Inside

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti delivers a fascinating performance profile in Inside, a game from 2016 that is far more demanding than its minimalist art style suggests. The data shows a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but begins to expose CPU limitations at 1080p, creating a nuanced scaling curve that rewards careful settings selection. This combo ranks 288th out of 1,671 tested combinations, placing it firmly in the top tier of systems capable of running this puzzle platformer at extreme frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a classic resolution scaling pattern, though with an unusual twist at the top end. At 4K with Ultra settings, the combo produces 115.2 FPS average. Dropping to 1440p Ultra increases that to 185.4 FPS, a 60.8% improvement. At 1080p Ultra, the average climbs to 238 FPS, representing a 106.7% jump over the 4K figure. This steep scaling curve suggests that at 4K, the RTX 4070 Ti is working near its limits, while lower resolutions allow the GPU to stretch its legs.

However, the Low settings preset tells a different story. At 4K Low, the system hits 241.1 FPS. At 1440p Low, it reaches 284.4 FPS, and at 1080p Low, it peaks at 314.5 FPS. The delta between 1440p and 1080p at Low settings is only 30.1 FPS, or roughly 10.6%. This compression indicates that at 1080p Low, the system is approaching a ceiling that is no longer purely GPU-bound. The 4-core, 8-thread Core i3-12100F, with its 3.30 GHz base and 4.30 GHz boost clock, begins to assert itself as a limiting factor when the GPU is given lighter workloads.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern. From 4K Medium at 196.6 FPS to 1440p Medium at 258.1 FPS to 1080p Medium at 289.4 FPS, the scaling is healthy but diminishing. The High preset is particularly telling: 120.8 FPS at 4K, 193.7 FPS at 1440p, and 240.8 FPS at 1080p. The jump from 4K to 1440p is a substantial 60.3% improvement, but the jump from 1440p to 1080p is only 24.3%. This suggests that at High settings, the system transitions from being fully GPU-limited at 4K to partially CPU-limited at 1080p.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the undisputed workhorse of this configuration. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, this GPU packs 35,800 million transistors into a 294 mm² die. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for a game like Inside that relies on atmospheric lighting and shadow effects rather than massive texture streaming.

The GPU's clock behavior is notable. With a base clock of 2310 MHz and a boost clock of 2610 MHz, the RTX 4070 Ti maintains high sustained performance. Its 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs provide substantial raw throughput, reflected in its 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 performance. The 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this game, which does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS in the measured presets.

The benchmark results show the GPU's strength. It scores 31,624 in Passmark G3D and 18,396 in Passmark GPU Compute, placing it in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 44,900 puts it just 0.6% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile and 1.5% behind the Intel Arc A730M, while leading the AMD Radeon Pro 580 by 1.6%. This positioning explains why the GPU can push 4K Ultra to 115.2 FPS — it is a top-tier performer that only struggles when paired with a CPU that cannot feed it enough frames.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. Its 58 W TDP and 12 MB of shared L3 cache make it a modest but capable companion for a high-end GPU. The CPU's single-thread performance is strong, scoring 893 in 3DMark single-thread and 1,681 in Cinebench R23 single-core. Multi-threaded scores are respectable but reveal the physical core limitation: 4,023 in 3DMark max threads and 11,912 in Cinebench R23 multicore.

The CPU's role in Inside becomes apparent when examining the frame rate ceilings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 314.5 FPS, but this is only 30.1 FPS higher than 1440p Low's 284.4 FPS. This 10.6% improvement from a 77.8% increase in pixel count indicates that the CPU is becoming the bottleneck. The i3-12100F's 4.30 GHz boost clock helps, but its 4 physical cores cannot sustain the frame generation required to push much beyond 300 FPS in this title.

Interestingly, the CPU's benchmark scores suggest it is well-matched for this game's physics and logic. The Passmark physics score of 985 and the 160,452 in Passmark data compression indicate adequate computational throughput. The CPU's 72nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,516, places it just 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 1.8% ahead of the Intel Core i7-7700K. This puts the i3-12100F in a sweet spot for older games that do not scale beyond 8 threads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i3-12100F and RTX 4070 Ti ranks 288th out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all configurations. This is a strong showing, but it is not the top-tier result that the GPU alone might suggest. The data indicates that the CPU is holding back the system's ultimate potential, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The GPU's individual ranking at the 85th percentile versus the combo's 83rd percentile shows a small but measurable performance penalty. This is consistent with the CPU's 72nd percentile ranking, which is below the GPU's standing. When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing performs admirably but leaves performance on the table. The system's 4K Ultra result of 115.2 FPS and 1080p Ultra result of 238 FPS demonstrate that it can handle the game at maximum quality, but a stronger CPU would likely push the 1080p Low result beyond 314.5 FPS.

The rank also reflects the game's age and optimization. Inside was released in July 2016, and its engine does not heavily utilize multi-threading. This plays to the i3-12100F's strengths, as its strong single-thread performance (893 in 3DMark single-thread) is more relevant than its modest multi-thread capabilities. The combo's rank of 288 suggests that it outperforms many configurations with more expensive CPUs but less capable GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimal settings across resolutions. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 115.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. Dropping to High at 4K yields 120.8 FPS, a marginal 4.9% improvement over Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K jumps to 196.6 FPS, a 70.7% improvement over Ultra, making it the sweet spot for 4K gaming. Low at 4K pushes to 241.1 FPS, but the visual sacrifice is substantial for a game that relies on atmospheric storytelling.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 193.7 FPS, which is excellent for most displays. Ultra at 1440p achieves 185.4 FPS, only 4.3% lower than High. The Medium preset at 1440p reaches 258.1 FPS, while Low hits 284.4 FPS. The recommended choice at 1440p is High, as it balances visual fidelity with a frame rate that exceeds virtually all 1440p monitors' refresh rates.

At 1080p, the High preset produces 240.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. Ultra at 1080p achieves 238 FPS, essentially identical to High. Medium at 1080p reaches 289.4 FPS, and Low tops out at 314.5 FPS. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU becomes the limiting factor above 300 FPS, so there is little reason to drop below High settings. The Ultra preset at 1080p is recommended for maximum visual quality, as the 2.8 FPS difference between High and Ultra is negligible. The best overall experience is at 1080p Ultra or 1440p High, depending on display capability, with 4K Medium offering the most balanced experience for 4K displays.