Inside

Inside is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer that is far more demanding than its minimal aesthetic suggests, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti illustrates a system that is severely constrained by its graphics processor at higher resolutions and quality settings. The measured frame rates reveal a configuration that can handle the game at 1080p with adjusted settings, but which falls apart when pushed toward 4K. This analysis breaks down the scaling, component roles, and ranking of this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K in this title is steep and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At the High preset, the system delivers 56 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 38.4 FPS at 2560x1440, and then collapses to 21.6 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a decline of 61.4% from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear; the jump from 1440p to 4K is particularly harsh, costing over 40% of the already-reduced frame rate. This pattern is classic evidence of a GPU-limited scenario, where the rendering resolution directly dictates performance because the graphics card is the component doing the heavy lifting.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is less punishing but still significant. The system achieves 108.6 FPS at 1080p, 75.4 FPS at 1440p, and 46.9 FPS at 4K. While the absolute numbers are higher, the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is still around 57%, which is substantial. The fact that lowering the settings to Low does not eliminate the resolution penalty suggests that even at minimal visual quality, the GTX 1050 Ti is working near its limit at higher pixel counts. The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being exhausted by the combination of high resolution and high-quality effects. For a smooth experience, users must prioritize either resolution or visual fidelity, as this hardware cannot deliver both simultaneously at the higher end of the spectrum.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the primary limiting factor in this configuration. Its specifications from the FACT PACK include 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1291 MHz and a boost clock of 1392 MHz. These are modest figures by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect that. The GPU's percentile ranking is 30, meaning it performs better than only 30% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score is 5316, placing it in direct competition with the NVIDIA GeForce 930A, which scores 5317 (a 0% delta), and the AMD Radeon R7 240, which scores 5280 (0.7% higher). This is entry-level territory.

In the context of Inside, the GPU's 4 GB VRAM is not necessarily the primary constraint at 1080p, but at 4K with Ultra settings, the frame rate drops to 22.7 FPS, suggesting that both memory capacity and bandwidth are being stressed. The architecture is Pascal, built on a 14 nm process, and the card's FP32 performance is 2.138 TFLOPS, which is low for handling modern pixel shaders at high resolutions. The data shows that the GTX 1050 Ti is capable of producing 108.6 FPS at 1080p Low, but that number is more than halved to 46.9 FPS at 4K Low. The GPU's compute capabilities, as measured by its Passmark G3D score of 6340, are sufficient for the game's core logic, but the rasterization and memory throughput are insufficient for high-resolution rendering. The pixel rate of 44.54 GPixel/s and texture rate of 66.82 GTexel/s are simply not enough to feed a 4K display with high-detail assets, leading to the observed frame rate collapse.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its benchmark scores are respectable; for instance, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453. The CPU's percentile ranking is 73, placing it above the majority of processors in the database. Its average benchmark score is 14168, which is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115, a 0.4% delta) and slightly lower than the Intel Core i5-8500 (14332, a -1.1% delta). This indicates that the CPU is a solid mid-range performer.

In this benchmark pairing, the CPU is clearly not the bottleneck. The frame rates at low resolutions and settings, such as 108.6 FPS at 1080p Low, are likely still limited by the GPU, as the CPU has ample headroom with its 12 threads. The 3DMark scores show strong multi-threading: 4748 for 16 threads and 4735 for max threads, which means the processor can handle the game's physics and logic threads without breaking a sweat. The memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, while modest, is sufficient for a game like Inside, which is not known for massive data streaming. The data implies that if the GPU were upgraded, the i5-10400F could likely push much higher frame rates, as its single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 2541) is more than adequate for the game's engine. The CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, and with a 4.30 GHz boost clock, it does so efficiently, but the GPU's output limits the final FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1666 out of 1671 tested combos in this game. This places it in the bottom 0.3% of all configurations, which is a poor result for a game that is not graphically intensive by modern standards. The rank is heavily influenced by the GPU's position in the 30th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits in the 73rd percentile. This mismatch confirms that the GPU is dragging down the overall performance of the system.

The near-bottom ranking is surprising given the game's 2016 release date and its "Puzzle Platformer" genre, but the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (22.7 FPS) and even at 1440p High (38.4 FPS) suggest that the GTX 1050 Ti is simply too weak for this title at higher settings. The combo's rank is consistent with the GPU's nearest rivals, which are all low-end parts like the GeForce 940M (score 5297) and Radeon R7 M445 (score 5361). The data shows that this combo is only suitable for 1080p gaming with reduced settings, as pushing to higher resolutions yields unplayable frame rates. The fact that the CPU is not a limiting factor is evident, as its nearest rivals include server-class chips like the EPYC 7552, yet the combo still performs poorly due to the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this system handles Inside across different resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 108.6 FPS, which is smooth gameplay. The Medium preset drops to 86.2 FPS, still playable. The High preset achieves 56 FPS, which is borderline for a platformer that may require precise timing. The Ultra preset, however, drops to 49.9 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid. This 1080p data suggests that the GTX 1050 Ti can handle the game at this resolution, but users must be willing to compromise on visual quality to maintain a high refresh rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance degrades significantly. The Low preset delivers 75.4 FPS, which is acceptable, but the Medium preset drops to 62.8 FPS, and the High preset falls to 38.4 FPS. The Ultra preset is nearly unplayable at 36.5 FPS. The data shows a clear pattern: at 1440p, only the Low preset provides a consistently smooth experience. At 3840x2160, the results are poor across the board. The Low preset achieves 46.9 FPS, which is technically playable but not ideal, while the Medium preset drops to 40.5 FPS. The High preset yields 21.6 FPS, and the Ultra preset is only marginally better at 22.7 FPS. These numbers indicate that 4K gaming is not viable with this GPU, regardless of settings. The delta between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 24.2 FPS, showing that the GPU is so saturated that even lowering settings provides diminishing returns. The benchmark results confirm that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with the Low or Medium presets being the most sensible choices for a stable frame rate.