Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that is remarkably forgiving on hardware, and the measured results for the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 confirm this. The data shows a configuration that is primarily GPU-limited at higher resolutions but still delivers playable frame rates across the board, with the CPU proving more than adequate even in the most demanding scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 115 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 83 FPS, a reduction of about 27.8%. The jump to 4K (2160p) at High settings yields 52 FPS, which is a further 37.3% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline as pixel count rises strongly indicates that the GTX 1070 is the limiting component, as the workload per frame increases dramatically with resolution.

The scaling behavior is even more pronounced at the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 231 FPS. At 1440p Low, it falls to 166 FPS, and at 4K Low, it reaches 104 FPS. The percentage drops between these steps—28.1% from 1080p to 1440p, and 37.3% from 1440p to 4K—are nearly identical to the High preset drops. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the bottleneck even at Low settings, where the CPU would normally have more room to shine. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect the frame rate to plateau or drop less severely at higher resolutions, but the data shows a steady decline that tracks the pixel count.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground in the scaling curve. At 1080p Medium, the average is 184 FPS, dropping to 133 FPS at 1440p and 83 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at Medium is particularly telling: it is 31 frames lower than the 1440p Medium result, while the 1440p result is only 51 frames lower than the 1080p result. This non-linear scaling at the highest resolution indicates that the GTX 1070 is running out of raw pixel throughput, as the memory bandwidth and shading capacity are being saturated.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is built on the Pascal architecture and features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The data shows that this memory configuration is sufficient for Inside at all tested settings, as even the 4K Medium preset maintains a playable 83 FPS with minimum frame times recorded at 71 FPS. The GPU’s base clock of 1506 MHz and boost clock of 1683 MHz, combined with 1920 shading units, deliver a measured FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS. This raw compute power is more than enough for a puzzle platformer, which typically relies more on fill rate and memory bandwidth than on complex shader work.

The GTX 1070’s 64 ROPs and 120 TMUs provide a texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s. These figures explain why the GPU scales so predictably with resolution: the pixel rate directly limits how many pixels can be drawn per second, and as resolution increases, the demand on the ROPs grows proportionally. The 4K Ultra preset, which yields 50 FPS, is the only configuration that dips below the 52 FPS 4K High result, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are pushing the GPU’s shading units closer to their limit.

The GPU’s driver-level performance in synthetic benchmarks shows a PassMark G3D score of 13498, placing it at the 47th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the AMD FirePro W5000 (0.2% higher score) and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (0.5% higher score), which indicates that the GTX 1070 sits in a competitive mid-range segment. For Inside specifically, the data shows that the GPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions, but the 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS demonstrates that the card is near its practical limit for this game at the highest settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates provide clear guidance for the optimal settings configuration. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 115 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a puzzle platformer. However, the Ultra preset only yields 110 FPS, a marginal 4.3% improvement in visual quality at a 4.3% cost in frame rate. The Medium preset at 184 FPS is overkill for a game that does not require twitch reflexes, making the High preset the sweet spot for 1080p.

At 1440p, the High preset produces 83 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays. The Ultra preset at 79 FPS is nearly identical in performance, suggesting that the difference between High and Ultra is negligible in terms of GPU load for this resolution. The Medium preset at 133 FPS is excessive, and users would be better served by the visual fidelity of High settings. The data indicates that 1440p High is the recommended configuration for this resolution, offering a balanced experience.

At 4K, the situation becomes more nuanced. The High preset yields 52 FPS, which is borderline for smooth gameplay but playable for a slower-paced puzzle title. The Medium preset at 83 FPS is the better choice, as it provides a substantial frame rate buffer while still rendering at native 4K. The Ultra preset at 50 FPS is only marginally lower than High, but the Medium preset’s 83 FPS is 59.6% higher than Ultra, making it the clear recommendation for 4K. The Low preset at 104 FPS is unnecessary unless the user prioritizes maximum frame rate over all visual quality, but for Inside, the Medium preset offers the best experience per the measured rows.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 ranks 3056 out of 3716 tested combos in Inside. This places the configuration in the lower tier of the benchmark database, at approximately the 82nd percentile of all tested systems. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the playable frame rates observed, but it reflects the fact that Inside is an older title that does not heavily stress modern hardware, allowing many lower-end combos to achieve similar performance.

