Inside

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers overwhelming performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The measured data shows this combination produces frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold at every resolution and preset tested, with the lowest average being 140 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. This is a system that transforms a game designed for modest hardware into a demonstration of raw headroom, with performance scaling cleanly from 1080p to 4K without any preset dropping below triple-digit averages.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The benchmark results provide a complete matrix of average frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 3840x2160, the combo starts with an average of 293 FPS on Low settings. Moving to Medium produces an average of 235 FPS, with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS. High settings yield 147 FPS average, while Ultra delivers 140 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 4K is 153 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still the dominant scaling factor even at this high resolution.

At 2560x1440, the numbers climb substantially. Low settings average 385 FPS. Medium hits 355 FPS, with a minimum of 302 FPS and a maximum of 409 FPS. High settings produce 234 FPS, and Ultra reaches 222 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 163 FPS, slightly larger than at 4K, which suggests the CPU begins to exert more influence as resolution drops.

At 1920x1080, the performance becomes extreme. Low settings average 430 FPS. Medium averages 397 FPS, with a minimum of 337 FPS and a maximum of 456 FPS. High settings deliver 325 FPS, and Ultra still holds at 309 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 121 FPS, the smallest relative delta across resolutions, indicating that at 1080p the bottleneck shifts heavily toward the CPU and the game’s engine limits rather than GPU throughput.

Notably, the only preset with complete min/max data is Medium across all resolutions. At 4K Medium, the 200 FPS minimum still represents a 3.3x margin above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p Medium, the 302 FPS minimum is more than five times the playable bar. At 1080p Medium, the 337 FPS minimum shows no frame time concerns whatsoever.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the Intel Core i9-14900K and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090. At 4K, the GPU is the primary driver of performance. This is evidenced by the steep drop from 293 FPS at Low to 140 FPS at Ultra, a 52% reduction that tracks with increased pixel shading and memory bandwidth demands. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are fully utilized at this resolution, and the CPU’s 24 cores and 32 threads remain largely idle.

As resolution drops to 1440p, the GPU load decreases, but the CPU starts to matter more. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 163 FPS, compared to 153 FPS at 4K. This 10 FPS increase in the scaling delta indicates that the CPU is beginning to cap frame rates at the lower end of the preset spectrum. At Low settings with 385 FPS average, the i9-14900K’s 6.00 GHz boost clock and single-thread performance are the limiting factors, not the GPU.

At 1080p, the CPU role becomes dominant. The RTX 4090 is capable of far more than 430 FPS on Low settings, but the i9-14900K’s architectural limits and the game’s engine tick rate cap the output. The relatively small 121 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p confirms that the GPU is no longer the bottleneck; instead, the CPU’s physics, draw call processing, and game logic threads are saturated. The i9-14900K’s passmark single-thread score of 4697 and cinebench r23 single-core score of 2262.5 are the relevant metrics here, showing that even the fastest consumer CPU cannot fully feed the RTX 4090 at low resolutions.

The Medium preset data across all resolutions shows a consistent pattern: the FPS range tightens as resolution rises. At 1080p Medium, the spread is 119 FPS (337 to 456). At 1440p, it narrows to 107 FPS (302 to 409). At 4K, it compresses to 70 FPS (200 to 270). This compression at higher resolutions is a classic sign that GPU-bound workloads smooth out frame delivery, while CPU-bound scenarios introduce more variance.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra is 140, which is 80 FPS above the 60 FPS playable threshold. No minimum FPS was recorded for this preset, but the average alone indicates massive headroom.

Q: What is the highest preset that stays above 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: All four presets at 2560x1440 clear 60 FPS. The highest preset, Ultra, averages 222 FPS. The lowest average among the presets is 222 FPS, so there is no risk of dropping below the threshold.

Q: How does the Medium preset’s minimum FPS compare across resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 337 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 302 FPS. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 200 FPS. All minimums are well above 60 FPS, with the lowest being 200 at 4K.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: No. The average FPS of 430 at 1080p Low is likely CPU-limited. The i9-14900K’s single-thread performance, evidenced by its passmark single-thread score of 4697, becomes the limiting factor at such low GPU loads.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: Low averages 293 FPS, while Ultra averages 140 FPS. The difference is 153 FPS, meaning Ultra delivers roughly 48% of the Low preset’s frame rate, demonstrating a substantial GPU workload increase.

Q: Does the system ever drop below 200 FPS in any measured scenario?

A: Yes. At 4K Ultra, the average is 140 FPS, and at 4K High it is 147 FPS. These are the only two presets with averages below 200 FPS. The minimum recorded FPS across all presets is 200, which occurs at 4K Medium.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Inside, and it does so with extraordinary margins. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: every resolution and every preset tested is playable, with all 12 combinations clearing the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the best settings are Ultra with an average of 140 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 222 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 309 FPS.

The data shows no scenario where this combination struggles. Even the most demanding preset at the highest resolution, 4K Ultra, maintains a 140 FPS average, which is more than double the 60 FPS playable bar. The minimum FPS recorded for any preset, 200 FPS at 4K Medium, still represents a 3.3x margin above the threshold. For a game like Inside, which relies on precise timing and atmospheric tension, this level of performance eliminates any possibility of frame pacing issues or input lag affecting gameplay.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the CPU and GPU provide context for what other hardware would behave similarly. For the Intel Core i9-14900K, the closest competitor is the Intel Core i9-14900KF, with an average benchmark score of 79371, a mere 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K’s score. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus scores 79574, 0.6% lower, while the AMD EPYC 7413 scores 80041, 1.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 scores 77740, which is 1.7% higher than the i9-14900K. Any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside, as the game is not heavily multi-threaded and the i9-14900K’s single-thread advantage dominates.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, the nearest rival is the Intel Arc Pro A60 with an average score of 60326, a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140, 0.3% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, 2.5% lower. The AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657, 2.9% higher. These GPUs would deliver near-identical performance in Inside, though the RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance suggest it has more headroom for future titles.

Best Settings per Resolution

The optimal settings for each resolution are defined by the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS. Given that all presets exceed 60 FPS, the best settings are simply the highest quality preset at each resolution. At 3840x2160, Ultra is the best choice, delivering an average of 140 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 222 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 309 FPS.

There is no reason to lower settings for performance reasons, as even the Ultra preset at 4K provides over twice the playable frame rate. The only consideration would be for users with 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitors who want to maximize frame rates beyond the Ultra preset’s averages. In that case, dropping to High at 4K yields 147 FPS, while at 1440p High delivers 234 FPS, and at 1080p High reaches 325 FPS. However, for standard 60 Hz displays, Ultra is the clear recommendation at every resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 38th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside. This places the system in the top 1% of all configurations benchmarked for this game. The rank reflects the extraordinary headroom this pairing provides, as the game’s simple geometry and limited draw calls do not fully tax either component. The top 37 combos would likely consist of even more exotic or higher-clocked configurations, but the practical difference in frame rates is negligible given that this combo already averages 140 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The percentile rankings support this position. The i9-14900K sits in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, while the RTX 4090 sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs. The combination of a top-5% CPU and a top-12% GPU results in a system that is effectively overkill for Inside, but the data confirms it is one of the most capable configurations available for this title. The rank of 38 out of 3716 indicates that only a fraction of tested systems can match or exceed its performance, making this a definitive high-end choice for any user prioritizing absolute frame rates in this game.