To The Core

Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B370 presents a peculiar combination for To The Core, an idle game that typically does not stress high-end hardware. The benchmark data reveals a system where the CPU is overwhelmingly powerful relative to the GPU, yet the measured frame rates suggest the game’s engine imposes its own unique limits. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interpreting what the numbers indicate about the roles of each component in this specific title.

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

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution built on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process. Its integrated nature is critical to understanding its performance profile: it has no dedicated VRAM, instead relying on System Shared memory, with its bandwidth listed as System Dependent. This means the GPU’s ability to feed itself data is entirely contingent on the system’s main memory configuration, a factor that could introduce variability in performance depending on the RAM installed. The GPU’s base clock is a modest 300 MHz, boosting up to 2400 MHz. With 1280 shading units, 40 TMUs, and 20 ROPs, its theoretical pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. The FP32 compute is rated at 6.144 TFLOPS, placing it in a low-power tier, further emphasized by its 25 W TDP and IGP slot width.

Given this spec sheet, the GPU’s percentile rank of 5 among all tested GPUs is unsurprising. It is positioned at the very bottom of the performance spectrum, a fact corroborated by its nearest rivals. The benchmark data shows the Arc B370 scoring 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is nearly identical to the scores of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta). This puts it in the company of legacy discrete graphics cards from over a decade ago, indicating that its raw rendering power is very limited. In the context of To The Core, this GPU is likely the primary bottleneck for achieving higher frame rates, yet the data shows it still manages playable numbers at lower resolutions, suggesting the game is not exceptionally demanding on raw fill rate.

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

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales. At 1920x1080, the performance is generally smooth. With Low settings, the average FPS is 132. Moving to Medium drops the average to 112 (with a min of 95 and max of 129). High settings yield an average of 97 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 78 FPS. These numbers show a consistent, linear decline as graphical fidelity increases, indicating that at 1080p, the GPU is being progressively loaded but still manages to keep frame rates well above 60 FPS even at the highest preset.

At 2560x1440, the impact of the GPU’s limited power becomes more apparent. Low settings average 89 FPS, which drops to 75 FPS on Medium (min 64, max 87). High settings produce a 65 FPS average, while Ultra falls to 53 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, with the Ultra preset losing 25 FPS on average. This suggests that while the game still runs at acceptable levels on lower presets, the higher settings begin to strain the Arc B370 significantly.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the GPU is clearly overwhelmed. Low settings manage an average of 51 FPS. Medium drops to 43 FPS (min 37, max 50), High falls to 37 FPS, and Ultra averages just 30 FPS. The data shows that at 4K, even the lowest settings cannot maintain a solid 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset is borderline unplayable for smooth motion. This resolution is simply beyond the comfortable reach of this integrated GPU in this game, reinforcing its low percentile ranking. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a clear pattern of performance degradation that aligns with the GPU’s limited fill rate and memory bandwidth constraints.

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

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a desktop processor from the Core 14th Gen series, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It features 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its substantial cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 33 MB of L3 cache. This is a high-performance part with a TDP of 65 W, designed for heavy multitasking and demanding applications. Its benchmark scores are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a single-core score of 4958. Geekbench results show 19620 multi-core and 2429 single-core, and Passmark multi-thread score is 41317.

The CPU’s percentile rank of 91 among all CPUs indicates it is in the top tier of processors. Its nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the Intel Xeon 6505P (53701, -0.2% delta) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (53288, 0.6% delta), placing the i7-14700F in the same performance class as these high-end parts. Given this immense processing power, the CPU is almost certainly not a bottleneck in To The Core. The game is an "Idle" genre title, which typically has low computational demands. The data implies that the CPU has more than enough headroom to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, meaning the frame rates are dictated almost entirely by the GPU’s rendering capabilities. The i7-14700F’s high single-thread performance is particularly beneficial for games, ensuring that the main game thread is never a limiting factor.

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

The FPS scaling across resolutions provides a stark illustration of the system’s bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 132. When moving to 2560x1440, that number drops to 89 FPS, a reduction of 43 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 51 FPS, a further drop of 38 FPS from the 1440p result. This pattern holds across all settings. For instance, on High settings, the averages are 97 FPS at 1080p, 65 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K.

