To The Core

# To The Core with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060

The pairing of Intel's flagship 24-core Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with NVIDIA's Turing-era RTX 2060 produces a fascinatingly lopsided benchmark profile in To The Core, an idle-genre title that clearly favors GPU throughput at higher resolutions while remaining heavily CPU-bound at lower settings. Across the twelve measured configurations, average frame rates range from 55 FPS at 4K Ultra to 241 FPS at 1080p Low, with the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth acting as the primary ceiling at 4K, while the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock and 24 threads drive triple-digit performance at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior in To The Core reveals a classic GPU-bound curve at higher presets, but with an unusual flattening at lower settings. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings drops average FPS from 142 to 95, a 33% reduction, and then further to 55 at 4K, representing a 61% loss from 1080p. This steep decline indicates the RTX 2060's 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width are saturated as pixel count quadruples from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160.

At Medium settings, the scaling pattern is similar but slightly less severe: 204 FPS at 1080p, 137 at 1440p (a 33% drop), and 78 at 4K (a 62% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage losses across Ultra and Medium presets suggests that the GPU's shading units (1920) and texture mapping units (120) are the limiting factor, rather than memory capacity alone.

However, at Low settings, the scaling curve becomes notably shallower. The RTX 2060 delivers 241 FPS at 1080p, 162 at 1440p (a 33% drop), and 93 at 4K (a 61% drop from 1080p). The fact that Low preset at 4K still achieves 93 FPS — higher than Ultra at 1440p's 95 FPS — demonstrates that the game's Low preset removes enough shading and texture work to keep the GPU from becoming the primary bottleneck even at 4K resolution.

The High preset shows the most interesting behavior: 176 FPS at 1080p, 119 at 1440p (a 32% drop), and 68 at 4K (a 61% drop). The consistent ~33% penalty for each resolution step up to 1440p, followed by a ~61% total loss at 4K, indicates a well-behaved scaling model where the GPU's 1680 MHz boost clock becomes the dominant constraint as resolution increases. The data strongly suggests that at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock is the limiting component, as evidenced by the 241 FPS ceiling that likely approaches the game's engine tick rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings experience depends heavily on target resolution and frame rate preference. At 1080p, the Medium preset delivers 204 FPS average with a 173 FPS minimum, which is the highest minimum frame rate recorded across all configurations. This suggests Medium at 1080p provides the best balance of visual quality and frame time consistency, as the 173 FPS floor is 31 FPS higher than the 142 FPS average at Ultra.

For 1440p gaming, High preset at 119 FPS average represents the best measured experience. The jump from Medium (137 FPS) to High (119 FPS) costs only 18 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra (95 FPS) costs 24 FPS. The High preset's 119 FPS average remains comfortably above the 100 FPS threshold that idle games typically target for smooth UI animations, while Ultra's 95 FPS dips closer to potential stutter territory for this genre.

At 4K, the choice is more constrained. Medium preset at 78 FPS average with a 67 FPS minimum is the only configuration that maintains a playable frame rate above 60 FPS at all times. High preset drops to 68 FPS average, which is technically above 60 but leaves minimal headroom for scene complexity spikes. Ultra at 4K produces 55 FPS average, which is likely to feel sluggish for an idle game's interface responsiveness. Low at 4K (93 FPS) is playable but sacrifices visual fidelity that idle games often use for particle effects and background animations.

The most balanced recommendation across all resolutions is the Medium preset: it provides the highest minimum frame rate at 1080p (173 FPS), a strong 137 FPS at 1440p, and the only guaranteed 60+ FPS experience at 4K (67 FPS minimum). For users with 144Hz displays at 1440p, High preset's 119 FPS is likely sufficient, while 4K users should stick to Medium to avoid the 55 FPS Ultra result.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a 3.70 GHz base clock and 5.80 GHz boost clock, built on TSMC's 3 nm process with 17,800 million transistors. In To The Core, an idle game, the CPU's role is primarily to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the bottleneck.

The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 241 FPS average. This is the highest recorded frame rate across all measurements, and it strongly suggests a CPU-imposed ceiling given that the RTX 2060 is capable of far higher output at such low graphical loads. The processor's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 115.2 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for the game's simulation and UI logic.

Comparing the CPU's synthetic performance, the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and single-core score of 7,303 place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83,807 average benchmark with a 0.2% delta, indicating near-identical performance. Interestingly, the AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85,072 (1.3% higher), while the EPYC 4584PX (83,090, 1.1% lower) and EPYC 9135 (82,980, 1.2% lower) trail slightly.

At 1080p High, the system still achieves 176 FPS, while 1440p High reaches 119 FPS. The fact that 1080p High is only 35 FPS lower than 1080p Low, while 4K High is 108 FPS lower than 4K Low, confirms that the CPU's impact diminishes as resolution increases. The 24 threads are particularly relevant for idle games that often run background simulation threads, though the data shows the processor is never the limiting factor above 1080p Medium.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 further corroborate the CPU's capability. With a 3.70 GHz base clock that can boost to 5.80 GHz, this processor has sufficient single-thread performance to drive the 241 FPS at 1080p Low, but the GPU's 6 GB VRAM becomes the constraint at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in To The Core?*

A: Based on measured FPS, 1440p High (119 FPS average) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p, all presets exceed 142 FPS, while 4K only exceeds 60 FPS at Low (93 FPS) and Medium (78 FPS) presets.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 the bottleneck at 4K Ultra?

A: Yes. The 55 FPS average at 4K Ultra, compared to 142 FPS at 1080p Ultra, indicates the GPU's 1920 shading units and 6 GB GDDR6 memory are saturated. The CPU's 24 cores and 5.80 GHz boost clock are not the limiting factor at this resolution.

