To The Core

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces a combo that ranks in the 86th percentile of all tested configurations in To The Core, landing at 240th out of 1756 combos. This is a remarkably strong showing for a CPU that sits at the 50th percentile of all processors, revealing that the game's idle genre mechanics place the overwhelming burden on the GPU. The benchmark data confirms that this pairing delivers exceptional frame rates across all resolutions, with the RTX 4090's raw compute power dominating the workload, though the aging six-core CPU does create a measurable ceiling at lower resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations in To The Core?*

A: The combo ranks 240th out of 1756 tested combos, placing it in the top 13.7% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though it does not crack the top 200, which suggests that some higher-end CPU pairings do push slightly ahead.

Q: What is the best average FPS achievable with this setup at 1080p?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 372.6, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 309.8 at Ultra settings, showing a 16.8% performance hit from the highest to lowest preset at that resolution.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far beyond what To The Core requires, as the game is an idle title that does not stress memory capacity. The 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth, however, contributes to the consistently high frame rates observed across all settings.

Q: How much FPS does the combo lose when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 332.9 at 1920x1080 to 173.2 at 3840x2160, a 48% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 372.6 to 232.8, a 37.5% reduction.

Q: What is the CPU's benchmark standing compared to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-1125G4. It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6%.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance consistent with its overall GPU ranking?

A: The RTX 4090 sits at the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its performance here is consistent with that standing, delivering 173.2 FPS at 4K High, which is far above playable thresholds.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 240 out of 1756 places this pairing firmly in the upper echelon of tested systems for To The Core, but it is not at the very top. The data suggests that roughly 13.7% of tested combos outperform it, which is notable given the RTX 4090's position at the 91st GPU percentile. This gap indicates that the i5-9400, despite its 50th CPU percentile standing, is the limiting factor in pushing the combo higher up the leaderboard.

The CPU's benchmark scores tell a clear story: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125 place it in the middle of the pack. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% ahead) and the Intel Core i7-8809G (0.6% behind), show that the i5-9400 is competitive within its own segment, but it simply lacks the headroom of modern flagship CPUs. In a game like To The Core, where the GPU does the heavy lifting, this combo still achieves excellent results, but the rank shows that CPU-bound scenarios do exist.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark data confirms its outsize role. With 16,384 shading units, 512 tensor cores, and 128 RT cores, the GPU delivers an FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. Its base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz provide the raw speed needed to maintain high frame rates, while the 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus offers a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s.

In To The Core, the GPU's role is unmistakable. At 4K Ultra, the combo still manages 142.2 FPS, which reflects the RTX 4090's power. The GPU's average benchmark score of 66473 places it at the 91st percentile, and its nearest rivals—such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (0.4% behind) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (0.9% ahead)—pale in comparison for gaming workloads. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is never the bottleneck in this game, even at 4K with the most demanding settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data shows a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 372.6 FPS on Low, 350.6 FPS on Medium, 332.9 FPS on High, and 309.8 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop to 326.6 FPS (Low), 308.6 FPS (Medium), 292.2 FPS (High), and 243.5 FPS (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the performance falls further to 232.8 FPS (Low), 201.2 FPS (Medium), 173.2 FPS (High), and 142.2 FPS (Ultra).

The spread between Low and Ultra settings is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the gap is 62.8 FPS (372.6 vs 309.8), which widens slightly to 83.1 FPS at 1440p (326.6 vs 243.5) and peaks at 90.6 FPS at 4K (232.8 vs 142.2). This widening gap suggests that the GPU's workload increases disproportionately with resolution, but even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the RTX 4090 is never fully strained.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers 372.6 FPS, which is the absolute maximum performance this combo can produce. However, the data shows that the Ultra preset at 1080p still achieves 309.8 FPS, a 16.8% reduction that is barely perceptible in an idle game where visual fidelity matters more. At 1440p, the High preset at 292.2 FPS offers a balanced experience, while the Ultra preset at 243.5 FPS remains exceptionally smooth.

Given that the game is an idle title, the recommendation is to prioritize visual quality. The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 (243.5 FPS) provides a superior visual experience with no risk of frame drops, and even at 4K Ultra (142.2 FPS), the performance is far beyond what any display can refresh. The data strongly suggests that players should default to the highest settings at their native resolution, as the RTX 4090 has ample headroom to spare.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It features 9 MB of shared L3 cache and a dual-channel DDR4 memory interface with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. Its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, place it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305.

In To The Core, the CPU's role is secondary but not negligible. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates are exceptionally high, but the CPU's limitations become apparent when comparing the combo's rank. The i5-9400's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% ahead) and the Intel Xeon E-2134 (0.4% ahead), show that it is neither a standout nor a laggard. The CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at 4K, where the RTX 4090 is the clear driver of performance, but at 1080p, the six cores may be holding back the full potential of the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 332.9 at 1080p to 292.2 at 1440p (a 12.2% reduction) and then to 173.2 at 4K (a 48% reduction from 1080p). At Low settings, the drop is from 372.6 at 1080p to 326.6 at 1440p (a 12.3% reduction) and then to 232.8 at 4K (a 37.5% reduction).

The pattern is telling: the performance hit from 1080p to 1440p is relatively modest across all settings, but the jump to 4K causes a dramatic decline. This indicates that the GPU is the primary driver at higher resolutions, as the RTX 4090's workload increases with pixel count. However, the fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop is so consistent (around 12%) suggests that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately at these resolutions. The larger 4K drop is a clear sign of GPU-bound behavior, confirming that the i5-9400 is not the limiting factor at the highest resolution, but rather that the RTX 4090 is being pushed to its limits.