Inside

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding than its visual simplicity suggests. Across all three tested resolutions, the combo clears the 60 FPS playable threshold at every preset, including Ultra. The data shows a GPU that is well-matched to the CPU, with frame rates scaling predictably as resolution increases and settings are raised. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate exceeds 300 FPS on Low, while even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset stays above 60 FPS, indicating substantial headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of performance scaling across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo produces an average of 309 FPS on Low, 247 FPS on Medium, 155 FPS on High, and 147 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 210 FPS and a maximum of 284 FPS, which is the only preset at this resolution with reported min/max values. The gap between Low and Ultra is approximately 162 FPS, indicating that the game's settings have a moderate impact on frame rate at 1080p.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop across the board but remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 222 FPS, Medium averages 178 FPS with a min of 151 and max of 204, High averages 111 FPS, and Ultra averages 106 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a reduction of roughly 28% on Low settings, 28% on Medium, 28% on High, and 28% on Ultra. This consistent percentage drop suggests that the GPU is the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, though the CPU continues to feed it adequately.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain playable but show the expected larger hit. Low settings average 140 FPS, Medium averages 112 FPS with a min of 95 and max of 128, High averages 70 FPS, and Ultra averages 66 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by approximately 37% on Low, 37% on Medium, 37% on High, and 38% on Ultra. The min FPS on 4K Medium is 95, which is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that even the heaviest preset at this resolution does not cause significant frame drops.

The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration where the average dips below 70 FPS, but at 66 FPS it remains comfortably playable. The High preset at 4K sits at 70 FPS, demonstrating that the RX 9060 has enough headroom to handle Inside at 4K without needing to compromise on quality. The data shows no stutter-prone minimums; the lowest recorded min FPS across all tested configurations is 95 at 4K Medium, which is well above the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that the GPU plays a more significant role than the CPU in determining frame rates for Inside, particularly at higher resolutions. The scaling between 1080p and 1440p shows a consistent 28% reduction in average FPS across all settings, which aligns with the 1.78x increase in pixel count. This linear relationship suggests that the Radeon RX 9060 is the limiting factor once the resolution rises, as the Core i5-14600KF has ample single-thread performance to handle the game's physics and logic at these frame rates.

At 1080p, the CPU's capacity is more visible. The jump from Low to Medium reduces the average from 309 to 247 FPS, a 20% drop, while the jump from High to Ultra only reduces the average from 155 to 147 FPS, a 5% drop. This non-linear scaling indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU is able to push extremely high frame rates, but the GPU begins to cap performance as settings increase. The fact that Low at 1080p reaches 309 FPS suggests that the CPU could theoretically push even higher if the GPU were faster, but the RX 9060's 21.43 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for this title.

At 4K, the GPU's dominance is clear. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 74 FPS (140 vs 66), which is a 53% reduction. This is larger than the 52% reduction at 1440p (222 vs 106) and the 52% reduction at 1080p (309 vs 147). The consistency of this percentage across resolutions indicates that the GPU's memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and pixel rate (191.4 GPixel/s) are the primary constraints, rather than any CPU bottleneck. The CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads are more than adequate for Inside, which is not a heavily threaded title; the game's puzzle-platformer nature relies more on single-thread performance, where the i5-14600KF's 5.30 GHz boost clock excels.

The data shows that for Inside, the correct mental model is a GPU-limited scenario at all resolutions above 1080p, with the CPU having enough headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck even at 4K. The only place where the CPU might matter more is in frame time consistency, but the min FPS figures do not indicate any CPU-induced stutter; the lowest min FPS of 95 at 4K Medium is still far above the 60 FPS threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which produces an average of 147 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and it clears the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin. The data shows no reason to drop below Ultra at this resolution, as even the heaviest preset leaves substantial headroom for a 144 Hz or higher refresh rate display.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, with an average of 106 FPS. This comfortably exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, and the 106 FPS average means that even a 100 Hz monitor would be fully utilized. The Medium preset at this resolution produces 178 FPS, but Ultra's 106 FPS is still well above playable, so the visual quality upgrade is worth the frame rate trade-off.

