Inside

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is an overwhelmingly capable combination for Inside, delivering frame rates far above the 60 FPS playability threshold at every tested resolution and preset. The measured data shows that even the most demanding setting, Ultra at 4K, produces an average of 97 FPS, meaning this system does not merely run the game—it saturates high-refresh-rate displays at 1440p and 1080p while remaining comfortably smooth at 2160p. This verdict is supported by concrete benchmark results across twelve distinct resolution and settings combinations, with no dips below the playable threshold recorded.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark data for this pairing is measured rather than estimated, and it reveals a decisive performance margin. At 1920x1080, the lowest tested resolution, the RTX 3080 and Core i5-14600KF combination produces an average frame rate of 392.3 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings at 1080p yield 354.5 FPS, while High settings drop to 222.1 FPS. Ultra settings at 1080p still deliver an average of 211.9 FPS. These figures indicate that at 1080p, the system is bottlenecked by the game engine’s frame rate ceiling rather than hardware limits, as even the most demanding preset maintains over 200 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance scales predictably but remains extraordinarily high. Low settings at 1440p produce 313.8 FPS, Medium settings deliver 252.5 FPS, and High settings achieve 159.7 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p still averages 151 FPS, which is more than double the playable threshold of 60 FPS. This resolution shows that the GPU’s 10 GB GDDR6X memory and 320-bit bus are more than sufficient for the game’s visual demands, with the bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s providing ample headroom for texture streaming and post-processing effects.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 continues to demonstrate its strength, though the gap between presets narrows relative to lower resolutions. Low settings at 4K produce an average of 198.4 FPS, Medium settings drop to 159.5 FPS, and High settings yield 101 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K still maintains an average of 97 FPS, which is 37 FPS above the playable threshold. Notably, the delta between High and Ultra at 4K is only 4 FPS (101 vs 97), suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects—likely shadows and ambient occlusion—have a minimal cost at this resolution. The measured data does not include minimum or maximum frame rate values, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS, but the consistency of results across all settings indicates a stable performance profile.

The overall pattern across resolutions shows diminishing returns as resolution increases: the jump from 1080p Low (392.3 FPS) to 1440p Low (313.8 FPS) represents a 20% reduction, while the jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low (198.4 FPS) represents a 37% reduction. This aligns with the GPU’s pixel throughput capabilities, as the RTX 3080’s pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s become increasingly relevant at higher resolutions. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, which likely employs simple geometry and limited draw distances, the GPU’s compute resources are not heavily taxed, allowing even the RTX 3080’s 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance to remain underutilized.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i5-14600KF and RTX 3080 maintain 60 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 97 FPS, which is 37 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. The verdictByResolution data confirms that Ultra is listed as a playable setting at 4K, and it is also the best settings choice for that resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49394, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, scores 49228, which is 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% lower). The only rival with a higher score is the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388 at 49796, which is 0.8% above the i5-14600KF.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The RTX 3080 falls in the 68th percentile of all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 23172. This places it above the majority of graphics cards, though its nearest rivals—the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X—have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of -0.3% to -0.4% relative to the RTX 3080.

Q: Which resolution offers the highest frame rate advantage over the playable threshold?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 392.3, which is 332.3 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold—the largest margin in the dataset. Even at the most demanding setting (1080p Ultra), the margin remains 151.9 FPS above the threshold.

Q: Does the game support DirectX 12 Ultimate features on this GPU?

A: The RTX 3080 supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), as listed in its API specifications. This includes hardware ray tracing capabilities through its 68 RT cores, though the measured FPS data does not indicate whether ray tracing is enabled in the tested settings. The game’s release date of 2016-07-06 predates the widespread adoption of ray tracing, so the visual features of Inside likely rely on traditional rasterization.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested hardware combinations for this game?

