To The Core

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 lands at rank 226 out of 3,725 tested combinations in "To The Core," placing it in the top 6.1% of all configs evaluated. That is a commanding position, but not an absolute one — the data suggests this combo sits in a high-performance tier where diminishing returns begin to appear. The gap between this pairing and the very top of the leaderboard is not enormous in raw frame rates, yet the rank reveals that other combinations manage to squeeze out better consistency or higher peaks in this idle-genre title.

Benchmark results indicate that this combo's strength lies in its balance. The RTX 4080, sitting at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, delivers a PassMark G3D score of 34,457, while the i7-14700KF posts a 94th percentile position among CPUs with an average benchmark score of 70,163. Neither component is the absolute fastest in its class, but the pairing creates a synergy that pushes the combo well above the median tested system. The nearest rival GPU, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 in average benchmarks — a mere 0.1% delta — suggesting that in this title, the standard 4080 is effectively trading blows with its "SUPER" sibling. On the CPU side, the i7-14700KF edges out the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F by just 0.2% (69,996 average score) and the Ryzen 9 7940HX by 0.4% (69,875), while trailing the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K by 1% (70,879). These razor-thin margins imply that component choice within this tier matters less than the overall system configuration.

What is curious is how this rank translates into actual gameplay. With a measured FPS range from 125 at 4K Ultra to 552 at 1080p Low, the combo never dips below what most displays can refresh, which is a hallmark of a well-matched system for a game that appears to favor raw throughput over architectural quirks. The rank of 226 suggests that while this is a top-tier setup, there are 225 combinations that achieve higher average frame rates — likely those with even more extreme GPUs or CPUs that push the limits in specific settings.

# Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy across the four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — at each resolution. For players prioritizing maximum smoothness, Low settings at 1080p yield an average of 552 FPS, which is nearly double the 4K Ultra result. However, the data shows that Medium settings offer the best balance between visual fidelity and performance headroom, particularly at higher resolutions. At 1440p Medium, the combo produces 314 FPS average with a minimum of 267 FPS and a maximum of 361 FPS — that minimum frame time is still well above typical display refresh rates, making this preset a strong recommendation for high-refresh monitors.

At 4K, Medium settings deliver 180 FPS average (153 min, 207 max), which is a 44% improvement over Ultra's 125 FPS while only stepping down one visual tier. The jump from Medium to High at 4K costs about 24 FPS (180 to 156), which is noticeable but not drastic. For competitive or fast-paced play, the data suggests that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot: it offers 314 FPS average, which is 42 FPS higher than High at the same resolution (272 FPS) and 95 FPS higher than Ultra (219 FPS). The performance penalty for going from Medium to High is roughly 13%, while Medium to Ultra costs about 30% — both significant, but the visual gains of High over Medium may not justify the frame rate drop for many players.

For those with 1080p displays, even Ultra settings produce 326 FPS average, which is far beyond any standard refresh rate. Low settings at 1080p reach 552 FPS, but that is largely academic unless the user has a 540Hz monitor. The most interesting data point is the min FPS at Medium settings: at 1080p, the minimum is 397 FPS, at 1440p it is 267 FPS, and at 4K it is 153 FPS. These minimums indicate that the combo maintains a stable frame delivery without severe dips, which is crucial for a smooth experience in a game that may have occasional scene complexity spikes.

# Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern, but with an interesting twist given the idle genre. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 405 at 1080p to 272 at 1440p (a 33% reduction) and then to 156 at 4K (a 61% reduction from 1080p). This is a steeper decline than what a purely GPU-limited scenario would predict, suggesting that the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are being taxed heavily at higher resolutions. The 4K High result of 156 FPS is still excellent, but the scaling curve indicates that pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor as resolution climbs.

Low settings show a similar trend: 552 FPS at 1080p drops to 371 FPS at 1440p (33% reduction) and 212 FPS at 4K (62% reduction). The consistency of the percentage drops across settings — roughly one-third for 1080p to 1440p and two-thirds for 1080p to 4K — points to a resolution-bound bottleneck rather than a settings-bound one. This is typical of a GPU with 9,728 shading units and 112 ROPs; the architecture scales predictably with pixel count.

However, the data implies that the CPU is not completely idle in this equation. The i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads, boosted by a 5.60 GHz clock, ensure that even at 1080p Low — where the GPU is theoretically less stressed — the system reaches 552 FPS without apparent CPU limitation. If the CPU were a bottleneck, we would expect the 1080p Low result to plateau at a lower value relative to higher resolutions. Instead, the frame rate scales almost linearly, suggesting that both components have headroom. The 4K Ultra result of 125 FPS is the only data point that dips below the 144Hz threshold, indicating that for 4K gaming, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor at maximum settings.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1080p, the combo delivers its highest raw performance. Low settings average 552 FPS, Medium averages 467 FPS with a minimum of 397 and maximum of 537, High averages 405 FPS, and Ultra averages 326 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 226 FPS, which is a 41% performance penalty for maxing out visuals. The min-to-max range at Medium (397–537) shows excellent frame pacing, with the minimum only 15% below the average.

