To The Core

The Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, placing it in the top 1.4% of all tested configurations. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still maintains staggering frame rates even at 4K Ultra, making it a top-tier choice for this idle game.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 as the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 447.3 FPS, but this drops to 301.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 172.4 FPS at 4K. This represents a 61.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that indicates the GPU is being pushed to its limits as pixel count increases. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, with the gap between 1080p and 4K widening as graphical fidelity increases.

The scaling behavior suggests that the Intel Core i7-14700KF is never the bottleneck at 1080p, as the frame rates there are extraordinarily high. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 614.2 FPS, which is likely approaching the ceiling of what the CPU can feed to the GPU. However, the fact that this number is not even higher, combined with the dramatic drop when moving to 1440p, indicates that the RTX 4090 begins to take over as the limiting component as resolution increases. The 4K Ultra result of 141 FPS is still remarkably smooth but represents only 23% of the 1080p Low performance, highlighting how demand scales with resolution in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

Benchmark results place this specific CPU-GPU pairing at rank 25 out of 1756 tested combinations in To The Core. This top-tier ranking confirms that the i7-14700KF and RTX 4090 form one of the most capable pairings available for this game. The percentile standing reflects the combination's ability to maintain high frame rates across all settings, with even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset producing a playable 141 FPS.

The ranking becomes more impressive when considering the individual components' standings. The CPU sits in the 96th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 91st percentile of all graphics cards. The synergy between these two high-percentile components produces a result that exceeds what either could achieve alone, as the powerful processor ensures the GPU is consistently fed with data. This is not merely a case of two strong parts; the data shows they work together effectively to avoid bottlenecks, which is crucial for a game that can reach frame rates exceeding 600 FPS at lower settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090's specifications directly explain its dominant role in this game's performance. With 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus delivering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources to handle To The Core's demands at any resolution. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, translating to 21 Gbps effective, which ensures that texture streaming and asset loading never become a constraint, even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's architecture, based on the AD102 chip with 16,384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units, provides the raw compute power necessary for the high pixel rates observed. The boost clock of 2520 MHz, up from a base of 2235 MHz, allows the card to dynamically scale its performance to match the workload. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores, while not directly relevant to an idle game, contribute to the card's overall capability and its 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 66473, positions it just slightly below the NVIDIA Tesla T4 in synthetic tests, but the real-world gaming results in To The Core show it performing exceptionally well.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the system delivers outstanding performance across the board: Low settings produce 614.2 FPS, Medium reaches 519.9 FPS, High achieves 447.3 FPS, and even Ultra maintains a robust 363.2 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p gaming is essentially effortless for this configuration, with the CPU likely becoming the limiting factor at the lowest settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high but shows the expected decline. Low settings yield 411.4 FPS, Medium produces 348.8 FPS, High delivers 301.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 246 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by approximately 32-33% across all settings, a consistent pattern that points to the GPU becoming more significant. The 4K results at 3840x2160 continue this trend: Low produces 233.1 FPS, Medium reaches 200.6 FPS, High achieves 172.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 141 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper, around 43-44%, reflecting the much larger pixel count that the RTX 4090 must process.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in To The Core?*

A: Yes, the measured 4K Ultra average of 141 FPS is more than double the 60 FPS threshold, providing a substantial margin for smooth gameplay even in the most demanding configuration tested.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4090's average benchmark score of 66473 is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4's 66733, but 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P40's 66127 and 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56's 67097.

Q: What is the CPU's performance ranking relative to other processors?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF sits in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70104. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, scores 70074, a negligible 0% difference.

Q: Is the i7-14700KF significantly faster than the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X?

A: No, the data shows the i7-14700KF has a 0.4% lower average score than the Ryzen 9 9950X, meaning the two processors are effectively tied in overall benchmark performance.

Q: What memory configuration does the RTX 4090 use?

A: The card features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, with a memory clock of 1313 MHz and effective speed of 21 Gbps, providing 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low result of 614.2 FPS is 4.36 times higher than the 4K Ultra result of 141 FPS, demonstrating the massive performance headroom available at lower resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF plays a supporting but crucial role in this configuration. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the processor provides ample parallel processing capability for To The Core's background tasks and game logic. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz, up from a base of 3.40 GHz, ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is important for maintaining high frame rates in games that rely heavily on a primary thread. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache, supplemented by 2 MB L2 and 80 KB L1 per core, helps reduce latency when the CPU needs to feed data to the GPU.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its capability: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44557 and single-core score of 6290, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 19287 and single-core score of 2972. These figures place the processor in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 70104. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, scores 70074, a marginal 0% difference, while the AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69887, just 0.3% lower. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 compatibility make it a straightforward choice for high-end desktop builds, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking to extract additional performance.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for most users, as it delivers playable performance at all resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 363.2 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of even the fastest gaming monitors. At 1440p Ultra, the 246 FPS result remains exceptionally smooth, while 4K Ultra's 141 FPS is still ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The performance headroom at Ultra settings means there is little reason to sacrifice visual quality for additional frame rate.

For users with 4K displays and a preference for maximum frame rates, the High preset offers a good balance, providing 172.4 FPS at 4K, a 22% improvement over Ultra while maintaining high visual fidelity. The Medium preset, at 200.6 FPS at 4K, offers further headroom for those with 240Hz displays. The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (614.2 FPS at 1080p, 411.4 FPS at 1440p, and 233.1 FPS at 4K), is only recommended for competitive play where every frame matters, as the visual compromise is significant. Given that even the most demanding settings produce frame rates well above 60 FPS, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation for the best overall experience in To The Core.