Inside

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti delivers overwhelming performance for Inside, a game whose modest 2016 visuals are thoroughly outmatched by this modern desktop combo. Measured data shows the system never dips below an 83.7 FPS average even at the most demanding preset tested, making the question of playability less about whether it can run the game and more about how much headroom exists for high refresh rates or future content. The benchmark results across all resolutions and settings reveal a component pairing that is effectively bottlenecked by the game engine itself rather than by hardware limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most mainstream monitors. The Low preset averages 358.7 FPS, which is a staggering figure for a puzzle platformer and indicates the CPU and GPU are barely taxed. Medium settings drop this to 317.7 FPS, while High averages 199.7 FPS. The Ultra preset, which typically imposes the heaviest load, still averages 191.5 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 167.2 FPS, showing that even the largest quality jump costs less than half the total performance headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern holds but with expected scaling. Low settings average 285.3 FPS, Medium 231.5 FPS, and High 143.3 FPS. Ultra at 1440p produces a 133.8 FPS average, which is still more than double the 60 FPS threshold. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is 57.7 FPS, a 30% reduction, but the absolute numbers remain so high that the experience is unchanged for practical purposes. Interestingly, the 1440p High preset (143.3 FPS) is only 3.8 FPS behind the 1080p Ultra preset (191.5 FPS) — actually, that comparison is incorrect; the 1440p High is 48.2 FPS lower than 1080p Ultra, showing the resolution scaling is more significant than the preset scaling at these extremes.

At 3840x2160, 4K resolution finally introduces some meaningful load. The Low preset averages 178.5 FPS, Medium 143.7 FPS, and High 92.2 FPS. Ultra at 4K averages 83.7 FPS, which is the lowest figure recorded in the entire dataset but still comfortably clears the 60 FPS threshold by 23.7 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra costs 50.1 FPS, a 37.4% reduction, which is the steepest performance penalty observed across any resolution change. This suggests the RTX 3070 Ti’s 8 GB GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are handling the increased pixel count without any visible frame time spikes, as min and max FPS data were not recorded but the averages remain stable.

The scaling behavior across resolutions is consistent with a GPU-bound workload at higher pixel counts. At 1080p, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads (with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz) are likely providing more than enough headroom, as evidenced by the 358.7 FPS Low result. At 4K Ultra, the GPU’s 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance becomes the limiting factor, yet it still delivers 83.7 FPS. No frame rate dips below the playable threshold in any configuration, and the absence of min/max data in the FACT PACK means the analysis relies solely on averages, which are uniformly excellent.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearestRivals data for the CPU places the Intel Core i5-12600KF in close company with several other processors. The Intel Core i9-10900K has an average benchmark score of 27872, which is 0.3% lower than the i5-12600KF’s 27799. This means a system with the older i9 would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, since the game is unlikely to stress more than a few threads. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896, just 0.3% higher, suggesting that its 3D V-Cache, while beneficial in other titles, provides no measurable advantage here. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (27712, 0.3% lower) and AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (27887, 0.3% lower) also fall within a negligible 1% band, meaning any of these CPUs would produce statistically indistinguishable results.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti’s average benchmark score of 29945 is bracketed by several alternatives. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile scores 29928, a 0.1% difference that is effectively zero in real-world terms. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 scores 30095, 0.5% higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti scores 29783, 0.5% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6700 scores 30433, 1.6% higher, which is the largest delta in the group but still small enough that a user swapping between these cards would see no meaningful change in Inside’s frame rates. Given that the game runs at hundreds of FPS on the tested combo, any of these rival GPUs would also clear the 60 FPS threshold with ease at every resolution and preset.

For a user considering a pre-built or used system, the data implies that the i5-12600KF + RTX 3070 Ti combination is not uniquely positioned. The performance envelope is shared by a wide range of hardware from the same era, and the game’s low requirements mean that even a mid-range card from the previous generation, like the RTX 2080 Ti, would produce comparable results. The 0.3% CPU deltas and 0.5% GPU deltas are far smaller than the 39.5% gap between the lowest and highest measured FPS (from 4K Ultra to 1080p Low), reinforcing that resolution and settings have a far greater impact than component choice within this performance tier.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Inside at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 83.7 FPS, which is 23.7 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average is 358.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27799, which is 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-10900K’s 27872 and 0.3% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE’s 27712.

Q: Is the GPU more similar to the RTX 2080 Ti or the RX 6700?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti’s average score of 29945 is 0.5% higher than the RTX 2080 Ti (29783) and 1.6% lower than the RX 6700 (30433), making it slightly closer to the RTX 2080 Ti.

Q: What is the largest performance drop between presets at a single resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the drop from Low (178.5 FPS) to Ultra (83.7 FPS) is 94.8 FPS, which is the largest preset-based reduction in the dataset.

