Inside

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers overwhelming performance for Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. Benchmark data shows this combination produces extremely high frame rates across every tested resolution and preset, with all configurations far exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold. The measured results indicate a system with massive headroom, where even the most demanding settings at 4K resolution maintain an average of 107.9 FPS, nearly double the playable threshold. This analysis breaks down the exact performance characteristics, component roles, and comparative standing of this hardware combination.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 107.9 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and the data shows it maintains nearly double the playable frame rate threshold. The High preset at this resolution delivers 110.2 FPS, while Medium reaches 181.8 FPS and Low peaks at 225.9 FPS. All four settings at 4K clear the 60 FPS requirement with substantial margin, but Ultra represents the best visual quality option that remains comfortably playable.

Moving to 2560x1440 (1440p), the Ultra preset again qualifies as the best settings choice, producing an average of 168.9 FPS. This represents a significant jump from 4K performance, with High hitting 178.6 FPS, Medium reaching 261.8 FPS, and Low delivering 280.6 FPS. The 1440p resolution offers exceptional headroom, where even Ultra settings provide nearly three times the minimum playable frame rate.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Ultra preset achieves 237.1 FPS on average, making it the clear choice for maximum visual fidelity without any performance concerns. The remaining presets scale even higher: High produces 244.4 FPS, Medium reaches 293.3 FPS, and Low tops out at 315.2 FPS. The data confirms that at 1080p, every setting from Low through Ultra maintains frame rates well above 200 FPS, indicating the GPU and CPU combination is far from being stressed at this resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results reveal an interesting dynamic between the Intel Core i3-12100F and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT across different resolutions. The data shows that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes increasingly dominant in determining performance, while the CPU's role diminishes. This is evident from the scaling patterns: at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra settings is 315.2 FPS versus 237.1 FPS, a gap of 78.1 FPS. At 1440p, that same Low-to-Ultra gap narrows to 111.7 FPS (280.6 versus 168.9). At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra becomes 118.0 FPS (225.9 versus 107.9).

The resolution scaling demonstrates that the RX 7900 XT is the primary performance driver, particularly at higher resolutions. Dropping from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings reduces average FPS from 237.1 to 107.9, a 54.5% decrease, which is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads. The i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, provides sufficient processing power to avoid bottlenecking even at 1080p, where frame rates reach as high as 315.2 FPS on Low settings. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11860 and a single-core score of 1674, indicate it handles the game's logic without becoming a limiting factor.

The preset scaling further confirms this distribution: at any given resolution, the performance delta between Low and High is relatively modest compared to the resolution-based scaling. For example, at 1440p, the difference between Low (280.6 FPS) and High (178.6 FPS) is 102.0 FPS, while the difference between High at 1440p (178.6 FPS) and High at 4K (110.2 FPS) is 68.4 FPS. This pattern suggests that while both components contribute, the GPU's rendering capabilities become the dominant constraint as pixel count increases, with the CPU maintaining consistent frame delivery across all tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K): The Ultra preset delivers an average of 107.9 FPS, while High achieves 110.2 FPS. Medium settings produce 181.8 FPS, and Low reaches 225.9 FPS. The progression from Ultra to Low represents a 109.4% performance increase, demonstrating that the GPU scales effectively with reduced visual complexity at 4K.

2560x1440 (1440p): Ultra averages 168.9 FPS, High reaches 178.6 FPS, Medium hits 261.8 FPS, and Low peaks at 280.6 FPS. The spread between Ultra and Low is 111.7 FPS, with each step down in quality yielding meaningful gains. The Medium preset at 261.8 FPS shows particularly strong scaling, representing a 55.0% improvement over Ultra.

1920x1080 (1080p): Ultra produces 237.1 FPS, High delivers 244.4 FPS, Medium reaches 293.3 FPS, and Low tops out at 315.2 FPS. The relative differences compress at this resolution, with only a 78.1 FPS gap between the highest and lowest settings. Notably, even Ultra at 1080p remains within 32.9% of the Low preset's frame rate, indicating that the system has ample computational resources at this resolution.

