Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer with a deliberately restrained visual style, but that does not mean it is trivial to run at high frame rates. The combination of an Intel Core i5-9400 and an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti produces a wide range of performance depending on resolution and quality preset. The recorded data shows that this pairing is extremely capable, with every tested configuration at every resolution clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold by a substantial margin. The lowest average frame rate recorded across all twelve measurement points is 100.3 FPS, which occurs at 4K Ultra settings. This means the system is not merely playable, it is playable with significant headroom at the most demanding settings tested.

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It carries 9 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration. Its recorded benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, along with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and a single-core score of 1389. The CPU sits in the 47th percentile among all tested processors in the database. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster operation units. It has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU sits in the 83rd percentile among all tested graphics cards.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Inside at 4K resolution?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the system achieves an average of 103.9 FPS on High settings, 171 FPS on Low, 156.2 FPS on Medium, and 100.3 FPS on Ultra. All four presets are above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the highest quality setting that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 150.1 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. Every preset at this resolution, from Low at 201.3 FPS to High at 150.7 FPS, clears the threshold comfortably.

Q: How much performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings average 220.6 FPS and Ultra settings average 167 FPS. The difference between the two extremes is 53.6 FPS, which is a 24.3 percent reduction from Low to Ultra.

Q: Which component, the CPU or the GPU, is more influential for this game?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor. The RTX 3080 Ti is in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs in the database, while the Core i5-9400 is in the 47th percentile among CPUs. The frame rates scale strongly with resolution and settings changes, which are GPU-bound variables.

Q: Does this system ever drop below 100 FPS in the measured configurations?

A: No. The lowest recorded average frame rate is 100.3 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. Every other configuration produces a higher average frame rate.

Q: How does this combination rank among all tested systems in the database for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1940 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places it in the upper half of all systems tested for Inside, but the rank reflects the entire pool of combinations, including many with more powerful CPUs and GPUs.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is clear from the measurement data. The game is a puzzle platformer with a relatively simple visual presentation, which typically reduces the CPU load compared to large open-world titles. The i5-9400, with its six cores and six threads, is positioned in the 47th percentile among all CPUs in the database. That is a mid-pack result for general compute tasks, but the frame rates recorded here show that it is not a limiting factor for Inside at any tested resolution or preset.

The GPU is the component that determines the performance envelope. The RTX 3080 Ti is in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, and its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth provides ample headroom for the game's rendering demands. The scaling between resolutions confirms this. At 1080p High settings, the average frame rate is 168.9 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops the average to 150.7 FPS, a reduction of 18.2 FPS. Moving to 4K High drops the average further to 103.9 FPS, a reduction of 46.8 FPS from the 1440p result. This progressive decline with increasing resolution is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth requirements.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU has more spare capacity. At 1080p Low, the system averages 220.6 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that approaches the practical limit for many display refresh rates. At 1440p Low, the average is 201.3 FPS, and at 4K Low, it is 171 FPS. The relatively small drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, only 19.3 FPS, suggests that the CPU is able to keep up with the game's logic and draw calls even when the GPU is not heavily taxed. The larger drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low, 30.3 FPS, indicates that the GPU begins to take on more of the workload as pixel count increases.

The preset scaling within a single resolution also points to GPU dominance. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 70.7 FPS, from 171 FPS down to 100.3 FPS. At 1440p, the same comparison shows a 51.2 FPS difference, from 201.3 FPS down to 150.1 FPS. At 1080p, the difference is 53.6 FPS, from 220.6 FPS down to 167 FPS. These are substantial gaps that reflect the GPU's changing workload as visual quality settings alter shading, texture filtering, and post-processing effects. The CPU is not the bottleneck in any of these configurations, as the frame rates remain high even when the GPU is pushed to its limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data includes twelve distinct measurement points, covering three resolutions and four quality presets. All values are average frame rates, as the database did not record minimum or maximum frame rates for this game. The results are presented below in full.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 220.6 FPS. Medium settings reduce this to 204.8 FPS, a drop of 15.8 FPS. High settings produce 168.9 FPS, which is 35.9 FPS below Medium. Ultra settings produce 167 FPS, which is only 1.9 FPS below High. The close proximity of the High and Ultra results suggests that the highest preset adds only a modest rendering cost at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but show a clearer separation between presets. Low settings average 201.3 FPS. Medium settings average 184.8 FPS, a drop of 16.5 FPS. High settings average 150.7 FPS, a drop of 34.1 FPS from Medium. Ultra settings average 150.1 FPS, which is essentially tied with High and only 0.6 FPS lower. The gap between Medium and High is the largest single step at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop more significantly as the GPU works harder. Low settings average 171 FPS. Medium settings average 156.2 FPS, a drop of 14.8 FPS. High settings average 103.9 FPS, a drop of 52.3 FPS from Medium. Ultra settings average 100.3 FPS, a drop of 3.6 FPS from High. The jump from Medium to High at 4K is the largest single preset transition in the entire dataset, indicating that High settings at this resolution impose a much heavier load on the GPU.

