To The Core

To The Core is an idle game that stresses systems in an unusual way, and the pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 produces a dataset that rewards careful reading. The measured frame rates across resolutions and presets reveal a configuration that is rarely the limiting factor, though the gap between the CPU’s immense compute headroom and the GPU’s mid-range class becomes visible at the highest settings. This analysis breaks down the measured results, contextualizes the components’ benchmark standings, and provides specific guidance based on the recorded numbers.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases, which indicates that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 313 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low drops that to 210 FPS, a reduction of 103 FPS or roughly 33%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 120 FPS, which is 193 FPS below the 1080p Low result. This pattern—where each step up in resolution removes a significant portion of the frame rate—demonstrates that the RTX 4060’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint as resolution rises.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is more forgiving than the jump to 4K. At Medium settings, 1920x1080 yields 265 FPS, while 2560x1440 Medium produces 178 FPS, a 87 FPS difference. The gap widens at Ultra: 185 FPS at 1080p versus 124 FPS at 1440p, a 61 FPS drop. However, the most dramatic scaling occurs between 1440p and 4K. For High settings, 154 FPS at 2560x1440 falls to 88 FPS at 3840x2160—a 66 FPS reduction. At Ultra, the decline is from 124 FPS to 71 FPS, a 53 FPS loss. These numbers indicate that the GPU is working progressively harder per pixel, and the 8 GB memory buffer combined with the 128-bit bus becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

The low-resolution results tell a different story. At 1920x1080 Low, the 313 FPS average is exceptionally high, and even at 4K Low the system maintains 120 FPS. This suggests that the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is never the bottleneck in these tests; the CPU’s 24 cores and 24 threads, with a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, provide more than enough processing power for an idle game’s logic. The limiting component at all resolutions is the RTX 4060, whose 15.11 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are modest by modern standards. The data shows that resolution scaling is smooth and consistent, with no anomalous spikes or collapses, which points to a well-balanced driver and game engine behavior.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, delivers a consistent performance profile across the measured presets. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a constraint at 3840x2160. The benchmark results show that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 71, the lowest recorded value in the dataset. This is not a catastrophic result, but it is 17 FPS below the 4K High average of 88 FPS and 31 FPS below the 4K Medium average of 102 FPS. The pattern suggests that the GPU’s memory subsystem and shading units are saturated at the highest preset.

Clock speeds play a role in the GPU’s behavior. The base clock of 1830 MHz and boost clock of 2460 MHz are representative of the RTX 4060’s class, and the benchmark scores reflect this positioning. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the GPU scores 2302, while PassMark G3D shows 19545. These scores place the RTX 4060 at the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 (average score 17666, deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD Radeon 780M (average score 17588, deltaPct 0.3). The tight grouping around the RTX 4060’s average benchmark score of 17639 indicates that it performs in line with its expected tier, with the HD 7790 trailing by only 0.2% and the Radeon Pro 560 ahead by 0.5%.

The GPU’s memory clock of 2125 MHz (17 Gbps effective) is fixed, and the 8 GB capacity is not expandable. In the context of To The Core, an idle game, the VRAM usage is likely modest, but the 4K Ultra results suggest that the combination of high pixel count and Ultra preset effects pushes the GPU to its limits. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (71 average) versus 4K Low (120 average) shows a 49 FPS spread, which is the largest gap between presets at any resolution. This indicates that the Ultra preset introduces significant additional work, likely in terms of shader complexity and memory traffic, that the RTX 4060 cannot fully absorb.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in To The Core?

A: The highest average FPS is 313, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only measured result above 300 FPS, and it indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra compared to 1080p Low?

A: The 4K Ultra average is 71 FPS, while 1080p Low averages 313 FPS. This represents a 242 FPS difference, or roughly 77% lower performance at the highest resolution and preset. The data shows that the RTX 4060’s capabilities are stretched at 4K, even though the game is an idle title.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s CPU performance a bottleneck in these tests?

A: No. The CPU’s benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4823, are far above what an idle game requires. The FPS scaling with resolution and settings follows a GPU-limited pattern, so the CPU is not the constraint.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations for To The Core?

A: The combo ranks 2004 out of 3725 tested combos, placing it in the 46th percentile of all tested configurations. This rank reflects the RTX 4060’s mid-range position rather than the CPU’s high-end status.

Q: Which settings preset offers the most consistent frame times at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 151, a maximum of 205, and an average of 178. This is the only preset at 1440p with min/max data, but the 54 FPS spread between min and max suggests a stable experience.

Q: How does the RTX 4060’s benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060’s average benchmark score is 17639. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666 (0.2% higher), the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% lower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551 (0.5% lower). The differences are under 1%, showing very close performance parity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 313 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 265 FPS, with a minimum of 225 and a maximum of 304. High settings average 229 FPS, and Ultra settings bring the average down to 185 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 128 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant load, but even at Ultra the frame rate remains well above 144 Hz refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down but remains robust. Low settings average 210 FPS, Medium settings average 178 FPS (min 151, max 205), High settings average 154 FPS, and Ultra settings average 124 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: Low loses 103 FPS, Medium loses 87 FPS, High loses 75 FPS, and Ultra loses 61 FPS. This pattern shows that the GPU’s pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the results are the most constrained. Low settings average 120 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 102 FPS (min 87, max 117). High averages 88 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. The 4K results show a 49 FPS difference between Low and Ultra, which is smaller than at lower resolutions in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage drop. The minimum FPS of 87 at 4K Medium is the lowest recorded minimum in the dataset, suggesting that frame time variance increases at higher resolutions.

