To The Core

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D delivers exceptional frame rates in To The Core, an Idle genre title. The measured results show a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, transitioning to a more balanced load as resolution increases. The data indicates that this combination ranks 21st out of 3725 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile for overall performance in this specific game.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of bottleneck shifting. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 489 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops this to 329 FPS, a reduction of 160 FPS (approximately 32.7% lower). The jump to 3840x2160 brings the average down to 188 FPS, which is another 141 FPS reduction (approximately 42.9% lower than the 1440p result).

This scaling pattern strongly suggests the CPU is the limiting component at 1080p. The Intel Core i5-14600KF, with its 14 cores and 20 threads, can push frame rates to 653 FPS on Low settings at 1080p, but the GPU cannot render frames that quickly. The RTX 5090 D, while having a 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs, is constrained by the game's engine and the CPU's instruction throughput at these high frame rates. The gap between 1080p Low (653 FPS) and 1440p Low (448 FPS) is 205 FPS, while the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low (256 FPS) is 192 FPS — the scaling is relatively consistent, which indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

At 4K, the RTX 5090 D's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 512-bit bus width come into play. The game's memory footprint at this resolution is not explicitly measured, but the bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading are not bottlenecks. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 151 FPS, showing that the most demanding settings still achieve highly playable rates. The scaling from High (188 FPS) to Ultra (151 FPS) at 4K is a 19.7% performance hit, which is a relatively modest cost for the visual fidelity increase.

The data shows that the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is not linear. The 1080p to 1440p transition costs approximately 33% of the frames, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs another 43%. This compounding effect is typical for a GPU that is underutilized at lower resolutions. The CPU's boost clock of 5.30 GHz and single-core performance, which scores 4594 in Cinebench R23, are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the engine's draw call overhead limits the maximum achievable frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 653, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 21st out of 3725 tested combinations in To The Core, placing it in the top 0.6% of all tested systems.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield an average of 329 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 265 FPS, a difference of 64 FPS (approximately 19.5%).

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D have sufficient VRAM for this game?

A: The GPU features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory, which is more than adequate for the measured settings and resolutions, given that the game runs at 188 FPS on 4K High.

Q: What is the single-core performance of the CPU?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF scores 4594 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 462 in Cinebench R15 single-core, indicating strong per-core performance.

Q: Are the frame times stable across resolutions?

A: Only Medium settings include min and max FPS data. At 4K Medium, the range is 184 to 249 FPS (average 217), and at 1080p Medium, it is 479 to 648 FPS (average 564), suggesting consistent frame pacing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 653 FPS, but this is far beyond what any display can showcase. The Medium preset at 564 FPS offers a better balance, and the High preset at 489 FPS is still excessively high. For 1080p users, the Ultra preset at 393 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides the highest visual quality while still maintaining a frame rate that is three times higher than a 120 Hz display's refresh rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the High preset at 329 FPS is the sweet spot for competitive play. The Ultra preset at 265 FPS remains above 240 Hz refresh rates, making it viable for esports-grade monitors. The Medium preset at 379 FPS offers no practical advantage over High, as the visual difference is minimal while the frame rate increase is only 15.2%. For 1440p, High is the recommended starting point.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 188 FPS is the most balanced option. The Ultra preset at 151 FPS is still highly playable and suitable for 144 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 217 FPS is a middle ground, but the jump from Medium to High only costs 29 FPS (13.4%) while providing substantial visual improvements. The Low preset at 256 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the visual degradation is significant for a frame rate that exceeds most 4K displays' refresh rates.

The data suggests that for the best experience, users should prioritize the High preset. It provides the most consistent frame rates across all resolutions, with the smallest performance gap to the next higher preset. The Ultra preset is only 19.7% slower than High at 4K, making it a viable option for users with 120 Hz or higher refresh rate displays. The Medium preset offers the best minimum FPS data, with 184 FPS at 4K and 322 FPS at 1440p, which may appeal to users who prioritize frame time consistency over average frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 21 out of 3725 tested combinations places this configuration in the 99.4th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking is exceptional, indicating that the Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination is among the most capable for To The Core. The CPU's percentile ranking of 90 against all CPUs suggests that it is not the limiting factor in this game, as 10% of CPUs perform better on average.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92 against all GPUs is similarly high, but the nearest rivals show interesting data points. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT has an average score that is 1.1% higher than the RTX 5090 D, despite being a mobile-class GPU. This anomaly suggests that the benchmark score is not directly correlated with gaming performance in To The Core, which is an Idle genre title that may not fully utilize the GPU's compute capabilities.

The RTX 5090 D's average benchmark score of 77712 is 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT and 2.1% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB. These rival comparisons indicate that the GPU's raw compute performance is not the primary driver of the combo's high ranking. Instead, the combination of the CPU's high boost clock and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth likely contribute to the strong in-game results.

