Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. Benchmark data indicates this pairing is overkill for the game's requirements, with every tested resolution and preset comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold. The measured frame rates reveal a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance ensures no bottleneck at lower settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, the nearest rivals in benchmark scores are remarkably close, with all four alternatives within a 1.3% margin. The Intel Xeon 6511P scores 71,051 (0.2% lower), making it the closest match for multi-threaded workloads. The Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 0.7% behind, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF leads by 1% and the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F trails by 1.3%. In practical terms, any of these processors would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, as the game's CPU demands are modest relative to what these chips offer. The 265K's 20-core configuration with 20 threads and a 5.50 GHz boost clock places it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, meaning its nearest rivals are all high-end workstation or enthusiast parts that exceed the game's requirements.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the most direct alternative, with a deltaPct of just 0.1% — effectively identical performance. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% slower, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB and AMD Radeon 8060S are 2.6% and 2.7% slower respectively. All these cards would produce nearly indistinguishable frame rates in Inside, as the game's GPU load at 1080p and 1440p is well within the capabilities of any of these products. The 4080's 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that only a handful of cards are faster, and even those would not meaningfully change the experience given the already high frame rates measured.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data shows a clear division of labor between the CPU and GPU across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are extraordinarily high — 451 FPS on Low and 417 FPS on Medium — which suggests the CPU is the primary limiter at this resolution. The 265K's single-core score of 2,020 in Cinebench R23 and 4,928 in Passmark single-thread tests provides the headroom needed to sustain these high frame rates, but the data implies that even this powerful CPU cannot push beyond roughly 450 FPS in the fastest scenarios. The gap between Low (451 FPS) and Ultra (280 FPS) at 1080p is a 171 FPS difference (61%), indicating that GPU load still scales significantly with preset quality even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the GPU's role becomes more prominent. The Low preset delivers 404 FPS, but Ultra drops to 201 FPS — a 50% reduction. This scaling suggests the GPU is now the primary constraint, as the higher pixel count increases the workload on the RTX 4080's 9,728 shading units. The Medium preset's 338 FPS average with minimums of 287 FPS shows consistent performance. Moving to 3840x2160 (4K), the GPU dominance is unmistakable: Low runs at 265 FPS, but Ultra falls to 126 FPS — a 52% drop from Low. The Medium preset at 4K shows 212 FPS average with 181 FPS minimums, demonstrating that the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for all presets.

The data reveals that in Inside, the CPU matters most at 1080p Low and Medium, where frame rates exceed 400 FPS and approach the limits of what any processor can sustain. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance determining the 126 FPS ceiling. For anyone aiming to maximize frame rates at 1080p or 1440p, the CPU choice matters more; for 4K gaming, the GPU is the decisive factor.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 79th out of 3,716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 2.1% of all systems tested. This ranking is impressive but not surprising given the hardware involved. The CPU's 94th percentile score and the GPU's 86th percentile score combine to create a system that should theoretically rank higher, yet the game's relatively simple graphics engine may not fully utilize the available hardware resources, allowing some less powerful combos with higher single-threaded performance to achieve similar frame rates.

The 79th position suggests that a small number of more powerful configurations — likely featuring higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or top-tier CPUs — outperform this combo. However, the margin is minimal in practical terms: at 1080p Ultra, the 280 FPS average is already far beyond the 60 FPS playability threshold, and even the most demanding 4K Ultra scenario delivers 126 FPS. The ranking reflects that this combo is in the upper echelon of tested systems, with only a few dozen faster configurations, most of which would cost significantly more without providing a perceptible improvement in Inside given the high frame rates already achieved.

The Verdict

The data is unambiguous: *this PC can run Inside flawlessly at all tested resolutions and presets. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at every resolution from 1080p to 4K, with the average frame rates far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset achieves 126 FPS, which is more than double the playability threshold. At 2560x1440, Ultra runs at 201 FPS, and at 1920x1080*, Ultra reaches 280 FPS. The "best settings" designation for each resolution points to Ultra, meaning users can maximize visual quality without sacrificing smoothness.

Even the most demanding scenario — 4K Ultra — produces a 126 FPS average, leaving ample headroom for any future game updates or additional background tasks. The minimum frame rate recorded across all tests is 181 FPS (4K Medium), which is still nearly three times the playability threshold. This system not only runs Inside but does so with enough performance margin to support high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or 165Hz) at 4K Ultra, or triple-digit frame rates at 1440p and 1080p with all settings maxed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following results were measured, not estimated, for this game and hardware combination:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 451 FPS average
• Medium: 417 FPS average (354 min, 479 max)
• High: 294 FPS average
• Ultra: 280 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 404 FPS average
• Medium: 338 FPS average (287 min, 389 max)
• High: 211 FPS average
• Ultra: 201 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 265 FPS average
• Medium: 212 FPS average (181 min, 244 max)
• High: 133 FPS average
• Ultra: 126 FPS average

The data shows a consistent pattern: moving from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates by approximately 38% at 1080p (451 to 280 FPS), 50% at 1440p (404 to 201 FPS), and 52% at 4K (265 to 126 FPS). The Medium preset at all resolutions shows the only recorded minimum and maximum values, with the 1080p Medium delivering 354-479 FPS, suggesting that variance is minimal even at high frame rates. The gap between High and Ultra is small across all resolutions (14 FPS at 1080p, 10 FPS at 1440p, 7 FPS at 4K), indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual effects have a modest performance cost.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 4K?

A: All presets maintain 60 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset averages 126 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold, making it the best choice for maximum visual quality.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4080 compared to its nearest rival?

A: The RTX 4080 is 0.1% faster than the RTX 4080 SUPER, 1.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X, 2.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and 2.7% faster than the AMD Radeon 8060S based on average benchmark scores.

*Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for high frame rates in Inside?*

A: At 1080p Low and Medium, the CPU is the limiting factor, with frame rates reaching 451 and 417 FPS respectively. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rate drops to 126 FPS, a 52% reduction from the Low preset at the same resolution.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Ultra?

A: The measured average is 201 FPS at 1440p Ultra. This is more than three times the 60 FPS playability threshold, so the game will run smoothly on any high-refresh-rate monitor.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and RTX 4080 combination ranks 79th out of 3,716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 2.1% of all configurations tested.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 451 FPS, while Ultra averages 280 FPS. This 171 FPS difference (61% higher on Low) represents the performance cost of enabling all visual enhancements, though both presets are far beyond the 60 FPS threshold.

Best Settings per Resolution

For each resolution, the most demanding preset that remains at or above 60 FPS is the Ultra preset, as all presets exceed this threshold:

• 3840x2160 (4K): Ultra — 126 FPS average
• 2560x1440 (1440p): Ultra — 201 FPS average
• 1920x1080 (1080p): Ultra — 280 FPS average

Since the Ultra preset provides the highest visual fidelity while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS at every resolution, there is no reason to compromise on settings. The 4K Ultra result of 126 FPS is particularly notable, as it demonstrates that this combination is powerful enough to run the game at maximum quality on 4K displays without any performance concerns. For users with 120Hz or 144Hz 4K monitors, the 126 FPS average is sufficient to utilize the display's refresh rate effectively, though not fully saturate it. At 1440p and 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to support 240Hz displays.