Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 570 presents a curious matchup for Inside, a puzzle platformer released in 2016. The CPU is a 12-core, 20-thread Alder Lake desktop part with a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, while the GPU is a Polaris 20 chip with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and a 256-bit bus. The recorded data shows a system that can handle the game at 1080p with maximum settings, but struggles at higher resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across three resolutions and four quality presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, each with Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 136 FPS on Low, 110.2 FPS on Medium, 66.9 FPS on High, and 65 FPS on Ultra. The step from Low to Medium is substantial, and the drop from Medium to High is even larger. High and Ultra sit close together, with only a small difference between them, suggesting the GPU reaches a similar workload ceiling at those presets.

At 2560x1440, the numbers fall but remain playable. Low produces 98.4 FPS, Medium 80.9 FPS, High 51.2 FPS, and Ultra 49 FPS. The step from Medium to High is a steep loss that pushes the frame rate below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Ultra is only slightly behind High, indicating that the Ultra preset adds little additional cost over High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly under pressure. Low yields 63.4 FPS, Medium drops to 51.9 FPS, High falls to 31.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27.3 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is noticeable, while the jump from Medium to High is even larger. This pattern shows that the RX 570's 4 GB frame buffer and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth become limiting factors as pixel count increases.

Notably, the min and max FPS values are not recorded in the database, so the analysis relies on average FPS only. The averages still paint a clear picture: the combo is comfortable at 1080p across all presets, marginal at 1440p on Medium and below, and only viable at 4K on Low.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only on Low settings. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Low is 63.4 FPS, which clears the 60 FPS threshold. Medium drops to 51.9 FPS, High to 31.2 FPS, and Ultra to 27.3 FPS, all below the playable threshold.

Q: What is the best quality setting at 1080p that stays above 60 FPS?

A: Ultra settings at 1920x1080 deliver 65 FPS on average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. This is the most demanding preset that remains playable at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 49 FPS while High averages 51.2 FPS. Both are below the 60 FPS threshold, and the difference between them is small, making Ultra nearly as affordable as High in performance terms.

Q: Is the GPU or the CPU the limiting factor in this combo?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU ranks in the 85th percentile among all tested CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 74th percentile. At 4K, the frame rates drop dramatically as settings increase, which points to the GPU's rendering limits rather than CPU throughput.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in the database for this game?

A: The combination ranks 3498 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the lower portion of the database. This reflects the GPU's age and limited memory bandwidth relative to modern parts.

Q: Does the RX 570 have enough VRAM for Inside at 4K?

A: The 4 GB GDDR5 frame buffer appears sufficient for Low settings at 4K, where the average FPS is 63.4. At higher presets, the frame rate collapses, which may indicate VRAM or bandwidth saturation, though the database does not record VRAM usage directly.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database's tested combinations for Inside, the i7-12700KF and RX 570 pairing ranks 3498 out of 3716 combos. This places it near the bottom of all tested systems, which is a striking result for a CPU that sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU's 74th percentile standing does not rescue the combo from its low overall rank.

The rank reflects the game's modest requirements. Inside is a puzzle platformer with a 2016 release date, and many older or lower-end GPUs can run it well at 1080p. The RX 570's 4 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p Ultra, but the combo's overall position is dragged down by its 4K and 1440p High/Ultra results. The database shows that 3716 combos have been tested for this game, and this pairing lands near the bottom, meaning a large portion of tested systems outperform it.

The CPU's high benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 34092, do not translate into a high game rank because Inside is not a CPU-intensive title. The GPU's 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 32 ROPs are more relevant, and those specs place it well behind modern mid-range cards.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database are all close in average benchmark score. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, essentially identical to the i7-12700KF's 35365. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305, also nearly identical. The Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428, and the Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287. All four rivals are within 0.2% of the i7-12700KF's average score, meaning any of them would behave nearly identically in this game when paired with the same GPU.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern. The AMD Radeon RX 6800M scores 28874, close to the RX 570's 28766. The AMD Radeon R9 M295X scores 28580, the AMD Radeon RX 470 scores 28996, and the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 scores 28421. These scores are all within 1.2% of the RX 570's average, so swapping the RX 570 for any of these GPUs would produce nearly the same frame rates in Inside. The RX 470 is particularly notable as a direct sibling, sharing the Polaris architecture and similar specifications.

