To The Core

To The Core is an idle game with a deceptively light footprint, and the measured results for the Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 confirm that this combination is heavily skewed toward CPU-bound performance. The data set includes average FPS readings across three resolutions and four quality presets, offering a clear picture of how the system scales under different loads. This analysis walks through those numbers, interpreting what they mean for the limiting component, optimal settings, and the respective roles of the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is modest in absolute terms, but the percentage changes reveal a system that is not being stressed by the GPU at lower resolutions. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 254.7 FPS at 1920x1080 to 170.4 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 33%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 100.1 FPS, which is a 41% decline from the 1440p figure and a 61% decline from 1080p. This steepening curve at the highest resolution suggests that the RTX 4070 begins to take on more responsibility only when pixel count increases substantially.

At Low settings, the pattern is even more pronounced. The 1920x1080 result of 430.6 FPS falls to 287.6 FPS at 2560x1440, a 33% drop, and then to 167.7 FPS at 3840x2160, a 42% drop from 1440p and a 61% drop from 1080p. The consistency of these relative declines across presets indicates that resolution scaling follows a predictable path, but the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high even at 4K. A 167.7 FPS average at 4K Low is far beyond what most titles achieve, reinforcing that this game is not graphically demanding.

The limiting component is clearly the CPU in most scenarios. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 176 FPS (430.6 vs. 254.7), which is significant, but the fact that even Ultra exceeds 250 FPS suggests the GPU is never idle. At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 67.6 FPS (167.7 vs. 100.1), indicating that the GPU starts to become a more meaningful constraint. However, the i7-14700F’s 20 cores and 28 threads, with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, appear to keep pace with the RTX 4070 across the board. The data shows that resolution scaling is smooth, with no anomalous spikes or collapses, pointing to a well-balanced pairing that leans on the CPU for most of the heavy lifting.

Settings Recommendations

Choosing the best preset depends on whether the priority is maximum frame rate or visual fidelity, and the measured rows provide clear guidance. For 1080p gameplay, the Medium preset delivers 366.5 FPS, which is 52.1 FPS higher than High (314.4 FPS) and 111.8 FPS lower than Low (430.6 FPS). Given that even Ultra at 1080p hits 254.7 FPS, any preset is playable, but Medium offers the best compromise between the 430.6 FPS of Low and the 254.7 FPS of Ultra. The jump from Medium to High costs 52.1 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs an additional 59.7 FPS, so the diminishing returns begin after Medium.

At 1440p, the same logic applies. Medium produces 243.8 FPS, which is 31.1 FPS higher than High (212.7 FPS) and 73.4 FPS higher than Ultra (170.4 FPS). Low reaches 287.6 FPS, but the visual quality loss is likely not worth the 43.8 FPS gain over Medium. For most users, Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot, as it stays above 240 FPS while retaining more detail than Low.

At 4K, the situation shifts. Ultra drops to 100.1 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS but noticeably lower than the other presets. High (122.2 FPS) and Medium (141 FPS) both offer solid performance, with Medium providing a 38.9 FPS advantage over High and a 40.9 FPS advantage over Ultra. Low reaches 167.7 FPS, but the gap between Low and Medium (26.7 FPS) is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (19.2 FPS). The data suggests that Medium is the recommended preset across all resolutions, as it consistently sits within a reasonable range of the top performer while offering better visuals than Low. Ultra is only viable at 1080p, where it still exceeds 250 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F is a 20-core, 28-thread processor from the Raptor Lake-R architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 contribute to its strong showing in synthetic benchmarks, where it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 35443 and a single-core score of 5003. The processor’s percentile ranking of 94 among all CPUs indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of available chips, and its average benchmark score of 54097 places it just 0.6% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X, which scores 54450.

