Inside

The pairing of the Intel Core i3-12100F with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT in Inside presents a fascinating study in component balance. The CPU, a 4-core/8-thread Alder Lake part, posts an average benchmark score of 13516, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all tested CPUs. Its performance is remarkably close to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX, which scores 13534, a delta of only -0.1%. The GPU, meanwhile, is a behemoth; its average benchmark score of 38358 puts it in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, with its closest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile at a 0% delta. This pairing of a mid-range CPU with a top-tier GPU is where the analysis gets interesting, as the measured FPS data reveals how each component's strengths and weaknesses manifest at different resolutions and settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory are notable, but for a game like Inside, the core count is the primary constraint. The benchmark data reflects this: the CPU scores 2859 in 3dmark_4_threads, but jumps to 4026 in 3dmark_8_threads, indicating that its performance scales well with its available threads. However, its single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark_single_thread and 1681 in cinebench_r23_singlecore suggests it has solid, though not exceptional, per-core strength.

For Inside, a puzzle platformer, the workload is not massively multi-threaded. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is likely a limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 315.2, but this drops to 244.4 at High and 237.1 at Ultra. This relatively small spread from Low to Ultra suggests the CPU is near its limit, as the GPU has plenty of headroom to render more frames but is being held back. The CPU's 4 cores mean that any single-threaded bottleneck will be more pronounced. The fact that it scores 14015 in passmark_multithread but only 3444 in passmark_single_thread highlights the gap between its multi-threaded and single-threaded might, which is crucial for a game that may not use all 8 threads effectively. The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals, like the Intel Core i7-7700K (avgScore 13280, deltaPct 1.8), shows it is a capable modern part, but the core count remains a hard ceiling in CPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a flagship GPU with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. The GPU's raw compute power is staggering, with 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. In Inside, this power is evident at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 107.9, which is still very playable. The GPU's role is to handle the rendering load, and its 20 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, even at 4K Ultra settings.

The data shows the GPU is the dominant component at 4K. At 4K High, the FPS is 110.2, while at 4K Low, it jumps to 225.9. This scaling is much more pronounced than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K. The GPU's percentile ranking of 82 and its close rivalries with cards like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct 0.6) confirm its high-end positioning. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 800 GB/s is critical for feeding the 5376 shading units, and in Inside, this allows for massive frame rates at 1440p, where it hits 280.6 FPS on Low settings. The GPU's performance is so high that the CPU becomes the limiting factor at lower resolutions, creating a clear division of labor: the GPU is for high-resolution fidelity, while the CPU is the gatekeeper at lower resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Intel Core i3-12100F a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XT in Inside?*

A: At 1080p, yes. The FPS difference from Low (315.2) to Ultra (237.1) is only 78.1 FPS, suggesting a CPU limit. At 4K, the FPS difference from Low (225.9) to Ultra (107.9) is 118.0 FPS, showing the GPU is more stressed, so the CPU bottleneck is less severe.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its single-threaded performance?

A: The CPU scores 11912 in cinebench_r23_multicore and 1681 in cinebench_r23_singlecore. This indicates that while it can handle multi-threaded tasks reasonably well for a 4-core part, its single-thread performance is its weaker trait, which can impact games that rely on a few fast cores.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how does it affect 4K performance?

A: The RX 7900 XT has a memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s from its 20 GB GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus. This high bandwidth helps maintain high FPS at 4K, where the GPU is the main bottleneck, allowing it to achieve 110.2 FPS at 4K High.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 346th out of 1671 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the top 21% of all tested systems, indicating a very strong overall performer for this game.

Q: Which resolution offers the best balance of performance and quality?

A: 2560x1440 with High settings offers an average FPS of 178.6. This is likely the sweet spot, as it provides a high frame rate while also utilizing the GPU's power more than at 1080p, where the CPU holds it back.

Q: Is the CPU's performance close to any high-end rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 13516 is only 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (score 13534). This is surprising, as the Threadripper is a much more expensive and higher-core-count part, showing the i3-12100F's efficiency in this specific workload.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i3-12100F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 346th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 20.7% of all systems tested, which is an excellent result. The ranking reflects that while the CPU is a potential bottleneck at lower resolutions, the GPU's immense power at higher resolutions and settings pulls the overall performance into a very high tier. The data suggests that in a game like Inside, which is not extremely demanding, this pairing is overkill for 1080p but perfectly suited for 4K gaming, where the GPU can stretch its legs. The GPU's percentile of 82 and the CPU's percentile of 72 combine to create a system that is greater than the sum of its parts in terms of final FPS at high resolutions. The rank indicates that the GPU's raw power compensates for the CPU's limitations in most scenarios, except for the lowest resolution and settings, where the CPU's 4 cores become the deciding factor.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the best experience is found at 2560x1440 with High settings. This configuration yields an average FPS of 178.6, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth, responsive experience. While Ultra settings at 1440p still offer a solid 168.9 FPS, the increase to High from Medium (261.8 FPS) shows a significant drop, suggesting that the High preset is the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 4K, the High preset at 110.2 FPS is also a strong choice, but the 1440p High option provides a higher frame rate for fast-paced gameplay. For players with high-refresh-rate monitors, 1080p Low at 315.2 FPS is the maximum possible, but the visual quality is compromised. Therefore, the data points to 1440p High as the recommended preset for the best overall experience, offering a high frame rate without sacrificing the game's atmospheric details.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities across three resolutions and four settings.

At 1920x1080, the average FPS is as follows:

• Low: 315.2
• Medium: 293.3
• High: 244.4
• Ultra: 237.1

The FPS drops from Low to Ultra by 78.1 FPS, but the difference between High and Ultra is only 7.3 FPS, indicating diminishing returns.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS is:

• Low: 280.6
• Medium: 261.8
• High: 178.6
• Ultra: 168.9

The drop from Medium to High is 83.2 FPS, which is the largest single-step decrease in this resolution, showing that High settings significantly increase the GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS is:

• Low: 225.9
• Medium: 181.8
• High: 110.2
• Ultra: 107.9

The scaling here is more dramatic, with a 46.1 FPS drop from Medium to High, and a further 2.3 FPS drop to Ultra. The system remains playable at 4K Ultra, but the data shows that the High preset is the most efficient in terms of FPS per graphical setting.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear pattern regarding the limiting component. When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the FPS drops for each setting, but not uniformly. For Low settings, the drop from 1080p (315.2) to 1440p (280.6) is 34.6 FPS, a decrease of 11.0%. For Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p (237.1) to 1440p (168.9) is 68.2 FPS, a decrease of 28.8%. This indicates that as resolution increases, the GPU becomes more involved, and the CPU's limitation is less of a factor. This trend accelerates at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K on Low settings is from 280.6 to 225.9 FPS (a 19.5% decrease), but on Ultra settings, it's from 168.9 to 107.9 FPS (a 36.1% decrease).

This scaling demonstrates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at 1080p, as the FPS is relatively high and doesn't scale down much with settings. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the FPS scales more proportionally with the graphical settings. The data strongly suggests that the RX 7900 XT is the dominant component at 4K, where its 20 GB of VRAM and 800 GB/s bandwidth are fully utilized. The i3-12100F, with its 4 cores, is the limiting factor at 1080p, preventing the system from reaching even higher frame rates. This is a classic example of a high-end GPU being paired with a mid-range CPU, where the balance of power shifts with resolution.