Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers an exceptionally strong showing in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. Measured data indicates that this pairing far exceeds the 60 FPS playability threshold at every tested resolution and preset, with average frame rates ranging from a low of 126 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 456 FPS at 1080p Low. The benchmark results place this combo in the 72nd position out of 3,716 tested configurations, underscoring its position in the upper echelon of gaming performance. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, examines the best settings per resolution, and explores the roles of the CPU and GPU in driving these results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this hardware pairing shows remarkable consistency, with no resolution or preset combination dipping below triple-digit average frame rates. At 1920x1080, the lowest tested resolution, the RTX 4080 and Core Ultra 7 270K Plus produce staggering results. The Low preset yields an average of 456 FPS, while Medium reaches 421 FPS with a minimum of 358 FPS and a maximum of 484 FPS. High settings drop to 294 FPS average, and Ultra still maintains a robust 280 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system is almost certainly bottlenecked by the CPU or game engine limits rather than the GPU, as the frame rate differences between presets are relatively modest compared to resolution scaling.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptional but shows a clear step down from 1080p. The Low preset averages 409 FPS, while Medium hits 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS and a maximum of 389 FPS. High settings produce 211 FPS average, and Ultra delivers 201 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 1440p (71 FPS) is smaller than the gap between Low and High (198 FPS), suggesting that the Medium preset represents a sweet spot for visual quality versus raw frame rate headroom. The minimum FPS figure of 287 FPS at Medium ensures that even the most demanding scenes remain far above any conceivable display refresh rate ceiling.

At 3840x2160, the highest tested resolution, the combination still delivers outstanding results. The Low preset averages 265 FPS, Medium averages 212 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 244 FPS, High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 126 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a consistent reduction in frame rates, with the Ultra preset dropping from 201 FPS to 126 FPS, a 37% decrease. This indicates that the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle 4K textures without any memory-related stutters, as evidenced by the solid minimum FPS figures at Medium settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

Given the playable threshold of 60 FPS, the data shows that every resolution can run at the highest possible preset, Ultra, with substantial headroom. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 280 FPS, which is 220 FPS above the threshold. This is the best settings option because it provides maximum visual fidelity while still delivering frame rates that exceed even the fastest 240 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 421 FPS average, but the visual quality trade-off is unnecessary given the Ultra preset's strong performance.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 201 FPS, leaving a 141 FPS margin over the 60 FPS threshold. This makes Ultra the unequivocal choice for 1440p gaming, as the higher resolution provides additional detail without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 1440p produces 211 FPS, only 10 FPS more than Ultra, which reinforces that the GPU has ample headroom to handle the most demanding settings without meaningful frame rate loss.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 126 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. While this is the lowest average FPS across all tested configurations, it remains exceptionally playable. The data indicates that Ultra at 4K is the best settings choice, as dropping to High only yields a 7 FPS improvement (133 FPS compared to 126 FPS), which is negligible for a game like Inside that does not rely on fast-paced competitive action. The Medium preset at 4K achieves 212 FPS, but the visual downgrade from Ultra to Medium is likely more noticeable at this resolution than the frame rate increase would be beneficial.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured FPS scaling across resolutions provides clear evidence of how the CPU and GPU share the workload in Inside. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low and Ultra presets is 176 FPS (from 456 to 280 FPS), while at 3840x2160, the same preset difference is 139 FPS (from 265 to 126 FPS). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor as pixel count increases, but the overall performance is so high that neither component appears to be a bottleneck at any tested setting.

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, demonstrates that it is more than adequate for this game. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253 and a single-core score of 2,439, place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. For a 2D puzzle platformer like Inside, the game's logic and physics processing are unlikely to stress even a fraction of this CPU's capability. The 1080p Low preset result of 456 FPS suggests that the game engine itself may cap performance, as this frame rate is so high that it exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all consumer displays.

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, scoring in the 86th percentile of all GPUs with a Passmark G3D score of 34,457, shows its strength in the resolution scaling. From 1080p Ultra (280 FPS) to 4K Ultra (126 FPS), the performance drops by 55%, which is consistent with a GPU that is being progressively more taxed by pixel count. However, the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate ensure that even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains well above playable levels. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary driver of frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, yet both components are so powerful that the game never comes close to taxing either one fully.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals to the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus, based on average benchmark scores, include the Intel Xeon 6520P with a score of 93,786 (0% difference), the AMD EPYC 4564P with a score of 95,183 (-1.5% difference), the AMD EPYC 9175F with a score of 95,615 (-1.9% difference), and the AMD EPYC 4565P with a score of 95,764 (-2.1% difference). These processors would deliver virtually identical performance in Inside, as the game's demands are so low that any of these high-end CPUs would produce the same frame rates. The Xeon 6520P is the closest match, but the EPYC options are all within a few percentage points, meaning users with those CPUs would see no meaningful difference in this game.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals to the RTX 4080 include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER with an average score of 54,209 (0.1% difference), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X with a score of 54,828 (-1.1% difference), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB with a score of 55,698 (-2.6% difference), and the AMD Radeon 8060S with a score of 55,757 (-2.7% difference). The RTX 4080 SUPER is virtually identical in performance, and the other alternatives are all within a small margin. In Inside, these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates, with the RTX 4080 SUPER being the most direct alternative. The Radeon options, while slightly higher in benchmark scores, would not yield any perceptible difference in this game's measured FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 72nd out of 3,716 tested combos in Inside. This top 2% ranking reflects the exceptional performance of both components, but it is important to note that the ranking is likely influenced by the CPU's high-end status and the GPU's strong showing. The 96th percentile CPU ranking and 86th percentile GPU ranking combine to place this system in the upper tier of all possible configurations. The ranking suggests that there are 71 other combos that perform better, but given that this setup already delivers 126 FPS at 4K Ultra, the difference between rank 72 and rank 1 would be imperceptible in actual gameplay. The data shows that this combo is overkill for Inside, but it also confirms that no settings need to be compromised to achieve a smooth experience.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Inside, and it does so with extraordinary headroom. The verdict data confirms that at 3840x2160, all settings — High, Low, Medium, and Ultra — are playable, with the best settings being Ultra at an average of 126 FPS. At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds, with Ultra averaging 201 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 280 FPS. In every scenario, the system clears the 60 FPS threshold by a minimum of 66 FPS (at 4K Ultra). The measured frame rates are so high that they exceed the refresh rate of most monitors, even at 4K resolution with maximum settings. For a game released in 2016, this modern hardware combination provides a flawless experience, with no frame rate drops below playable levels at any tested configuration. The only consideration is whether the game engine itself can fully utilize the hardware's potential, as the 456 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests there may be a frame rate cap or engine limitation that prevents even higher scores. Nevertheless, the verdict is unambiguous: this system delivers exceptional performance at every resolution and setting pairing.