Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers an exceptional experience in Inside, with measured performance far exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold at every resolution and preset combination tested. The data shows this combo is not merely playable; it is overwhelmingly capable, with the lowest average frame rate recorded being 140 FPS at 4K Ultra settings. This system effectively turns a demanding puzzle platformer into a showcase for high-refresh-rate displays, as benchmark results indicate headroom for maximum visual fidelity and extreme frame rates across the board.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this configuration reveals a consistent pattern of performance that scales predictably with resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 4090 produce triple-digit frame rates that saturate most high-refresh monitors. The Low preset delivers an average of 413 FPS, while the Medium preset yields 381 FPS with a minimum of 324 FPS and a maximum of 439 FPS. Moving to High settings, the average drops to 318 FPS, and the Ultra preset still maintains a robust 309 FPS average. The gaps between presets are moderate, with Ultra being roughly 25% slower than Low in average frame rate, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains staggeringly high. The Low preset achieves an average of 370 FPS, while Medium delivers 342 FPS with a minimum of 291 FPS and a maximum of 393 FPS. High settings produce a 234 FPS average, and Ultra settings still provide 222 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs roughly 10-12% of average frame rate across all presets, which is a modest penalty given the significant increase in pixel count. This suggests the system has substantial headroom, as even the most demanding preset at this resolution nearly quadruples the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance profile begins to show more pronounced scaling, yet remains exceptional. The Low preset achieves 293 FPS average, Medium delivers 235 FPS with a minimum of 200 FPS and a maximum of 270 FPS, and High settings produce 147 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most visually demanding configuration, still maintains a 140 FPS average. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is approximately 52%, a much larger spread than at lower resolutions, indicating that the GPU is increasingly taxed as pixel count rises. However, even the worst-case minimum frame rate recorded across all tests—200 FPS at 4K Medium—is more than triple the 60 FPS threshold.

The data shows that the RTX 4090's immense compute resources are the dominant factor in these results. The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth provide ample capability for a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively modest geometry and effects complexity. The measured FPS figures suggest that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, is never a bottleneck at any resolution, as even the lowest average FPS (140 at 4K Ultra) is far above what would expose CPU limitations.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the measured data shows the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 4090 achieve an average of 140 FPS at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, which is well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. The verdictByResolution data lists Ultra as the best settings at 4K, confirming full playability.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The maximum average FPS recorded is 413 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The highest average with the most demanding settings is 309 FPS at 1080p Ultra, showing the system's capability exceeds typical display refresh rates.

Q: How much performance is lost when going from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 309 at 1920x1080 to 222 at 2560x1440, and further to 140 at 3840x2160. This represents a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K, illustrating the GPU load scaling with pixel count.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary scaling factor, as frame rates drop consistently with increasing resolution. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4516, suggest it has ample headroom for this game.

Q: Does the game run at playable frame rates on the lowest settings?

A: Yes, the Low preset produces 413 FPS at 1080p, 370 FPS at 1440p, and 293 FPS at 4K. All of these are far above the 60 FPS threshold, making even the lowest settings excessive for standard displays.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded across all tests?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 200, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Medium preset. This minimum is still more than three times the playable threshold, indicating no performance dips below acceptable levels.

Best Settings per Resolution

For 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which delivers an average of 309 FPS. The data shows no preset at this resolution falls below the threshold, so users can confidently select Ultra for maximum visual fidelity without compromising playability.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset again qualifies as the best settings, achieving an average of 222 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS, and the measured minimum for Medium (291 FPS) suggests that even the most demanding settings maintain high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset remains the best choice, with an average of 140 FPS. While this is the lowest average across all resolution-preset combinations, it still more than doubles the 60 FPS playability threshold. The data indicates that all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at 4K, but Ultra offers the highest visual quality while keeping the average FPS at 140.

The verdictByResolution data confirms this analysis, listing all settings as playable at every resolution and designating Ultra as the best settings with average FPS of 140 at 4K, 222 at 1440p, and 309 at 1080p. This means users never need to compromise on settings, regardless of their display resolution.

