To The Core

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, an Idle game released on 2024-02-14. The measured data shows this combination ranks 13th out of 1756 tested combos, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations. The benchmark results indicate that this pairing provides a substantial performance ceiling, with frame rates that far exceed standard display refresh rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 630.5 FPS, Medium reaches 532.4 FPS, High produces 461.6 FPS, and Ultra still delivers a very playable 376.2 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues with Low at 427.4 FPS, Medium at 359.4 FPS, High at 310.8 FPS, and Ultra at 253.3 FPS. At 3840x2160, the numbers remain impressive: Low hits 244 FPS, Medium reaches 203.5 FPS, High achieves 180.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 140.8 FPS.

The data suggests that the High preset represents the optimal balance for this combination. At High settings, the system maintains over 180 FPS even at 4K resolution, while delivering 310.8 FPS at 1440p and 461.6 FPS at 1080p. The performance gap between High and Ultra is consistent across resolutions—roughly 22-28%—which indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant additional load without necessarily providing proportionally better visual fidelity for an idle game. For users seeking maximum smoothness, the Medium preset at 1440p offers 359.4 FPS, which is nearly 50% higher than the High preset at the same resolution. However, the High preset remains the recommended choice because it provides a substantial performance margin while likely offering noticeably better visual quality than Medium.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with its 21760 shading units and 680 tensor cores, allows it to process the game's graphics workload with considerable headroom. The card's 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate explain why even the most demanding Ultra preset at 4K still produces 140.8 FPS.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for an idle game, which may accumulate many on-screen elements over extended play sessions. The 32 GB frame buffer ensures that texture data and game state information remain entirely in VRAM, eliminating any potential stuttering from memory swapping. The 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provides ample throughput for the game's rendering needs, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the system never drops below 140 FPS. The GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306, confirms its position as a top-tier component. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D, scores 84241 (0.1% delta), indicating that the standard RTX 5090 is effectively at the performance frontier.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 13 out of 1756 tested combinations places this system in the 99.3rd percentile of all configurations tested. This ranking reflects the synergy between the Core i7-14700K and the RTX 5090, where neither component bottlenecks the other in this particular game. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074, pairs with the GPU's 94th percentile to create a system that excels across all measured scenarios.

The data shows that the CPU's nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-14700KF (average score 70104, delta 0%), AMD EPYC 9115 (69887, 0.3% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, 0.5% faster), and Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 (71056, 1.4% faster)—are all within a narrow performance band. This indicates that the i7-14700K is not the limiting factor in this combo. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rivals are closely matched, with the RTX 5090 D (84241, 0.1% slower), RTX 5050 Mobile (84171, 0.2% slower), and AMD Radeon PRO W6600 (83209, 1.3% slower) all trailing slightly. The combination's high rank is therefore attributable to the balanced partnership between these two components rather than any single element's dominance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the benchmark results show the widest performance spread. The Low preset delivers 630.5 FPS average, representing the absolute maximum throughput this combination can achieve. Medium settings produce 532.4 FPS, High reaches 461.6 FPS, and Ultra settles at 376.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 40.3% reduction in frame rate, which is consistent with the increasing graphical complexity.

The 2560x1440 results demonstrate similar scaling with reduced absolute numbers. Low achieves 427.4 FPS, Medium reaches 359.4 FPS, High produces 310.8 FPS, and Ultra delivers 253.3 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by approximately 32-33% across all settings, which aligns with the increased pixel count of 78% requiring more GPU work.

At 3840x2160, the performance remains exceptionally high for a 4K resolution. Low settings yield 244 FPS, Medium produces 203.5 FPS, High reaches 180.2 FPS, and Ultra maintains 140.8 FPS. The 4K results show a 61.3% decrease from 1080p at the same settings, reflecting the fourfold increase in pixel count. Notably, even the lowest 4K result (Ultra at 140.8 FPS) exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors, indicating that this combination can drive 4K displays at maximum settings without compromise.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combination can achieve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 630.5, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 144 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, all four settings presets exceed 140 FPS, with Ultra delivering 140.8 FPS, High reaching 180.2 FPS, Medium producing 203.5 FPS, and Low hitting 244 FPS.

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

A: This combination ranks 13th out of 1756 tested combos, placing it in the top 0.7% of all configurations tested.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 310.8 FPS while Ultra delivers 253.3 FPS, representing a 22.7% reduction when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At the same settings, moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reduces frame rates by approximately 61%, with Low dropping from 630.5 to 244 FPS and Ultra dropping from 376.2 to 140.8 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 5090 significantly faster than its closest rival?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score of 84306 is only 0.1% higher than the RTX 5090 D's score of 84241, indicating essentially identical performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K provides the computational foundation for this system. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU offers substantial parallel processing capability. Its boost clock of 5.60 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance, while the 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data. The CPU's architecture, based on Raptor Lake-R, supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its capability across various workloads. In Cinebench R23, it achieves 44534 multicore and 6287 single-core. Geekbench results show 18896 multicore and 2932 single-core. The Passmark multithread score of 52392 and single-thread score of 4472 further confirm its balanced performance profile. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it outperforms the vast majority of processors available.

For To The Core, an idle game that may involve complex simulations and state tracking, the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide ample processing power. The game's genre suggests that background computations, rather than purely graphical rendering, may drive performance. In this scenario, the CPU's high multithreaded scores—particularly the Passmark data compression score of 695234 and integer math score of 182876—become relevant. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a practical choice for this high-end configuration, and its launch MSRP of $409 positions it appropriately within the desktop processor market. The benchmark results show that this CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 5090 in this game, as evidenced by the consistently high frame rates across all resolution and settings combinations.