For 3840x2160, Ultra remains the best settings option, averaging 66 FPS. This is the only configuration where the average approaches the 60 FPS threshold, but it still clears it by 6 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 70 FPS, which is slightly higher, but Ultra's 66 FPS is technically above the threshold. The data indicates that a 4K display at Ultra settings is playable, though users with a strict 60 FPS cap might prefer High for a small margin of safety. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 4K, with Ultra being the best.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data shows all settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 4K.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 309 FPS, achieved with Low settings. Ultra settings at this resolution still produce 147 FPS, so the game never dips below playable levels even at maximum quality.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a consistent reduction in average FPS across all settings. At Low settings, the drop is from 309 to 140 FPS (a 55% reduction). At Ultra settings, the drop is from 147 to 66 FPS (a 55% reduction), indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor.

Q: Is the Core i5-14600KF or the Radeon RX 9060 the bottleneck?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU can push 309 FPS, but the GPU's 21.43 TFLOPS compute limits Ultra to 147 FPS. At 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth (288.0 GB/s) and pixel rate (191.4 GPixel/s) cap performance, with the CPU having ample headroom.

Q: What is the lowest minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 95, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is still far above the 60 FPS playable threshold, indicating that the game does not experience significant frame drops.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 2129 out of 3716 tested combos for this game. While this is in the middle of the pack, the absolute performance is high, with all configurations exceeding 60 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 has an average benchmark score of 49228, which is 0.3% lower than the Core i5-14600KF's 49394. This means the Ryzen 9 7900 would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, with less than a 1% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% lower). The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796, which is 0.8% higher, meaning it would be slightly faster. For practical purposes, any of these CPUs would produce the same playable experience, with differences of less than 1% being imperceptible.

For the GPU, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti has an average score of 16129, which is 0.7% higher than the RX 9060's 16014 average. This means the RTX 3060 Ti would perform nearly identically, with frame rates within 1% at every resolution. The AMD Radeon R9 370X scores 15862 (1% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 scores 15852 (1% lower), both of which would be slightly slower but still playable. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679 (2.1% lower), which is the largest gap but still within 2% of the RX 9060's performance. None of these alternatives would change the verdict for Inside; all would clear 60 FPS at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-14600KF and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 2129 out of 3716 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 57% of all configurations tested. While this rank might seem modest, it is important to note that Inside is a lightweight game that runs well on a wide range of hardware. The rank is more a reflection of the sheer number of high-end combos tested than any deficiency in this pairing. The data shows that this combo sits in the upper half of all tested systems, and the absolute performance is more than sufficient for the game's requirements.

The rank of 2129 is influenced by the fact that many tested combos include top-tier GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX, which would naturally score higher. However, the RX 9060's 59th percentile among all GPUs and the i5-14600KF's 90th percentile among all CPUs indicate that this is a solid mid-to-high-end pairing. The combo's performance in Inside is limited by the GPU, which is in the 59th percentile, but the overall result is still a smooth experience at all resolutions and settings.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Inside at every resolution and preset combination tested. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The best settings per resolution are Ultra in all cases, with average FPS of 66 at 4K, 106 at 1440p, and 147 at 1080p. The data shows no configuration that drops below the 60 FPS threshold, and the lowest minimum FPS recorded is 95 at 4K Medium.

The Core i5-14600KF provides more than enough CPU performance, with its 14 cores and 20 threads never becoming a limiting factor. The Radeon RX 9060's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game's modest texture and geometry demands. Users can confidently run Inside at maximum settings on any resolution, and the 66 FPS average at 4K Ultra leaves a small margin for future driver optimizations or background tasks. For those with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p displays, the 147 FPS and 106 FPS averages respectively provide a buttery-smooth experience. This is a combination that fully maxes out the game without any compromises.