Inside

Inside is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer that relies on a deliberately sparse, atmospheric presentation. Because of that visual restraint, the hardware demands are modest by modern standards, but the recorded data still shows meaningful differences across resolutions and quality presets. The measurements for this combination, the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, cover 4K, 1440p, and 1080p, with four settings tiers each. The core question is whether this mid-range pairing can hold the 60 FPS threshold, and the data shows that it depends heavily on where you set the resolution slider.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database provides average frame rates for twelve distinct configurations, with no minimum or maximum frame time data recorded. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the results are consistently strong. The Low preset delivers an average of 131.8 FPS, which is more than double the playable threshold. Moving to Medium drops the average to 106.4 FPS, still a substantial margin above 60. The High preset records 67.8 FPS, which clears the threshold but with less headroom. The most demanding 1080p setting, Ultra, produces an average of 61.9 FPS, just barely above the 60 FPS target. This means even the heaviest preset at this resolution is technically playable, though the margin is slim.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes noticeably. The Low preset remains very comfortable at 94.3 FPS. Medium follows at 79.1 FPS, still well above the threshold. High drops to 50.4 FPS, which falls short of 60 FPS. Ultra is the worst performer at this resolution, averaging 46.6 FPS. The gap between Medium and High here is substantial, a drop of 28.7 FPS, which suggests a sharp scaling cost as settings increase. The data indicates that 1440p is playable only on the two lower presets.

At 3840x2160, the GTX 1650 is clearly out of its depth for demanding settings. Low averages 59.4 FPS, just under the 60 FPS line. Medium drops to 47.7 FPS, High falls to 31.9 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 31.1 FPS. None of the 4K presets reach the playable threshold, and the difference between Low and Ultra is 28.3 FPS. The 4K results show a hard ceiling for this GPU, with even the lowest settings failing to secure a stable 60 FPS average.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling patterns across resolutions reveal which component is doing the heavy lifting. At 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom to push very high frame rates on lower presets, reaching 131.8 FPS on Low. The fact that Ultra still manages 61.9 FPS suggests the CPU, a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake part, is not the limiting factor at this resolution. The GTX 1650, with its 896 shading units and 4 GB of GDDR5 memory, is the primary constraint as settings climb.

At 1440p, the frame rate drops across all presets compared to 1080p, but the pattern is consistent. Low goes from 131.8 to 94.3 FPS, a reduction of 37.5 FPS. Medium goes from 106.4 to 79.1 FPS, a reduction of 27.3 FPS. High goes from 67.8 to 50.4 FPS, and Ultra goes from 61.9 to 46.6 FPS. The consistent downward shift indicates that the GPU is scaling with resolution as expected, and the CPU remains capable of feeding the graphics card at these settings.

At 4K, the GPU is overwhelmed. The Low preset produces 59.4 FPS, barely below the 60 FPS target, while High and Ultra collapse to around 31 FPS. The difference between 1440p Low and 4K Low is 34.9 FPS, which is a massive hit for a single resolution step. This confirms that the GTX 1650 is the bottleneck at 4K, and the i5-9400 is not the constraint. The CPU benchmarks in the database, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, which is adequate for a game like Inside that does not demand high thread counts.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Inside at 1920x1080 with the Ultra preset?

A: Yes. The recorded average FPS at 1080p Ultra is 61.9, which clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, though the margin is only 1.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS at 1440p, with an average of 79.1 FPS. High falls to 50.4 FPS and is not playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with any settings?

A: No. The highest average at 3840x2160 is 59.4 FPS on Low, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium, High, and Ultra all record lower averages of 47.7, 31.9, and 31.1 FPS respectively.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p on the Low preset?

A: The average drops from 131.8 FPS at 1080p to 94.3 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 37.5 FPS. The game remains well above the playable threshold at both resolutions.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in this game?

A: The data indicates the GTX 1650 is the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions and presets. The i5-9400 has enough headroom, as shown by the minimal impact on frame rates at lower settings where the GPU is less stressed.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: High averages 67.8 FPS and Ultra averages 61.9 FPS, a difference of 5.9 FPS. Both presets are playable.

The Verdict

The verdict from the recorded data is clear. At 1920x1080, this system can run Inside at every preset, including Ultra at 61.9 FPS. The playable settings list for 1080p includes High, Low, Medium, and Ultra, with Ultra being the best setting that still holds above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium are playable, with Medium at 79.1 FPS as the best option. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, so 4K is not a viable target for this combination. The overall picture is that the GTX 1650 can handle Inside at 1080p with full quality settings, and at 1440p with moderate settings, but 4K is beyond its capabilities.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 61.9 FPS. This is the recommended target for users with a 1080p display, as it delivers the highest quality while just clearing the playable threshold. For 2560x1440, the best playable setting is Medium, averaging 79.1 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while still offering a significant quality improvement over Low. For 3840x2160, there is no playable preset. The closest option is Low at 59.4 FPS, which is 0.6 FPS short of the threshold, so users with 4K displays should lower the resolution or accept a frame rate below 60.

How This Combo Ranks

The database ranks this specific CPU and GPU pairing for Inside at position 3605 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places it in the bottom 3 percent of all tested systems, which is a low standing for a game that is not graphically demanding. The rank reflects the GTX 1650's position as a budget-oriented GPU, sitting at the 40th percentile among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 7472. The i5-9400 is more capable relative to its peers, at the 47th percentile among CPUs, but the combination is dragged down by the graphics card. The ranking does not change the fact that the system is playable at 1080p, but it does indicate that most other tested hardware configurations deliver higher frame rates.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i5-9400, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with a score of 2259 and a delta of -0.2 percent, the Intel Core i3-10305 with a score of 2264 and a delta of -0.4 percent, the Intel Core i7-10710U with a score of 2248 and a delta of 0.3 percent, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 with a score of 2246 and a delta of 0.4 percent. These CPUs all deliver nearly identical processing performance, so swapping the i5-9400 for any of them would have a negligible impact on Inside's frame rates, given that the game is not CPU-bound.

For the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650, the nearest rivals are the Intel Arc A310 with an average score of 7550 and a delta of -1 percent, the AMD Radeon HD 8850M with a score of 7447 and a delta of 0.3 percent, the Intel UHD Graphics 750 with a score of 7441 and a delta of 0.4 percent, and the AMD Radeon R7 350 with a score of 7425 and a delta of 0.6 percent. The Arc A310 is the closest match in performance, just 1 percent ahead of the GTX 1650, which means it would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside. The other three rivals are slightly behind, with deltas between 0.3 and 0.6 percent, so they would also behave similarly, though with marginally lower averages. Users considering an upgrade or a sidegrade should expect these alternatives to land within a few frames of the GTX 1650's results across all resolutions and presets.