Inside

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is an overwhelmingly capable combination for running Inside, delivering frame rates that far exceed the playable threshold of 60 FPS at every resolution and preset tested. Benchmark data indicates the combo ranks 132nd out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top percentile of systems for this title. Across all measured settings, the average frame rates never drop below 126 FPS, meaning this hardware effectively eliminates any performance concern for this puzzle platformer, regardless of display resolution or graphical preset.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 132 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This ranking, based on measured FPS data, places the system in the upper echelon of hardware configurations, well within the top 3.5% of all tested combos. For a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer rather than a demanding triple-A shooter, this level of performance is extraordinary, ensuring that the hardware is never the bottleneck, even at the highest loads.

The data shows that the performance headroom is massive. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 408 FPS, which is more than six times the 60 FPS playable threshold. Even at the most demanding configuration tested—4K resolution with Ultra settings—the average frame rate is 126 FPS, still more than double the playable standard. This consistent performance across the board indicates that the combo is not merely playable; it is designed for high refresh rate displays or for users who prefer to keep quality settings at their maximum without compromise.

The ranking position is further contextualized by the fact that the CPU and GPU both hold strong percentile positions globally. The Intel Core i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile versus all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is in the 86th percentile versus all GPUs. This combination of top-tier components results in a system that is not just adequate for Inside, but is substantially overqualified, as the data shows no settings or resolutions where the game struggles to maintain high frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

For Inside, the data reveals that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling between resolutions, while the CPU remains largely unconstrained. The measured FPS breakdown shows a clear pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate drops, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p, the average FPS across all settings ranges from 280 FPS (Ultra) to 408 FPS (Low). Moving to 1440p, the same settings yield average FPS between 201 FPS (Ultra) and 366 FPS (Low). At 4K, the numbers stand at 126 FPS (Ultra) to 265 FPS (Low). This scaling shows that the GPU’s workload increases significantly with resolution, while the CPU’s role in calculating game logic remains consistent.

The CPU’s high performance is evident in the fact that even at 1080p, where CPU overhead is often more visible, the frame rates remain extremely high. The Intel Core i7-14700K has a multi-core score of 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 and a single-core score of 2160, which places it among the top performers. However, the data does not show a scenario where the CPU becomes a limiting factor for Inside. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent, with the average FPS dropping by roughly 50-60% across settings, which aligns with the GPU’s rendering load. The GPU is the defining component here; a weaker GPU would show a more significant frame rate drop at higher resolutions, but the RTX 4080’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensure that even at 4K, the frame rates remain high.

The preset scaling within each resolution also points to the same conclusion. At 1080p, the difference between Low (408 FPS) and Ultra (280 FPS) is 128 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 1440p, the same comparison shows a drop from 366 FPS to 201 FPS, a 45% reduction. At 4K, the low-to-ultra drop is from 265 FPS to 126 FPS, a 52% reduction. This increasing percentage drop with resolution further confirms that the GPU is the main workload driver, as higher settings and resolutions place more pressure on the graphics card’s processing power. The CPU’s role in this game is to keep up with the GPU’s output, and it does so easily, with a passmark single-thread score of 4472 and a multithread score of 52392, ensuring that the frame rate is not hampered by processor limitations.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Looking at the nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU, there are several combinations that would yield extremely similar performance in Inside. The Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69355, with its closest rivals being the AMD EPYC 9115 (average score 69288, deltaPct 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (average score 69515, deltaPct -0.2). The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (average score 69875, deltaPct -0.7) and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (average score 69996, deltaPct -0.9) are also within a 1% performance margin. In practice, swapping the i7-14700K for any of these CPUs would result in a negligible frame rate difference in Inside, as the game is not CPU-intensive enough to expose these small differences.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER being the closest rival (averageScore 54209, deltaPct 0.1). The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (averageScore 54828, deltaPct -1.1), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (averageScore 55698, deltaPct -2.6), and AMD Radeon 8060S (averageScore 55757, deltaPct -2.7) are all within a 3% performance margin. For a game like Inside that does not stress the GPU heavily, a system with an RTX 4080 SUPER would deliver essentially identical frame rates, such as the measured 126 FPS at 4K Ultra. The AMD options would also be close, though the data shows they are slightly faster on average, which might translate to a few frames in the higher presets.

