Inside

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a thoroughly overwhelming performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far from demanding by modern standards. The measured data shows this pairing is capable of producing frame rates that are not merely playable, but exceptionally high across every tested resolution and preset combination. The lowest average frame rate recorded in the entire test suite is 83.8 FPS at 3840x2160 on both High and Ultra settings, which still clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a significant margin. This makes the system a definitive over-performer for the title, leaving substantial headroom even for the most stringent refresh rate requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance is staggering. The Low preset produces an average of 319.7 FPS, while the Medium preset follows closely with 294.9 FPS. High settings still deliver 188.2 FPS, and even the most demanding Ultra preset averages 178 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a drop of roughly 141.7 FPS, indicating that while the settings do have an impact, the baseline performance is so high that the difference is largely academic for standard displays. The gap between Medium and High is notable, with a decrease of 106.7 FPS, but the system never approaches a point of struggle.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. The Low preset averages 269.7 FPS, and Medium is not far behind at 218.1 FPS. High settings yield 135.3 FPS, while Ultra drops to 129.8 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by a predictable margin, but the results are still far beyond what any current monitor can display. For instance, the Ultra preset at 1440p loses 48.2 FPS compared to its 1080p counterpart, yet the absolute figure of 129.8 FPS is still more than double the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the system finally shows signs of being exercised, though it still never breaks a sweat. The Low preset averages 172 FPS, Medium drops to 134.5 FPS, and both High and Ultra settle at 83.8 FPS. Interestingly, the High and Ultra presets produce identical average frame rates at 4K, which suggests that the game's Ultra settings at this resolution do not impose a heavier load than High, or that the GPU is hitting a similar bottleneck in both cases. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 88.2 FPS, a substantial gap that shows the resolution is the primary scaling factor, but the final number is still comfortably above the 60 FPS target.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores include the AMD EPYC 7643, which posts an average score of 18697, a negligible 0.1 percent difference from the i5-12400's 18683 average. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 18730, sitting 0.3 percent higher, while the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 reaches 18811, a 0.7 percent advantage. On the lower side, the Intel Core i3-14100F scores 18519, which is 0.9 percent below the i5-12400. These sub-one-percent deltas mean that in CPU-bound scenarios, users with any of these processors would experience nearly identical performance in Inside, though the game's light CPU demands make this a moot point in practice.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070's nearest rivals are a diverse group. The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT scores 17083, which is 0.7 percent lower than the RTX 3070's 17208 average. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037, just 1 percent behind, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M scores 17019, trailing by 1.1 percent. Interestingly, the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores higher at 17468, a 1.5 percent lead over the RTX 3070. In a game like Inside, which relies on simple 2D-style rendering with minimal geometric complexity, these rival GPUs would likely produce frame rates within a few FPS of the RTX 3070, meaning the choice between them has little practical consequence for this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data indicates that Inside is overwhelmingly GPU-bound, but only at the highest resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 319.7 FPS, which is so high that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor. The i5-12400 has a single-thread benchmark score of 910 in 3dmark, which is modest compared to its multi-thread scores, but it is still sufficient to push frame rates past 300. The scaling from 1080p Low to 4K Low shows a drop from 319.7 FPS to 172 FPS, a reduction of 147.7 FPS that is entirely attributable to the increased pixel count.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced when moving from Medium to High settings. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 294.9 FPS, but High drops to 188.2 FPS. This 106.7 FPS gap is larger than the 88.2 FPS gap between Low and Medium at the same resolution, suggesting that High settings introduce effects that are more taxing on the GPU's shading units. At 4K, the High and Ultra presets both hit 83.8 FPS, indicating that the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being fully utilized. The GPU's fp32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS is more than adequate for this game, but the identical High and Ultra results at 4K imply that the game engine caps certain effects at High, making Ultra a no-cost upgrade at that resolution.

The Verdict

This PC can run Inside without any compromises. The verdict data confirms that all four presets at all three resolutions are playable, with every single average frame rate clearing the 60 FPS threshold. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 178 FPS, which is nearly triple the playable requirement. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 129.8 FPS, still more than double the threshold. Even at 3840x2160, the most demanding scenario, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 83.8 FPS, providing a 23.8 FPS margin above the playable line. The system is not just capable of running the game; it is capable of running it at maximum settings with frame rates that would satisfy even high-refresh-rate display owners. For users with 144Hz monitors, the 4K Ultra result of 83.8 FPS would not saturate the refresh rate, but the 1440p Ultra result of 129.8 FPS comes close, and the 1080p Ultra result of 178 FPS exceeds it.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1434 out of 3716 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 38.6 percent of all systems tested, which is a solid showing for a mid-range desktop pairing from 2022 and 2020 respectively. The rank is influenced by the fact that many other combos feature newer or higher-end components, but the actual gameplay experience is far better than the rank might suggest. The percentile rankings for the individual components support this: the CPU sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 61st percentile among all GPUs. The combo's rank is lower than either individual percentile because the game is so undemanding that even less powerful CPUs and GPUs can achieve high frame rates, compressing the performance curve at the top end. In absolute terms, this combo is overkill for Inside, but the rank reflects that many other systems also achieve playable results.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, which delivers an average of 178 FPS. This is the highest preset available and it still produces a frame rate that is nearly three times the playable threshold. There is no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 129.8 FPS. This is a substantial 69.8 FPS drop from the 1080p Ultra result, but it remains more than double the 60 FPS target. The margin is sufficient for high-refresh-rate gaming, as 129.8 FPS is close to the 144Hz mark.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are Ultra, averaging 83.8 FPS. This is identical to the High preset result, which is notable because it means Ultra does not cost any additional performance at this resolution. The 83.8 FPS average exceeds the playable threshold by 23.8 FPS, making 4K Ultra a viable option for standard 60Hz displays, though users with 120Hz or higher refresh rate 4K panels would need to accept a frame rate below their display's maximum. The data shows that the system's performance headroom is so large that the only limiting factor for a truly flawless experience is the refresh rate of the connected monitor, not the hardware.