To The Core

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 pairing in To The Core presents a study in asymmetrical performance. The CPU, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part from 2018, has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its architecture and 14 nm process node are older, but its benchmark percentile (47th among all CPUs) suggests it is a middling performer in the broader landscape. The GPU, however, is a modern Blackwell 2.0 chip on a 5 nm process, with a 2317 MHz base clock and a 2572 MHz boost clock. This generation gap is crucial for interpreting the measured FPS data, as the results show a clear split between resolutions where the CPU handles the load and those where the GPU takes over.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The i5-9400 provides six physical cores and six threads, which was a standard configuration for its time. With a 9 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support, its compute capabilities are defined by its relatively modest single-core and multi-core scores: 935 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 6629 in multi-core. The data indicates this CPU is not a top-tier performer, ranking at the 47th percentile. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (with an average score just 0.2% higher) and the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% lower), showing that the i5-9400 sits in a tightly contested performance band.

In To The Core, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between the Low and Ultra settings is massive, but even the lowest average FPS of 164 (Ultra) is well above what would be considered playable on modern displays. The game is an Idle genre title, which typically does not stress a CPU with complex AI or physics simulations. However, the data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is keeping up but not necessarily bottlenecking, as the GPU is able to produce very high frame rates. The 6-thread limitation could be a factor in frame pacing, but with no min FPS data for most 1080p settings, we cannot confirm any stutter from the numbers alone.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status are worth noting for context. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is a single-core figure, and in a game like this, it is likely that one or two cores are doing most of the work. The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 392 is modest, which might explain why the CPU does not hold back the GPU at 1440p as much as one might expect. The data shows that at 1440p, the FPS drops are consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, implying the CPU has enough headroom to feed the RTX 5050 at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on settings presets. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 204 FPS, while Medium gives 235 FPS and Low gives 278 FPS. The Ultra preset, at 164 FPS, is still extremely smooth. The question is whether the visual fidelity gain from Ultra is worth the 40 FPS drop from High. The data shows that Medium, with a min FPS of 200, is the most balanced choice for 1080p, as it offers a significant boost over High (31 FPS higher) while maintaining a high minimum frame rate. Low is excessive for most monitors, but it is there for competitive play or very high refresh rate displays.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. High delivers 137 FPS, Medium 158 FPS, and Ultra 110 FPS. The Medium preset again emerges as the sweet spot, with a min FPS of 134 that guarantees smoothness. The Low preset at 187 FPS is overkill, and the gap between Medium and High is 21 FPS, which is noticeable but not critical. The Ultra preset at 110 FPS is playable but begins to approach the threshold where frame drops might be noticeable on a 144Hz panel.

At 4K, the recommendations change drastically. The High preset yields 78 FPS, Medium 90 FPS, and Ultra 63 FPS. The Low preset is 107 FPS. Here, the Medium preset is the best experience, as it provides a 12 FPS advantage over High and a 27 FPS advantage over Ultra, while staying above the 60 FPS baseline. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is technically playable, but the margin for error is thin. The data suggests that for 4K, users should prioritize Medium or High, not Ultra, to maintain a comfortable frame rate.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions is illustrative of where the bottleneck lies. Starting with the High preset: 204 FPS at 1080p, 137 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. This is a drop of 33% from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% from 1440p to 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 62%. This pattern, where the FPS halves from 1080p to 4K, is classic GPU-bound behavior. The CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions; the GPU’s rendering workload is.

For the Low preset, the numbers are 278 FPS (1080p), 187 FPS (1440p), and 107 FPS (4K). The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33%, and from 1440p to 4K is 43%. The absolute FPS at 1080p Low (278) is so high that it suggests the CPU is nearing its limit, but the GPU is still the primary driver of performance. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller drop from 1080p to 1440p, as the CPU load would remain constant. Instead, we see a consistent scaling that points to the GPU being the dominant constraint.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 235 FPS (1080p), 158 FPS (1440p), and 90 FPS (4K). The 4K result is the only one with min/max data, showing a min of 77 and max of 104. This variance is higher than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is working harder and its performance is less consistent. The data implies that at 4K, the RTX 5050 is the clear limiting component, and the i5-9400’s role is secondary. The CPU’s 6 cores are sufficient to feed the GPU at 4K, as the frame rate is entirely dictated by the GPU’s pixel throughput.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p with the Medium preset offers the best balance, with 158 FPS average and a 134 FPS minimum. This provides high smoothness without the excessive frame rates of 1080p.