Comparing across resolutions, the impact of pixel count is clear. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 19.3 FPS, and the transition from 1440p to 4K costs 30.3 FPS. At Medium settings, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 20 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K transition costs 28.6 FPS. At High settings, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 18.2 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K transition costs 46.8 FPS. At Ultra settings, the 1080p to 1440p transition costs 16.9 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K transition costs 49.8 FPS. The larger penalties at High and Ultra when moving to 4K are consistent with the GPU being the primary performance driver.

The Verdict

This system can run Inside at every resolution and preset combination that was measured. The playability threshold in the database is 60 FPS, and every single average frame rate exceeds that threshold by at least 40.3 FPS. The verdict by resolution is straightforward.

At 3840x2160, all four presets are playable. The best settings are Ultra, which produce an average of 100.3 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving substantial headroom for any minor frame time spikes that might occur during gameplay. At 2560x1440, all four presets are playable, with the best settings being Ultra at an average of 150.1 FPS. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with the best settings being Ultra at an average of 167 FPS.

The practical conclusion is that this combination is not just capable of running Inside, it is capable of running it at maximum quality with frame rates that are suitable for high refresh rate displays. The weakest configuration, 4K Ultra, still averages more than 100 FPS. For a puzzle platformer with a controlled pace, this level of performance means that the game will be smooth in essentially all scenarios. The CPU never appears to be the limiting factor, and the GPU has enough power to handle the game's demands at any resolution.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database records nearest rival hardware for both the CPU and GPU based on average benchmark scores. These alternatives can be expected to behave similarly in terms of overall compute performance, though the exact frame rates in Inside may vary due to architectural differences.

The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with an average score of 2259, which is 0.2 percent higher, and the Intel Core i3-10305 with an average score of 2264, which is 0.4 percent higher. On the lower side, the Intel Core i7-10710U has an average score of 2248, which is 0.3 percent lower, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 has an average score of 2246, which is 0.4 percent lower. These four processors are all within 0.4 percent of the i5-9400's average score, meaning that systems built with any of them would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside, assuming the same GPU and memory configuration.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 41187. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 with an average score of 40377, which is 2 percent lower, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 with an average score of 40870, which is 0.8 percent lower. On the higher side, the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB has an average score of 41707, which is 1.2 percent higher, and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 has an average score of 41897, which is 1.7 percent higher. The RTX 5070 is the closest consumer-oriented alternative, and its 2 percent lower average score would translate to a very small difference in actual frame rates. The Tesla M40 cards are data center products, but their scores place them in the same performance neighborhood.

For a system pairing a comparable CPU with a comparable GPU, the expected frame rates would be very close to those recorded here. The differences of less than 2 percent on the GPU side and less than 0.5 percent on the CPU side would likely result in frame rate variations of only a few FPS at most. None of these alternatives would change the fundamental outcome, which is that the system runs Inside at well above 60 FPS at all tested settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database identifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS at each resolution. For this system, that preset is Ultra at every resolution, because all measured presets exceed the threshold.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra with an average frame rate of 167 FPS. This is 107 FPS above the playability threshold, leaving enormous headroom. At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra with an average frame rate of 150.1 FPS. This is 90.1 FPS above the threshold. At 3840x2160, the best settings are again Ultra with an average frame rate of 100.3 FPS. This is 40.3 FPS above the threshold.

There is no scenario in the recorded data where the system falls below 60 FPS, so there is no need to recommend a lower preset for the sake of playability. The only reason to reduce settings would be to pursue even higher frame rates for a very high refresh rate display. For example, a 240 Hz monitor would benefit from the Low preset at 1080p, which averages 220.6 FPS, or the Low preset at 1440p, which averages 201.3 FPS. But for standard 60 Hz, 120 Hz, or even 144 Hz displays, the Ultra preset at any resolution provides more than enough performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks 1940 out of 3716 tested combinations in the database for Inside. This places it in the 52nd percentile of all tested systems, which is slightly above the midpoint of the distribution. The rank is determined by the measured frame rates across the full range of resolutions and settings, and it reflects the fact that many other tested combinations include more recent or more powerful CPUs and GPUs.

The rank should be interpreted with care. The i5-9400 is an older six-core processor that sits in the 47th percentile among all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 2254 is modest by current standards. The RTX 3080 Ti, however, is a very strong GPU in the 83rd percentile. The combination benefits from the GPU's high performance, but the CPU's mid-pack standing prevents the combo from ranking higher. In a game like Inside, where the GPU is the primary driver of frame rates, the system performs exceptionally well in absolute terms. The rank of 1940 out of 3716 reflects the broader competitive landscape, where many systems pair newer high-end CPUs with comparable or better GPUs.

In practical terms, the rank does not diminish the system's capability. The measured data shows that this combination delivers average frame rates of at least 100 FPS at every resolution and preset. The rank of 1940 is a relative measure, and the absolute performance is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay. For anyone considering this combination, the key takeaway is that the RTX 3080 Ti provides the majority of the performance, and the i5-9400 does not hold it back in this particular game.