). This suggests that the GPU is nearly fully utilized at 4K, with minimal CPU interference. In contrast, the drop from 1080p to 1440p (a 1.78x pixel increase) results in only a 24-33% FPS decrease at Low and Ultra, respectively. The smaller-than-expected drop at Low settings (24% vs. 43.8% theoretical) implies that the CPU or memory bandwidth is partially limiting at 1080p, preventing the GPU from reaching its full potential. At 1080p Low, the 559.8 FPS figure may be close to the CPU's maximum frame delivery rate, as the i5-13400F's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 960) becomes a factor. Overall, the data shows that the combo is GPU-bound at 4K and increasingly CPU-bound at 1080p, with the sweet spot for balance at 1440p.