Inside

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is an extreme combination of a budget-focused quad-core processor and a high-end Ampere graphics card. In the puzzle platformer Inside, this pairing ranks at 957 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the upper third of all systems. The data shows that this combo is not only playable but delivers frame rates far beyond the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution and settings preset tested, making it a highly capable machine for this title.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 957 out of 3716 tested combinations places it in the top 25% of all systems in the database. This is a strong result, though it is important to note that the rank reflects the bottleneck characteristics of the CPU when paired with such a powerful GPU. The RTX 3080 Ti is an extremely fast card, but the Core i3-12100F, with its 4 cores and 8 threads, can become the limiting factor in less GPU-bound scenarios. However, for Inside, a game with modest graphical demands, the GPU’s raw power dominates the equation. The benchmark scores support this: the CPU sits at the 68th percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU is at the 83rd percentile against all GPUs. This gap suggests that in many titles, the CPU will hold back the GPU, but in Inside, the high average FPS across all settings indicates the workload is light enough for the CPU to keep up without being a major constraint. The rank confirms that this system is far more powerful than average, even if it does not reach the top 100 due to the processor’s position in the overall hierarchy.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a classic pattern where the GPU becomes more dominant as resolution increases, but the CPU’s limits are still visible at lower resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS on Low settings is 315, which is nearly identical to the 282 FPS at 2560x1440 on Low. The difference between these two is only about 10%, indicating that at lower resolutions, the CPU is likely capping performance. Moving from 2560x1440 to 3840x2160 on Low settings, the average FPS drops from 282 to 206, a 27% decline. This larger drop suggests that the GPU is now becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases. The same trend appears on Medium settings: 291 FPS at 1080p, 260 FPS at 1440p, and 165 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is only 11%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 37%. This indicates that the GPU’s workload scales non-linearly with resolution, and the CPU’s headroom is sufficient at 1080p but less relevant at 4K.

Preset scaling further clarifies the relationship. At 3840x2160, moving from Low to Medium reduces the average FPS from 206 to 165 (a 20% drop), while moving from Medium to High reduces it from 165 to 103 (a 38% drop). The jump from High to Ultra only reduces FPS from 103 to 98 (a 5% drop). This pattern suggests that the High preset introduces a significant graphical complexity that heavily taxes the GPU, while the Ultra preset is only marginally more demanding. At lower resolutions, the preset scaling is less severe. At 2560x1440, the difference between Low and Medium is only 8% (282 to 260), and between Medium and High is 37% (260 to 164). At 1920x1080, the Low-to-Medium drop is 8% (315 to 291), and the Medium-to-High drop is 22% (291 to 228). The data shows that the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p with Low settings, as the FPS is capped around 315, but the GPU becomes the decisive component at 4K, where the gap between settings widens dramatically.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces average frame rates that are exceptionally high across all presets. On Low settings, the average FPS is 315, with no reported minimum or maximum values. Medium settings yield an average of 291 FPS, with a minimum of 247 and a maximum of 334. High settings deliver an average of 228 FPS, and Ultra settings achieve an average of 218 FPS. All of these numbers are far above the 60 FPS playable threshold, and even the lowest recorded minimum (247 FPS on Medium) is more than four times the threshold. The absence of minimum and maximum values for Low, High, and Ultra presets suggests that the frame times were consistent enough not to warrant reporting extremes, or that the data collection focused on average performance.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains stellar. Low settings produce an average of 282 FPS. Medium settings drop to an average of 260 FPS, with a minimum of 221 and a maximum of 299. High settings average 164 FPS, and Ultra settings average 156 FPS. The minimum FPS of 221 on Medium is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating no stutter or severe dips in performance. The transition from High to Ultra is small, from 164 to 156, showing that the Ultra preset is not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are still very high, though they begin to show the GPU’s workload. Low settings average 206 FPS. Medium settings average 165 FPS, with a minimum of 140 and a maximum of 190. High settings average 103 FPS, and Ultra settings average 98 FPS. The minimum FPS on Medium (140) is still more than double the 60 FPS threshold, and even on Ultra, the average remains above 90 FPS. The data shows a clear step-down from Medium to High, but the system never drops below a playable level at any point.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the CPU’s nearest rivals, the Intel Core i3-12100F has an average benchmark score of 13494. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13492, a delta of 0%, meaning it would perform almost identically in CPU-bound tasks. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, which is 0.3% lower, a negligible difference. The Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, which is 0.7% higher, and the Intel Core i7-1250U scores 13351, which is 1.1% lower. These deltas are all within a 1.8% range, indicating that swapping the i3-12100F for any of these processors would result in virtually the same frame rates in Inside, as the game is not heavily CPU-dependent at the tested settings. The i5-9500 has 6 cores and 12 threads, but its older architecture means it performs on par with the 4-core i3-12100F in this benchmark, making it an equal alternative.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 with a score of 40870 (0.8% higher), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB with a score of 41707 (1.2% lower), the NVIDIA Tesla M40 with a score of 41897 (1.7% lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with a score of 40377 (2% higher). The RTX 5070, despite being a newer generation, scores slightly lower in this benchmark, though the 2% delta would be imperceptible in actual gameplay. The Tesla M40 cards are professional-grade products without consumer display outputs, but their raw compute performance is similar. In practical terms, any of these GPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, with the differences being within the margin of error for real-world testing.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average FPS of 218. This is the highest quality setting available, and the system runs it at over three times the playable threshold. There is no reason to lower the settings at this resolution, as even the Ultra preset provides a massive performance headroom.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average FPS of 156. This is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual fidelity of Ultra is fully achievable. The system has enough power to handle the highest preset without any compromise to smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are Ultra as well, with an average FPS of 98. While this is the lowest average FPS across all resolutions, it is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a comfortable margin. The High preset offers 103 FPS, but since Ultra is only slightly slower and provides better visuals, it is the recommended choice for 4K gaming.

The Verdict

The data clearly shows that this PC can run Inside exceptionally well. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra) are playable at every resolution tested. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset runs at an average of 218 FPS, which is far beyond the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset runs at 156 FPS, still more than double the threshold. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset runs at 98 FPS, which is comfortably above 60 FPS. The minimum FPS recorded across any preset and resolution is 140 FPS (3840x2160, Medium), which is still more than double the playable threshold, indicating no noticeable stutter or frame drops. The system is not just playable; it is overpowered for this game. The RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant factor, and even the modest 4-core CPU does not prevent high frame rates. For Inside, this combination offers a flawless experience at any resolution, with the ability to max out all settings and still achieve frame rates that are suitable for high-refresh-rate displays.