Inside

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers a remarkable performance profile in Inside, a Puzzle Platformer from 2016. This combination demonstrates extreme headroom at every resolution, with measured average frame rates ranging from a low of 95.9 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 272.7 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings, while the processor’s six cores and twelve threads prove more than sufficient to feed the flagship-class graphics card even at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable yet steep scaling curve as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 272.7 FPS, which drops to 245.5 FPS at 1440p and further to 205.5 FPS at 4K. This represents a 24.6% reduction from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating that even at the lowest preset, the GPU is still the dominant limiting factor. The gap narrows considerably when moving to higher presets. At High settings, the frame rate falls from 209.7 FPS at 1080p to 165.4 FPS at 1440p, then to 105.3 FPS at 4K — a 49.8% drop from 1080p to 4K. This pronounced scaling at High settings demonstrates that the RTX 3080 Ti’s rendering workload scales almost linearly with pixel count, while the CPU maintains consistent performance headroom.

The Medium preset shows an interesting pattern: 249.8 FPS at 1080p, 226.3 FPS at 1440p, and 163.7 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p delta of only 9.4% suggests that at Medium settings, the processor begins to exert some influence at lower resolutions, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs. However, the 1440p-to-4K drop of 27.7% confirms that resolution scaling reasserts GPU dominance as pixel count climbs. At Ultra settings, the curve is steepest: 207.8 FPS at 1080p, 159.5 FPS at 1440p, and 95.9 FPS at 4K. The 53.8% reduction from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is the largest across all presets, underscoring that the highest quality settings place the heaviest load on the graphics card’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 10240 shading units.

The data clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component in this pairing for Inside. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU’s role would typically be most apparent, the 272.7 FPS figure far exceeds the refresh rate of virtually any mainstream monitor. The 4K Ultra result of 95.9 FPS, while the lowest measured, still clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably, indicating that this combination never becomes CPU-bound in practical scenarios. The scaling pattern — where higher resolutions produce disproportionately larger FPS drops — is the signature of a GPU-limited workload, with the i5-11400F’s 4.40 GHz boost clock providing ample single-thread performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti, built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, is the primary driver of Inside’s frame rates. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus delivers 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves more than adequate for a 2016 puzzle platformer. The measured performance at 4K High (105.3 FPS) and 4K Ultra (95.9 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU’s 34.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 80 RT cores are never strained by this title’s modest geometric and shading demands. The card’s boost clock of 1665 MHz, combined with its 112 ROPs, allows it to rasterize Inside’s side-scrolling environments with exceptional efficiency.

The GPU’s benchmark data reinforces its position as a top-tier part. Its PassMark G3D score of 26896 places it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41224. The nearest rivals show a tight cluster: the RTX 3090 scores 41441 (0.5% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 scores 41610 (0.9% higher), and the RTX 5070 scores 41687 (1.1% higher). These deltas are within measurement noise, indicating that the 3080 Ti performs on par with these cards in synthetic workloads. For Inside specifically, the GPU’s 12 GB frame buffer is never a constraint — even at 4K Ultra, the game’s texture and shadow requirements are trivial compared to the bandwidth available.

The measured FPS across all resolutions and presets shows no signs of VRAM throttling or clock instability. The 205.5 FPS at 4K Low suggests that the GPU can operate at near-peak efficiency when the CPU provides a sufficiently high instruction stream. The transition from Low to Ultra at 4K (205.5 to 95.9 FPS) reflects a 53.3% performance cost for the highest quality settings, which is a reasonable trade-off given the visual improvements expected from Ultra presets. The GPU’s 350 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a high-power part, but the data shows no thermal-related performance degradation in these measurements.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F, with its six cores and twelve threads, plays a supporting but essential role in this combo. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, alongside a 12 MB shared L3 cache, provide sufficient compute for Inside’s physics and game logic. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 demonstrate balanced performance that is well-matched to a flagship GPU in a game that is not heavily threaded. The PassMark single-thread score of 2981 and multithread score of 16908 further confirm its capability.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (avgScore 17189, 0% delta), Intel Core i7-1260P (avgScore 17212, -0.2% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (avgScore 17215, -0.2% delta). These negligible deltas indicate that the i5-11400F sits squarely in the middle of a competitive pack, though its desktop-oriented Rocket Lake architecture with 14 nm process node gives it an edge in sustained workloads. For Inside, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the 272.7 FPS result is just 27.3% higher than the 4K Low figure of 205.5 FPS — a smaller scaling gap than at higher presets, suggesting that the processor begins to limit the GPU’s output at lower resolutions.