The data includes min/max values only for Medium settings at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the range is 225 to 304 FPS (79 FPS spread). At 1440p Medium, the range is 151 to 205 FPS (54 FPS spread). At 4K Medium, the range is 87 to 117 FPS (30 FPS spread). The narrowing range at higher resolutions indicates that the frame time distribution becomes tighter, likely due to the GPU being fully saturated and less subject to CPU-driven fluctuations.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank in To The Core is 2004 out of 3725 tested combinations, which places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings. This position is primarily influenced by the RTX 4060’s performance tier, as the GPU sits at the 61st percentile of all GPUs but the CPU ranks at the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The mismatch between these two percentiles explains why the combo does not rank higher: the GPU is the weaker link, and the CPU’s capabilities are underutilized in this game.

The RTX 4060’s nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks are all within 0.7% of its average score of 17639. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 leads by 0.2%, the AMD Radeon 780M trails by 0.3%, the AMD Radeon Pro 560 trails by 0.5%, and the AMD Radeon Pro 460 trails by 0.7%. These narrow margins suggest that the RTX 4060 is squarely in its expected performance class, and the combo rank reflects this. In contrast, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has a 0.2% advantage over the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (average score 83807), a 1.1% lead over the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090), and a 1.2% lead over the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980). The CPU is clearly a top-tier part, but that strength does not translate into a high combo rank for an idle game.

The rank of 2004 indicates that more than half of the tested combos outperform this pairing in To The Core. This is expected, as many configurations likely pair high-end CPUs with more powerful GPUs. The data supports the conclusion that the combo is balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming but falls behind at 4K, which is consistent with the RTX 4060’s position in the GPU hierarchy.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, every preset delivers a playable experience, with Low at 313 FPS, Medium at 265 FPS, High at 229 FPS, and Ultra at 185 FPS. For users with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor, Ultra is the best choice, as it stays above 144 FPS and provides the highest visual quality. If the display supports 240 Hz, High settings at 229 FPS offer a better balance, while Medium at 265 FPS is a strong option for those prioritizing frame rate consistency.

At 2560x1440, the recommendations shift. Ultra averages 124 FPS, which is below the 144 FPS threshold, so High at 154 FPS is the recommended preset for high-refresh displays. Medium at 178 FPS is also viable and provides a 24 FPS advantage over High, while Low at 210 FPS is the best choice for competitive play or maximum fluidity. The data shows that High settings at 1440p is the sweet spot, as it maintains a 154 FPS average while presumably offering better visual fidelity than Medium.

At 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. Ultra averages 71 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced action. High at 88 FPS is a better option, and Medium at 102 FPS provides the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. Low at 120 FPS is the only preset that exceeds 120 FPS at 4K, making it the recommended choice for users with a 120 Hz 4K display. The 4K Medium result, with a minimum of 87 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS, suggests that frame pacing is consistent, but the average of 102 FPS is more suitable for cinematic games than competitive ones.

Overall, the data indicates that this combo is best utilized at 1080p with Ultra settings or 1440p with High settings. These configurations leverage the RTX 4060’s strengths while keeping the frame rate above 144 FPS, which is the threshold for most high-refresh gaming monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. Its benchmark results are exceptional: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 51731, single-core scores 7303, and PassMark multithread scores 60860. The CPU’s average benchmark score is 84003, placing it at the 96th percentile of all CPUs. These numbers indicate that the processor has far more compute capability than an idle game like To The Core can utilize.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (avg score 83807, deltaPct 0.2), the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83090, deltaPct 1.1), and the AMD EPYC 9135 (82980, deltaPct 1.2). The 290K Plus leads these parts by margins of 0.2% to 1.2%, confirming its position at the top of the consumer desktop hierarchy. However, in the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is minimal. The frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU settings and resolution, which is typical for a game that does not demand heavy CPU work.

The 24 cores and 24 threads, combined with 36 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (115.2 GB/s bandwidth), provide a platform that is future-proof for more demanding titles. In To The Core, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic, and the high boost clock of 5.80 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is not a bottleneck. The PassMark single-thread score of 4823 and Cinebench R15 single-core score of 736 both indicate strong per-core performance, which is more relevant for gaming than the multi-core scores.

The data shows no evidence of CPU limiting at any resolution or preset. The 1080p Low result of 313 FPS is likely near the game’s engine limit, and even then, the CPU is not the constraint. The 24 threads may help with background tasks or streaming, but for To The Core, the CPU is effectively a silent partner. The combo rank of 2004 out of 3725 is driven by the GPU’s mid-range performance, not by any deficiency in the CPU. Users considering this pairing should recognize that the RTX 4060 is the component that determines frame rates, while the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides headroom for future upgrades or more demanding applications.