Inside

Can the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination run Inside? The measured data says yes, decisively. This pairing delivers a playable experience at every resolution tested, with 4K Ultra being the only setting that dips below the 60 FPS threshold. The system clears 60 FPS at 4K High with a 68 FPS average, while 1440p and 1080p allow for maximum settings at 78 FPS and 112 FPS respectively. The RTX 4080 is the dominant performance driver here; the CPU’s role is secondary but sufficient, given the game’s modest demands.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest resolution and settings combination that stays above 60 FPS?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings produce a 68 FPS average, which is the most demanding playable preset. At 2560x1440, Ultra settings achieve 78 FPS, and at 1920x1080, Ultra settings reach 112 FPS.

Q: Does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus bottleneck the RTX 4080 in this game?

A: No, the data shows no bottleneck. The CPU’s multi-core performance (Cinebench R23 score of 51,731) and single-core performance (7,303) are far beyond what Inside requires, as evidenced by the high frame rates at all resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 54,209. The performance difference is negligible in synthetic tests.

Q: Is the 4K Ultra preset playable with this combo?

A: No, 4K Ultra yields a 47 FPS average, which falls below the 60 FPS playability threshold. All other 4K presets (High, Medium, Low) are playable.

Q: How much performance scaling is seen between Low and Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 291 on Low to 218 on Medium, a 25% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 202 to 151, a 25% reduction. At 4K, the drop is from 121 to 90, a 26% reduction.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and RTX 4080 combination ranks 2,749th out of 3,716 tested combos, placing it in the 74th percentile of all systems.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data indicates that the GPU is the primary performance driver for Inside, with CPU load being minimal. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, possesses immense headroom for this puzzle platformer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 51,731 and single-core score of 7,303 are far above the game’s requirements, meaning the CPU rarely becomes a limiting factor.

Evidence for GPU dominance comes from the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 218; at 1440p Medium, it drops to 151; and at 4K Medium, it falls to 90. This consistent reduction in frame rates as pixel count increases—roughly 30-40% per resolution step—is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would see similar frame rates across resolutions, which is not the case.

The CPU’s role becomes even more apparent at lower settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 291 FPS, which confirms the GPU’s raw throughput, but also indicates the CPU can feed frames fast enough to avoid capping performance. The RTX 4080’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are more than sufficient for this title, which is not graphically intensive by modern standards. The CPU’s job is simply to keep up with the GPU’s frame generation, and its Passmark single-thread score of 4,823 confirms it does so without issue.

At 4K Ultra, where the GPU is pushed hardest, the average FPS drops to 47. This is a 31% reduction from the 4K Medium score of 90 FPS, showing that the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are saturated at this extreme preset. The CPU’s performance remains constant, further proving it is not the bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

1920x1080 (Full HD):

• Low: 291 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate recorded for any preset in the entire dataset.
• Medium: 218 FPS average, with a minimum of 185 FPS and a maximum of 250 FPS. The minimum is still well above the 60 FPS threshold.
• High: 163 FPS average.
• Ultra: 112 FPS average. Even the most demanding preset at 1080p delivers nearly double the 60 FPS target.

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

• Low: 202 FPS average.
• Medium: 151 FPS average, with a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 174 FPS.
• High: 113 FPS average.
• Ultra: 78 FPS average. This is the highest settings preset that remains comfortably above 60 FPS.

3840x2160 (4K UHD):

• Low: 121 FPS average.
• Medium: 90 FPS average, with a minimum of 77 FPS and a maximum of 104 FPS. The minimum remains above the playability threshold.
• High: 68 FPS average. This is the most demanding playable preset at 4K.
• Ultra: 47 FPS average. This is the only measured configuration that fails to reach 60 FPS.

The data shows a clear pattern: each resolution step up reduces frame rates by roughly 30%, and each settings step up from Low to Ultra reduces frame rates by roughly 50-60% at a given resolution. The Medium preset consistently provides the most balanced performance, with minimum frame rates that stay well above 60 FPS even at 4K.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Inside at a high level. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: at 2560x1440 and 1920x1080, every single settings preset—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—clears the 60 FPS playability threshold. At 3840x2160, High, Medium, and Low settings are all playable, with High achieving a 68 FPS average. The only configuration that fails to meet the 60 FPS target is 4K Ultra, which falls short with a 47 FPS average.

For players with a 4K display, the recommendation is clear: use High settings for the best visual quality while maintaining a smooth experience. The 68 FPS average at 4K High is 13% above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a comfortable margin for demanding scenes. At 1440p and 1080p, players have complete freedom to max out the game’s visual options at Ultra settings and still enjoy frame rates of 78 FPS and 112 FPS respectively.

Given that the data is measured, not estimated, and the game is a 2016 puzzle platformer, the hardware is overkill for most scenarios. The RTX 4080’s end-of-life production status does not diminish its capability here. The system’s performance is limited only by the game’s own engine, and even at its highest settings, the GPU is rarely taxed beyond 50% of its capacity.

Best Settings per Resolution

The optimal settings for each resolution are those that provide the highest visual fidelity while maintaining an average FPS at or above 60.

• 3840x2160 (4K UHD): The best settings are High, which yields a 68 FPS average. Medium is also a strong option with a 90 FPS average and a minimum of 77 FPS, but High offers superior visuals with only a 24% frame rate penalty. Ultra is not recommended as it drops to 47 FPS.

• 2560x1440 (Quad HD): The best settings are Ultra, achieving a 78 FPS average. This is the only resolution where the maximum preset remains above 60 FPS without compromise. The 78 FPS figure is 30% higher than the 4K High result, showing the benefit of a lower pixel count.

• 1920x1080 (Full HD): The best settings are Ultra, with a 112 FPS average. This provides a 44% performance headroom over the 60 FPS threshold, making it ideal for high refresh rate displays. Even the most demanding scenes will not cause frame drops below this level.

For players prioritizing frame rate stability over visual detail, Medium settings at 4K (90 FPS) or 1440p (151 FPS) offer the best balance, as the minimum FPS figures are higher than the average FPS of the next preset up.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 2,749th out of 3,716 tested combos for Inside. This places the system in the 74th percentile of all configurations tested, meaning it outperforms roughly three-quarters of the systems in the database. While this is not a top-tier ranking, it is important to contextualize this result.

The ranking is relative to all combos, including those with newer and more expensive hardware. The RTX 4080 itself has an average benchmark score of 54,247, which is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) and 2.6% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698). The CPU’s average benchmark score of 84,003 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K (83,807) and 1.2% higher than the AMD EPYC 9135 (82,980).

Despite the mid-pack ranking, the actual game performance is excellent, as demonstrated by the measured FPS. The rank is likely skewed by the fact that many faster systems exist in the database, but for Inside, the difference between a 112 FPS average and a 140 FPS average is imperceptible on most displays. The system’s percentile rank of 96 for the CPU and 86 for the GPU confirm that this is a high-end configuration, and its actual in-game performance is limited by the game’s low system requirements rather than any hardware deficiency.