Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle-platformer with a deliberately restrained visual style, yet the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 reveals a fascinating performance curve that is far from simple. The measured frames per second across three resolutions and four quality presets tell a story of a game that is simultaneously GPU-bound at the top end and surprisingly sensitive to CPU throughput at lower settings. This analysis digs into the numbers to understand where the bottleneck truly lies and what it means for anyone running this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The most immediate observation from the measured FPS data is the dramatic impact of resolution on frame rates. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 231.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 207.1 FPS, a reduction of roughly 10.5%. The jump to 4K (3840x2160) yields 178.7 FPS, which is another 13.7% decline from the 1440p figure. This scaling pattern suggests that even at Low settings, the RTX 4090 is still the primary driver of performance, though the CPU is not entirely idle.

The High preset tells a slightly different story. From 1080p (179.3 FPS) to 1440p (160.7 FPS), the drop is 10.4%. However, the leap from 1440p to 4K (139.3 FPS) represents a 13.3% decrease. This consistent 10-13% scaling across each resolution step for both Low and High suggests a well-balanced load distribution. The game is clearly not a lightweight title that becomes trivially easy for the GPU; instead, the data indicates that resolution scaling is nearly linear, which is unusual for a game of this era. It implies that the rendering pipeline is highly parallel and can efficiently utilize the RTX 4090's immense compute resources at all resolutions.

The gap between Low and High at the same resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the difference is 52.1 FPS (231.4 vs 179.3), while at 4K it narrows to 39.4 FPS (178.7 vs 139.3). This narrowing at higher resolutions points to the GPU becoming more of a limiting factor as pixel count rises. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to have enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the GPU's workload at 4K begins to dominate. The data strongly suggests that the RTX 4090 is the performance ceiling here, but the i5-10400F is not a bottleneck in the traditional sense—it simply allows the GPU to stretch its legs up to a point.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of 1,671 tested combinations for Inside, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds the 713th position. This rank of 713 places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos, meaning that 43% of configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. The ranking is a direct reflection of the measured FPS data, which shows the combo is capable of very high frame rates but not the absolute top tier.

The CPU's individual benchmark scores provide context for this ranking. The i5-10400F achieves a passmark multithread score of 12,115 and a single-thread score of 2,541. Its average benchmark score is 14,168, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. Meanwhile, the RTX 4090's average benchmark score is 66,473, placing it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. The disparity in these percentiles (73rd for CPU vs 91st for GPU) hints at a potential imbalance. The GPU is a top-tier part, while the CPU is a mid-range offering from 2020. The ranking of 713 out of 1,671 suggests that while the combo is fast, it is not maximizing the GPU's full potential in this specific title, likely due to the CPU's older architecture.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the AMD EPYC 7552 with a delta of 0.4% and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C with a delta of -0.8%. These are close scores, but the GPU's nearest rivals are all professional or workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 and Quadro P6000, which are not designed for gaming. This indicates that the RTX 4090 is in a class of its own for consumer gaming, yet the combo's overall rank is dragged down by the CPU's comparative weakness. The data implies that pairing this GPU with a newer, higher-performing CPU would likely push the combo much higher in the rankings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a monster of a graphics card, and its specifications confirm that. It features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a staggering 1.01 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The base clock is 2235 MHz with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. These numbers are far beyond what a game like Inside would typically need, yet the measured FPS data shows the GPU is still the limiting factor at 4K.

The memory configuration is particularly interesting. With 24 GB of VRAM, Inside's requirements are trivial in comparison; the game will never come close to exhausting this capacity. This means the GPU's role is purely about raw compute and rasterization speed. The 16,384 shading units and 512 texture mapping units are the workhorses here, and the benchmark results reflect their power. At 1080p Low, the GPU pushes 231.4 FPS, which confirms its ability to process the game's simple geometry and lighting extremely quickly. The data suggests that the RTX 4090's performance is so high that even a 2016 game can be driven to frame rates that exceed most high-refresh-rate monitors.

The GPU's 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66,473, reinforces its status. The nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (delta -0.4%) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (delta -0.9%), are professional cards, highlighting that the RTX 4090 is the peak of consumer performance. However, the measured FPS in Inside shows that this power is not fully utilized at lower resolutions, where the CPU's limitations become more apparent. The GPU's role is to provide headroom, and the data indicates it has plenty to spare.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates range from 173.5 FPS on Ultra to 231.4 FPS on Low. The Medium preset hits 216.6 FPS, while High lands at 179.3 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 14.8 FPS drop, but the more significant drop occurs from Medium to High (37.3 FPS) and High to Ultra (5.8 FPS). This suggests that the High and Ultra presets introduce effects that are disproportionately demanding relative to their visual impact, likely related to advanced lighting or post-processing.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges. Low yields 207.1 FPS, Medium 190.6 FPS, High 160.7 FPS, and Ultra 157.5 FPS. The relative gaps are similar, with Medium to High being the largest drop at 29.9 FPS. The Ultra preset is only 3.2 FPS slower than High, indicating that the extra settings in Ultra are nearly negligible at this resolution. This is a curious finding, as it suggests the Ultra preset is not well-optimized or that the differences are minor.