The data shows consistent behavior across all resolutions: Ultra and High settings produce similar results (within 2.3% to 5.4% of each other), while Medium and Low offer progressively larger performance gains. At 4K, the jump from High to Medium represents a 64.9% improvement, while at 1080p that same transition yields only a 20.0% gain. This pattern reinforces the GPU-bound nature of higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Can this PC run Inside at 4K resolution with maximum settings?*

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system achieves an average of 107.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. All four presets at 4K—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—maintain average frame rates above 100 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p for visual quality?

A: The Ultra preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 168.9 FPS, making it the best choice for maximum visual fidelity. This performance level provides nearly three times the playable threshold, leaving substantial headroom for any demanding scenes.

Q: How does the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings change across resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the difference between Low (315.2 FPS) and Ultra (237.1 FPS) is 78.1 FPS. At 1440p, this gap expands to 111.7 FPS (280.6 versus 168.9). At 4K, the gap is largest at 118.0 FPS (225.9 versus 107.9), showing that preset choice has greater impact at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the GPU still dominates performance, but the difference is less pronounced than at higher resolutions. The Intel Core i3-12100F with its 8 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache provides enough processing power to sustain up to 315.2 FPS, indicating the RX 7900 XT remains the primary performance factor even at lower resolutions.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with High settings?

A: The High preset at 3840x2160 delivers an average of 110.2 FPS. This is nearly identical to Ultra performance (107.9 FPS), suggesting that High offers essentially the same frame rate with slightly reduced visual effects.

Q: Does this combination ever drop below 60 FPS in the tested configurations?

A: No. Every tested resolution and preset combination maintains average frame rates above 100 FPS. The lowest recorded average is 107.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, which still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by 79.8%.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i3-12100F sits at the 68th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core 3 N355, which scores 13492 (essentially identical performance with a 0% delta), and the Intel Core i5-9500 at 13452 (0.3% slower). The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594 (0.7% faster), while the Intel Core i7-1250U reaches 13351 (1.1% slower). Any of these CPUs would provide nearly interchangeable performance for Inside, with differences well within measurement noise.

For the GPU side, the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds the 55th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 13745. The closest alternatives include the AMD Radeon 660M at 13812 (0.5% faster), the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile at 13821 (0.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871 (0.9% faster). The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT scores 13543 (1.5% slower). These results indicate that swapping to any of these GPUs would yield nearly identical frame rates in Inside, with all variations under 2%.

The combination of a CPU in the 68th percentile and a GPU in the 55th percentile creates a balanced system where neither component represents an outlier. Users considering upgrades or alternative builds could substitute any of these near-equal performers without significantly altering expected frame rates in this game.

The Verdict

This PC can definitively run Inside at exceptional performance levels. The verdict data confirms that all three tested resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—support every available preset (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra) at frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra, delivering 237.1 FPS at 1080p, 168.9 FPS at 1440p, and 107.9 FPS at 4K.

The benchmark results show that this system not only meets but vastly exceeds playability requirements. Even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) maintains an average of 107.9 FPS, which is 79.8% above the playable threshold. The performance headroom is substantial enough that users could enable additional graphical enhancements or run the game on high-refresh-rate displays without concern. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, this combination provides a flawless experience at any resolution, with frame rates that would satisfy even the most demanding display setups.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3716 tested combinations in the benchmark database, this pairing of Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 768th overall. This places it in the top 20.7% of all tested configurations, which is notable given that the CPU is a relatively modest 4-core/8-thread part while the GPU is a high-end RDNA 3.0 offering.

The ranking reflects the GPU-heavy nature of Inside's rendering workload. The RX 7900 XT's substantial specifications—5376 shading units, 192 ROPs, and 800.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth—provide the bulk of the performance, while the i3-12100F's single-thread performance (3dmark single-thread score of 893, Cinebench R23 single-core of 1674) ensures the CPU never becomes a limiting factor. The rank of 768 out of 3716 indicates that while many combinations exceed this system's performance, it still outperforms nearly 80% of tested configurations, making it a robust choice for this game despite the CPU's entry-level positioning.