To The Core

# To The Core with Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers exceptional performance in To The Core, an idle genre title. The combo ranks 66th out of 2,991 tested combinations, placing it in the top 2.2% of all systems. The data shows frame rates ranging from 142 FPS at 4K Ultra to 625 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that this pairing is capable of driving even the most demanding settings at high refresh rates. The CPU's 96th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards suggest a well-balanced system, though the measured results reveal specific strengths and bottlenecks worth examining in detail.

FAQ

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in To The Core?*

A: The combo ranks 66th out of 2,991 tested combinations. This places it in the top 2.2% of all systems tested, indicating near-elite performance for this title.

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved in this game?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 625 at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. The lowest recorded average FPS is 142 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84,003. It is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83,807), 1.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4584PX (83,090), and 1.2% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9135 (82,980). The AMD EPYC 7F72 scores 85,072, which is 1.3% higher.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2407 MHz with a base clock of 2017 MHz. These specifications contribute to the high frame rates observed across all settings.

Q: Does the game show a preference for CPU or GPU performance?

A: The data indicates the system is GPU-limited at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 625 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 142 FPS, a 77.3% reduction. The CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads maintain high minimum frame rates even at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the recommended preset for the best experience?

A: For 1080p and 1440p displays, High settings offer the best balance between visual quality and performance, with 458 FPS and 308 FPS respectively. At 4K, Medium settings provide 203 FPS with a minimum of 173 FPS, making it the optimal choice for maintaining smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 66 out of 2,991 tested combinations places this system in the 97.8th percentile of all tested hardware pairings in To The Core. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top tier. The ranking reflects the combined capabilities of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 96 among all processors indicates that it outperforms 96% of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 84,003 is closely matched with its nearest rivals, showing only marginal differences. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285K trails by just 0.2%, while the AMD EPYC 4584PX and EPYC 9135 are 1.1% and 1.2% behind respectively. The AMD EPYC 7F72 leads by 1.3%, with a score of 85,072.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 92 places it in the top 8% of all graphics cards. Its average benchmark score of 79,842 is similarly competitive with its nearest rivals. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB is 0.3% behind, the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is 0.6% behind, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% behind. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X leads by 1.4%.

Given the game's idle genre, the high combo rank suggests that both components contribute meaningfully to the overall experience. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303, likely helps maintain consistent frame pacing. The GPU's massive memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading never become bottlenecks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays a dominant role in determining frame rates in To The Core, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory provides ample capacity for the game's assets, while the 512-bit memory bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth deliver data at speeds that exceed what most games can consume. This is reflected in the measured FPS numbers, where even at 4K Ultra settings the system maintains 142 FPS.

The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with its 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, provides substantial raw compute power. The pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s are particularly relevant for a game that renders at high resolutions. The FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS ensures that even complex shader workloads are handled efficiently.

At 1080p, the GPU's performance headroom becomes apparent. The jump from 458 FPS at High settings to 625 FPS at Low settings represents a 36.5% increase, suggesting that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The 4K results tell a different story: the drop from 203 FPS at Medium to 142 FPS at Ultra shows a 30.0% reduction, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards is respectable, though its nearest rivals in the database are data center and mobile parts rather than consumer gaming GPUs. This suggests that in the context of To The Core, the RTX 5090's performance is well above the median but not necessarily at the absolute peak of what the database has recorded.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers outstanding frame rates across all settings. The Low preset achieves 625 FPS average, which is the highest recorded in the dataset. Medium settings produce 528 FPS with a minimum of 449 FPS and a maximum of 608 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. High settings yield 458 FPS, while Ultra drops to 369 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p represents a 41.0% reduction in performance, from 625 to 369 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clear step down. Low settings achieve 420 FPS, Medium delivers 355 FPS with a minimum of 302 FPS and a maximum of 409 FPS, High reaches 308 FPS, and Ultra maintains 248 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p at each settings level ranges from 32.8% at Low (625 to 420) to 33.9% at High (458 to 308).

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down further. Low settings still deliver 240 FPS, which is impressive for 4K resolution. Medium settings achieve 203 FPS with a minimum of 173 FPS and a maximum of 234 FPS. High settings drop to 176 FPS, while Ultra falls to 142 FPS. The 4K results show that even at the most demanding settings, the system remains playable on high refresh rate displays.