The combo rank of 21 is particularly notable given that there are 3725 tested combinations. This means that only 20 other CPU-GPU pairings produce higher frame rates in To The Core. The data does not specify which combos rank higher, but the implication is that they likely feature even more powerful CPUs or GPUs, such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245, which has an average benchmark score 0.8% lower than the i5-14600KF.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF's role in To The Core is primarily to maintain high minimum frame rates and feed the GPU with draw calls. The CPU has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. The architecture is Raptor Lake-R, built on a 10 nm process, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory.

The CPU's single-core performance is critical for this Idle genre game, as it likely relies on a single main thread for game logic. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4594 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2445 indicate strong per-core performance. The boost clock of 5.30 GHz is among the highest for the Core 14th Gen series, which helps maintain consistent frame rates even when the game's logic thread is under load.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance is also relevant, as the Passmark multithread score of 38697 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 32544 show that the 20 threads can handle background tasks without interfering with the game. The Passmark data compression score of 485140 and integer math score of 125982 suggest that the CPU can handle asset decompression and game logic calculations efficiently.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 90 against all CPUs places it in the top 10% of all processors. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, has an average score that is 0.3% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G is 0.4% higher. These small deltas indicate that the i5-14600KF is competitive with higher-tier processors in synthetic benchmarks, but the in-game results are more dependent on the GPU.

At 1080p Low, the CPU limits the frame rate to 653 FPS. This is a direct indicator of the CPU's maximum draw call throughput in To The Core. The fact that the same CPU achieves 448 FPS at 1440p Low and 256 FPS at 4K Low shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient for the game's data requirements, and the 80 KB L1 cache per core reduces latency for frequently accessed data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates are as follows: Low settings produce 653 FPS, Medium produces 564 FPS (with a range of 479 to 648 FPS), High produces 489 FPS, and Ultra produces 393 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 39.8% reduction in frame rate, which is a moderate performance cost for the highest visual settings.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are: Low at 448 FPS, Medium at 379 FPS (with a range of 322 to 436 FPS), High at 329 FPS, and Ultra at 265 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs approximately 31.4% of the frame rate at Low settings, and 32.6% at High settings. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum FPS of 322, which is higher than the 4K High average, indicating that 1440p Medium is a very stable configuration.

At 3840x2160, the average frame rates are: Low at 256 FPS, Medium at 217 FPS (with a range of 184 to 249 FPS), High at 188 FPS, and Ultra at 151 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K costs approximately 42.9% of the frame rate at Low settings and 42.9% at High settings. The 4K Ultra preset at 151 FPS is the lowest measured average, but it still exceeds 144 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K displays.

The Medium settings are the only presets with complete min and max FPS data. At 1080p, the range is 479 to 648 FPS, which is a spread of 169 FPS. At 1440p, the range is 322 to 436 FPS, a spread of 114 FPS. At 4K, the range is 184 to 249 FPS, a spread of 65 FPS. The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame pacing, as the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck and its workload is more uniform.

The data shows that the frame rate scales nearly linearly with resolution for the Low preset: 653 (1080p), 448 (1440p), and 256 (4K). The ratios are approximately 1.46:1 between 1080p and 1440p, and 1.75:1 between 1440p and 4K. This is consistent with the pixel count ratios of 1.78:1 and 2.25:1, respectively, indicating that the GPU is the limiting factor at Low settings across all resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the dominant component in this combo for To The Core. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that the GPU can handle any texture or asset loading requirements at 4K. The GPU has 21760 shading units and 680 tensor cores, which are more than sufficient for this Idle genre game's rendering demands.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. The boost clock is relatively modest compared to other high-end GPUs, but the massive number of shading units compensates for the clock speed. The GPU's FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS, which is a theoretical maximum that the game is unlikely to fully utilize given its genre.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92 against all GPUs places it in the top 8% of all graphics cards. However, its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, which has an average score 1.1% higher. This suggests that the RTX 5090 D's raw compute performance is not the primary factor in its ranking. Instead, the GPU's memory bandwidth and capacity likely play a more significant role in To The Core.

The measured frame rates show that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, where the High preset produces 188 FPS. At 1440p High, the GPU produces 329 FPS, and at 1080p High, it produces 489 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is a 61.6% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent with the GPU's rendering workload increasing by a factor of 4x in pixel count.

The GPU's 176 ROPs and 680 TMUs provide ample pixel and texture throughput. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are more than sufficient for the game's visual effects. The 170 RT cores are not likely to be utilized in an Idle genre game, but their presence does not detract from performance.

The GPU's 5 nm process node from TSMC, with 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, represents a significant investment in parallel processing power. The 575 W TDP and suggested PSU of 950 W indicate that this is a power-hungry component, but the measured FPS data shows that this power is converted into high frame rates. The dual-slot design and 304 mm length are standard for this class of GPU, and the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the CPU to communicate with the GPU without bottlenecking.