Inside

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a very strong experience in Inside, achieving a combo rank of 1125 out of 3716 tested combinations. This places the pairing in the top 30% of all tested hardware combos for this game, indicating that the system is well-balanced for the title’s demands. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across all resolutions and settings, with the lowest average being 107 FPS at 4K Ultra, which remains perfectly playable. The data shows a system that is not struggling in any configuration, making it a highly capable choice for this puzzle platformer.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1125 out of 3716 tested combinations places this specific CPU-GPU pairing in the 69.7th percentile of all tested systems for Inside. This is a strong result, indicating that the i5-11400F and RX 7900 XT work together without a significant bottleneck that would drag the system down the rankings. The ranking is a holistic measure of the system's performance in this specific game, and the high scores across the board confirm that this is a top-tier configuration for the title.

Benchmark results indicate that the system is not limited by either component in a way that would cause a low rank. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 17177 places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU’s average score of 13745 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU’s individual percentile suggests that the game is not heavily GPU-bound, and the CPU is providing enough headroom to allow the graphics card to perform at its best. Conversely, the CPU’s higher percentile indicates it is more than capable of feeding the GPU with data, making for a harmonious pairing.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the primary driver of Inside's visual output, and its specifications are more than sufficient for this game. The GPU features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. This vast memory pool and high bandwidth are far beyond the requirements of a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer, ensuring that texture streaming and memory allocation are never a concern, even at 4K resolution.

The GPU’s clock speeds are substantial, with a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. The game clock is rated at 2025 MHz, which is a more realistic sustained frequency under load. These high clocks, combined with 5376 shading units and 192 ROPs, contribute to the exceptional frame rates seen in the measured data. The pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s further illustrate the GPU's raw power. For a game like Inside, which uses a distinctive monochromatic art style and limited geometry, these resources are vastly overprovisioned, which is why the card achieves such high average FPS numbers even at the most demanding settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS achieved by this combo at 1080p?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 273 FPS, achieved with the Low preset. The Ultra preset still delivers an average of 206 FPS.

Q: How does the frame rate drop when moving from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 210 at 1920x1080 to 178 at 2560x1440, and then to 112 at 3840x2160. This represents a 46.7% decrease in average FPS from 1080p to 4K.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 107 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Ultra preset. This is still well above the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the combo ever drop below 60 FPS in the measured data?

A: No. The minimum FPS recorded in any configuration is 152 FPS, which was observed at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. Even the lowest average FPS of 107 is well above 60.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU more of a limiting factor at 4K?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS scales down significantly with resolution, indicating that the GPU's rendering workload is the bottleneck. The CPU's strong single-thread performance prevents it from being a limiting factor at these high frame rates.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset yields an average of 244 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 170 FPS. This is a difference of 74 FPS, or a 30.3% reduction in performance when moving from Low to Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data strongly suggests that the Ultra preset is the optimal choice at all resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 206 FPS, which is only 4 FPS less than the High preset’s 210 FPS. This negligible difference means there is no reason to compromise on visual fidelity at 1080p. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset provides an average of 170 FPS, which is still exceptionally high and will be perfectly smooth on any high-refresh-rate monitor.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 107 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold and is a playable frame rate. However, the Medium preset at this resolution offers a substantial improvement to 179 FPS average, with a minimum of 152 FPS. If a player prioritizes maximum smoothness over absolute visual quality at 4K, the Medium preset provides a significantly higher frame rate. Given that the game’s art style is relatively simple, the visual difference between Medium and Ultra may be less pronounced than the frame rate difference, making Medium a viable and arguably better choice for a 4K experience. For all other resolutions, the Ultra preset is recommended without reservation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of the system's performance across all settings and resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the system is capable of immense frame rates. The Low preset achieves an average of 273 FPS. The Medium preset records an average of 252 FPS, with a minimum of 214 and a maximum of 290 FPS. The High preset yields an average of 210 FPS, and the Ultra preset comes in at 206 FPS. These numbers indicate that the system is entirely CPU-bound at this resolution, as the frame rates are so high that the GPU is not being fully taxed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain exceptionally high. The Low preset averages 244 FPS. The Medium preset averages 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 and a maximum of 259 FPS. The High preset delivers 178 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 170 FPS. The step-down from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but still leaves the system with more than enough performance for any display.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its workload. The Low preset still manages an average of 209 FPS. The Medium preset averages 179 FPS, with a minimum of 152 and a maximum of 206 FPS. The High preset drops to an average of 112 FPS, and the Ultra preset is the most demanding, averaging 107 FPS. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate is high, but the scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly shows the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture. Its base clock is 2.60 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. For a game like Inside, which is not heavily multithreaded, the CPU's single-thread performance is crucial. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a Passmark single-thread score of 2981, indicating strong performance for a 2021 processor. This is further supported by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024.

The CPU’s 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s are sufficient for feeding the GPU. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5619 and max-thread score of 5652 show that the CPU can also handle multithreaded workloads, but for Inside, the single-thread performance is the key factor. The CPU has a 71st percentile ranking versus all CPUs, meaning it outperforms a majority of processors on the market. This ensures that at the high frame rates seen in this game, the CPU is not a limiting factor, allowing the RX 7900 XT to operate at its full potential.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p High, the system averages 210 FPS. At 1440p High, this drops to 178 FPS, a 15.2% decrease. At 4K High, the average is 112 FPS, a 46.7% decrease from 1080p. This pattern is consistent across all settings, with the drop becoming more pronounced as the resolution increases.

This scaling behavior indicates that the system is CPU-bound at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the GPU is capable of rendering frames much faster than the CPU can issue draw calls, resulting in a performance ceiling set by the processor. As the resolution increases, the GPU's workload becomes heavier, and it starts to become the limiting component. The sharp drop from 1440p to 4K is a classic sign of the GPU reaching its rendering limits, as the number of pixels it must process quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The fact that the system still maintains an average of over 100 FPS at 4K Ultra shows that even when the GPU is the bottleneck, it is a very powerful one. The data confirms that this combo offers a smooth experience at any resolution, with the GPU taking on more responsibility as the resolution scales up.