Inside

# Inside on Intel Core i5-11400F + Intel Arc B570

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that proves surprisingly demanding at high settings. With a combo rank of 2301 out of 2887 tested configurations, this pairing sits in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet the measured frame rates tell a story of consistent 60+ FPS performance at 1080p and 1440p across most settings. The data shows a system that handles the game's dark, atmospheric visuals without breaking a sweat at lower presets, while Ultra settings at 4K dip to the edge of playability.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Inside?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 delivers the most comfortable experience, with all four settings presets averaging between 114 and 240 FPS. At 2560x1440, High and Ultra presets still maintain 86 and 82 FPS respectively, while Low hits 172 FPS. The 3840x2160 resolution is only viable at Low (108 FPS) or Medium (87 FPS) settings.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 places it nearly level with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, 0.1% faster) and Intel Arc A750 (20582, 0.1% slower). It also edges out the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M by 0.4% and trails the AMD Radeon R9 M390X by 0.5%.

Q: Is the Core i5-11400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 240 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower loads. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and multi-thread score of 5652 suggest adequate headroom for this game, which is not particularly thread-hungry given its 2016 release date.

Q: What settings preset gives the best balance of quality and performance?

A: Medium at 1440p offers the strongest combination: 138 FPS average with a minimum of 117 FPS and maximum of 159 FPS. This provides a substantial frame rate cushion while retaining visual fidelity above Low settings. At 1080p, Medium also shines with 192 FPS average.

Q: How does the CPU's overall benchmark standing affect gaming?

A: The Core i5-11400F sits in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177. Its nearest rival, the AMD EPYC 7H12, scores 17120 (0.3% lower), while the Intel Core i5-12450H scores 17239 (0.4% higher). This mid-range positioning supports solid frame pacing.

*Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity matter for Inside?*

A: The Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. For a 2016 puzzle platformer, this capacity is more than sufficient; the measured FPS drops at 4K Ultra (52 FPS) are more attributable to raw compute limits than memory constraints.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, operates at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock. Its 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units provide the raw throughput for Inside's visual effects. The GPU's 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate explain why the game scales so dramatically between Low and Ultra presets.

Memory bandwidth plays a critical role in this game's performance. The 10 GB GDDR6 pool, running at 2375 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed, delivers 380.0 GB/s across the 160-bit interface. This bandwidth proves adequate for 1080p and 1440p workloads, as evidenced by the strong frame rates at those resolutions. At 4K, however, the bandwidth becomes a limiting factor, particularly at High and Ultra settings where the pixel fill rate demands more from the ROPs (200.0 GPixel/s) and texture units.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) aligns well with Inside, which was released in 2016 and primarily targets DirectX 11-era hardware. The Arc B570's PassMark DirectX 11 score of 118 versus DirectX 12 score of 72 suggests the card performs better in legacy APIs, which is favorable for this game. The Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6 support provide additional compatibility paths, though the measured results indicate the game runs through the most optimized path.

Power delivery is not a concern here; the 150 W TDP with a single 8-pin connector and 450 W suggested PSU keeps the card well-fed. At 4K Ultra, the GPU's compute resources are clearly stretched, as the 52 FPS average demonstrates, but this is a worst-case scenario for a game that was designed for much older hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions. At High settings, the system delivers 120 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 54 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 37.2% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not perfectly linear, suggesting that memory bandwidth and ROP throughput become increasingly strained as pixel count rises.

Low settings show the most dramatic scaling: 240 FPS at 1080p, 172 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. The 1080p result likely approaches the CPU's frame delivery limit, as the Core i5-11400F's single-thread score of 868 and PassMark single-thread score of 2981 become relevant at such high frame rates. The 1440p to 4K drop of 37.2% mirrors the High preset's proportional decrease, confirming GPU-bound behavior.

Medium settings provide the most complete data, with minimum and maximum frame rates recorded. At 1080p, the 192 FPS average (163 min, 221 max) shows tight frame pacing. At 1440p, 138 FPS average (117 min, 159 max) maintains a healthy margin above 60 FPS. At 4K, 87 FPS average (74 min, 100 max) demonstrates that Medium is the highest preset viable at 4K with consistent performance.

