To The Core

To The Core pairs an Intel Core i7-14700F with an Intel Arc B570, producing a measured dataset that spans three resolutions and four quality presets. This combination ranks 2380 out of 2991 tested combos in the game, placing it in the lower third of the database. The data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain high refresh rates at 4K, particularly under Ultra settings. The Arc B570’s 10 GB of GDDR6 memory and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth appear sufficient for this idle game’s demands, while the i7-14700F’s 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial headroom. The following analysis breaks down the measured FPS, resolution scaling, and component roles using only the provided figures.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings is 225. This is the highest frame rate recorded across all tested configurations in the dataset.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2380 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This places it in the 79th percentile position from the bottom, meaning roughly 611 combos performed worse.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded in the dataset?

A: The lowest average FPS is 51, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration that drops below 60 FPS average.

Q: Does the GPU have more or fewer shading units than is typical?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It also includes 18 ray tracing cores. These are the exact specifications provided in the fact pack.

Q: What is the boost clock of the CPU?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700F has a boost clock of 5.40 GHz and a base clock of 2.10 GHz. The chip has a TDP of 65 watts and uses the Intel Socket 1700.

Q: Which resolution shows the largest gap between Low and Ultra average FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, the gap between Low (87 FPS) and Ultra (51 FPS) is 36 FPS. At 2560x1440, the gap is 63 FPS (152 to 89), and at 1920x1080, the gap is 92 FPS (225 to 133).

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570’s role in To The Core is defined by its memory configuration and clock speeds. It carries 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, yielding 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 2375 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective. These figures appear adequate for the game’s demands, as the highest measured average FPS reaches 225 at 1080p Low, suggesting the GPU is not bottlenecked by memory transfer rates at lower resolutions. The GPU’s base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, a parity that simplifies performance prediction. Pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s. These rates contribute to the GPU’s ability to push frames at 1440p, where the Medium preset averages 128 FPS.

The Arc B570’s compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS FP32 and 23.04 TFLOPS FP16 (2:1). These specifications support the GPU’s passmark G3D score of 14195, which places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (avg score 20534, deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Arc A750 (avg score 20582, deltaPct -0.1). The B570’s avg benchmark score of 20556 sits nearly equidistant between these two, indicating a performance class that is competitive with mid-range mobile and previous desktop offerings. In To The Core, the GPU’s 10 GB memory capacity likely prevents any spillover issues, as the game is an idle genre title with modest texture requirements. The measured FPS at 4K High (64 FPS average) suggests the GPU handles higher resolutions but with diminishing returns as settings increase.

The GPU’s process node is 5 nm from TSMC, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. Its transistor density of 72.1M per mm² indicates a dense design. The Arc B570 uses a PCIe 4.0 x8 bus interface, which may limit data transfer compared to x16 slots, yet the measured results show no obvious starvation at 1080p. The GPU’s dual-slot design and 150 W TDP suggest it requires adequate cooling, but no temperature data is available. The passmark DirectX 11 score of 118 and DirectX 12 score of 72 provide context for API performance, though To The Core’s actual API usage is not specified. The GPU’s support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4 ensures broad compatibility. Overall, the GPU appears to be the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 51, but this is expected given the resolution and settings load.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700F + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2380 out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core. This rank places it in the lower 20% of the database, which is surprising given the CPU’s high percentile standing. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 91, meaning it outperforms 91% of all CPUs in the database. However, the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 65, indicating it is a more average performer. This discrepancy suggests the GPU is the primary constraint on the combo’s ranking. The rank of 2380 implies that 611 combos perform worse, which is a significant number but still leaves this combo in the lower third.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon 6505P (avg score 53701, deltaPct -0.2), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (avg score 53469, deltaPct 0.3), AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (avg score 53288, deltaPct 0.6), and AMD EPYC 7313P (avg score 53206, deltaPct 0.8). The i7-14700F’s avg benchmark score is 53620, which is within 0.8% of these rivals. This places the CPU in a strong position for gaming workloads, but the combo’s rank in To The Core is dragged down by the GPU. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the RTX 3070 Mobile (deltaPct 0.1) and Arc A750 (deltaPct -0.1), showing the B570 is competitive with those parts. Yet in this game, the combo’s rank suggests that either the game is not well-optimized for this GPU architecture or the GPU is simply underpowered relative to the CPU.