For users considering an upgrade path, the data indicates that the CPU has substantial headroom. The i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads are far more than Inside needs, and its 85th percentile ranking means it will not bottleneck most GPUs. The GPU, however, is the limiting factor, and any of the listed rivals would offer comparable performance, so a meaningful upgrade would require a GPU beyond those listed.

Best Settings per Resolution

The database's verdict identifies the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS for each resolution.

At 3840x2160, the only playable setting is Low, with an average of 63.4 FPS. Medium falls to 51.9 FPS, so Low is the best option for 4K.

At 2560x1440, Low and Medium are both playable, with averages of 98.4 FPS and 80.9 FPS respectively. Medium is the best setting that clears 60 FPS, offering a significant visual improvement over Low while still maintaining a comfortable margin above the threshold.

At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable. Low averages 136 FPS, Medium 110.2 FPS, High 66.9 FPS, and Ultra 65 FPS. Ultra is the best setting, and it clears 60 FPS. The fact that High and Ultra are nearly identical in performance suggests that Ultra is the sensible choice at 1080p, as it costs almost nothing in frame rate compared to High.

The pattern across resolutions shows that the RX 570 has a clear performance ceiling. At 1080p, it can handle the game's maximum settings. At 1440p, it must drop to Medium. At 4K, it must drop to Low. This is a classic GPU-bound scaling curve, where each resolution step requires a preset step down to maintain 60 FPS.

The Verdict

The question of whether this PC can run Inside has a nuanced answer. At 1920x1080, the answer is a definitive yes: all four presets clear 60 FPS, with Ultra at 65 FPS and Low at 136 FPS. At 2560x1440, the answer is yes with caveats: Low and Medium clear 60 FPS, but High and Ultra fall below. At 3840x2160, the answer is barely yes: only Low clears 60 FPS, with 63.4 FPS, while Medium, High, and Ultra all fall below.

The playable threshold in the database is 60 FPS, and the verdict by resolution confirms these findings. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, frame rates above 60 FPS are not strictly necessary for enjoyable gameplay, but the data shows that the combo can deliver them at 1080p and 1440p on appropriate settings.

The overall picture is that this is a capable 1080p system for Inside, a marginal 1440p system, and a low-settings-only 4K system. The CPU is far more powerful than the game requires, while the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. Users with a 1080p monitor will have the best experience, as they can enable Ultra settings and still stay above 60 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the i7-12700KF and RX 570 becomes clear when examining the scaling across resolutions and presets. The CPU's benchmark data shows it is a high-end part: it ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and a single-core score of 4071. The GPU ranks in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28766.

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, a genre and era that rarely stresses modern CPUs. The game's physics and logic are simple, and the i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads are far beyond what the game can utilize. This is confirmed by the frame rate data: at 1080p, the combo achieves 136 FPS on Low and 65 FPS on Ultra, a difference that is entirely attributable to GPU workload. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would cluster together regardless of settings.

The GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the RX 570 can handle all presets, but the gap between Low and Ultra shows that the GPU is doing most of the work. At 1440p, the GPU's limits appear: High drops to 51.2 FPS and Ultra to 49 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, only Low remains playable at 63.4 FPS, and the GPU's 4 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are clearly stretched.

The scaling between resolutions at the same preset is also telling. For Low settings, 1080p yields 136 FPS, 1440p yields 98.4 FPS, and 4K yields 63.4 FPS. This is a smooth, predictable decline that tracks pixel count. For Ultra settings, 1080p yields 65 FPS, 1440p yields 49 FPS, and 4K yields 27.3 FPS. The Ultra curve is steeper, indicating that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are saturated at higher resolutions.

In practical terms, the CPU is not a factor for this game. The GPU determines the playable settings at each resolution. Users who want to improve performance should focus on the GPU, as the i7-12700KF has ample headroom. The data does not record any CPU-specific bottleneck indicators, but the frame rate patterns across resolutions and presets are consistent with a GPU-bound workload.