The performance decline is not linear with the pixel count increase. Moving from 1080p to 1440p increases the pixel count by roughly 1.8 times, yet the FPS drops by about 33%. From 1440p to 4K, the pixel count increases by 2.25 times, and the FPS drops by another 43%. This accelerating degradation is a classic sign of a GPU that is hitting its memory bandwidth or fill rate limits. The "System Shared" memory architecture means the GPU competes with the CPU for system memory bandwidth, and at higher resolutions, the demand for texture data and pixel shading increases dramatically, quickly saturating the available bandwidth. The data strongly suggests the Intel Arc B370 is the definitive limiting component. The CPU’s performance remains constant regardless of resolution, so the FPS changes are directly attributable to the GPU’s workload scaling.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the database of tested combinations for To The Core, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i7-14700F and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2750 out of 2991 total combos. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested systems, which is a surprisingly low position given the powerful CPU. The ranking is heavily skewed by the GPU’s poor performance. The combo’s rank is a direct reflection of the Arc B370’s 5th percentile standing among GPUs. While the i7-14700F is in the 91st percentile for CPUs, the overall system performance in this game is dragged down by the integrated graphics.

This ranking highlights a significant imbalance. The system is effectively a high-end CPU paired with a very low-end GPU, resulting in a combination that underperforms in graphics-intensive scenarios. The data implies that for To The Core, the GPU is the sole arbiter of the final frame rate, and its weak performance relegates this otherwise powerful system to the lower echelons of the benchmark charts. The rank of 2750 is a clear indicator that users with this combo should not expect high-refresh-rate experiences at high resolutions, as the GPU is simply not capable of delivering them.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play To The Core with this combo for a smooth 60 FPS experience?*

A: The data shows that at 1920x1080, all settings from Low to High achieve average FPS above 60, with Ultra at 78 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low (89 FPS) and Medium (75 FPS) settings stay above 60 FPS on average. Therefore, 1080p is the most reliable resolution for a consistent 60 FPS experience across all presets.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest rivals in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The Arc B370 scored 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. This is nearly identical to the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2% delta) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5% delta). It is also slightly ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% delta), indicating performance similar to a decade-old discrete GPU.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmarks are exceptionally high, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a 91st percentile rank. The measured FPS scaling across resolutions is consistent with a GPU bottleneck. As resolution increases, FPS drops significantly, which is a GPU limitation, not a CPU one.

Q: What happens to the FPS when going from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the average FPS is 97. At 2560x1440, it drops to 65 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average falls to 37 FPS. This represents a 60 FPS drop from 1080p to 4K, showing a severe performance penalty at higher resolutions.

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

A: This specific CPU and GPU combination ranks 2750 out of 2991 tested combos. This places it in the bottom portion of all systems tested, primarily due to the low performance of the Intel Arc B370 integrated graphics.

Q: Which settings preset at 2560x1440 provides the best balance of performance and quality?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 75 FPS with a minimum of 64 FPS. This is the highest quality preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS. The High preset at 65 FPS is also playable, but the Medium preset’s minimum FPS is more comfortable for avoiding dips below 60.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the user’s target resolution and refresh rate. The data shows that this system is best suited for 1080p gaming, where it can handle even the most demanding preset. For users with a standard 60 Hz monitor, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080, averaging 78 FPS, provides the best visual fidelity while remaining comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. For those with a 144 Hz display, the Low preset at 132 FPS or the Medium preset at 112 FPS would be the better choices to exploit the higher refresh rate, though the visual quality difference is substantial.

At 2560x1440, the situation becomes more constrained. The Medium preset, with an average of 75 FPS and a minimum of 64 FPS, offers the highest visual quality while ensuring that the frame rate rarely dips below 60. The Low preset at 89 FPS is also a viable option for a smoother experience, but it sacrifices graphical detail. The High preset at 65 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 53 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the data indicates that this combo is not suitable for high-quality gaming. The Low preset at 51 FPS is the only setting that approaches playability, but even it fails to reach a solid 60 FPS. Users are advised to avoid 4K resolution with this pair, as the GPU’s performance constraints make it a poor experience regardless of settings.