Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer with a minimal, atmospheric presentation, and the measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination shows that this hardware is dramatically overqualified for the title. Across every resolution and preset tested, the average frame rates are in the triple digits, often exceeding 300 FPS, which indicates that the game’s rendering demands are trivial for this flagship-class setup. The following analysis breaks down the exact measured performance, the balance between CPU and GPU load, the best settings for each resolution, and how this specific pairing ranks against the broader database of tested combinations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide average frame rates for four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions, with no minimum or maximum frame rate data recorded. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the performance is extraordinarily high across the board. The Low preset produces an average of 409.1 FPS, which is the single highest frame rate in the entire dataset. Moving up the preset ladder, Medium yields 374.5 FPS, High drops to 313.1 FPS, and Ultra still maintains a substantial 309.9 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is approximately 99 FPS, indicating that even the most demanding graphics settings do not tax this hardware in a meaningful way.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high but show a clearer separation between presets. The Low preset averages 364.6 FPS, which is still above the 1080p Ultra result. Medium follows at 335.8 FPS, High at 236.3 FPS, and Ultra at 223.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here widens to roughly 141 FPS, suggesting that the higher resolution begins to place more load on the GPU, though the absolute numbers remain far above any playability threshold. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs about 44 FPS on Low (from 409.1 to 364.6), but the cost on Ultra is only about 87 FPS (from 309.9 to 223.2), which highlights how the preset scaling interacts with resolution.

At 3840x2160, also known as 4K, the performance finally shows some signs of constraint, but only relative to the absurdly high scores at lower resolutions. The Low preset averages 293.8 FPS, which is still nearly five times the 60 FPS playability threshold. Medium delivers 235.7 FPS, High drops to 145.6 FPS, and Ultra lands at 137.6 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is about 156 FPS, the largest spread observed across any resolution. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is working noticeably harder, but the absolute performance remains so high that the game is effectively unconstrained. The data shows no min or max FPS values, so variance and frame time spikes cannot be assessed, but the averages alone are sufficient to classify this combo as overwhelmingly capable.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS scaling across resolutions and presets reveals which component is the limiting factor for this game. At 1920x1080, the CPU is likely the primary driver of performance, given that the frame rates are so high that the GPU is rarely saturated. The difference between Low (409.1 FPS) and Ultra (309.9 FPS) at 1080p is only about 24%, which is modest compared to the scaling at higher resolutions. This pattern indicates that the Intel Core i7-14700K, with its 20 cores and 28 threads, is more than sufficient to feed the RTX 4090 at this resolution, and the GPU’s raw compute power is not the bottleneck.

As resolution increases to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take on a more significant role. The frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets—about 11% on Low, 10% on Medium, 25% on High, and 28% on Ultra. The larger percentage drops on High and Ultra suggest that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at these settings, as the increased pixel count and more demanding effects require more of the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. However, the CPU is still not a bottleneck, as even the lowest 1440p result (223.2 FPS on Ultra) is far above any CPU-bound ceiling that would typically appear in a 2016 puzzle platformer.

At 3840x2160, the GPU role is unmistakably dominant. The frame rate drops from 1440p to 4K are substantial: about 19% on Low, 30% on Medium, 38% on High, and 38% on Ultra. This scaling aligns with the GPU’s workload increasing by roughly four times the pixel count, and the data shows that the RTX 4090 is still delivering over 137 FPS even at the most demanding preset. The CPU’s role at 4K is minimal, as the game’s logic and draw calls are simple enough that the i7-14700K’s single-thread performance (a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160) is more than adequate. In summary, the CPU dominates at 1080p, the balance shifts toward the GPU at 1440p, and the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck at 4K—but no component ever approaches a level that would cause frame rates to dip near 60 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