In the context of To The Core, the CPU’s role is dominant at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 430.6 FPS suggests that the processor is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than the GPU can render, given that the RTX 4070 is not a low-end part. The 20 cores are likely more than sufficient for an idle game, which typically does not scale heavily with thread count, but the high boost clock of 5.40 GHz ensures strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5003. This single-thread strength is critical for games that rely on a primary simulation thread, and the data indicates that the i7-14700F does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 until 4K Ultra, where the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The nearest rivals further contextualize the CPU’s position. The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X scores 54450, a 0.6% advantage, while the Ryzen 9 9900X3D scores 54681, a 1.1% lead. The Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469) trails by 1.2%, and the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206) is 1.7% behind. These deltas are small, meaning the i7-14700F trades blows with top-tier server and desktop parts, but for this game, the practical difference is negligible given the already high frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded in the measured data?

A: The highest average FPS is 430.6, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 become the bottleneck at any resolution?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 100.1, which is 61% lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 254.7 FPS. This indicates the GPU is the limiting component at 4K Ultra, whereas at lower resolutions the CPU appears more dominant.

Q: How does the i7-14700F compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-14700F has an average benchmark score of 54097, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X’s 54450, and 1.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s 54681. It outperforms the Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (53469) by 1.2% and the AMD EPYC 7313P (53206) by 1.7%.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 243.8 FPS while High delivers 212.7 FPS, a difference of 31.1 FPS in favor of Medium.

Q: Is the RTX 4070’s memory bandwidth a factor in this game’s performance?

A: The RTX 4070 has a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (100.1) is still high, suggesting that bandwidth is not a limiting constraint in this title.

Q: Which preset offers the most balanced performance at 3840x2160?

A: Medium at 3840x2160 produces 141 FPS, which is 19.2 FPS higher than High (122.2) and 40.9 FPS higher than Ultra (100.1), while Low reaches 167.7 FPS. Medium provides the best balance, as the gap to Low is only 26.7 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture with an AD104 chip, featuring 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus deliver a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate are substantial, yet its percentile ranking of 81 among all GPUs is lower than the CPU’s 94, indicating that the processor is the stronger component in this pairing. The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score of 37283 places it 0.6% behind the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507) and 1.9% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38008), while it leads the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36371) by 2.5%.

In To The Core, the GPU’s role becomes apparent only at higher resolutions and presets. At 1080p, the difference between Low (430.6 FPS) and Ultra (254.7 FPS) is 175.9 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is working harder to render additional effects, but the CPU still feeds it enough frames to maintain high numbers. At 4K Ultra, the average of 100.1 FPS indicates the GPU is nearing its limit, as the pixel count increases by a factor of four from 1080p. The 122.2 FPS at 4K High further confirms this, showing a 22.1 FPS drop when moving from Medium (141 FPS) to High, a steeper decline than the 19.2 FPS drop from Medium to High at 1440p.

The RTX 4070’s 200 W TDP and dual-slot design are efficient for its performance class, but the data does not show any thermal or power-related throttling. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 and Passmark G3D score of 26927 provide context for its raw capabilities, yet in this game, the GPU is rarely the limiting factor outside of 4K Ultra. For users targeting 1080p or 1440p, the RTX 4070 is more than adequate, as even Ultra settings at 1440p exceed 170 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 430.6 at Low to 254.7 at Ultra. The progression is 430.6 (Low), 366.5 (Medium), 314.4 (High), and 254.7 (Ultra). The step-down from Low to Medium is 64.1 FPS, from Medium to High is 52.1 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 59.7 FPS. This shows a relatively consistent decline, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 287.6 (Low), 243.8 (Medium), 212.7 (High), and 170.4 (Ultra). The differences are 43.8 FPS (Low to Medium), 31.1 FPS (Medium to High), and 42.3 FPS (High to Ultra). The gap between Medium and High narrows compared to 1080p, while the High to Ultra drop remains similar.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 167.7 (Low), 141 (Medium), 122.2 (High), and 100.1 (Ultra). The differences are 26.7 FPS (Low to Medium), 18.8 FPS (Medium to High), and 22.1 FPS (High to Ultra). As resolution increases, the absolute FPS drops become smaller, but the percentage impact of Ultra settings grows. Moving from 1440p to 4K at Ultra causes a 70.3 FPS loss, while the same resolution change at Low costs 119.9 FPS. This indicates that the GPU handles the pixel load better at lower settings, but the CPU remains the primary driver of frame rates in most configurations.