Inside

The Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a remarkably fluid experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The data shows this pairing is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions, with the CPU providing ample headroom to maintain very high frame rates across all settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, focusing on how each component contributes to the final results.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, which are the key figures for understanding its gaming performance. The processor’s benchmark scores indicate it performs well above the median, with a percentile rank of 73 among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 14168 places it in a tight cluster with its nearest rivals, including the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% higher) and the Intel Core i5-8500 (1.1% lower). This suggests the i5-10400F provides a solid, mid-range level of computational power.

In the context of Inside, this CPU is more than sufficient. The game’s puzzle-platformer nature typically relies more on GPU throughput for rendering the 2.5D environments than on heavy CPU simulation. The processor’s single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R20 single-core score of 610 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1454, is strong enough to handle the game’s logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck. Even the multi-threaded capabilities, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297, are rarely stressed by this title. The data suggests that at 1080p with any settings, the CPU is likely operating well below its maximum capacity, allowing the GPU to be the primary determinant of frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing. Built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, it features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 384.0 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2581 MHz and game clock of 2424 MHz are high for its class, and its 2560 shading units and 40 ray accelerators give it substantial raw compute power, rated at 13.21 TFLOPS for FP32 operations. The GPU’s benchmark percentile is 77, and its average score of 33721 is closely matched by rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (0.7% higher) and the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (1.3% lower).

For Inside, the RX 6700 XT is an overachiever. The game’s visual style, while atmospheric, is not graphically demanding by modern standards. The measured frame rates show that the GPU is capable of pushing well beyond the 60 FPS target even at 4K resolution. The 12 GB VRAM is more than enough for the game’s textures and assets, eliminating any potential memory-related stutters. The high bandwidth figure also ensures that texture streaming is not a limiting factor. In essence, the GPU has significant performance headroom, which is reflected in the fact that even at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate remains above 70 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions provides clear insight into the limiting component. At 1080p, the average frame rates are exceptionally high, ranging from 162.7 FPS at Ultra to 232.9 FPS at Low. When moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop, but remain very high, from 112.7 FPS at Ultra to 206 FPS at Low. At 4K, the performance takes a more significant hit, with the Ultra preset dropping to 70.5 FPS and the Low preset still managing 154 FPS.

This pattern indicates a classic GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, particularly at Ultra settings where the frame rate falls by over 56% (from 162.7 to 70.5 FPS). This is a strong indicator that the RX 6700 XT’s fill rate and pixel throughput are being taxed by the increased resolution. Conversely, the relatively small performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (232.9 vs 206 FPS) suggests that the CPU is still capable of feeding the GPU adequately, but the GPU is beginning to work harder. The data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor until the frame rate targets become extremely high, far beyond what a typical monitor can display. The bottleneck shifts decisively to the GPU as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured performance data for this combo is consistent and predictable. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from a high of 232.9 at Low settings to 162.7 at Ultra. The Medium preset achieves 214.4 FPS, and High yields 167.2 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4.5 FPS, suggesting a diminishing return in visual fidelity for performance. The frame rates here are so high that they would be limited by most display refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains excellent. The Low preset averages 206 FPS, while Medium drops to 193 FPS. High and Ultra presets produce 119.5 FPS and 112.7 FPS, respectively. The gap between Medium and High is significant (73.5 FPS), indicating that the High preset applies more demanding visual effects. The 1440p results show that the combo is still capable of delivering a high-refresh-rate experience on standard monitors.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly working harder. The Low preset still averages 154 FPS, which is a very playable and smooth experience. The Medium preset drops to 124.1 FPS, and High falls to 76.7 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 70.5 FPS. This is the only resolution where the Ultra preset dips below the 100 FPS mark, but it still comfortably clears the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 54% performance penalty, underscoring the GPU’s role as the primary constraint.

How This Combo Ranks

In the global database of tested system configurations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT holds a rank of 1012 out of 1671 combos for Inside. This places it in the upper-middle tier of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for this hardware pairing. The rank reflects the overall performance potential of the combo, which is heavily weighted by the GPU’s capabilities.

The fact that this combo ranks in the 60th percentile (1012/1671) suggests that while the RX 6700 XT is a potent card, the i5-10400F may be holding back the system slightly in some scenarios, even if it is not evident in this specific game. The CPU’s nearest rivals are all within a 1.2% performance delta, indicating that the processor is a known quantity in terms of average performance. The data implies that for a game like Inside, which is not CPU-intensive, the combo punches above its rank, delivering frame rates that would be expected from more highly-ranked configurations. The overall rank confirms the GPU’s dominance in this pairing, as the game’s performance scales almost entirely with the graphics card’s workload.