Inside

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. With measured frame rates ranging from 93.1 FPS at 4K Ultra to 316.9 FPS at 1080p Low, this system demonstrates that it is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher settings and resolution limits. The data shows a system capable of maintaining high refresh rates even at maximum graphical presets, though the gap between Low and Ultra settings reveals interesting scaling behavior that points to the game's lightweight rendering demands on modern hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 316.9 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This represents the ceiling for this configuration in the dataset, followed closely by 292.9 FPS at 1080p Medium and 283.9 FPS at 1440p Low.

*Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in Inside?*

A: This particular configuration ranks 485th out of 1671 total tested combinations. This places it in the upper 29 percent of all systems, indicating that while it performs admirably, there are many higher-end combinations that achieve even greater frame rates in this specific title.

Q: What is the difference between 4K Ultra and 4K High performance?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers 93.1 FPS average, while High settings provide 97.3 FPS. This represents a modest 4.2 FPS advantage for High settings, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a minimal impact on the RTX 3080's rendering load at this resolution.

*Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in Inside?*

A: The evidence points to the GPU being the primary limiting factor at 4K, where Ultra settings drop to 93.1 FPS. However, at 1080p Low, the 316.9 FPS result suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU efficiently, though the game's puzzle-platformer nature likely means minimal CPU overhead.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz display?

A: At 2560x1440, both Medium (253.7 FPS) and High (157.9 FPS) settings exceed 144Hz, while Ultra (153.6 FPS) also clears this threshold. For 4K displays, only Medium (157.3 FPS) and High (97.3 FPS) offer playable frame rates, with Low (199.4 FPS) being the only preset that fully utilizes a 144Hz panel.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p Low result of 316.9 FPS is 3.4 times higher than the 4K Ultra result of 93.1 FPS. This large gap highlights the significant resolution scaling demands that the RTX 3080 faces when moving from 1080p to 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, provides the graphical horsepower for Inside. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for this game's minimalist art style. The GPU's base clock of 1440 MHz and boost clock of 1710 MHz, combined with 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, create a formidable rendering pipeline. The card's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but largely irrelevant for a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer, which does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS features.

The measured data indicates that the RTX 3080 is the dominant factor in this combo's performance. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 93.1, while at 4K Low it reaches 199.4. This 106.3 FPS swing across settings demonstrates that the GPU's workload scales dramatically with graphical fidelity. The 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate suggest that the card is well-equipped for high-resolution rendering, yet the 4K Ultra result shows that even this powerful GPU encounters limits when pushed to maximum settings at 4K. The passmark G3D score of 25086 places the GPU at the 80th percentile among all graphics cards, reinforcing its high-end positioning.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience balancing visual quality and frame rate, the Medium preset emerges as the standout choice across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 292.9 FPS, which is only 24 FPS less than Low but provides noticeably better visual fidelity. At 1440p, Medium achieves 253.7 FPS, representing a 30.2 FPS improvement over High while maintaining smooth gameplay. Even at 4K, Medium's 157.3 FPS is the second-highest result and comfortably exceeds 144Hz refresh rates.

The High preset offers a compelling alternative for users prioritizing visual quality over raw frame rates. At 1080p, High produces 218 FPS, which is still well above the 144Hz threshold, while at 1440p it yields 157.9 FPS. However, at 4K, High drops to 97.3 FPS, which may be insufficient for high-refresh displays. The Ultra preset provides the most demanding experience, with 209.2 FPS at 1080p, 153.6 FPS at 1440p, and 93.1 FPS at 4K. The diminishing returns between High and Ultra—only a 4.2 FPS difference at 4K—suggest that Ultra's additional settings have minimal visual impact for this game's aesthetic.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers outstanding performance across all presets. Low settings produce 316.9 FPS, Medium reaches 292.9 FPS, High achieves 218 FPS, and Ultra manages 209.2 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 107.7 FPS, indicating that the RTX 3080's rendering workload increases significantly with preset quality. The step from Medium to High represents the largest drop at 74.9 FPS, suggesting that High settings introduce a substantial graphical feature that the GPU must process.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains robust. Low settings yield 283.9 FPS, Medium provides 253.7 FPS, High delivers 157.9 FPS, and Ultra produces 153.6 FPS. The gap between Medium and High widens to 95.8 FPS at this resolution, reinforcing the notion that High settings carry a heavy rendering cost. The 1440p Ultra result of 153.6 FPS is only 0.8 FPS higher than the 4K High result of 97.3 FPS, highlighting how resolution scaling affects the GPU's workload.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 3080 begins to show its limits. Low settings achieve 199.4 FPS, Medium drops to 157.3 FPS, High falls to 97.3 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 93.1 FPS. The 106.3 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is similar to the 1080p gap, but the absolute values are significantly lower. The 4K Ultra result of 93.1 FPS is the only measured scenario that falls below the 144Hz threshold, while 4K High barely scrapes past 97 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 485th out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the upper third of all systems tested in Inside. While this is a respectable position, the ranking indicates that there are 1186 other configurations that achieve higher performance in this game. The RTX 3080's percentile ranking of 80 among all GPUs and the i5-12400's 77th percentile among CPUs suggest that both components are solidly above average, yet the combo's overall rank of 485 implies that Inside favors certain hardware combinations over others.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-9700 with an average score of 19831 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core i7-8700 at 19894 (-0.2% lower), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX at 19928 (-0.4% lower). These tiny deltas indicate that the i5-12400's processing power is essentially equivalent to several previous-generation high-end CPUs. The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering, with the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at 35860 (-0.2%), AMD Radeon 880M at 35646 (0.4%), and AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at 36101 (-0.9%). This data suggests that the RTX 3080's performance is closely matched by several other high-end graphics cards.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, provides a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 contribute to its overall responsiveness. The CPU's 3DMark scores—5873 for 16 threads and 910 for single-thread—indicate balanced multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

In Inside, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 316.9 FPS result suggests the CPU can handle high frame rate output without bottlenecking. However, the CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3456 and multithread score of 18747 show that it is a mid-range performer compared to more powerful processors. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15935 and single-core score of 2249 further contextualize its capabilities. The 65W TDP and LGA 1700 socket make it an efficient choice, but the 4.40 GHz boost clock is modest compared to higher-end CPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals interesting resolution scaling behavior. From 1080p Low (316.9 FPS) to 1440p Low (283.9 FPS), performance drops by 10.4 percent. Moving from 1440p Low to 4K Low (199.4 FPS) results in a 29.8 percent decrease. This pattern shows that the GPU becomes more heavily loaded as resolution increases, with the 4K jump being particularly punishing. For Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p (209.2 FPS) to 1440p (153.6 FPS) is 26.6 percent, while 1440p to 4K (93.1 FPS) represents a 39.4 percent reduction.

These scaling patterns indicate that the RTX 3080 is the primary bottleneck at 4K, particularly with higher presets. The 39.4 percent drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is the steepest decline in the dataset, suggesting that the GPU's memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s and pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s become stretched at 3840x2160. Conversely, the relatively mild 10.4 percent drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low implies that the CPU has sufficient headroom to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU's rendering capabilities dominate at 4K. The data supports the conclusion that this combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but 4K Ultra pushes the RTX 3080 to its limits.