Inside

The pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer that is far more demanding at 4K than its art style suggests. Benchmark measurements show that this combination clears the 60 FPS playability threshold at every tested resolution and preset, making it a straightforward recommendation for anyone seeking high refresh rates or maximum visual fidelity in this title. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but still retains enough CPU headroom to avoid bottlenecking even at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a clear hierarchy across the three resolutions and four quality presets. At 3840x2160, the system starts at a solid 67 FPS average on High settings, which is already above the playable threshold. Dropping to Medium yields a substantial improvement to 107 FPS average, with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS, showing that even the lower bound remains comfortably smooth. The Low preset jumps dramatically to 133 FPS average, while the Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, still holds at 63 FPS average. This 4K data shows a scaling pattern where the gap between Low and Ultra is roughly 70 FPS, indicating that the RX 7600 XT has significant headroom to spare even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance becomes exceptionally high. The Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, which is a 60% improvement over the 4K Ultra result. High settings produce 106 FPS average, while Medium jumps to 170 FPS average with a minimum of 144 FPS and a maximum of 195 FPS. The Low preset reaches 212 FPS average, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The scaling from 4K to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with an average increase of roughly 40-50% in frame rate, which points to the GPU being the primary limiter at the higher resolution.

At 1920x1080, the system becomes almost absurdly fast. The Ultra preset averages 140 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. High settings deliver 147 FPS average, Medium reaches 236 FPS average with a minimum of 201 FPS and a maximum of 271 FPS, and the Low preset hits 295 FPS average. The jump from Medium to Low is relatively modest at 59 FPS, suggesting that the CPU begins to play a more significant role at this resolution, as the RX 7600 XT is capable of far higher output but is held back by the i3-12100F's four cores. Even so, every single measurement across all twelve combinations of resolution and settings exceeds 60 FPS, with the lowest recorded average being 63 FPS at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination holds the 2301st position out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the upper third of all possible pairings, which is a strong result considering the i3-12100F is a budget-oriented quad-core processor. The percentile data for the individual components supports this ranking: the CPU sits at the 68th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 60th percentile against all GPUs. The combination's rank of 2301 out of 3716 suggests that while the GPU is not the absolute fastest on the market, the pairing's overall balance is effective for this particular game.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the game's age and modest system requirements. Inside was released in 2016, and its puzzle-platformer genre does not typically stress modern hardware as heavily as first-person shooters or open-world titles. Consequently, the combo's rank is more reflective of the GPU's raw rasterization power than the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities. The i3-12100F's passmark multi-thread score of 14015 and 3DMark max-thread score of 4023 are respectable for a quad-core, but they are not the reason this combo ranks in the top 62% of tested systems. The RX 7600 XT's passmark G3D score of 17132 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2348 are the primary drivers of the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

Best Settings per Resolution

For players targeting a consistent 60 FPS or higher, the recommendation is straightforward: use the highest preset available at each resolution. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 63 FPS, which is just above the playable threshold. This makes Ultra the best setting for 4K, as it provides the maximum visual quality while still maintaining smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS data is not available for Ultra at this resolution, but the average of 63 suggests that occasional dips below 60 are possible, though they would be rare and brief.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above the threshold. This makes Ultra the obvious choice for 1440p, as it offers a 41 FPS headroom over the minimum requirement. The jump from High to Ultra at this resolution is relatively small, with High averaging 106 FPS and Ultra averaging 101 FPS, so there is no reason to compromise on quality. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 140 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any monitor refresh rate up to 144 Hz. The data shows that this combination can handle Ultra settings at all three resolutions without dropping below 60 FPS, making the choice purely about display capabilities versus visual fidelity.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would deliver similar results in this game. For the Intel Core i3-12100F, the closest matches are the Intel Core 3 N355 with an average score of 13492 and a deltaPct of 0%, the Intel Core i5-9500 with a score of 13452 and a deltaPct of 0.3%, and the Intel Core 5 120UL with a score of 13594 and a deltaPct of -0.7%. The Intel Core i7-1250U is also nearby with a score of 13351 and a deltaPct of 1.1%. These processors would behave similarly in Inside, meaning they would provide adequate single-thread performance for the game's physics and logic, but they would not meaningfully change the frame rates since the GPU is the dominant factor at higher resolutions.

For the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT, the nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 with an average score of 17037 and a deltaPct of 0.3%, the AMD Radeon HD 7970M with a score of 17019 and a deltaPct of 0.4%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 with a score of 17208 and a deltaPct of -0.7%. The NVIDIA Tesla M4 is also close with a score of 16932 and a deltaPct of 0.9%. In practice, swapping the RX 7600 XT for an RTX 3070 would yield nearly identical frame rates in Inside, as the deltaPct of -0.7% is negligible. The GTX 690 and HD 7970M are older architectures, but their benchmark scores suggest they would also produce comparable results, though they may lack modern driver optimizations for this specific title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data clearly shows that the GPU is the primary performance driver at 4K, while the CPU becomes more relevant at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the scaling between presets is significant: Low averages 133 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS, High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. This pattern indicates that the RX 7600 XT is the bottleneck, as reducing graphical load directly translates to higher frame rates. The CPU's role at this resolution is minimal, as the i3-12100F has sufficient single-thread performance to feed the GPU without issue.

At 2560x1440, the GPU remains the dominant factor, but the CPU begins to show its limits. The scaling from Low to Medium is 42 FPS, and from Medium to High is 64 FPS, which is a consistent GPU-bound pattern. However, the jump from High to Ultra is only 5 FPS, suggesting that the CPU may be starting to limit the maximum achievable frame rate. At 1920x1080, the CPU's influence becomes more apparent. The Low preset averages 295 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame delivery capability. The scaling from Medium to High is only 89 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 7 FPS, which is a much smaller margin than at higher resolutions. This indicates that the i3-12100F's four cores and eight threads are the limiting factor at 1080p, preventing the RX 7600 XT from reaching its full potential. The CPU's 3DMark 4-thread score of 2859 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 11860 support this analysis, as they show solid but not exceptional multi-threaded performance.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Inside, and it does so with remarkable ease. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 3840x2160, all four presets are playable, with the Ultra preset averaging 63 FPS and the Low preset reaching 133 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 212 FPS. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 140 FPS, and the Low preset hits 295 FPS. Every single measured combination exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold, and most exceed it by a substantial margin.

The data shows that this combination is overkill for a game like Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer with limited graphical complexity. The RX 7600 XT is a capable 1080p and 1440p GPU, and the i3-12100F provides enough CPU headroom for most scenarios. The only caveat is that at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, capping performance at 295 FPS. In practical terms, this means players can max out all settings at any resolution and still enjoy smooth, tear-free gameplay. For those with a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p, the Ultra preset at 101 FPS is a perfect match, and for 4K displays, the Ultra preset at 63 FPS delivers console-beating performance. This is a highly recommended pairing for this specific game, as it leaves no performance stone unturned.