Q: Does this combo rank highly among all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 1134 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 30.5% of all systems in the database for this game.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally confirms that this PC can run Inside at every resolution and preset combination tested. The verdictByResolution field lists all four settings — High, Low, Medium, and Ultra — as playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080, with the playable threshold defined as 60 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the most demanding configuration, the average FPS is 83.7, providing a 23.7 FPS margin of safety. At 1440p Ultra, the average rises to 133.8 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it reaches 191.5 FPS. The lowest recorded average across the entire dataset is 83.7 FPS, meaning there is no scenario where this hardware drops below the playable threshold.

The best settings per resolution are consistently Ultra, with average FPS of 83.7 at 4K, 133.8 at 1440p, and 191.5 at 1080p. This indicates that users can max out the game’s visual quality without any performance concerns. The only caveat is that min and max FPS values were not recorded in the FACT PACK, so stutter or frame time variance cannot be assessed, but the high averages suggest that any transient drops would still remain well above 60 FPS. For a puzzle platformer with no competitive multiplayer component, the excess performance is arguably wasted, but it does future-proof the system against any potential high-refresh-rate displays or replay features.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the most demanding option that stays at or above 60 FPS, averaging 191.5 FPS. This is 131.5 FPS above the threshold, leaving ample headroom for background tasks or recording software. At 2560x1440, Ultra remains the best choice with an average of 133.8 FPS, which is 73.8 FPS above the threshold. The 4K resolution at 3840x2160 also supports Ultra with an average of 83.7 FPS, which is 23.7 FPS above the threshold. Since all presets at all resolutions clear 60 FPS, the “best” setting is simply the one that maximizes visual fidelity, which is Ultra in every case.

The data shows that the step from High to Ultra produces a relatively small FPS penalty at each resolution. At 1080p, the drop is 8.2 FPS (from 199.7 to 191.5), at 1440p it is 9.5 FPS (from 143.3 to 133.8), and at 4K it is 8.5 FPS (from 92.2 to 83.7). These single-digit penalties are negligible, reinforcing that Ultra is the sensible default. The larger gaps occur between Low and Medium, which at 1080p is 41 FPS (358.7 to 317.7), but since even the lowest preset provides far more FPS than needed, users should simply choose Ultra and enjoy the best visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, the Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 1134 out of 3716 total combos for Inside. This places it in the 69.5th percentile of all systems tested, meaning roughly 30% of configurations perform better and 70% perform worse. Given that the game runs at 83.7 FPS minimum, the rank likely reflects the hardware’s raw capability rather than any deficiency in this specific title. The ranking implies that there are many systems with more powerful GPUs or CPUs that achieve even higher frame rates, but the practical difference is invisible to the user since the game is already running far beyond the playable threshold.

The rank of 1134 is notable because the hardware is not top-of-the-line — the RTX 3070 Ti is end-of-life and the i5-12600KF is a mid-range processor from 2021 — yet it still outperforms 2582 other tested combos. This suggests that Inside is not a demanding title, and even older or lower-tier hardware can achieve playable results. The combo’s percentile rank of 79 for the CPU and 75 for the GPU (based on percentileVsAllCpus and percentileVsAllGpus) further contextualizes that this is solidly above-average hardware, but the game’s low requirements mean that the rank is more a reflection of the components’ general capabilities than their specific suitability for this title.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals that the GPU takes on an increasingly dominant role as the resolution rises. At 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 1016) is likely sufficient to keep up with the game’s logic, as evidenced by the 358.7 FPS Low result. The GPU’s 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate is more than enough to fill 1920x1080 pixels, so neither component appears to be the primary bottleneck. However, the 30% drop from 1080p Ultra (191.5 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (133.8 FPS) and the further 37.4% drop to 4K Ultra (83.7 FPS) aligns with the GPU’s fillrate and bandwidth limits, suggesting that the RTX 3070 Ti is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

At 4K, the GPU’s 8 GB GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder, but the game’s art style, which relies on silhouettes and limited color palettes, likely uses less memory than a typical AAA title. The CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases because the per-frame workload becomes more pixel-bound. The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p Low to 1080p Ultra is 167.2 FPS, while the drop from 1440p Low to 1440p Ultra is 151.5 FPS, and from 4K Low to 4K Ultra is 94.8 FPS. This narrowing delta indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU and GPU are both capable of driving high frame rates, but as resolution climbs, the GPU’s work per frame grows and the CPU has more idle time.

The implication for users is that the i5-12600KF is never a limiting factor in this game. Even at 1080p Low with 358.7 FPS, the CPU’s 10 cores are likely underutilized, and the 3dmark_2_threads score of 1995 suggests strong single-thread performance that suits a puzzle platformer’s physics and logic. The RTX 3070 Ti, with its 6144 shading units and 192 TMUs, is the component that determines the ceiling at each resolution, but that ceiling is so high that it never approaches the 60 FPS threshold. For users with 144Hz or 240Hz monitors, the 1440p and 1080p results are particularly relevant, as they provide enough FPS to take full advantage of high refresh rates without any compromise in visual quality.