A: The Core i5-14600KF + RTX 3080 combination ranks 746th out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 20% of all systems tested for Inside. This rank reflects the GPU’s 68th percentile and the CPU’s 90th percentile, with the combination outperforming the majority of lower-tier pairings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals to the Intel Core i5-14600KF are the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, Intel Core Ultra 5 245, and AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 388. The Ryzen 9 7900 has an average benchmark score of 49228, which is 0.3% lower than the i5-14600KF’s 49394. The Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49196 (0.4% lower), and the Core Ultra 5 245 scores 48995 (0.8% lower). The Ryzen AI Max+ 388 scores 49796, which is 0.8% higher. In practical terms, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, as the game is unlikely to be CPU-bound at the tested resolutions—the i5-14600KF’s 14 cores and 20 threads provide far more processing headroom than a puzzle platformer requires.

For the GPU, the RTX 3080’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA P106-100, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, AMD Radeon RX 6600M, and AMD Radeon R9 M290X. All four have average scores within 0.4% of the RTX 3080’s 23172, with the P106-100 at 23249, the Pro Vega 16 at 23250, the RX 6600M at 23273, and the R9 M290X at 23276. Despite the similar synthetic scores, these GPUs differ significantly in architecture and feature set—the RTX 3080 uses 8nm Ampere with 8704 shading units, while the R9 M290X is an older GCN-based part. However, for Inside specifically, the benchmark data suggests that any of these GPUs would produce comparable frame rates, as the game’s modest visual demands do not stress the RTX 3080’s capabilities. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (97 FPS) indicates that even a GPU with slightly lower performance would likely remain above 60 FPS.

The Verdict

This PC can run Inside with exceptional ease. The verdictByResolution data lists every tested setting—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—as playable at all three resolutions: 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080. The playable threshold is 60 FPS, and the lowest average frame rate across the entire dataset is 97 FPS at 4K Ultra. This means the system clears the threshold by at least 37 FPS in the worst case, and by as much as 332.3 FPS in the best case (1080p Low).

At 4K, the best settings choice is Ultra with an average of 97 FPS, which not only meets but exceeds the 60 FPS requirement. At 1440p, Ultra delivers 151 FPS, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or 165Hz). At 1080p, Ultra reaches 211.9 FPS, which is suitable for 240Hz displays. There is no resolution or preset in the measured data where the system fails to reach 60 FPS, making this combination a definitive high-performance solution for Inside. The CPU’s 90th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 68th percentile ranking combine to create a system that is overkill for this game, but the measured data confirms that overkill translates into maximum visual quality with no performance compromises.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 746th out of 3716 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the 80th percentile of all systems evaluated. This rank is driven by the CPU’s strong synthetic performance (90th percentile, average score 49394) and the GPU’s above-average standing (68th percentile, average score 23172). The rank of 746 out of 3716 means that 2970 tested combinations perform worse, while 745 combinations perform better. Given that Inside is a lightweight puzzle platformer from 2016, the fact that this modern CPU and GPU pairing ranks in the top 20% indicates that most higher-ranked combinations likely include newer, more powerful GPUs (such as the RTX 40-series) or CPUs with higher benchmark scores. However, the measured FPS data shows that the i5-14600KF + RTX 3080 already achieves frame rates that are impractical to display on most monitors—the 1080p Low average of 392.3 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all consumer displays. Thus, the rank reflects hardware potential rather than practical gameplay limitations, as the system’s real-world performance is already saturated by the game’s rendering engine.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average frame rate of 97 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available in the dataset, and it maintains a 37 FPS margin over the playable threshold. No higher preset exists, so Ultra is the definitive choice for 4K.

At 2560x1440, the best settings choice is also Ultra, producing an average of 151 FPS. This is 91 FPS above the threshold, providing ample headroom for variable refresh rate monitors or future driver overhead. The medium preset at 1440p (252.5 FPS) is technically faster, but Ultra offers the superior visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is again the best settings option, with an average of 211.9 FPS. This is 151.9 FPS above the threshold, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate gaming at 240Hz. The gap between Medium (354.5 FPS) and Ultra (211.9 FPS) at 1080p suggests that Ultra enables effects that cost roughly 40% of the frame rate, but the absolute frame rate remains so high that the visual upgrade is worth the reduction. For all three resolutions, the dataset’s verdictByResolution field explicitly lists Ultra as the best settings choice, confirming that the system’s performance ceiling is not reached even at the maximum quality preset.