To The Core

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 delivers a formidable 1080p experience in To The Core, but the data reveals a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 313 FPS, while High settings still yield 229 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at this resolution shows a drop of 128 FPS, indicating that the GPU is being pushed harder as settings increase. Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS at Low settings falls to 210, and at High it settles at 154. The most significant change appears at 3840x2160, where the High preset averages 88 FPS and Ultra drops to 71 FPS. This pattern suggests that while the i7-12700KF has ample headroom to feed frames at lower resolutions, the RTX 4060 becomes the limiting factor as pixel count and graphical load increase. The benchmark results indicate a system that excels in high-refresh 1080p gaming but transitions to a more balanced configuration at 1440p, where the GPU's capabilities are more fully utilized.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for To The Core shows a consistent and predictable decline in performance as resolution increases, but the rate of decline varies significantly depending on the preset. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a drop from 313 FPS to 210 FPS, a reduction of 103 FPS. The subsequent move from 1440p to 4K at Low settings brings the average down to 120 FPS, a further 90 FPS decrease. This indicates that at Low settings, the system is heavily CPU-bound at 1080p, with the i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads capable of driving very high frame rates. The GPU begins to take on more responsibility as resolution scales, but even at 4K Low, the 120 FPS average shows the RTX 4060 is still not fully saturated.

With the High preset, the scaling pattern shifts. At 1080p, the average is 229 FPS, which drops to 154 FPS at 1440p (a 75 FPS decrease) and then to 88 FPS at 4K (a 66 FPS decrease). The more gradual decline between 1440p and 4K compared to the 1080p-to-1440p step suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions. The Ultra preset confirms this trend: 185 FPS at 1080p, 124 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. The frame rate at 4K Ultra is roughly 38% of the 1080p Ultra figure, highlighting the heavy burden placed on the GPU. The data shows that the RTX 4060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the pixel throughput and memory bandwidth become limiting factors, particularly at higher settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in To The Core?*

A: The highest average FPS is 313, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 perform at 4K resolution with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo produces an average of 102 FPS, with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p with Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the 313 FPS average strongly suggests the Intel Core i7-12700KF is the limiting component, as the GPU is not being fully utilized at such high frame rates.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 154 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 124 FPS, a difference of 30 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 4060 show any signs of VRAM limitations in this game?

A: The data shows a significant drop in performance at 4K Ultra (71 FPS) compared to 4K High (88 FPS), which may indicate the 8 GB VRAM is being stressed, though the benchmark does not explicitly report VRAM usage.

*Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested combinations in To The Core?*

A: The combo ranks 2004 out of 3725 tested combinations, placing it in the middle tier of the database for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node, plays a critical role in the measured results. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 272.0 GB/s, which is a key factor in the game's performance at higher resolutions. The GPU's base clock is 1830 MHz, with a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and it contains 3072 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs. The benchmark results show that the RTX 4060's capabilities are well-matched to 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the combination of pixel rate (118.1 GPixel/s) and texture rate (236.2 GTexel/s) becomes insufficient to maintain high frame rates on the more demanding presets.

The data indicates that the GPU's 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is adequate for the game's idle genre, which likely does not feature complex 3D rendering. However, the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent performance penalty that aligns with the GPU's memory bandwidth constraints. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 102, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 71, a 30% reduction. This decline is more pronounced than the 1440p to 1080p scaling, suggesting that the GPU's 8 GB memory capacity is a limiting factor at 2160p. The RTX 4060's 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present, but for an idle game like To The Core, their impact on the measured results is likely minimal compared to raw rasterization throughput.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance. Low settings produce an average of 313 FPS, while Medium settings yield 265 FPS with a minimum of 225 FPS and a maximum of 304 FPS. High settings average 229 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 185 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 128 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom even at the highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease across all presets. Low settings average 210 FPS, Medium averages 178 FPS (min 151, max 205), High averages 154 FPS, and Ultra averages 124 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 86 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming more relevant. At this resolution, the RTX 4060 still provides a smooth experience, with even the Ultra preset staying above 120 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become apparent. Low settings average 120 FPS, Medium averages 102 FPS (min 87, max 117), High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 49 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at lower resolutions, but the absolute frame rates are considerably lower. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 87 FPS, which is still playable, but the Ultra preset's 71 FPS average suggests that users seeking maximum visual fidelity will need to accept lower frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and performance priorities. At 1920x1080, the High preset offers an excellent balance, delivering 229 FPS while providing a significant visual upgrade over Low settings. The Ultra preset at 1080p still maintains a high 185 FPS, so users with high-refresh monitors may prefer it despite the 44 FPS penalty compared to High. For those seeking the absolute highest frame rates, Low settings at 1080p provide 313 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended choice, as its 154 FPS average is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found in gaming monitors. The Medium preset at 178 FPS is also viable for users who prioritize frame rate, while Ultra at 124 FPS remains playable. The data shows that the step from High to Ultra at 1440p costs 30 FPS, which may not be worth the visual gains for competitive play.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the best option, with an average of 102 FPS and a minimum of 87 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining reasonable visual quality. The High preset at 88 FPS is still playable, but the Ultra preset's 71 FPS average may cause noticeable stuttering on displays with higher refresh rates. For 4K gaming, the data suggests that Medium settings offer the best trade-off between visual fidelity and performance, as the GPU's 8 GB memory is not sufficient to handle the Ultra preset at this resolution without significant frame rate drops.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, provides substantial processing power for To The Core. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, combined with 25 MB of shared L3 cache, ensure that the CPU is rarely the limiting factor at lower resolutions. The benchmark data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 313 FPS, which is likely near the upper limit of what the game engine can produce. The CPU's 3DMark scores, including a max-threads score of 9983 and a single-thread score of 1043, indicate strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

However, the CPU's role diminishes as resolution increases. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the i7-12700KF's performance is less critical. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071 show that it is well-equipped to handle any CPU-bound scenarios, but the game's idle genre likely does not stress the processor heavily. The data shows that the CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35365, places it as a high-end processor that can support future GPU upgrades without becoming a bottleneck. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, scores 35403, a delta of -0.1%, indicating near-identical performance.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for To The Core, this pairing of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 ranks 2004 out of 3725 total combos. This places it in the 54th percentile of all tested systems, indicating a mid-tier performance level for this specific game. The ranking is influenced by the game's genre, as To The Core is an idle game that may not require the full capabilities of either component. The GPU's 61st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17639, is lower than the CPU's 85th percentile, suggesting that the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing.

The RTX 4060's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790, which scores 17666 (a delta of -0.2%), and the AMD Radeon 780M, which scores 17588 (a delta of 0.3%). These close deltas indicate that the RTX 4060's performance is tightly clustered with these other options in synthetic benchmarks. However, in To The Core, the measured FPS data shows that the combo is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and playable rates at 1440p, but struggles at 4K with the highest presets. The ranking of 2004 suggests that while this combo is not at the top of the charts, it is perfectly adequate for the game's requirements, and the data indicates that users can expect a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p with appropriate settings adjustments.