Inside

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a highly capable Inside experience, ranking in the 42nd percentile of all tested combinations (rank 973 out of 1671). This placement indicates a solid, above-median performer that comfortably handles the game’s puzzle-platformer demands, though it is not among the elite tier of systems tested. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced for this title, with the CPU and GPU each taking turns as the limiting factor depending on the resolution and preset selected.

How This Combo Ranks

Out of 1671 tested combos, this pairing sits at rank 973. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the performance distribution, yet it is still comfortably ahead of the median system. The ranking reflects a configuration that is more than sufficient for Inside’s requirements, as the game is not particularly demanding. The i3-12100F’s benchmark percentile of 72 versus all CPUs and the RTX 2070 SUPER’s percentile of 65 versus all GPUs suggest that both components are above-average performers in their respective categories, which translates into a cohesive and capable gaming system for this title.

The combo’s rank is influenced more by the GPU’s relative standing than the CPU’s. The RTX 2070 SUPER, with an average benchmark score of 22206, sits just 0.5% behind the NVIDIA RTX A400 and 0.9% ahead of the GTX TITAN Z. The i3-12100F, scoring 13516 on average, is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (0.1% lower) and only 1.8% ahead of the older Intel Core i7-7700K. This indicates that while neither part is a class leader, their combined performance is well-matched for a game like Inside, which relies on consistent frame pacing rather than extreme multi-threaded throughput.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p High delivers an average of 111.0 FPS, while 4K High drops to 67.6 FPS. For a balance of visual fidelity and headroom above 60 FPS, 1440p High is the sweet spot, as 4K Ultra averages exactly 67.0 FPS, leaving little margin for drops.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread?

A: The i3-12100F scores 1681 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 11912 in multi-core. The single-core score is relatively strong (78% of the multi-core score per thread), which is beneficial for a game like Inside that likely relies on a few main threads for physics and logic.

Q: Is 8 GB of VRAM enough for this game?

A: Yes. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 448.0 GB/s bandwidth. Even at 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS is 67.0, indicating that the VRAM capacity is not a bottleneck for this title’s textures and effects.

Q: How does the frame rate scale from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 312.1 at 1080p to 137.3 at 4K, a reduction of 56%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 146.8 at 1080p to 67.0 at 4K, a 54% reduction, showing that resolution scaling has a similar impact regardless of preset.

Q: What is the CPU’s power draw?

A: The Intel Core i3-12100F has a TDP of 58 watts. This is a modest figure that allows for efficient cooling, ensuring the CPU does not throttle during extended gameplay sessions.

Q: Does the GPU support modern APIs?

A: Yes, the RTX 2070 SUPER supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. This ensures compatibility with the latest rendering features, although Inside is an older title from 2016.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals that this combo scales predictably with resolution, but the limiting component shifts depending on the settings. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 312.1 FPS at 1080p to 224.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 137.3 FPS at 4K (a 39% decrease from 1440p). This pattern suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is the primary limiter, as the CPU is capable of feeding frames well above 300 FPS at 1080p.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is less steep in absolute terms: from 146.8 FPS at 1080p to 106.0 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop) and then to 67.0 FPS at 4K (a 37% drop from 1440p). The fact that 4K Ultra still averages 67.0 FPS indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER’s 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 64 ROPs are sufficient to handle the higher pixel count, but the gap between 1440p and 4K narrows as the game becomes more GPU-bound. The CPU’s 4 cores and 8 threads are not the bottleneck here, as the frame rates remain high even at 1080p Ultra (146.8 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings average 312.1 FPS, Medium 247.9 FPS, High 157.6 FPS, and Ultra 146.8 FPS. This shows that even at the highest preset, the system has more than double the 60 FPS target, making 1080p a non-issue for this hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain strong: Low hits 224.6 FPS, Medium 179.9 FPS, High 111.0 FPS, and Ultra 106.0 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is only 5 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not particularly taxing at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding. Low averages 137.3 FPS, Medium 111.7 FPS, High 67.6 FPS, and Ultra 67.0 FPS. The near-identical results for High and Ultra at 4K (67.6 vs 67.0) indicate that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling at this resolution, likely due to pixel fill rate or memory bandwidth limits rather than compute shaders.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside, especially at higher resolutions. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for this game’s art style. The boost clock of 1770 MHz and 2560 shading units deliver a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s, which explains why 4K performance levels off at around 67 FPS regardless of whether High or Ultra settings are used.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its capability. A Passmark G3D score of 18169 places it just 2.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 5700 and 0.9% behind the GTX TITAN Z. The 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are present but largely unused in this 2016 title, meaning the raw rasterization performance is what drives the results. The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, as the frame rate does not improve when dropping from Ultra to High, whereas at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU has more headroom to push higher frames.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting role in this game, providing sufficient single-thread performance to keep the GPU fed. With 4 cores and 8 threads running at a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681 and a multi-core score of 11912. This single-thread strength is crucial for Inside’s gameplay logic and physics, which are typically not heavily multi-threaded.

The CPU’s benchmark percentile of 72 versus all CPUs indicates that it outperforms the majority of processors on the market. Its Passmark single-thread score of 3444 is notably strong, and its 3DMark 2-thread score of 1659 suggests that even lightly threaded workloads are well-handled. However, the data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this game: at 1080p Low, the system hits 312.1 FPS, which is far beyond what most displays can show. The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB L1 cache per core provide low-latency access to frequently used data, which helps maintain consistent frame pacing even in complex puzzle scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data suggests prioritizing 1440p High settings. This preset delivers an average of 111.0 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, while still offering enhanced visual quality over Medium (179.9 FPS) or Low (224.6 FPS). The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p only costs 5 FPS (106.0 vs 111.0), so players with G-Sync or FreeSync displays could opt for Ultra without significant penalty.

At 4K, the choice is between High and Ultra, which perform nearly identically (67.6 vs 67.0 FPS). Since there is no measurable benefit to Ultra at this resolution, High is the recommended preset to ensure maximum stability. For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, 1080p Low at 312.1 FPS offers an incredibly responsive experience, though this is likely overkill for a puzzle platformer. The sweet spot is 1440p High, which balances visual fidelity with a comfortable performance margin.