The Verdict

This PC can definitively run Inside, and it does so with extraordinary headroom. The verdictByResolution data lists all four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—as playable at every resolution tested, from 1920x1080 up to 3840x2160. The minimum average FPS across all combinations is 140 at 4K Ultra, which is 80 FPS above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers between 309 and 413 FPS depending on settings, making it suitable for the fastest high-refresh monitors. At 2560x1440, frame rates range from 222 to 370 FPS, still far exceeding typical display capabilities. At 3840x2160, the system maintains 140 to 293 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience on 4K displays with room to spare.

The data is unambiguous: this configuration does not merely clear the 60 FPS bar; it obliterates it with a minimum margin of 133% at the most demanding settings. The RTX 4090's 38,194 Passmark G3D score and 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs corroborate the measured FPS, indicating that this is one of the highest-performing consumer graphics cards available. The CPU, with its 89th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 46062, similarly provides no bottleneck. For anyone asking whether this combo can run Inside, the answer is a resounding yes, with performance that exceeds practical requirements at every resolution.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the RTX 4090, with the GPU dominating performance scaling across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 309 at Ultra to 413 at Low, a spread of 104 FPS. At 2560x1440, the spread narrows to 148 FPS (222 to 370), and at 3840x2160, it widens to 153 FPS (140 to 293). This increasing variance with resolution indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more important as pixel count rises.

The CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with data, and its performance is sufficient to avoid becoming a limiting factor. The Core Ultra 5 235 has a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085, which are strong results for a desktop processor. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4516 and multithread score of 37816 further confirm that it can handle the game's logic and rendering commands without bottlenecking the RTX 4090.

Between resolutions, the scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings shows a 55% reduction in average FPS (309 to 140). This is consistent with the GPU's workload increasing roughly fourfold in pixel count, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. The fact that the 4K Ultra frame rate is still 140 FPS suggests that even at 4K, the GPU is not fully saturated, leaving headroom for the CPU to keep up.

At lower settings, the GPU's dominance becomes even more pronounced. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 413 FPS at 1080p to 293 FPS at 4K, a 29% reduction. This smaller percentage drop compared to Ultra settings indicates that at Low, the CPU or other system components begin to play a more significant role, as the GPU is less stressed. However, even in this scenario, the system maintains far above 60 FPS, so the CPU-GPU balance is effective for this game.

The data suggests that for Inside, the RTX 4090 is the primary determinant of performance, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The CPU, while not the star, provides a solid foundation that allows the GPU to operate at its full potential. Users upgrading either component would likely see the most benefit from a faster GPU, as the CPU already has ample headroom based on the measured frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and RTX 4090 combination ranks 54th out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the top 1.5% of all configurations. This exceptional ranking is driven by the GPU's outstanding performance, as the RTX 4090 holds an 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 60347.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is also significant. The Core Ultra 5 235 sits in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 46062. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% faster), Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% faster), AMD EPYC 4364P (0.2% faster), and AMD EPYC 7303 (0.2% faster). These deltaPct values are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the CPU is competitive with top-tier processors from various segments.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are less familiar names: Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta), AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% faster), AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (2.5% faster), and AMD Radeon PRO V710 (2.9% slower). The RTX 4090's score of 60347 is within 3% of these professional-grade cards, but its gaming performance in Inside is clearly superior, as evidenced by the measured FPS data.

The rank of 54 out of 3716 means that only 53 tested combinations outperform this setup in Inside. Given that the RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product and the Core Ultra 5 235 is a recent release, this ranking likely places the combo above the vast majority of gaming PCs. The data indicates that users with this configuration have one of the most capable systems available for this title, with performance that exceeds what most displays can even show.

The combination of a top-tier GPU and a high-end CPU results in a system that not only runs Inside at maximum settings and resolution but does so with frame rates that are multiples of the 60 FPS threshold. The 54th rank out of 3716 combos confirms that this is a premium configuration, and the measured FPS data validates that ranking with real-world performance figures. For benchmark enthusiasts, this combo represents a reference point for high-end gaming performance in a puzzle platformer context.