Moving to 1440p, the numbers remain strong but scale down predictably. Low averages 371 FPS, Medium averages 314 FPS (min 267, max 361), High averages 272 FPS, and Ultra averages 219 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 152 FPS, or a 41% reduction — identical to the 1080p ratio. This consistency reinforces that the GPU's compute capacity is being fully utilized across resolutions without unexpected bottlenecks.

At 4K, the performance tiers compress. Low averages 212 FPS, Medium averages 180 FPS (min 153, max 207), High averages 156 FPS, and Ultra averages 125 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 87 FPS, or a 41% reduction — again the same ratio. This uniformity across all three resolutions is a strong indicator of a well-balanced system where neither the CPU nor GPU creates a disproportionate constraint. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (153) is notably close to the 144Hz refresh threshold, meaning that users with 144Hz 4K displays should consider Medium or High settings to maintain a consistent experience above the refresh rate.

# GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is built on the AD103 chip using a 5 nm process from TSMC, packing 45,900 million transistors into a 379 mm² die. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a game like "To The Core" that appears to scale well with memory throughput given the resolution-dependent FPS drops. The GPU's 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs deliver a texture fill rate of 761.5 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s, which explains the strong 4K performance — 156 FPS at High settings is far beyond what many GPUs achieve in this resolution class.

The boost clock of 2505 MHz, up from a base of 2205 MHz, allows the GPU to maintain high throughput during sustained loads. The memory runs at 1400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective speed, which is critical for the 4K data points where bandwidth demand increases. The RTX 4080's benchmark scores reinforce its capability: a PassMark G3D score of 34,457 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 263,779 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54,209 on average — a 0.1% delta that is effectively a statistical tie, meaning this card is not leaving meaningful performance on the table.

The GPU's 76 ray tracing cores and 304 tensor cores are present but likely underutilized in an idle game, where the workload is more about raw rasterization and draw call throughput. The 320 W TDP and triple-slot design indicate that this is a power-hungry part, but the benchmark data shows it translates into consistent frame delivery. The production status is end-of-life, which is notable for a card that still performs this well — the data suggests that for this title, the RTX 4080 remains a top-tier choice without needing the newer generation.

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF, part of the Raptor Lake Refresh family, brings 20 cores and 28 threads to the table, split between performance and efficiency cores. Its base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are critical for maintaining high FPS in "To The Core," where the game's idle mechanics may create frequent CPU-bound moments such as processing global event timers or managing many on-screen entities. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache, combined with 2 MB per-core L2 cache, provides ample fast storage for game logic and state tracking.

The CPU's benchmark results are formidable: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,167 and a single-core score of 6,235, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 21,462 and single-core of 2,578. These numbers place the i7-14700KF in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70,163. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, scores 69,996 — a 0.2% delta that is negligible in real-world gaming. The Core Ultra 7 265K leads by 1% at 70,879, but this margin would not translate to a perceptible FPS difference given the measured results.

The 125 W TDP (with a boost capability that is not listed but implied by the 5.60 GHz clock) is managed effectively in this combo, as the data shows no signs of thermal throttling — the 1080p Low score of 552 FPS is so high that any CPU limitation would have surfaced as a plateau. The CPU's support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, paired with PCIe Gen 5 for 16 CPU lanes, ensures that the RTX 4080's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface is not starved for data. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52,425 and single-thread of 4,480 further confirm that this CPU can feed the GPU at all resolutions without becoming a bottleneck. The unlocked multiplier also allows for overclocking, though the measured data already reflects strong stock performance.

# FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF + RTX 4080 combo overkill for "To The Core"?

A: The data suggests not entirely. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 125 FPS average, which is below the 144Hz threshold that many high-end displays use. The 1080p Low result of 552 FPS is far beyond any practical need, but the 4K results show that the GPU is still being challenged at maximum settings, making the combo appropriate for high-resolution, high-refresh gaming.

Q: What is the biggest FPS difference between settings at the same resolution?

A: At 1080p, the spread from Low (552 FPS) to Ultra (326 FPS) is 226 FPS, a 41% reduction. At 1440p, the spread is 152 FPS (371 to 219), also a 41% reduction. At 4K, the spread is 87 FPS (212 to 125), again a 41% reduction. This consistent ratio indicates that settings scaling is uniform across resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in this game's context?

A: The RTX 4080's nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, which has an average benchmark score of 54,209 versus the 4080's 54,247 — a delta of 0.1%. In practical terms, the measured FPS would be nearly identical, so the standard 4080 offers no meaningful disadvantage in this title.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance in this combo?

A: The data points to the GPU as the limiting factor at 4K and higher settings. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 552 FPS, which is so high that the CPU is clearly not a constraint. As resolution increases to 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 125, indicating that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck. The CPU's 20 cores and 5.60 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz 4K monitor?

A: Medium settings at 4K deliver 180 FPS average with a minimum of 153 FPS, which keeps the experience above 144Hz even in worst-case dips. High settings at 4K average 156 FPS, but the minimum is not listed, so there is a risk of dropping below the refresh threshold. Medium is the safer choice based on the measured data.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: It ranks 226th out of 3,725 combinations, placing it in the top 6.1% of all tested configs. This is a strong position, though the fact that there are 225 faster combos suggests that a few other pairings achieve higher frame rates, likely due to even more powerful GPUs or CPUs with higher single-thread performance.