Q: Does the 24-core CPU provide any benefit in this idle game?

A: The data shows the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p Low (241 FPS), where the 24 threads and 5.80 GHz boost clock maintain high frame rates. However, the benchmark results indicate the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 1440p and above, so the CPU's cores are not fully utilized at those resolutions.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested configurations?

A: This combination ranks 2339th out of 2991 tested combos in To The Core, placing it in the lower third of all pairings. This ranking reflects the RTX 2060's modest 58th percentile GPU performance relative to the 96th percentile CPU.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 116 FPS, with an average of 137 FPS and maximum of 157 FPS. This represents the only 1440p configuration with a published minimum frame rate.

Q: Is the GPU's 6 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K in this game?

A: The data shows playable frame rates at 4K Medium (78 FPS average, 67 FPS minimum), indicating 6 GB is sufficient for Medium settings. However, 4K Ultra (55 FPS) and 4K High (68 FPS) suggest VRAM or bandwidth constraints, as the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth may be insufficient for Ultra textures at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs, operating at a 1365 MHz base and 1680 MHz boost clock. Its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, which becomes the critical resource in To The Core at higher resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a PassMark G3D score of 14,111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the GeForce GTX 580 (15,283, 0% delta), Radeon 680M (15,270, 0.1% delta), RTX 3050 OEM (15,199, 0.6% delta), and Radeon RX 7600 (15,171, 0.8% delta). This clustering indicates the RTX 2060 sits in a highly competitive performance band.

In To The Core, the GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the frame rate scaling. At 1080p, the GPU can deliver 241 FPS at Low but only 142 FPS at Ultra, a 99 FPS spread that shows the shading load increase from Ultra settings. At 4K, the spread narrows to 38 FPS (93 FPS Low vs. 55 FPS Ultra), suggesting the GPU is hitting a hard ceiling regardless of settings at that resolution.

The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a notable factor. The 4K Medium configuration (78 FPS average) has a published minimum of 67 FPS, which is the only 4K preset with a recorded minimum. This suggests the game's texture streaming at 4K may be causing occasional hitches that the 336.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot fully mask, particularly when the 192-bit bus must page data from the 6 GB pool.

The GPU's 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are likely underutilized in this idle title, as the game's visual style typically relies on 2D sprites and UI elements rather than ray-traced effects. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s are modest by modern standards, which explains the 55 FPS result at 4K Ultra.

At 1440p, the GPU delivers 162 FPS at Low and 95 FPS at Ultra, a 67 FPS spread. The High preset at 1440p (119 FPS) is the highest preset that maintains triple-digit frame rates, indicating that the GPU's 1680 MHz boost clock begins to throttle under sustained load at this resolution with High or Ultra settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce 241 FPS average, Medium achieves 204 FPS (with a 173 FPS minimum and 234 FPS maximum), High reaches 176 FPS, and Ultra drops to 142 FPS. The 99 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates the GPU's capacity to handle the game's full visual feature set at this resolution, though the CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock may be the limiting factor at Low settings.

At 2560x1440, frame rates remain robust but show clearer GPU scaling. Low delivers 162 FPS, Medium achieves 137 FPS (116 FPS minimum, 157 FPS maximum), High reaches 119 FPS, and Ultra drops to 95 FPS. The 67 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1440p is smaller than at 1080p, indicating the GPU is becoming more of a constraint. The Medium preset's minimum of 116 FPS is the highest recorded minimum at 1440p, suggesting good frame time consistency.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 2060's limitations become apparent. Low produces 93 FPS, Medium achieves 78 FPS (67 FPS minimum, 90 FPS maximum), High drops to 68 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55 FPS. The 38 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is the narrowest across all resolutions, confirming that the GPU is heavily constrained regardless of settings. The Medium preset's 67 FPS minimum is the only 4K configuration that stays above 60 FPS, making it the only viable 4K preset for consistent gameplay.

The progression from 1080p to 4K at each preset shows a consistent pattern: Low drops from 241 to 93 FPS (61% loss), Medium from 204 to 78 FPS (62% loss), High from 176 to 68 FPS (61% loss), and Ultra from 142 to 55 FPS (61% loss). This uniformity across presets indicates that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with the GPU's 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth acting as the primary constraint at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

In the To The Core benchmark database, this combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 2339th out of 2991 tested combos. This places the pairing in the 22nd percentile of all configurations, which is notably lower than what the individual components might suggest.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking (with an average benchmark score of 84,003) would imply a top-tier result, but the GPU's 58th percentile ranking (average benchmark score of 15,290) drags the overall combo ranking down significantly. The 2339th rank out of 2991 indicates that most other tested combinations achieve higher frame rates in this game, likely because To The Core favors GPU throughput more heavily than CPU compute.

The discrepancy between the component rankings and the combo ranking highlights a fundamental imbalance: the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is overqualified for this title, while the RTX 2060 is underqualified for high-resolution play. The GPU's nearest rivals — all within 0.8% of its average benchmark score — suggest that many similarly-performing GPUs would produce comparable results, reinforcing that the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing.

The 2339th rank out of 2991 combos means that 652 other configurations perform worse, but this is cold comfort given that the CPU is in the top 4% of all processors. The data suggests that to improve this combo's ranking, a GPU with higher VRAM capacity and memory bandwidth would be necessary, as the 6 GB GDDR6 and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are the clear bottlenecks at 4K resolutions. However, for 1080p and 1440p gaming at Medium or High settings, this pairing delivers frame rates (137-204 FPS at 1440p Medium and High) that exceed the requirements of most displays.