When considering a full system, the closest alternative would be an Intel Core i7-14700K with an RTX 4080 SUPER, as the GPU delta is only 0.1%, meaning the performance would be indistinguishable in practice. Alternatively, a Ryzen 9 7950X with the RTX 4080 would also be a direct match, since the CPU delta is -0.2%, which is within a single-frame difference at the frame rates measured. For users who already have a Ryzen 9 7940HX or Ryzen 7 9700F, upgrading to the i7-14700K would not yield any significant improvement in this title, as the game is GPU-bound at most settings. The data shows that the performance headroom is so large that even a GPU like the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, which is 2.6% slower, would still likely maintain over 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, though the exact numbers are not provided for that combination.

FAQ

Q: What is the playable threshold for this game, and does this combo meet it?

A: The playable threshold is set at 60 FPS. This combo exceeds that at all resolutions and settings, with the lowest average frame rate being 126 FPS at 4K Ultra.

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K resolution with the highest settings?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 126, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The minimum FPS is not provided for Ultra, but the average indicates a smooth experience.

Q: How much performance do you lose when going from Low to Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 408 FPS on Low to 280 FPS on Ultra, representing a 31% reduction. Despite the drop, the frame rate remains extremely high.

Q: Which component has a higher impact on performance, the CPU or the GPU?

A: The GPU is the primary factor for performance scaling, as evidenced by the frame rate reductions when moving from 1080p to 4K. The CPU’s high scores (e.g., 33440.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core) ensure it does not bottleneck, but the resolution scaling is clearly GPU-bound.

Q: Are there any settings where the frame rate might drop below 60 FPS?

A: No. The lowest average FPS recorded is 126, which is more than double the playable threshold. The benchmark results indicate no tested configuration falls below 60 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 132 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places it in the top percentile, ensuring it is a high-performance configuration for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed picture of how the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 perform across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are uniformly high. On Low settings, the average is 408 FPS. Medium settings yield an average of 377 FPS, with a minimum of 320 FPS and a maximum of 433 FPS. High settings average 294 FPS, and Ultra settings average 280 FPS. The lack of minimum and maximum data for most settings in this resolution suggests that the frame times are very stable, with the exception of Medium which shows a minimum of 320 FPS and a maximum of 433 FPS, indicating a 35% variance between the lowest and highest frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high. Low settings produce an average of 366 FPS. Medium settings show an average of 338 FPS, with a minimum of 287 FPS and a maximum of 388 FPS. High settings average 211 FPS, and Ultra settings average 201 FPS. The Medium preset at this resolution shows a minimum to maximum spread of 101 FPS, from 287 to 388, which suggests that the GPU handles the additional pixel load with some variation, but the average remains well above the playable threshold.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the averages are still impressive. Low settings average 265 FPS. Medium settings average 212 FPS, with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 244 FPS. High and Ultra settings average 133 FPS and 126 FPS, respectively. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 181 FPS, which is still triple the 60 FPS threshold, and a maximum of 244 FPS. The absence of min/max data for the other presets makes it difficult to assess frame time consistency, but the averages are consistent with the GPU’s capabilities.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: the frame rates are so high that the game’s performance is not even close to being playability concerns. The highest average FPS is 408 at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 126 at 4K Ultra. The delta between the most demanding and least demanding settings is 282 FPS, which shows the GPU’s scalability. The data also indicates that the performance is not limited by the CPU, as even the highest frame rate of 408 FPS does not show any signs of a processor bottleneck.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the best settings are determined by the most demanding preset that maintains an average FPS at or above 60. At 1920x1080, the Ultra settings average 280 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. Therefore, the best settings for this resolution are Ultra, with an average FPS of 280. This allows for the highest visual quality without any concern for performance. The fact that the average is more than four times the minimum threshold indicates that even frame rate drops, which are not recorded for this preset, would not affect playability.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset also achieves an average of 201 FPS, which is again above 60 FPS. This makes Ultra the best setting for 1440p as well, offering the maximum visual fidelity with an average frame rate that is over 3.3 times the playable threshold. The 201 FPS average suggests that the game will remain fluid even during the most intense scenes, and the lack of min/max data implies that the GPU handles the workload efficiently.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra settings produce an average of 126 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. This makes Ultra the best setting for 4K resolution, allowing users to experience the game at its highest graphical quality with an average frame rate that is more than double the playable standard. The 126 FPS average is a strong indicator that the GPU has headroom, and even if there were occasional frame drops, they would not bring the experience below the playable threshold. The verdict data confirms that for all three resolutions, the best settings is Ultra, with average FPS of 280, 201, and 126 respectively, showing that this combo is not only capable of running Inside, but it can do so at the highest possible settings across all common display resolutions.