Inside

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 presents an interesting study in system balance for a game like Inside. The data reveals a scenario where the GPU, despite its age, remains the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions, while the modern CPU ensures that frame rates scale impressively at lower settings. This analysis breaks down the recorded measurements across all tested configurations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The database contains a complete set of average frame rate measurements for this combination across three resolutions and four quality presets. No minimum or maximum frame rate data was recorded for any configuration, so the analysis relies entirely on average performance.

At 3840x2160, the system produces an average of 53.3 FPS on High settings. Dropping to Medium raises the average to 84.2 FPS, while Low settings deliver 103.8 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding only 47.2 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is 6.1 FPS, while the jump from High to Medium is a substantial 30.9 FPS improvement.

At 2560x1440, all presets clear the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. Low settings produce an average of 168 FPS, Medium reaches 132.5 FPS, and High delivers 80.4 FPS. The Ultra preset, which struggles at 4K, still manages a solid 77.2 FPS at this resolution. The scaling from High to Ultra is relatively mild here, a drop of only 3.2 FPS.

At 1920x1080, the system shows its strongest results. Low settings hit an average of 231.8 FPS, Medium achieves 182.3 FPS, High reaches 117.1 FPS, and Ultra maintains 111.2 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is just 5.9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset at this resolution.

Across all resolutions, the trend is consistent: Low settings provide the headroom for high refresh rate displays, while the gap between Medium and High is larger than the gap between High and Ultra. The 4K High result is the only configuration that falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold in this dataset.

FAQ

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

A: Yes, but only on Low or Medium settings. The recorded averages are 103.8 FPS for Low and 84.2 FPS for Medium. High settings drop to 53.3 FPS and Ultra falls to 47.2 FPS, both below the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Ultra preset is fully playable at 2560x1440 with an average of 77.2 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and the data confirms it clears the 60 FPS requirement.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The drop varies by preset. At Ultra, the average falls from 111.2 FPS at 1080p to 77.2 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 34 FPS. At Low settings, the decline is from 231.8 FPS to 168 FPS, a loss of 63.8 FPS.

Q: Is the GTX 1070 the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data suggests so. The CPU is a high-end 20-core, 28-thread processor, yet the system still drops below 60 FPS at 4K High and Ultra. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus appear insufficient for the highest 4K presets.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of quality and frame rate?

A: 2560x1440 with Ultra settings provides 77.2 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold while still using the most demanding preset. This is the only resolution where Ultra is both the best setting and fully playable.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in this system context?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 9780, placing it at the 47th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, 0.2% faster), NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, 0.5% faster), NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, 0.6% slower), and NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716, 0.7% slower). These deltas are all under one percent, indicating near-identical raw compute performance.

CPU and GPU Roles

The division of labor between the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 becomes clear when examining the scaling across resolutions and presets. The CPU, which ranks in the 94th percentile of all processors with an average benchmark score of 70163, is far more capable than the GPU needs for this game. The GPU sits at the 47th percentile with an average score of 9780.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 231.8 FPS on Low settings. This extremely high frame rate indicates that even the GTX 1070 is not fully saturated at this resolution and preset combination. The CPU is likely doing most of the work to maintain these frame rates, as the GPU's workload is relatively light. Moving from Low to Medium reduces performance by 49.5 FPS, and from Medium to High by another 65.2 FPS. These large drops suggest the GPU becomes progressively more involved as visual quality increases.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low settings produce 168 FPS, which is still very high but noticeably lower than the 1080p result. The gap between 1080p and 1440p grows with each preset: 63.8 FPS for Low, 49.8 FPS for Medium, 36.7 FPS for High, and 34 FPS for Ultra. This increasing divergence indicates the GPU is becoming the bottleneck as pixel count rises.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's role is dominant. Low settings yield 103.8 FPS, which is 128 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. The Ultra preset drops to 47.2 FPS, below the 60 FPS threshold. The CPU's influence is minimal here; the GTX 1070's 6.463 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 256.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply insufficient for sustained 4K Ultra frame rates.

The data implies that for this particular game, the CPU matters most at 1080p with lower presets, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS. As resolution and quality increase, the GPU takes over as the limiting factor. The i7-14700KF's capabilities, including its 5.60 GHz boost clock and 33 MB of shared L3 cache, are never fully exercised in this workload.

The Verdict

The verdict by resolution is clear from the recorded data. At 3840x2160, the system is playable only on Low and Medium settings, with averages of 103.8 FPS and 84.2 FPS respectively. High and Ultra fall short of 60 FPS at 53.3 FPS and 47.2 FPS.

At 2560x1440, every preset is playable. The Ultra setting delivers 77.2 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. This resolution offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance for this hardware pairing.

At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, with Ultra achieving 111.2 FPS. The system is more than capable of handling this game at full settings on a 1080p display, and even supports high refresh rate monitors with Low settings at 231.8 FPS.

In short: this PC can run Inside at 60 FPS or higher in most configurations. The only exceptions are 4K High and 4K Ultra. For 4K owners, Medium settings at 84.2 FPS provide the best playable experience. For 1440p and 1080p users, there are no compromises required.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Medium, which produces an average of 84.2 FPS. This provides a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining a healthy margin above the playability threshold. High settings at 53.3 FPS are not viable for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are Ultra with an average of 77.2 FPS. This preset is the highest quality available and still clears 60 FPS by a comfortable 17.2 FPS margin. There is no reason to reduce quality at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, Ultra is again the best choice, delivering 111.2 FPS. This is more than enough for standard 60 Hz displays and leaves ample headroom for variable refresh rate monitors. The margin above the threshold is 51.2 FPS, indicating the system is far from stressed.

These recommendations align with the verdict data: Medium at 4K, Ultra at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p are the optimal configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this pairing of Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 3084th out of 3716 total combos for Inside. This places it in the lower 17% of all tested systems.

This ranking is somewhat surprising given the strong frame rates recorded. The explanation lies in the database's methodology: the ranking compares all CPU and GPU pairings, many of which feature far more powerful graphics cards. The GTX 1070's 47th percentile standing among GPUs pulls the combined ranking down, even though the CPU is in the 94th percentile.

The data indicates that this combo is held back almost entirely by the GPU. Replacing the GTX 1070 with a more modern graphics card would likely improve the ranking substantially, as the i7-14700KF has ample headroom to feed a faster GPU.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i7-14700KF are all extremely close in average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996, just 0.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875, 0.4% lower. The AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515, 0.9% lower. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70879, which is 1% higher. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in Inside when paired with the GTX 1070.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show even tighter margins. The AMD FirePro W5000 scores 9803, which is 0.2% higher than the GTX 1070's 9780. The NVIDIA Quadro M2000M scores 9832, 0.5% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla M10 scores 9724, 0.6% lower. The NVIDIA Tesla C2070 scores 9716, 0.7% lower. All four alternatives would deliver virtually indistinguishable frame rates in this game.

The practical implication is that a user swapping any of these CPUs or GPUs into the system would see no meaningful difference in Inside's performance. The measured frame rates would fall within the same range for every configuration, given the sub-1% performance deltas across all rivals.