Ultra settings reveal the GPU's ceiling: 114 FPS at 1080p, 82 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The 1080p result is notably lower than High at 120 FPS, indicating that Ultra's additional effects tax the GPU's shading units and texture units significantly. The 4K result falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making Ultra unsuitable for 4K gaming on this hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 2301 out of 2887 tested combinations, this pairing sits in the 20th percentile of all configurations in the database. This low ranking reflects the GPU's 65th percentile standing among all GPUs and the CPU's 71st percentile among all CPUs, but the game-specific results are far more favorable than the raw ranking suggests.

The Arc B570's nearest GPU rivals help contextualize its performance. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534 average, 0.1% higher) and Intel Arc A750 (20582 average, 0.1% lower) bracket the B570's 20556 average score. In Inside, this translates to the measured performance being representative of a mid-range GPU rather than a budget or enthusiast part.

The Core i5-11400F's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, 0.3% lower), Intel Core i5-12450H (17239, 0.4% higher), AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278, 0.6% higher), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074, 0.6% lower). The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads, clocked at 2.60 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost, provide sufficient single-thread performance for Inside, which does not heavily utilize multi-threading given its age.

The low combo ranking likely stems from the sheer number of configurations tested, many of which pair high-end CPUs with flagship GPUs. Against those, this mid-range combo naturally falls behind. However, the game's actual playability metrics — 120+ FPS at 1080p High, 86 FPS at 1440p High — demonstrate that the ranking understates real-world performance for this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data supports a clear hierarchy of settings for this combo. At 1080p, all settings presets are viable, but Medium provides the best experience: 192 FPS average with a minimum of 163 FPS ensures no perceptible stutter. High at 120 FPS is also excellent, while Ultra at 114 FPS offers diminishing returns for the extra visual fidelity. Low at 240 FPS is excessive for most displays, though competitive players with 240 Hz monitors might prefer it.

At 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot at 138 FPS (117 min, 159 max). High at 86 FPS remains smooth for most players, while Ultra at 82 FPS is acceptable but begins to approach the 60 FPS floor. Low at 172 FPS is overkill but functional. The 117 FPS minimum on Medium provides a substantial buffer against frame drops during scene transitions.

At 4K, only Low (108 FPS) and Medium (87 FPS, 74 min, 100 max) are recommended. High at 54 FPS and Ultra at 52 FPS fall below the 60 FPS threshold, risking noticeable judder in this visually dense game. The 74 FPS minimum on Medium at 4K is the lowest recorded value in the dataset, but it remains above critical thresholds for playability.

For the best overall experience, Medium at 1440p or High at 1080p are the optimal choices. Players prioritizing visual fidelity should select High at 1440p, while those seeking maximum smoothness should choose Medium at 1080p. The game's artistic style benefits from higher resolutions, making 1440p Medium the most balanced recommendation.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 240 FPS average — the maximum recorded in the dataset, indicating CPU or engine limits rather than GPU constraints
• Medium: 192 FPS average, 163 FPS minimum, 221 FPS maximum — tight frame pacing with a 58 FPS variance
• High: 120 FPS average — a 37.5% drop from Medium, showing the cost of higher-quality textures and effects
• Ultra: 114 FPS average — only 5% below High, suggesting Ultra's additional effects are minimally taxing at this resolution

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 172 FPS average — a 28.3% reduction from 1080p Low, confirming GPU scaling
• Medium: 138 FPS average, 117 FPS minimum, 159 FPS maximum — the most consistent performance profile in the dataset
• High: 86 FPS average — a 37.7% drop from 1080p High, maintaining comfortable headroom above 60 FPS
• Ultra: 82 FPS average — only 4.7% below High, showing diminishing returns at Ultra

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 108 FPS average — the only 4K preset with triple-digit performance
• Medium: 87 FPS average, 74 FPS minimum, 100 FPS maximum — viable but with the lowest minimum in the dataset
• High: 54 FPS average — falls below the 60 FPS threshold, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay
• Ultra: 52 FPS average — nearly identical to High, indicating the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution

The data reveals a consistent pattern: Medium settings provide the best frame time consistency across all resolutions, with minimum-to-maximum spreads of 58 FPS at 1080p, 42 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K. The narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that GPU-bound scenarios produce more stable frame pacing than CPU-bound ones. For a game like Inside, where precise timing and atmospheric tension matter, this consistency is more valuable than peak frame rates.