Q: Is the RTX 5050 the bottleneck at 4K?

A: Yes. The FPS drops from 107 (Low) to 63 (Ultra) at 4K, and the scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU’s performance is sufficient at 4K, as the frame rate is tied to the GPU’s rendering load.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The data shows it is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% lower average score) and the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% higher). It is also 0.4% slower than the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i3-10305.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever the right choice?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, Ultra yields 164 FPS and 110 FPS respectively, which are playable. However, the Medium preset provides a substantial FPS boost with a minor visual penalty, making Ultra a poor trade-off on this hardware.

Q: What does the combo’s rank of 1807 out of 2991 mean?

A: It indicates that this specific CPU-GPU pairing is in the 60th percentile of all tested combos in To The Core. It is not a top-tier setup, but it performs above the median for this game.

Q: Does the CPU hold back the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests it does not. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 278 FPS, which is a very high frame rate. If the CPU were the primary bottleneck, we would expect to see a plateau at lower FPS values across all settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is a key player in this combo. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2572 MHz, and it features 2560 shading units. The GPU’s 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and its 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicate it is a capable mid-range part. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% lower), showing the RTX 5050 is in a competitive tier.

In To The Core, the GPU’s role is to handle the visual effects and resolution scaling. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rates (63-107 FPS) are significantly lower than at 1080p. The 8 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this title, which is an Idle game and not known for massive texture packs. The 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are present, but their impact on this game is unclear from the data alone; the game may or may not use ray tracing or DLSS features.

The GPU’s memory clock of 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) and its 128-bit bus width are modest, but the 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is enough for 1080p and 1440p. The measured FPS at 1080p High (204) suggests the GPU is not struggling at that resolution. The Passmark G3D score of 17326 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 provide synthetic benchmarks, but the real-world data from To The Core shows a GPU that can handle 1440p easily but begins to show its limits at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete measured FPS dataset is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 278 FPS. The Medium preset averages 235 FPS, with a min of 200 and max of 270. High averages 204 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 164 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the RTX 5050 is never stressed, and the i5-9400 is able to keep the frame rate high.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 187 FPS. Medium averages 158 FPS, with a min of 134 and max of 182. High averages 137 FPS. Ultra averages 110 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all settings, with a drop of roughly 33-35%. This indicates a balanced workload where both components are scaling as expected.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 107 FPS. Medium averages 90 FPS, with a min of 77 and max of 104. High averages 78 FPS. Ultra averages 63 FPS. Here, the drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe, at 43% for most settings. The Ultra preset at 63 FPS is the lowest measured value, and the Medium preset’s min FPS of 77 shows that even the best 4K setting can dip into the 70s, which is a noticeable variation from the 90 FPS average.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the most consistent across all resolutions, offering a good balance of average and minimum FPS. The Low preset is only useful for achieving the highest possible frame rates, which is rarely necessary. The High and Ultra presets show diminishing returns, with Ultra providing a marginal visual boost at a significant FPS cost.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1807 out of 2991 tested combinations in To The Core. This places it in the 60th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 60% of all tested setups but is behind 40% of them. This is a solid mid-pack ranking, consistent with the individual components’ percentiles (47th for the CPU and 66th for the GPU).

The rank suggests that while this combo is not a high-end powerhouse, it is far from a weak pairing. The CPU’s lower percentile is offset by the GPU’s higher percentile, and the measured FPS data confirms that the combo is able to deliver smooth gameplay at 1080p and 1440p. The 4K performance is adequate, but not exceptional. The ranking implies that in To The Core, this setup is a dependable choice for 1080p/1440p gaming, but users with 4K monitors will need to compromise on settings to maintain high frame rates.

The gap between the combo’s rank and the individual component percentiles is notable. The CPU is in the 47th percentile, while the GPU is in the 66th. The combo’s 60th percentile rank suggests that the GPU’s strengths are being utilized effectively, but the CPU’s limitations are not severely hampering the overall experience. This is likely because To The Core is not a CPU-intensive game, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. The data indicates that this combo is a balanced pairing for this title, with the GPU being the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions.