To The Core

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 produces a playable but not exceptional experience in To The Core, with the benchmark data clearly indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The combo ranks in the 1682nd position out of 1756 tested combinations, placing it in the lower percentile of systems, yet the measured frame rates show that the hardware remains viable for the game’s idle genre at mainstream settings.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a steep performance curve that is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 90.3 FPS, but this drops to 64.1 FPS at 1440p and further to 38.7 FPS at 4K. That represents a 57% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a substantial penalty that underscores the RX 570's 4 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth being pushed to their limits.

The Low settings preset tells a more interesting story about the scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 126 FPS, which falls to 83.8 FPS at 1440p and 47.1 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 44%. This nonlinear degradation suggests that while the CPU (with 6 cores and 6 threads running at a 4.10 GHz boost) can maintain high throughput at lower resolutions, the GPU’s pixel fill rate of 39.81 GPixel/s becomes the limiting factor as pixel count multiplies.

Ultra settings magnify the resolution penalty even further. The system manages 74.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra, but this collapses to 49.5 FPS at 1440p and a marginal 30.2 FPS at 4K Ultra. The 1440p to 4K drop of 39% is notably steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop of 34%, indicating that the RX 570’s 32 ROPs and 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are insufficient for the pixel workload at 4K, regardless of the preset chosen.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570, built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, carries a 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer on a 256-bit bus. Its memory clock runs at 1750 MHz with 7 Gbps effective speed, yielding 224.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications directly influence the measured results: at 4K Ultra, the system averages only 30.2 FPS, a figure that sits below the generally accepted 60 FPS threshold, and the 4 GB capacity likely causes texture thrashing in higher-detail scenarios.

The GPU’s base clock is 1168 MHz with a boost of 1244 MHz, and it offers 2048 shading units alongside 128 TMUs. The texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s appears adequate for the idle genre’s visual style, but the pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s creates a clear ceiling. Benchmark results indicate that the GPU’s average benchmark score is 30158, placing it at the 74th percentile of all GPUs, yet its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (with a deltaPct of 0.2) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (also 0.2), which suggests the RX 570 is competitive in synthetic tests but not in raw 4K gaming.

The 150 W TDP and the 1x 6-pin power connector are modest, but the real constraint is the 4 GB memory. At 1080p, the frame rates are respectable—126 FPS on Low—but the scaling to 4K shows that the memory bus width of 256 bits cannot compensate for the capacity limitation. The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck across all presets at 4K, with the gap between Low (47.1 FPS) and Ultra (30.2 FPS) being 36%, which is a smaller spread than at lower resolutions where the CPU has more headroom.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, delivering 69.5 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS and represents a 35% improvement over High settings at the same resolution. However, for users prioritizing smoothness, Low settings at 1080p are the clear winner with 126 FPS, which is more than double the frame rate of 4K Ultra.

At 4K, the data suggests avoiding Ultra entirely—30.2 FPS is borderline unplayable for any genre, even an idle game. High settings at 4K produce 38.7 FPS, which is playable but not ideal, while Low settings at 4K yield 47.1 FPS, making it the only 4K preset that approaches a playable range. Given that the game is an idle title, the recommendation is to run at 1440p Medium (69.5 FPS) as the primary choice, with 1080p High (90.3 FPS) as a fallback if visual fidelity is preferred over resolution.

The Ultra preset is the worst performer relative to its cost: at 1080p it delivers 74.5 FPS, which is 19% slower than High and 33% slower than Low. The data indicates that Ultra settings provide diminishing returns, likely due to the 4 GB VRAM being fully utilized. For the majority of users, Medium or High at 1440p offers the best measured experience without sacrificing the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings average 126 FPS, Medium averages 110.4 FPS, High averages 90.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 74.5 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 51.5 FPS, or 41%, indicating that the GPU can handle the resolution but the settings scaling is significant.

At 2560x1440, the numbers drop noticeably. Low averages 83.8 FPS, Medium averages 69.5 FPS, High averages 64.1 FPS, and Ultra averages 49.5 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 34.3 FPS, or 41%, matching the 1080p percentage drop. This suggests the GPU is still the primary limiter, with the 4 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth being the key constraints.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles across the board. Low averages 47.1 FPS, Medium averages 44 FPS, High averages 38.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 30.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is only 3.1 FPS, while the gap from Medium to High is 5.3 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 8.5 FPS. This widening gap at higher settings indicates that the GPU’s shading units and ROPs are overwhelmed, with the pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s being the hard ceiling.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60 FPS?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium produces 69.5 FPS, and 1080p High produces 90.3 FPS. Both are above 60 FPS, but 1440p Ultra (49.5 FPS) and 4K High (38.7 FPS) fall below that threshold.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the system averages 126 FPS, while at 4K Low it averages 47.1 FPS. This represents a 63% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the GPU’s inability to handle the pixel count at 4K.

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

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially at 1440p and 4K. The CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads with a 4.10 GHz boost clock are sufficient for the idle genre, as evidenced by the 126 FPS at 1080p Low, but the RX 570’s 4 GB VRAM and 39.81 GPixel/s pixel rate cap performance at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Medium averages 69.5 FPS, while Ultra averages 49.5 FPS. The difference is 20 FPS, or 29%, which is a significant penalty for the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the 4 GB VRAM affect performance at 4K?

A: Yes, the data suggests so. At 4K Ultra, the system produces only 30.2 FPS, and moving from High (38.7 FPS) to Ultra (30.2 FPS) costs 22% performance. The 4 GB frame buffer is likely being exceeded, causing the steep drop.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1682nd out of 1756 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 4% of systems. Despite this, it can achieve 126 FPS at 1080p Low, showing that the game is not demanding at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost of 4.10 GHz. Its L3 cache is 9 MB shared, and it supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU’s benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, placing it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of To The Core, the CPU is not the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 126 FPS, which indicates that the 6-thread processor can feed the GPU adequately. However, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 2305 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, deltaPct 0.2) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, deltaPct 0.2)—suggesting that it is a mid-range part that matches entry-level alternatives.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent when looking at the scaling behavior. From 1080p Medium (110.4 FPS) to 1440p Medium (69.5 FPS), the drop is 37%, which is less than the 41% drop seen from 1080p Low to 1440p Low. This suggests that at Medium settings, the CPU has more headroom to maintain frame times, but at 4K, the GPU’s limitations dominate, and the CPU’s 65 W TDP and 6 threads are not the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 570 combination ranks 1682nd out of 1756 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the bottom 5% of all systems. This low ranking is driven by the GPU’s 74th percentile score (30158) being offset by the CPU’s 50th percentile score (2305). The GPU’s nearest rivals—the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097, deltaPct 0.2)—show that the RX 570 is competitive in synthetic benchmarks, but the measured FPS tells a different story.

The combo’s performance is adequate for 1080p gaming, with 90.3 FPS at High and 110.4 FPS at Medium, but it falls short at 1440p and 4K. The rank of 1682 out of 1756 means that 74 other combos perform worse, which is surprising given the older hardware. The data indicates that To The Core is not a demanding title, and this combo can handle it at mainstream settings, but it cannot compete with modern systems that achieve higher frame rates at 4K Ultra. The 4 GB VRAM is the weakest link, as evidenced by the 30.2 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is the lowest recorded figure in the dataset.