At 3840x2160, the results show 178.7 FPS on Low, 164.7 FPS on Medium, 139.3 FPS on High, and 132.4 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 14 FPS drop, but from Medium to High it is 25.4 FPS, and from High to Ultra it is 6.9 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 132.4 FPS is still exceptionally smooth, but the data shows that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of the higher pixel count. The fact that 4K Low (178.7 FPS) is nearly identical to 1080p High (179.3 FPS) is a remarkable coincidence that highlights how the CPU and GPU loads shift with resolution and settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Inside?

A: The highest average FPS is 231.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 132.4, while at 1080p Ultra it is 173.5. This represents a 41.1 FPS difference, or roughly a 23.7% drop in performance when moving to 4K.

Q: Which preset offers the smallest performance gap between 1440p and 4K?

A: The Low preset shows the smallest absolute drop, going from 207.1 FPS at 1440p to 178.7 FPS at 4K, a difference of 28.4 FPS. The Ultra preset drops by 25.1 FPS, which is proportionally similar.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 the main bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not entirely. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 231.4 FPS is high, but the CPU's single-thread score of 2,541 and its 73rd percentile ranking indicate it may be limiting the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates. The GPU is likely waiting on CPU instructions at this low resolution.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 713th out of 1,671 tested combinations, placing it in the 57th percentile of all tested combos.

Q: Does the GPU's 24 GB of VRAM make a difference in this game?

A: No. Inside is a 2016 puzzle-platformer with modest texture requirements. The 24 GB VRAM is far more than the game needs, so it has no measurable effect on the FPS results. The GPU's raw compute power is what matters.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance between visual quality and performance for this combo is the High preset at 1440p. At this setting, the game runs at 160.7 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The 1440p High preset provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium (190.6 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate that is indistinguishable from the 1080p High result (179.3 FPS) in terms of smoothness. The data shows that the Ultra preset at 1440p (157.5 FPS) offers only a marginal 3.2 FPS improvement over High, making High the more efficient choice.

For users with 4K displays, the Ultra preset at 3840x2160 (132.4 FPS) is perfectly playable and delivers the best visual fidelity. However, the High preset at 4K (139.3 FPS) is only 6.9 FPS faster, so the difference is negligible. If maximizing frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 4K (178.7 FPS) is the best option, but it sacrifices visual effects that are core to the game's atmospheric presentation. The Medium preset at 4K (164.7 FPS) offers a reasonable middle ground, but the jump from Medium to High (25.4 FPS) is substantial, suggesting that High is the sweet spot for visual quality per frame.

At 1080p, the Low preset (231.4 FPS) is the only way to approach the 240 Hz refresh rate, but the High preset (179.3 FPS) is still suitable for 165 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 1080p (173.5 FPS) is only 5.8 FPS slower than High, so there is no reason to avoid it if the monitor can handle it. The data clearly indicates that High or Ultra presets are the best choices for visual fidelity, while Low is reserved for competitive play at extreme refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores show a passmark multithread score of 12,115 and a single-thread score of 2,541, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. The cinebench r23 multicore score is 10,297, while the single-core score is 1,453.

In Inside, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and draw call submission. The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not a hard bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. However, the difference between 1080p Low (231.4 FPS) and 1080p Ultra (173.5 FPS) is 57.9 FPS, which is a significant gap. This gap is primarily due to the GPU's workload increasing with higher settings, but the CPU's single-thread performance of 1,453 in cinebench r23 suggests it may struggle to keep up with the GPU's demands at very low settings where the GPU is underutilized.

The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking, compared to the GPU's 91st percentile, indicates a mismatch in performance tiers. The i5-10400F is a solid mid-range CPU, but it is from 2020, and the RTX 4090 is a 2022 flagship. The data implies that the CPU is leaving some performance on the table in Inside, particularly at 1080p Low where the frame rate is high but not as high as it could be with a newer CPU. The passmark single-thread score of 2,541 is respectable, but it is not in the top tier, which is why the combo ranks 713th rather than higher. For this game, the CPU is sufficient for smooth gameplay, but it is the clear limiting factor when trying to push beyond 200 FPS at lower resolutions.