To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that, on the surface, would seem to place minimal stress on a high-end desktop configuration. However, the measured frame rates for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 reveal a title that is surprisingly demanding at higher settings and resolutions, making the choice of graphics preset a critical decision for achieving a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate displays.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data indicates that the "High" preset offers the most compelling balance between visual fidelity and performance for this combination. At 1920x1080, the "High" preset delivers an average of 343.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any current high-refresh-rate monitor. While the "Low" preset pushes this to 468.8 FPS, the visual compromise is likely not worth the extra 125 frames per second, especially in an idle game where the marginal benefit of such extreme frame rates diminishes.

The "Ultra" preset, while offering the highest visual quality, introduces a significant performance penalty that becomes increasingly problematic at higher resolutions. At 2560x1440, the "Ultra" preset yields 188.1 FPS, which is a substantial drop from the "High" preset's 231.4 FPS. This gap widens considerably at 3840x2160, where "Ultra" falls to 106.7 FPS, a figure that might still be playable but is far from the fluid experience the hardware is capable of. The "Medium" preset serves as a middle ground, but the data suggests that "High" offers a superior performance-per-visual-step ratio, providing a 53.4% increase in frame rate over "Ultra" at 4K while likely retaining most of the visual enhancements that matter in a game of this genre.

For users with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors, the "High" preset is the clear recommendation across all tested resolutions. At 1080p and 1440p, it comfortably exceeds these refresh rates, and even at 4K, the 132.3 FPS average is within reach of high-refresh 4K panels. The data implies that "High" is the intended sweet spot for this hardware combination, avoiding the diminishing returns of "Ultra" while providing a much more polished experience than "Low."

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070, built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The GPU's core clocks are listed with a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz. In the context of To The Core, the GPU appears to be the primary scaling factor as settings are increased.

The frame rate progression across settings at a fixed resolution highlights the GPU's workload. At 3840x2160, moving from "Low" to "Ultra" results in a performance drop from 180.6 FPS to 106.7 FPS, a 41% reduction. This indicates that the game's higher settings are heavily leveraging the GPU's shading units (6144) and texture mapping units (192). The RTX 5070's FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS is clearly being utilized, but the game's engine seems to respond more to raw fill-rate and memory bandwidth than to the ray tracing cores (48) or tensor cores (192), which are likely underutilized in an idle game.

The 12 GB VRAM capacity is a notable consideration. While the measured frame rates do not indicate a memory bottleneck, the data suggests that the game is consuming a significant portion of the available bandwidth. The 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is a substantial asset, and the fact that "Ultra" at 4K can still maintain 106.7 FPS indicates that the memory subsystem is keeping up with the demand, but the steep drop from "High" suggests that the "Ultra" preset is pushing the GPU's processing limits rather than its memory capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound performance, but with some interesting nuances. At "High" settings, the average FPS drops from 343.8 at 1920x1080 to 231.4 at 2560x1440, a 32.7% decrease. Scaling further to 3840x2160 results in 132.3 FPS, which is a 42.8% drop from the 1440p figure. This progressive decline is consistent with the increasing pixel count, which is 2.25 times higher at 1440p versus 1080p, and 4 times higher at 4K versus 1080p.

However, the data implies that this particular configuration is not purely GPU-limited at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the "Low" preset achieves 468.8 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high number. This suggests that at such a low graphical load, the CPU, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, might be playing a more significant role in maintaining these frame rates. The gap between "Low" and "Ultra" at 1080p is 192.7 FPS, while at 4K, the same gap is only 73.9 FPS. This compression of the performance delta at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor as resolution increases, while at 1080p, the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic becomes more apparent.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 334th out of 1,756 tested combos for To The Core. This places it in the top 19% of all configurations, which is a strong result, but it is not at the very top of the charts. The ranking suggests that while this is a high-performing pair, there are other combinations that yield higher average frame rates in this specific title.

The CPU's individual performance is a factor here. The Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70,104, which places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X, have virtually identical average scores with deltaPct values of 0 and -0.4 respectively. This indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck preventing a higher combo ranking. Conversely, the GPU's average benchmark score is 41,687, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090, have a deltaPct of 0.6, suggesting that the RTX 5070 is performing as expected. The combination's rank of 334 is likely influenced by other systems using more powerful GPUs that can push higher frame rates in this engine.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. It has a 33 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In To The Core, the CPU's role is to maintain a high enough frame rate ceiling so that the GPU is not starved of data.

The benchmark results indicate that this CPU is more than capable of handling the game's logic. The measured frame rates at 1080p, particularly at "Low" settings with 468.8 FPS, suggest that the CPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution. The high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6,290 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2,972, is crucial for games that have a significant amount of serial processing. The data implies that the 14700KF's boost clock of 5.60 GHz is being effectively utilized to feed the GPU.

However, the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are less relevant here. While the 28 threads and 33 MB L3 cache are powerful assets for productivity workloads, as shown by the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,557, an idle game like To The Core is unlikely to leverage all of them. The performance parity with the Intel Core i7-14700K (deltaPct of 0) confirms that the unlocked multiplier and slightly different binning do not translate into a meaningful advantage in this gaming scenario. The CPU is a robust foundation, but the data points to the GPU as the primary driver of frame rate differences.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of the hardware's capabilities across three resolutions and four quality presets.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high. The "Low" preset leads with 468.8 FPS, followed by "Medium" at 391.8 FPS, "High" at 343.8 FPS, and "Ultra" at 276.1 FPS. This represents a 41.1% performance penalty from "Low" to "Ultra," but even the lowest figure is far beyond what any typical display can show.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. "Low" achieves 312.3 FPS, "Medium" 267.9 FPS, "High" 231.4 FPS, and "Ultra" 188.1 FPS. The delta between "Low" and "Ultra" is now 124.2 FPS, showing a tighter spread as the GPU workload increases.

At 3840x2160, the results are more demanding. "Low" still provides a respectable 180.6 FPS, with "Medium" at 151 FPS and "High" at 132.3 FPS. The "Ultra" preset drops to 106.7 FPS. The performance gap between "Low" and "Ultra" is now 73.9 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at this resolution. The data consistently shows that the "High" preset is the best option for maintaining a high refresh rate experience, as it stays above 130 FPS even at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for this hardware in To The Core?

A: The "High" preset offers the best balance, delivering 343.8 FPS at 1080p, 231.4 FPS at 1440p, and 132.3 FPS at 4K. It provides a significant performance advantage over "Ultra" while maintaining high visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's memory configuration affect performance?

A: The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory with a 192-bit bus and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth. The benchmark results show no signs of a memory capacity bottleneck, but the steep frame rate drop from "High" to "Ultra" suggests the GPU's processing cores are the limiting factor, not the memory.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700KF a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests it is not. The CPU's high single-thread performance allows for extremely high frame rates at 1080p, such as 468.8 FPS on "Low" settings. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU as resolution and settings increase.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 334th out of 1,756 tested combos for To The Core. The CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 83rd percentile, indicating a balanced pairing that is held back by other, more powerful GPU configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K on "High" settings?

A: At "High" settings, the average frame rate drops from 343.8 FPS at 1080p to 132.3 FPS at 4K. This represents a 61.5% reduction in performance, highlighting the significant GPU workload increase at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the "Ultra" preset provide a worthwhile improvement over "High"?

A: The data indicates it does not. The "Ultra" preset is 19.7% slower than "High" at 1080p, 18.7% slower at 1440p, and 19.3% slower at 4K. Given the high frame rates already achieved on "High," the visual gains from "Ultra" are unlikely to justify the performance cost.