The minimum FPS data points are only available for Medium settings across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 449 FPS, representing a 85.0% of the average. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 302 FPS, which is 85.1% of the average. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 173 FPS, or 85.2% of the average. This consistency suggests that the system maintains stable frame delivery regardless of resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides the computational foundation for this system. With 24 cores and 24 threads, the CPU offers substantial parallel processing capability, though its performance in To The Core is more dependent on single-thread efficiency given the game's idle genre. The boost clock of 5.80 GHz is the key driver of single-thread performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7,303.

The CPU's 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache help reduce memory latency, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in games that rely on frequent data access. The DDR5 memory support with dual-channel configuration provides 115.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, ensuring that the CPU's 24 cores are never starved for data.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 96 among all processors indicates strong overall performance. Its average benchmark score of 84,003 is competitive with its nearest rivals, though the differences are minimal. The PassMark multithread score of 60,860 and single-thread score of 4,823 demonstrate balanced performance across both workloads.

In To The Core, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The frame rate differences between 1080p and 4K are proportionally consistent across settings, suggesting that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. However, the CPU's ability to maintain high minimum frame rates, as seen in the Medium settings data, indicates that it is not introducing frame pacing issues.

The CPU's 125 W TDP and 3 nm process node from TSMC contribute to its efficiency, though the 17,800 million transistors and 243 mm² die size suggest a complex design. The integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU provides a fallback display output, though it is not utilized in this configuration with a discrete GPU.

Settings Recommendations

The data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for different display configurations. At 1080p, all settings are playable, but High represents the best balance. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p reduces performance by 19.4% (from 458 to 369 FPS), while the visual improvement in an idle game may not justify the performance cost. Low settings at 625 FPS are excessive for most displays, as the refresh rate of typical monitors does not exceed 360 Hz.

At 1440p, High settings at 308 FPS provide an excellent experience for high refresh rate displays. Medium settings at 355 FPS offer a 15.3% performance increase over High but may show reduced visual fidelity. Ultra at 248 FPS is still playable but represents a 19.5% reduction from High. The data suggests that High is the recommended preset for 1440p gaming.

At 4K, Medium settings at 203 FPS provide the most balanced experience. The minimum FPS of 173 ensures that frame drops remain above 144 Hz, making it suitable for high refresh rate 4K displays. High settings at 176 FPS are slightly lower but still playable, while Ultra at 142 FPS may cause noticeable stuttering on 144 Hz displays. Low settings at 240 FPS are available for competitive play, though the visual trade-offs are significant.

For most users, High settings at 1080p or 1440p, or Medium settings at 4K, will provide the best experience. The measured data shows that these configurations maintain frame rates well above the refresh rates of most displays, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the performance drops from 625 FPS at 1080p to 420 FPS at 1440p and 240 FPS at 4K. This represents a 32.8% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 61.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is roughly linear, suggesting that the GPU is the primary limiting factor even at Low settings.

At Medium settings, the scaling follows a similar pattern. The 528 FPS at 1080p drops to 355 FPS at 1440p and 203 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 32.8%, and from 1080p to 4K is 61.6%. The minimum FPS values also scale proportionally, from 449 at 1080p to 302 at 1440p and 173 at 4K.

At High settings, the scaling is slightly more pronounced. The 458 FPS at 1080p drops to 308 FPS at 1440p and 176 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 32.8%, and from 1080p to 4K is 61.6%. This consistent scaling across settings suggests that the GPU's rendering workload increases linearly with pixel count.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is more aggressive. The 369 FPS at 1080p drops to 248 FPS at 1440p and 142 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 32.8%, and from 1080p to 4K is 61.5%. The Ultra preset appears to introduce additional GPU load that is not fully offset by the CPU's performance.

The consistent scaling pattern across all settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every resolution. The CPU's 24 cores and high boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU even at 1080p Low, where the system achieves 625 FPS. This is further supported by the CPU's percentile ranking of 96, which suggests it has ample headroom for this game's demands. The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth provide the memory capacity and speed needed to sustain these frame rates, though the 4K Ultra result of 142 FPS shows the limits of even this powerful configuration.