Inside

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers an exceptionally strong performance profile in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding at high settings than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. Across all tested resolutions—from 1920x1080 up to 3840x2160—the combination not only meets but vastly exceeds the 60 FPS playable threshold, with the lowest recorded average sitting at 99 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. The data indicates this is a system built for maximum fidelity and refresh rates, as even the most punishing preset at the highest resolution maintains a comfortable margin above the playability floor. Benchmark results show that the GPU’s raw throughput and the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance combine to eliminate any potential bottleneck, making this combo a top-tier choice for this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combination reveal a clear hierarchy of performance scaling with resolution and graphical preset. At 1920x1080, the system operates at exceptionally high frame rates across the board. The Low preset produces an average of 359 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure for this combo. Medium settings yield an average of 331 FPS, with a minimum of 281 FPS and a maximum of 381 FPS. High settings drop slightly to an average of 230 FPS, while the Ultra preset still manages a robust 219 FPS average. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the frame rate is almost entirely unconstrained, with even the Ultra preset delivering over three times the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains extraordinarily high, though the scaling shows a modest reduction in headroom. The Low preset achieves an average of 321 FPS, while Medium settings follow at 264 FPS, with a minimum of 225 FPS and a maximum of 304 FPS. The High preset records an average of 165 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 157 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a performance penalty of roughly 28% on the Ultra preset, but the absolute numbers remain far above what any display refresh rate would require. At this resolution, the system is still delivering near-effortless performance.

At 3840x2160, the demands of 4K rendering begin to show a more pronounced effect, yet the system still never approaches the playability limit. The Low preset records an average of 208 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 359 FPS seen at 1080p, illustrating the heavy pixel throughput required at 4K. Medium settings produce an average of 166 FPS, with a minimum of 141 FPS and a maximum of 191 FPS. High settings drop to 104 FPS, and the Ultra preset bottoms out at 99 FPS. This final figure is still 65% above the 60 FPS threshold, proving that the combo can handle 4K Ultra with substantial margin. The data shows a clear pattern: while 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration tested, it remains comfortably playable, with the average frame rate never dipping below the 99 FPS mark.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a shifting balance between CPU and GPU influence depending on the resolution and preset. At 1920x1080, the low graphical load means the GPU is rarely saturated, and the frame rates are likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread performance. The i5-12600KF’s 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and PassMark single-thread score of 3925 indicate strong per-core capabilities, which are essential for maintaining high frame rates in less demanding scenes. The fact that the Low preset hits 359 FPS versus 219 FPS on Ultra suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU’s fill rate becomes a factor at higher settings, but the CPU is still capable of feeding it adequately.

As resolution increases to 2560x1440, the GPU’s role becomes more prominent. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a performance drop from 321 FPS to 157 FPS, a reduction of about 51%. This indicates that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, as the increased pixel count places more strain on the RTX 4070’s 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth. The CPU, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, remains largely idle in comparison, as evidenced by the relatively stable frame rates at lower presets. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra settings results in a 28% frame rate reduction, which is consistent with the GPU’s rendering load growing roughly in proportion to pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU dominance is undeniable. The Low preset’s 208 FPS average is still high, but the drop to 99 FPS at Ultra represents a 52% reduction, highlighting that the RTX 4070’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are being fully utilized. The CPU’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 7956 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391 are more than sufficient to avoid becoming a limiting factor, as the frame rates scale almost entirely with GPU load. The data suggests that for this game, the GPU is the dominant performance driver at all resolutions above 1080p, with the CPU only mattering at the lowest settings where frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the Intel Core i5-12600KF, the nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score provide a clear picture of comparable CPU performance. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D sits just 0.3% ahead, with an average score of 27896 versus the i5’s 27799. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, particularly in CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p. The Intel Core i9-10900K is 0.3% behind, with a score of 27872, meaning that users with this older flagship would see virtually no difference in gameplay. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, despite being a mobile chip, is also 0.3% ahead at 27887, which is surprising but underscores the i5’s position in the middle of a tight performance cluster. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE is 0.3% behind at 27712, rounding out a group where the deltaPct is negligible across all four rivals.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, the GPU’s nearest rivals show a similarly tight grouping. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is 0.1% ahead with an average score of 37628, though this is a data-center card unlikely to be used for gaming. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% ahead at 37507, and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% behind at 37157. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% behind at 38135, which is interesting as it suggests that a laptop variant of a higher-tier card performs comparably to the desktop RTX 4070 in synthetic benchmarks. For Inside, any of these GPUs would produce frame rates within a few percent of the RTX 4070, meaning that the measured FPS figures would be nearly indistinguishable. The practical takeaway is that this combo’s performance is not unique; swapping in any of these rivals would yield similar playability across all resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K Ultra settings?*

A: Yes, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 99 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest frame rate achievable with this setup?

A: The highest measured average is 359 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At Medium settings, the average is 331 FPS with a maximum of 381 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops from 219 at 1920x1080 to 99 at 3840x2160, representing a 55% reduction in frame rate.

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

A: The GPU becomes the dominant factor at 1440p and above, as shown by the 52% frame rate drop from Low to Ultra at 4K. The CPU is more relevant at 1080p Low, where frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

Q: Are there any settings where the frame rate falls below 60 FPS?

A: No, the lowest recorded average FPS across all tested resolutions and presets is 99 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra. The minimum FPS recorded is 141 FPS at 3840x2160 Medium.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 733rd out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20% of all systems tested for Inside.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Ultra, which achieves an average of 219 FPS. This is over 3.5 times the playable threshold, allowing users to enable the highest graphical fidelity without any concern for performance. The data shows that even the Ultra preset at 1080p leaves substantial headroom for future driver optimizations or background tasks.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset remains the best choice, with an average of 157 FPS. This is 2.6 times the playable threshold, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 165 FPS is slightly faster, but the difference is marginal, and the visual quality improvement from Ultra is worth the small frame rate cost.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset is still the most demanding setting that stays above 60 FPS, with an average of 99 FPS. This is 65% above the playable threshold, confirming that 4K Ultra is not only playable but also comfortable. The High preset at 104 FPS offers a minimal improvement, but the Ultra setting’s visual benefits make it the recommended choice for this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination holds a rank of 733 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 80th percentile of all systems evaluated. This ranking reflects the strong performance demonstrated across all resolution and preset combinations, with the combo achieving playable frame rates at every test point. The CPU’s percentile of 79 against all CPUs and the GPU’s percentile of 81 against all GPUs both contribute to a balanced system that rarely bottlenecks. The rank indicates that while there are faster combinations available, this setup is firmly in the upper echelon of performance for this title, offering the ability to run Inside at maximum settings with frame rates that exceed the needs of most displays. The gap to the top-ranked combos is likely due to more powerful GPUs or CPUs, but the measured data shows that such hardware would only yield marginal improvements given the already high frame rates.