Inside

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER presents a compelling case study for running Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The benchmark data reveals extreme performance headroom, with even the most demanding preset at 4K producing frame rates nearly double the 60 FPS playability threshold. This analysis examines the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, the division of labor between CPU and GPU, and how this specific combination ranks against other tested hardware configurations.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest settings preset that maintains at least 60 FPS at 3840x2160?

A: The Ultra preset at 4K achieves an average of 110 FPS, making it the most demanding playable option. The data shows High averages 116 FPS, Medium averages 185 FPS, and Low averages 231 FPS at this resolution, all clearing the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the average FPS scale when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 244 FPS. This drops to 175 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 110 FPS at 3840x2160. The scaling suggests a 28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 37% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating that higher resolutions place progressively more load on the rendering pipeline.

Q: Which component, the Intel Core i9-14900K or the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, shows a higher percentile ranking among its peers?

A: The CPU holds a 95th percentile ranking among all tested CPUs, while the GPU holds an 83rd percentile ranking among all tested GPUs. This suggests the processor is relatively stronger in its category than the graphics card is in its own field.

Q: What are the closest performance rivals to the RTX 4070 SUPER based on average benchmark scores?

A: The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB has an average score of 43262, a delta of -0.1% from the RTX 4070 SUPER's 43223. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile also scores 43268, a -0.1% delta, while the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 scores 43301 (-0.2%) and the RTX 4090 Mobile scores 43667 (-1%).

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 368 FPS on average, while Ultra produces 175 FPS. This represents a 193 FPS difference, or roughly 52% lower performance at Ultra compared to Low, showing the significant impact of preset selection on frame rates.

*Q: Does the combo's ranking in Inside place it in the top tier of tested systems?*

A: The combo ranks 290th out of 3716 total tested combinations, placing it in the top 8% of all systems tested for this game. This high relative position aligns with the measured FPS data showing all presets at all resolutions exceed 100 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 244 FPS. The data shows even this maximum quality setting provides over four times the playability threshold, with no risk of dropping below 60 FPS. Lower presets offer even higher headroom: High averages 256 FPS, Medium averages 397 FPS, and Low reaches 430 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again qualifies as the best playable option, averaging 175 FPS. This is still nearly three times the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 250 FPS and a maximum of 338 FPS, while High averages 184 FPS and Low averages 368 FPS, all comfortably above the target.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset remains the most demanding playable choice, with an average of 110 FPS. This is the only resolution where the margin above 60 FPS narrows below 100 FPS, though it still holds a 50 FPS buffer. High averages 116 FPS, Medium averages 185 FPS with a minimum of 157 FPS, and Low averages 231 FPS. The verdict data confirms that all four presets — High, Low, Medium, and Ultra — are playable at 4K.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark results indicate that Inside is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the CPU still plays a significant role at lower resolutions where frame rates become extremely high. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 430 FPS, a figure that demands substantial CPU throughput to feed the GPU. The Intel Core i9-14900K, with its 24 cores and 32 threads, is well-equipped for this task, as evidenced by its 95th percentile ranking and strong synthetic scores like 39399.5 in Cinebench R23 multicore.

Scaling between resolutions reveals the GPU's growing influence. Moving from 1080p Low (430 FPS) to 1440p Low (368 FPS) represents a 14% reduction, while moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low (231 FPS) shows a 37% reduction. This pattern intensifies at Ultra settings: 1080p Ultra (244 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (175 FPS) drops 28%, and 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (110 FPS) drops 37%. The consistent 37% drop at higher resolutions across presets suggests the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering capabilities — including its 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 35.48 TFLOPS FP32 throughput — become the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

