Inside

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers an extraordinary performance profile in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on frame rates than its minimalist art style suggests. Benchmark measurements place this combination in the top tier of tested systems, with the data confirming that every preset at every resolution clears the 60 FPS playability threshold by a massive margin. The result is a combo that never approaches a playability ceiling, instead hitting frame rates typically reserved for competitive shooters, making it an overkill but undeniably smooth experience for this title.

Best Settings per Resolution

The measured data shows that this hardware combination is capable of running Inside at its absolute maximum visual quality at all three tested resolutions while maintaining frame rates far above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: the "Ultra" preset is the recommended best setting at every resolution, with no need to compromise on visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding resolution, the combo averages 127.2 FPS on Ultra settings. This is more than double the 60 FPS threshold, meaning the GPU and CPU have ample headroom even at 4K with all effects maxed out. The High preset at this resolution yields 133.3 FPS, only marginally higher than Ultra, indicating that the performance cost of the Ultra preset is relatively small at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 198.7 FPS, a substantial jump from the 4K result. The data suggests that at 1440p, the system is no longer bound by the GPU's pixel throughput, allowing the CPU and GPU to deliver nearly 200 frames per second. The High preset at this resolution reaches 211.9 FPS, while Medium and Low hit 337.4 FPS and 384 FPS respectively.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 276.9 FPS, which is the highest Ultra result across all resolutions. The High preset at 1080p achieves 290.6 FPS, while Medium and Low reach 397.3 FPS and 428.2 FPS respectively. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is approaching the practical limits of what a high-refresh-rate monitor can display, with all presets exceeding 276 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 108th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 3% of all systems benchmarked for this game. This rank is notable because it reflects the overall system performance in this specific title, which rewards both high single-threaded CPU performance and raw GPU throughput.

The rank is primarily driven by the GPU's immense compute capability, but the CPU contributes significantly at lower resolutions. At 1080p, where the GPU is less likely to be the bottleneck, the i9-14900K's strong single-core performance helps push frame rates to 428.2 FPS on Low settings. The combo's percentile ranking of 95 for the CPU and 86 for the GPU individually suggests that while both components are near the top of their respective categories, the GPU's slightly lower percentile relative to the CPU is balanced by its sheer absolute performance.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system sits well above the median, with the 108th rank out of 3716 indicating that only a small fraction of tested configurations deliver higher frame rates in Inside. The data confirms that this is a top-tier pairing for this game, with no practical limitations at any resolution or preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of how this combo scales across resolutions and presets. All values are average FPS, with no minimum or maximum frame rate data available in the dataset.

At 3840x2160, the performance ranges from 127.2 FPS on Ultra to 264.9 FPS on Low. The Medium preset averages 210.4 FPS, while High reaches 133.3 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High is only 6.1 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a minimal impact at 4K. The jump from Medium to High represents a significant drop of 77.1 FPS, indicating that High settings introduce effects that are disproportionately expensive at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are substantially higher. Low averages 384 FPS, Medium 337.4 FPS, High 211.9 FPS, and Ultra 198.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium shows a 46.6 FPS drop, while Medium to High drops 125.5 FPS, and High to Ultra drops only 13.2 FPS. The pattern suggests that the Medium to High transition is the most demanding step in the settings hierarchy at this resolution.

At 1920x1080, the performance reaches its peak. Low averages 428.2 FPS, Medium 397.3 FPS, High 290.6 FPS, and Ultra 276.9 FPS. The differences between presets are smaller in absolute terms: Low to Medium drops 30.9 FPS, Medium to High drops 106.7 FPS, and High to Ultra drops 13.7 FPS. At 1080p, the system appears to be increasingly CPU-bound at lower presets, with the GPU still having headroom to render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the Intel Core i9-14900K are all extremely close in average benchmark score, with deltas of less than 2% in either direction. The Intel Core i9-14900KF is essentially identical with a delta of -0.3%, making it a direct alternative that would perform nearly the same in Inside. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus shows a -0.6% delta, while the AMD EPYC 7413 is -1.2% slower. On the faster side, the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% ahead in average benchmark score, but this difference is unlikely to translate into meaningful frame rate changes in a game that is already running at hundreds of FPS.

For the GPU, the nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, which is only 0.1% slower in average benchmark score. This means the non-SUPER variant would deliver nearly identical performance in Inside, likely within a few FPS of the measured results. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.7% slower and the AMD Radeon 8060S is 2.8% slower. Given the massive frame rates achieved by this combo, even a 2.8% difference would not push the system below 120 FPS at any resolution, so all of these alternatives would provide a similarly smooth experience.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior across resolutions. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant factor, as evidenced by the relatively small frame rate differences between presets at the high end. The Ultra preset averages 127.2 FPS compared to 133.3 FPS on High, a difference of only 6.1 FPS, which suggests that the GPU is already heavily loaded and the additional effects in Ultra have diminishing returns. The massive jump from Medium (210.4 FPS) to High (133.3 FPS) indicates that High settings introduce GPU-intensive effects that become the primary cost at 4K.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts somewhat. The frame rates increase by roughly 55-60% across all presets compared to 4K, which is consistent with the pixel count reduction from 3840x2160 to 2560x1440 (about 56% fewer pixels). The scaling from Medium to High (125.5 FPS drop) remains significant, but the overall higher frame rates suggest the GPU still has headroom, and the CPU's role becomes more important.

At 1920x1080, the CPU begins to emerge as a more significant factor. The frame rates at Low (428.2 FPS) and Medium (397.3 FPS) are extremely high, and the difference between them is only 30.9 FPS, much smaller than the corresponding gap at 1440p (46.6 FPS). This suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance is starting to limit the maximum achievable frame rate, particularly at lower presets where the GPU is less stressed. The High to Ultra drop of 13.7 FPS is the smallest such gap across all resolutions, reinforcing that the Ultra preset's costs are relatively modest once the GPU is already handling High settings.

The scaling from 1440p to 1080p shows a 39.5% increase in Ultra frame rate (198.7 to 276.9 FPS), which is less than the pixel count reduction would suggest (1080p has 44% fewer pixels than 1440p). This indicates that at 1080p Ultra, the system is becoming partially CPU-limited, as the GPU could theoretically render more frames but the CPU cannot feed it fast enough.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K Ultra above 60 FPS?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 127.2 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest FPS achievable with this hardware in Inside?

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 428.2 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At the Ultra preset, the highest average is 276.9 FPS at 1080p.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the regular RTX 4080 for this game?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score only 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080, so performance in Inside would be effectively identical, well within the margin of measurement error.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for Inside at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the data suggests the CPU becomes more influential, as the frame rate scaling between resolutions is less than proportional to pixel count changes, indicating partial CPU limitation at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the lowest playable preset at 4K?

A: All four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) are playable at 3840x2160, with Low averaging 264.9 FPS, Medium 210.4 FPS, High 133.3 FPS, and Ultra 127.2 FPS.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 108th out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3% of all systems benchmarked for this game.