The combo’s ranking suggests that while the i5-10400F and GTX 1070 are competent components, they are not exceptional when compared to the full spectrum of tested hardware. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 14185 places it at the 68th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Xeon 6756E (0.2% higher) and the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.5% higher). The GPU’s average score of 9780 places it at the 47th percentile, with nearest rivals being the AMD FirePro W5000 and NVIDIA Quadro M2000M. These percentile positions indicate that the combo is composed of mid-range parts that perform adequately but do not stand out in the broader database.

The rank of 3056 out of 3716 combos means that 660 combos perform worse, while 3055 perform better. This places the i5-10400F + GTX 1070 in the bottom 18% of all tested configurations for Inside. However, this ranking is heavily influenced by the game’s low system requirements, as many high-end systems will achieve similar frame rates due to frame rate caps or the game’s inherent simplicity. The data shows that the combo is more than capable of running the game smoothly, but it does not leverage the full potential of the hardware.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. For Inside, which is not a CPU-intensive title, this processor is more than sufficient. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 231 FPS, which is likely near the game’s engine limit or the GPU’s maximum output at that resolution.

The CPU’s benchmark results indicate strong single-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451 and a Geekbench single-core score of 1420. These scores are critical for a puzzle platformer like Inside, which typically relies on a single primary game thread for logic and physics. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and the PassMark single-thread score of 2541 further confirm that the i5-10400F has ample single-core capability to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The multi-threaded performance is also solid, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 12115. However, the data suggests that Inside does not utilize many threads, as the frame rates at lower resolutions are consistently high regardless of the settings preset. The CPU’s 65W TDP and dual-channel memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for the game’s requirements. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset only drops to 50 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset reaches 231 FPS, demonstrates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any tested configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a wide range of performance across settings. The Low preset averages 231 FPS, the Medium preset averages 184 FPS with a minimum of 157 FPS and a maximum of 212 FPS, the High preset averages 115 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 110 FPS. The gap between Low and High is 116 FPS, which is a 100.9% increase, indicating that the GTX 1070 has significant headroom at 1080p. The Medium preset’s minimum of 157 FPS ensures that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate stays well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down predictably. The Low preset averages 166 FPS, the Medium preset averages 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS, the High preset averages 83 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 79 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 113 FPS remains playable, while the High preset’s 83 FPS is still smooth for a game of this genre. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is only 4 FPS, which is within the margin of error and suggests that the Ultra preset does not add significant visual effects.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops more sharply. The Low preset averages 104 FPS, the Medium preset averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS, the High preset averages 52 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. The Medium preset is the only 4K configuration with a recorded minimum frame time, and at 71 FPS it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High and Ultra presets both hover around 50-52 FPS, which is borderline but acceptable for a slower-paced puzzle platformer. The data shows that the GTX 1070 can handle 4K in Inside, but only at Medium settings or lower for a consistently smooth experience.

FAQ

Q: Can the Intel Core i5-10400F and GTX 1070 run Inside at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows playable frame rates at 4K. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets average 52 FPS and 50 FPS respectively. For the smoothest experience, the Medium preset is recommended at 4K.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p?

A: The High preset at 1440p delivers 83 FPS, which is the recommended balance. The Ultra preset yields 79 FPS, only 4 FPS lower, so users can choose either based on visual preference. The Medium preset at 133 FPS is overkill for this game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. The frame rates drop significantly from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU’s strong single-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451) ensures it is not limiting the system.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, which is 0.2% lower than the AMD FirePro W5000 and 0.5% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M. This places it in a competitive mid-range position, at the 47th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 115 FPS at 1080p High. This is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay in a puzzle platformer, and the Ultra preset only drops to 110 FPS, so either setting provides an excellent experience.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide a consistent frame rate?

A: Yes, the Medium preset has recorded minimum frame times of 157 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p, and 71 FPS at 4K. These minimums indicate that the frame rate remains stable even in demanding scenes, making Medium a reliable choice across all resolutions.