Conversely, the CPU's role is most apparent when comparing presets at a fixed resolution. At 4K, moving from Low (231 FPS) to Ultra (110 FPS) halves performance, but even the lowest preset exceeds 200 FPS, indicating the CPU never becomes a bottleneck. The i9-14900K's single-thread performance, scoring 2262.5 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 4697 in Passmark single-thread, provides ample processing power for the game's physics and logic, allowing the GPU to operate near its limits. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's high-frequency capability (6.00 GHz boost clock) helps push frame rates toward the 430 FPS observed at Low settings, where per-frame CPU work is minimal but the sheer frame count requires rapid instruction processing.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the Intel Core i9-14900K, the nearest rivals in benchmark performance include the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores 79371 on average versus the i9-14900K's 79097, a delta of -0.3% (the i9-14900K is slightly lower). The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574 (-0.6%), and the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041 (-1.2%). On the other side, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% lower than the i9-14900K. In practice, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, since the game's demands are far below the capabilities of any of these processors. The differences of less than 2% in average benchmark scores would translate to imperceptible FPS variations in this title.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER, the closest rivals present a more varied picture. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB (43262 avg, -0.1% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile (43268, -0.1%) are nearly identical in raw compute benchmarks. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 (43301, -0.2%) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile (43667, -1%) round out the nearest group. However, these are not directly comparable in gaming scenarios; the RTX 5050 Mobile and RTX 4090 Mobile are laptop parts with different power constraints, while the Quadro M6000 is a professional workstation card. In Inside, the measured FPS shows the RTX 4070 SUPER delivers 110 FPS at 4K Ultra, and any of these rivals would likely produce similar results given their benchmark parity, though the data does not include direct game tests for these alternatives.

The Verdict

This PC can run Inside with exceptional performance at all tested resolutions and settings. The verdict data confirms that at 1920x1080, the best playable settings are Ultra with an average of 244 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra also qualifies with 175 FPS average. At 3840x2160, Ultra remains playable at 110 FPS average. All presets — High, Low, Medium, and Ultra — are marked as playable at every resolution, meaning the system never drops below the 60 FPS threshold even under maximum graphical load at 4K.

The measured data reinforces this conclusion. The lowest recorded average across all combinations is 110 FPS (4K Ultra), which still provides an 83% buffer above the playability threshold. The only measured minimum FPS values come from Medium settings: 157 FPS at 4K, 250 FPS at 1440p, and 337 FPS at 1080p — all far above 60 FPS. This suggests that even in the most demanding scenes, the system maintains fluid performance. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, where precise timing and atmospheric immersion matter, this hardware provides not just playability but headroom for future titles or higher refresh rate displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 290th out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all systems tested. This high ranking aligns with the measured performance: the combo delivers over 100 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold. The top 8% positioning indicates that very few tested configurations outperform this pairing in this specific game.

The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this combo. The CPU's 95th percentile status and the GPU's 83rd percentile status combine to produce a system that excels in a title that is not particularly demanding by modern standards. The data shows that the ranking is more likely limited by the GPU than the CPU, given the CPU's superior relative standing. For perspective, the combo sits far above the median system, and its performance in Inside suggests that lower-tier hardware would also handle this game easily, though this particular pairing ensures maximum visual fidelity without compromise.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values show a wide spread across presets. Low settings produce an average of 430 FPS, High averages 256 FPS, Ultra averages 244 FPS, and Medium averages 397 FPS with a minimum of 337 FPS and a maximum of 456 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max range of 119 FPS indicates some scene-to-scene variation, but even the minimum exceeds the playability threshold by over five times.

At 2560x1440, performance remains exceptionally high. Low averages 368 FPS, High averages 184 FPS, Ultra averages 175 FPS, and Medium averages 294 FPS with a minimum of 250 FPS and maximum of 338 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by roughly 14-28% depending on the preset, but the absolute values remain far above 60 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 250 FPS confirms that no scene in this resolution causes a significant frame rate drop.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the greatest impact of resolution scaling. Low averages 231 FPS, High averages 116 FPS, Medium averages 185 FPS with a minimum of 157 FPS and maximum of 213 FPS, and Ultra averages 110 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K represents the lowest performance point in the entire dataset, yet it still maintains an average that is 83% above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The Medium preset's minimum of 157 FPS demonstrates that even the most complex scenes at 4K never approach the playability limit. This breakdown confirms that the combo provides a consistent, high-performance experience across all tested configurations, with no risk of dropping below playable frame rates.