The playability threshold is defined as 60 FPS, and every measured preset at every resolution exceeds this by a wide margin. The benchmark data shows that at 1920x1080, the most demanding preset tested is Ultra, which delivers an average of 309.9 FPS. This is the best settings choice at this resolution, as it provides the highest visual fidelity without any performance concern. Even the Low preset at 1080p, which hits 409.1 FPS, is unnecessary for playability, but Ultra is the clear recommendation for maximum image quality.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again delivers the highest visual quality, with an average of 223.2 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold and represents the best settings option. The data shows that no preset at this resolution drops below 223 FPS, so users can freely select Ultra without any risk of stutter or slowdown. The Medium and High presets are also viable, but Ultra provides the best experience.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 137.6 FPS, which is still more than double the playability threshold. This makes Ultra the best settings choice for 4K as well. The High preset at 145.6 FPS is slightly faster, but the difference is marginal—about 8 FPS—and Ultra’s higher graphical fidelity is preferable. The verdict data confirms that all four presets are playable at 4K, with the lowest average being 137.6 FPS on Ultra, so there is no scenario where the game cannot run smoothly. Across all resolutions, the recommendation is to use Ultra settings, as it never compromises the 60 FPS target.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination holds a combo rank of 63 out of 3716 tested configurations in the database for Inside. This places it in the top 1.7% of all tested combos, which is a strong result given the game’s age and modest hardware requirements. The rank reflects the absolute performance of the hardware, not necessarily the efficiency or value, and the data shows that this pairing is among the fastest ever tested for this title.

The CPU’s percentile versus all tested CPUs is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 69,355 is closely matched by its nearest rivals: the AMD EPYC 9115 scores 69,288 (a delta of 0.1% slower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515 (0.2% faster), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69,875 (0.7% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69,996 (0.9% faster). These deltas are all within 1%, so the i7-14700K is essentially tied with these processors in synthetic benchmarks, and any differences in game performance would be negligible.

The GPU’s percentile versus all GPUs is 88, with an average benchmark score of 60,347. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% slower), the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, 2.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, 2.9% slower). These deltas are also small, indicating that the RTX 4090 is closely matched by several professional and workstation GPUs in synthetic tests, though the RTX 4090’s gaming-specific strengths (such as ray tracing and DLSS) are not captured in these scores. The combo rank of 63 suggests that while this hardware is near the top, other pairings with slightly faster CPUs or GPUs may achieve higher rankings, but the differences would be imperceptible in a game like Inside.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The average frame rate at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 137.6 FPS.

Q: Is the game playable at 1080p with the highest settings?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 309.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K has an average benchmark score of 69,355, which is 0.2% slower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515) and 0.1% faster than the AMD EPYC 9115 (69,288).

Q: What is the combo rank for this CPU and GPU pairing?

A: The combo rank is 63 out of 3,716 tested combinations for Inside.

Q: Which component is more important at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor, as frame rates drop by up to 38% from 1440p to 4K on High and Ultra presets, indicating the RTX 4090 is the limiting component.

Q: Does the game ever drop below 60 FPS with this hardware?

A: No, the lowest average frame rate recorded is 137.6 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is more than double the playability threshold.

The Verdict

Can this PC run Inside? The data is unambiguous: yes, with enormous headroom. The verdict by resolution confirms that all tested settings are playable at every resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 309.9 FPS, which is the best settings option. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 223.2 FPS, and at 3840x2160, Ultra averages 137.6 FPS. In every case, the game clears the 60 FPS threshold by at least a factor of two. The only caveat is that the game is from 2016, so this hardware is vastly overprovisioned—but if the goal is to run Inside at maximum fidelity without any frame rate concerns, this combination achieves that effortlessly. The minimum frame rate data is not available, so transient dips cannot be ruled out, but the averages are so high that any such dips would still likely stay above 60 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the AMD EPYC 9115 (69,288, 0.1% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69,515, 0.2% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875, 0.7% faster), and AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69,996, 0.9% faster). All four processors are within 1% of the i7-14700K’s score, so swapping to any of them would produce virtually identical frame rates in Inside. The Ryzen 9 7950X is the closest in absolute terms, with a delta of just 0.2%.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the Intel Arc Pro A60 (60,326, 0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (60,140, 0.3% slower), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (61,896, 2.5% faster), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (58,657, 2.9% slower). The Intel Arc Pro A60 is the most direct match, with a delta of 0%, meaning it would perform nearly identically in synthetic benchmarks. However, the RTX 4090’s gaming features, such as its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, may give it an edge in other titles, but for Inside specifically, the Arc Pro A60 would be a close substitute. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M is slightly faster on average, but the 2.5% delta is unlikely to translate into a noticeable FPS difference given the game’s low demands. All of these alternatives would keep the combo well above the 60 FPS threshold at any resolution.