Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Inside across all tested resolutions and presets, with the data showing only one preset falling below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K with High settings, the combo averages 58.6 FPS, narrowly missing the playability mark, but every other configuration clears it with substantial headroom. This is a classic case of a demanding puzzle platformer being effortlessly handled by a mid-range 2024 GPU and a high-end 2021 CPU, with the benchmark results indicating that the system is rarely the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and presets, with no min or max values recorded, so the analysis relies entirely on average frame rates. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, performance is exceptionally high. Low settings produce an average of 270 FPS, Medium settings drop to 212.6 FPS, High settings yield 132.1 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 127.8 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is modest at 4.3 FPS, while the gap from Medium to High is substantial at 80.5 FPS, suggesting that the High preset introduces a significant visual quality jump that costs roughly a third of the Medium frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain well above the playability threshold. Low settings average 192.5 FPS, Medium settings average 157.3 FPS, High settings average 97.3 FPS, and Ultra settings average 92.5 FPS. The pattern here mirrors 1080p: the largest drop occurs between Medium and High, a 60 FPS reduction, while the High-to-Ultra transition costs only 4.8 FPS. At 1440p, even the most demanding preset retains nearly 93 FPS, which is more than 50% above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes more constrained but remains largely playable. Low settings average 121.6 FPS, Medium settings average 100.2 FPS, Ultra settings average 60.4 FPS, and High settings average 58.6 FPS. This is the only resolution where a preset fails to clear 60 FPS, and it is notable that High runs slower than Ultra by 1.8 FPS. The data suggests an anomaly in the High preset at 4K, as the expected order would place High between Medium and Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 40% reduction in average FPS at Ultra settings (from 92.5 to 60.4), while the Low preset drops by 37% (from 192.5 to 121.6).

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom. At 1080p, it runs at 212.6 FPS; at 1440p, it runs at 157.3 FPS; and at 4K, it runs at 100.2 FPS. The High preset is the most inconsistent tier, performing well at 1080p and 1440p but slipping below the threshold at 4K.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data indicates that the GPU is the primary performance driver in Inside, with the CPU's role diminishing as resolution increases. This is evident from the frame rate scaling between presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 142.2 FPS (from 270 to 127.8), which is a 53% reduction. At 1440p, the same preset gap is 100 FPS (from 192.5 to 92.5), a 52% reduction. At 4K, the gap narrows to 61.2 FPS (from 121.6 to 60.4), a 50% reduction. The consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests that the game's visual settings impose a similar relative load on the GPU regardless of pixel count.

The CPU's influence is visible in the low-preset scaling between resolutions. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 270 FPS at 1080p to 192.5 FPS at 1440p (a 28.7% reduction) and then to 121.6 FPS at 4K (a 36.8% reduction from 1440p). If the CPU were the bottleneck, the low-preset frame rates would remain more constant across resolutions. Instead, the steady decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Core i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is clearly not constraining performance, as the frame rates at 1080p Low exceed 270 FPS, which is beyond what most games would require from a CPU.

The anomaly at 4K High (58.6 FPS) versus 4K Ultra (60.4 FPS) further points to GPU-bound behavior, as the Ultra preset typically demands more from the graphics card. This irregularity could be related to driver overhead or specific rendering paths in the game, but the data does not provide enough detail to pinpoint the cause. What is clear is that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution, as even the most demanding GPU preset at 4K produces frame rates that are within a few percentage points of each other.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 127.8 FPS. This provides more than double the playability threshold, making it the clear choice for maximum visual quality at this resolution. The next step down, High, runs at 132.1 FPS, a mere 4.3 FPS difference, so the visual upgrade to Ultra is essentially free in performance terms.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is also the best playable setting, averaging 92.5 FPS. This is 32.5 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, leaving comfortable headroom for demanding scenes that might cause frame dips. High settings run at 97.3 FPS, but the 4.8 FPS difference is negligible, so Ultra remains the recommended preset for the best visual experience without sacrificing smoothness.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more nuanced. Ultra settings average 60.4 FPS, just barely clearing the 60 FPS playability threshold. This makes Ultra technically playable at 4K, but with only 0.4 FPS of headroom, it is a borderline recommendation. Medium settings average 100.2 FPS, offering a much safer margin of safety, while Low settings run at 121.6 FPS. The data shows that High settings are not playable at 4K, averaging 58.6 FPS, which is 1.4 FPS below the threshold. For players prioritizing smoothness over maximum fidelity, Medium is the safest choice at 4K, but Ultra is viable for those who accept the risk of occasional dips below 60 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, the combo averages 60.4 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which just clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. However, the margin is thin, and High settings at this resolution fall short at 58.6 FPS.

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

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 average 92.5 FPS, making it the most demanding playable preset. All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) at this resolution exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

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

A: At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops from 127.8 FPS at 1920x1080 to 60.4 FPS at 3840x2160, a 52.7% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 270 FPS to 121.6 FPS, a 55% reduction.

Q: Is the High preset at 4K a viable option?

A: No, the High preset at 3840x2160 averages 58.6 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playability threshold. This is an anomaly, as Ultra settings at the same resolution perform slightly better at 60.4 FPS.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with Ultra settings provides 92.5 FPS, which is well above the threshold while still delivering high visual fidelity. This is 32.5 FPS above the 4K Ultra result.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at all resolutions. Even at Low settings, frame rates scale down significantly as resolution increases, showing that the Intel Arc B580 is the performance constraint, not the Intel Core i7-12700K.

The Verdict

This PC can run Inside at nearly every configuration tested, with the data showing only one preset failing to hit the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 127.8 FPS and Low reaching 270 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable, with Ultra at 92.5 FPS being the best visual option. At 3840x2160, three of the four presets clear 60 FPS: Low at 121.6 FPS, Medium at 100.2 FPS, and Ultra at 60.4 FPS. The High preset at 4K is the only unplayable configuration, averaging 58.6 FPS.

The verdict by resolution is clear: this combo delivers a smooth experience at 1080p and 1440p with maximum settings, and at 4K, it offers playable frame rates on Low, Medium, and Ultra presets. The 4K Ultra result is right at the boundary, so players may prefer Medium (100.2 FPS) for a more comfortable margin. Overall, the system is more than capable of handling Inside as a puzzle platformer, with frame rates that are consistently high across the board.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2807 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 75th percentile of all systems benchmarked for this game. This is a mid-pack ranking, which is somewhat surprising given the high frame rates measured. The explanation lies in the game's nature: Inside is a lightweight puzzle platformer that can be run at very high frame rates by most modern hardware, so the field of tested combos is tightly packed at the top. A rank of 2807 out of 3716 means that roughly 909 other combos (24.5%) outperform this one, while the majority (75.5%) perform worse.

Looking at the individual components, the CPU ranks in the 84th percentile against all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, 0.1% faster), Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365, 0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, 0.3% faster), and Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, 0.4% faster). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the i7-12700K is essentially tied with its closest competitors. The GPU ranks in the 68th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (23061, 0.2% faster), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (22895, 0.6% slower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (23172, 0.7% faster), and NVIDIA P106-100 (23249, 1% faster). The GPU's performance is similarly clustered, with all rivals within 1% of its score.

The combo's overall rank of 2807 suggests that while the individual components are competitive with their direct peers, the combination does not place at the top of the leaderboard for Inside. This is likely because the game's low system requirements mean that even older or lower-end GPUs can achieve high frame rates, narrowing the gap between top-tier and mid-tier hardware. Nevertheless, the measured FPS data shows that this combo delivers an excellent experience, with all playable presets well above the 60 FPS threshold except for the single 4K High anomaly.