The combo’s rank of 2380 out of 2991 means it falls in the 79.6th percentile from the top, or the 20.4th percentile from the bottom. This is a low ranking for a system with a top-tier CPU, indicating that the GPU’s performance in To The Core is below what the CPU can support. The data implies that if the GPU were swapped for a higher-performing part, the combo’s rank would likely rise significantly. However, without additional GPU data, this remains speculative. The rank also suggests that many combos with weaker CPUs but stronger GPUs outperform this combination in this specific game, which is plausible given the idle genre’s potentially low CPU utilization. The benchmark results indicate that the Arc B570 is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s synthetic scores are far above the GPU’s relative standing.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS ranges from 225 (Low) to 133 (Ultra). The Medium preset averages 191 FPS, with a minimum of 162 and a maximum of 219. High averages 165 FPS. These numbers show that the combo can easily drive 1080p displays at high refresh rates, even at Ultra settings. The gap between Low and Ultra is 92 FPS, which is substantial but still leaves Ultra well above 60 FPS. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 162 indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate rarely dips below 162, providing a smooth experience. High at 165 FPS is slightly lower than Medium, which is counterintuitive but reflects the settings’ specific workloads.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops but remains playable. Low averages 152 FPS, Medium 128 FPS (min 109, max 147), High 111 FPS, and Ultra 89 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 63 FPS. At 1440p, the combo still delivers above 60 FPS for all presets, with Ultra being the only one below 100 FPS. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 109 suggests that even in the worst-case scenes, the frame rate stays above 100, which is excellent for smooth gameplay. High at 111 FPS is close to Medium, indicating that the settings’ differences are less impactful at this resolution. The data shows a clear scaling trend: as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more stressed, but the CPU has enough headroom to keep frame rates high.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 87 (Low) to 51 (Ultra). Medium averages 73 FPS (min 62, max 84), and High averages 64 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 36 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium remain above 60 FPS average. High at 64 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 51 FPS drops below it. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 62 indicates that even in the worst-case scenes, the frame rate stays above 60, providing a consistent experience. However, High and Ultra do not have min FPS data, so it is unclear how low they might dip. The 4K results reveal that the combo’s GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance is unlikely to change with resolution. The data suggests that 4K gaming is possible but requires lowering settings to Medium for a comfortable experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is significant across all settings. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 225 at 1080p to 152 at 1440p (a 32.4% drop) and then to 87 at 4K (a 42.8% drop from 1440p). At Medium, the drop is from 191 to 128 (33.0%) and then to 73 (43.0%). At High, it goes from 165 to 111 (32.7%) and then to 64 (42.3%). At Ultra, it falls from 133 to 89 (33.1%) and then to 51 (42.7%). These percentages show a consistent pattern: the drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly one-third, and the drop from 1440p to 4K is roughly 43%. This indicates that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with pixel count, as the number of pixels quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the FPS does not quarter—it drops by about 60-65% total.

The fact that the FPS does not halve when pixel count quadruples suggests that the bottleneck is not purely pixel-fill-rate limited. The GPU’s pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s provide the theoretical limits. At 1080p, the GPU is likely underutilized, as the CPU can feed frames quickly. At 4K, the GPU becomes more saturated, but the FPS drop is less than proportional to the pixel increase, implying that other factors like memory bandwidth (380.0 GB/s) or shader complexity play a role. The consistent scaling across settings suggests that the GPU’s architecture handles resolution changes efficiently, but the absolute values at 4K are low for high refresh rate monitors.

The resolution scaling also indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain flat across resolutions, but the data shows significant drops. Therefore, the GPU is the primary constraint at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, the CPU might still be able to push higher FPS if the GPU were faster, but the measured 225 FPS at Low suggests a ceiling that could be either CPU or GPU limited. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.40 GHz and 20 cores provide ample single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958. This implies that the CPU is not the bottleneck at 1080p either, but the GPU’s frame rate ceiling is around 225 FPS in this game. The data shows that for best performance, users should prioritize GPU upgrades, as the CPU can likely handle higher FPS if paired with a stronger GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake-R architecture. It has a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 2 MB L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration provides strong multi-threaded performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and single-core score of 4958. The CPU’s avg benchmark score of 53620 places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 91% of tested processors.

In To The Core, the CPU’s role appears secondary to the GPU, given the game’s idle genre nature. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (225) is likely near the game’s engine limit or the GPU’s maximum, not the CPU’s. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by Geekbench single-core score of 2429 and PassMark single-thread score of 4257, suggests it can handle the game’s logic and physics without bottlenecking. The CPU’s 20 cores are likely overkill for an idle game, but they provide headroom for background tasks or future games with higher thread utilization. The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, offers flexibility, though no memory bandwidth figure is provided.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X (deltaPct 0.6) and AMD EPYC 7313P (deltaPct 0.8), showing the i7-14700F is competitive with high-end desktop and server parts. In gaming, this CPU’s performance is more than sufficient for To The Core, as the bottleneck is clearly the GPU. The CPU’s TDP of 65 W is low for a 20-core part, indicating efficient power delivery. The CPU’s launch MSRP is $359, but pricing is not a focus here. The data suggests that in To The Core, the CPU’s role is to provide stable frame pacing and avoid any CPU-side dips, which the high FPS numbers confirm. The CPU’s passmark integer math score of 155808 and floating point score of 107005 indicate strong compute capabilities, but these are unlikely to be stressed by an idle game. Overall, the CPU is a high-performing part that does not limit the combo’s FPS in this title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience depends on the user’s resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, all settings provide average FPS above 130, so users can select Ultra for maximum quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Ultra preset averages 133 FPS, which is well above 60 and even above 120 Hz refresh rates. For those with 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors, High (165 FPS) or Medium (191 FPS) would better utilize the display’s capabilities, but Ultra remains a solid choice for visual fidelity. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 162 ensures no visible stutters, making it the most consistent option at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 89 FPS, which is still playable but may not satisfy users with high refresh rate monitors. High at 111 FPS is a better balance, offering above 100 FPS average. Medium at 128 FPS (min 109) provides the smoothest experience, with a min FPS that stays above 100. For 1440p, Medium or High are recommended, depending on whether the user prioritizes frame rate or visual quality. Low at 152 FPS is an option for competitive play, but the visual downgrade may be unnecessary for an idle game. The data shows that Medium offers the best compromise, with a high average and a high minimum FPS.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Ultra at 51 FPS average is below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable. High at 64 FPS is just above 60, but the lack of min FPS data means it could dip below in demanding scenes. Medium at 73 FPS (min 62) is the safest bet, as it stays above 60 FPS even in the worst-case scenario. Low at 87 FPS provides the highest frame rate but sacrifices visual settings. For 4K, Medium is the recommended preset, as it delivers the best balance of quality and performance, with a min FPS of 62 ensuring a consistent experience. Users with 60 Hz 4K monitors can also consider High, but the lack of min FPS data introduces uncertainty. Overall, the data suggests Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions, offering the most stable frame rates while maintaining acceptable visual quality.