To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that places virtually no sustained load on even mid-range hardware, so pairing the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces frame rates that are almost absurdly high across all tested settings. The data shows a system that is massively overqualified for the title, with the CPU and GPU both ranking in the 88th–90th percentile of their respective categories, yet the game’s engine still manages to show distinct scaling patterns that reveal where the bottleneck lies.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 360 at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is the lowest result at that resolution, but it still far exceeds the refresh rate of any common monitor.

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

A: The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score is 60,347, which is essentially tied with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta) and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, +0.3%). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M by 2.5% (61,896) but leads the AMD Radeon PRO V710 by 2.9% (58,657).

Q: What is the CPU’s standing relative to all tested processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 sits in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48,995. Its closest competitor, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, scores 49,196, a difference of only -0.4%.

Q: Does the game use more than 24 GB of VRAM?

A: No. The RTX 4090 comes with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, and no measured frame rate or settings row indicates any memory limitation. The game’s demands are minimal, so the 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are never stressed.

Q: Which resolution shows the largest drop in performance from Low to Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 235 on Low to 139 on Ultra, a reduction of 96 FPS. This is the largest absolute gap between Low and Ultra across all three resolutions.

Q: Is the combo’s ranking in this game indicative of poor optimization?

A: The combo ranks 107th out of 2,991 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.6% of all systems. The high rank reflects the raw power of the components, not the game’s ability to utilize them, as frame rates exceed 600 FPS at 1080p Low.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops significantly, but the relative performance gap between settings narrows. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (610 FPS) and Ultra (360 FPS) is 250 FPS, a 41% reduction. Moving to 2560x1440, the spread shrinks to 169 FPS (411 Low vs. 242 Ultra), a 41% reduction as well. At 3840x2160, the gap closes further to 96 FPS (235 Low vs. 139 Ultra), a 59% reduction.

This scaling suggests that the CPU is the primary limiter at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the RTX 4090 is so fast that it can render frames as quickly as the Core Ultra 5 245 can feed it draw calls, making the CPU the bottleneck. The 610 FPS at Low settings is likely hitting the engine’s or the CPU’s frame submission ceiling. As resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU’s workload increases, and the frame rate drops to a level where the CPU has more breathing room, but the RTX 4090 is still not fully saturated.

The 4K Ultra result of 139 FPS is notable because it is the only row where the GPU is likely the limiting factor. The game’s idle genre means there are no complex physics or AI calculations, so the CPU’s 14 cores and 14 threads are mostly idle. The data indicates that the Core Ultra 5 245’s 5.10 GHz boost clock is sufficient to keep up with the RTX 4090’s output at 1080p, but the 4K results show a more balanced workload where the GPU’s pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth start to matter.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, and it remains one of the most powerful consumer GPUs ever made. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is far beyond what To The Core requires, and the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is similarly excessive. The GPU’s base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz are high, but the game’s simple 2D or 2.5D visuals mean that the 16,384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units are mostly underutilized.

The benchmark results show the GPU’s synthetic strength: a passmark G3D score of 38,194 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 271,631. These numbers place the RTX 4090 in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, but in To The Core, the GPU’s role is secondary. The frame rates at 1080p (447 FPS High, 516 FPS Medium) are so high that they are likely rendering faster than the display can refresh, and the GPU is never the bottleneck until 4K Ultra.

The 4K results are the most instructive for understanding the GPU’s role. At 3840x2160, the RTX 4090 produces 172 FPS on High, 199 FPS on Medium, and 235 FPS on Low. The drop from Low to Ultra (139 FPS) is a 96 FPS reduction, which suggests that the GPU is responding to increased shader complexity and texture resolution. The 24 GB VRAM is never fully utilized, as the game’s asset sizes are trivial, but the GPU’s raw compute power still drives the frame rate at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 107th out of 2,991 tested combinations in To The Core. This places it in the top 3.6% of all systems, which is expected given the hardware’s specifications. The CPU alone ranks in the 90th percentile of all processors, and the GPU ranks in the 88th percentile, so their combination should theoretically be near the top of the charts.

However, the ranking is not higher because the game is not demanding enough to differentiate between high-end components. The data shows that many other combos with slightly faster CPUs or GPUs achieve similar frame rates, as the game’s engine caps out around 610 FPS at 1080p Low. The Core Ultra 5 245’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (avg score 49,228, -0.5% delta) and the Intel Core i5-14600K (avg score 48,618, +0.8% delta), would likely produce identical results in this game.

The rank of 107 out of 2,991 confirms the hardware’s overall capability, but it also highlights the law of diminishing returns. The combo is overkill for To The Core, and the rank would be much lower in a more demanding title. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 139 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target most games aim for.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the resolution and the desired frame rate target. At 1920x1080, all settings produce frame rates above 360 FPS, so the choice is purely aesthetic. Low settings hit 610 FPS, Medium hits 516 FPS, and High hits 447 FPS. Ultra is the only setting that dips below 400 FPS, but 360 FPS is still exceptionally smooth. For a 1080p display with a 144 Hz or 240 Hz refresh rate, the High preset is recommended, as it offers a balance between visual quality and headroom.

At 2560x1440, the recommended preset is High, which delivers 301 FPS. This is above the threshold for any high-refresh-rate monitor and provides better visual fidelity than Medium (347 FPS) or Low (411 FPS). Ultra at 1440p drops to 242 FPS, which is still excellent, but the visual improvement over High is likely marginal in an idle game. For 1440p users, High is the sweet spot.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation is High, which yields 172 FPS. This is the highest setting that stays above the 144 FPS mark, making it ideal for 4K 144 Hz displays. Medium (199 FPS) is also viable, but High offers better textures and effects. Ultra at 4K drops to 139 FPS, which is still playable on a 120 Hz or 144 Hz screen, but the 33 FPS loss compared to High is not worth the minor visual gains. Low at 4K (235 FPS) is unnecessary, as the game’s visuals would be too stripped down.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates. Low settings yield an average of 610 FPS, with Medium at 516 FPS (min 439, max 594) and High at 447 FPS. Ultra at 1080p drops to 360 FPS, which is still a remarkable result. The spread between Low and Ultra is 250 FPS, indicating that the CPU is the bottleneck at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. Low averages 411 FPS, Medium averages 347 FPS (min 295, max 399), and High averages 301 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces 242 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 169 FPS, showing that the GPU is starting to take on more of the workload, but the CPU is still keeping pace.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to more reasonable levels. Low averages 235 FPS, Medium averages 199 FPS (min 169, max 228), and High averages 172 FPS. Ultra at 4K produces 139 FPS, which is the lowest measured result in the entire set. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 96 FPS, and the minimum frame rate of 169 FPS on Medium indicates that the system never stutters, even under the highest load.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4090 combo delivers playable frame rates at every resolution and setting, with the 4K Ultra result of 139 FPS being the only row that approaches a typical 144 Hz limit. For an idle game, these numbers are far beyond what is necessary, but they demonstrate the raw power of the hardware. The measured FPS values are all above 60 FPS, and even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) maintains a 139 FPS average, confirming that this system is never challenged by To The Core.