The 3DMark scores tell a similar story: 5619 for 16 threads, 5652 for max threads, and 868 for single-thread. These figures, when combined with the Geekbench multicore score of 7579, indicate that the CPU can handle the game’s single-threaded bottleneck without issue. The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1200 platform are modest by today’s standards, but for a game released in 2016, the i5-11400F provides far more compute than necessary. The measured FPS at 1080p High (209.7) versus 4K High (105.3) shows a 49.8% drop, which is primarily GPU-driven, but the CPU’s headroom is confirmed by the fact that even the lowest 1080p result (207.8 FPS at Ultra) exceeds the highest 4K result (205.5 FPS at Low) — indicating the CPU can sustain high frame rates regardless of quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on the optimal settings for this combo. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers 95.9 FPS, which is playable but represents a 54.5% reduction from the High preset’s 105.3 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K offers 163.7 FPS, a substantial improvement that could be preferable for users with high-refresh-rate 4K displays. However, given that High at 4K already exceeds 100 FPS, the visual gains from Ultra may not justify the 9.4 FPS difference. For 1440p, the Ultra preset’s 159.5 FPS is only 5.9 FPS less than High’s 165.4 FPS, making Ultra the clear choice at this resolution — the performance cost is minimal, and the fidelity improvements are likely worth it.

At 1080p, all presets exceed 200 FPS, with Low hitting 272.7 FPS and Ultra reaching 207.8 FPS. The 64.9 FPS gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is the largest across any resolution, but even the lowest Ultra result is far beyond what any monitor can display. The Medium preset at 1080p (249.8 FPS) offers a balanced option, but the data suggests that users should prioritize the High preset (209.7 FPS) as the best overall trade-off between visual quality and frame rate at this resolution. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, where frame pacing is more critical than raw speed, the High preset at 4K (105.3 FPS) appears to be the sweet spot — it provides a 9.4 FPS advantage over Ultra while maintaining a smooth experience.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution follows a consistent pattern: Ultra is roughly 50-53% slower than Low, while Medium sits 25-40% above Ultra. For users with VRR displays, the Medium preset at 4K (163.7 FPS) or High at 1440p (165.4 FPS) would be ideal for 144 Hz monitors, while the Ultra preset at 1440p (159.5 FPS) remains viable. The data indicates that there is no scenario where this combo fails to hit 60 FPS, making settings selection purely a matter of display refresh rate and personal preference for visual fidelity over raw frame count.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 1671 tested combos in the database, this pairing of Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti ranks 591st in Inside. This position places it in the 64.6th percentile of all tested combinations, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank reflects the fact that Inside is a lightweight title where even lower-tier hardware can achieve high frame rates, so the combo’s absolute performance is less differentiating than in more demanding games. The GPU’s 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs contrasts with the combo’s 64.6th percentile rank, highlighting that the CPU is the weaker link in this pairing — though the measured FPS data shows this has minimal practical impact.

The combo’s rank of 591 suggests that many other CPU+GPU pairings outperform it in this specific game, likely due to stronger processors that can push even higher frame rates at 1080p. However, the measured results show that this combo already exceeds 200 FPS at 1080p across all presets, so the rank differential is unlikely to be visible in real-world usage. The GPU’s nearest rivals — RTX 3090, Radeon Pro 5300, and RTX 5070 — all have higher average benchmark scores, but the RTX 3080 Ti’s 12 GB VRAM and 912.4 GB/s bandwidth ensure it remains competitive in this title. The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181, further contextualizes the combo’s position, indicating that the i5-11400F is a solid partner for the 3080 Ti in this workload.

For a game released in 2016, the 591st rank out of 1671 combos is respectable, particularly given that many higher-ranked combos likely use newer, more expensive processors that offer marginal real-world gains in a title like Inside. The data shows that this combo delivers 95.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, and the 1080p results are all above 200 FPS. The combo’s rank is therefore a reflection of the crowded field of high-performance hardware tested, rather than any deficiency in this specific pairing. The measurements confirm that the i5-11400F and RTX 3080 Ti work harmoniously together, with the GPU handling the bulk of the rendering load while the CPU provides sufficient support to avoid becoming a bottleneck.