Inside

The pairing of an Intel Core i5-12400 with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces an intriguing dataset for Inside, a Puzzle Platformer from 2016. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings reveal a configuration that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower presets but shows signs of CPU limitation at the highest image quality. The data indicates this combo ranks 184th out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the top 11% of all configurations, a strong result for a mid-range processor paired with a flagship graphics card.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested presets. At 4K, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 142.5 FPS, which is nearly identical to the High preset's 145.4 FPS. This marginal 2.9 FPS difference suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a significant cost elsewhere, likely in visual effects that do not translate to frame rate gains, making High the more efficient choice at this resolution. The Medium preset offers a substantial jump to 226.5 FPS, representing a 55.8% improvement over High, which is a compelling option for players prioritizing smoothness over maximum graphical fidelity.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the High preset stands out. At 1080p, High achieves 242 FPS, which is only 3.6 FPS behind Ultra (238.4 FPS) but offers a more stable experience. At 1440p, High produces 219.3 FPS, while Ultra trails at 215.7 FPS. The consistency across these resolutions shows that High is the sweet spot, providing frame rates well above the 144Hz refresh rate threshold for most monitors. The Low preset is the outlier, pushing the system to its limits with 315.6 FPS at 1080p, but this sacrifices too much visual detail for a game that benefits from atmospheric lighting. The data suggests that High is the recommended preset for an optimal experience, as it maintains high frame rates while preserving the intended visual style.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this configuration, boasting 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. This massive memory allocation is far beyond what Inside requires, but it ensures that the GPU is never bottlenecked by memory capacity, even at 4K resolution. The card’s compute capabilities are equally impressive, with 16,384 shading units and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, contributing to a peak FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. These specifications explain why the GPU can handle the game's rendering demands with ease, particularly at lower resolutions where the frame rates exceed 300 FPS.

The GPU's performance is further contextualized by its benchmark scores, particularly the Passmark G3D score of 38,194, which places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. This score reflects the card's raw rasterization power, which is the primary factor in Inside's 2D-side-scrolling rendering. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance across all settings, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when moving from Low to Ultra presets. At 1080p, the difference between Low (315.6 FPS) and Ultra (238.4 FPS) is 77.2 FPS, a 24.5% reduction that is directly attributable to the increased shading and texture work required by higher settings. This pattern confirms that the RTX 4090 is fully utilized, and its 450 W TDP is justified by the sustained high frame rates it produces.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides the computational foundation for this system, with 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This processor, based on the Alder Lake architecture and manufactured on a 10 nm process, delivers solid single-thread performance, as indicated by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,249. For a game like Inside, which relies on straightforward game logic and physics, this single-thread capability is more critical than multi-threaded throughput. The CPU's multi-core performance, measured at 15,935 in Cinebench R23, is more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU in most scenarios.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when examining the frame rate scaling at 4K Ultra. Here, the average FPS drops to 142.5, which is notably lower than the 145.4 FPS at High. This 2.9 FPS difference is small, but it suggests that the CPU is beginning to limit the GPU's potential, as the increased draw calls and object counts at Ultra settings place a heavier burden on the processor. The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce this observation. Its Passmark single-thread score of 3,456 and 3DMark single-thread score of 910 indicate strong per-core performance, but the 4K Ultra setting may be pushing the limits of its 6-core design. The data implies that while the i5-12400 is a capable partner for the RTX 4090, it is the component that prevents the system from achieving even higher frame rates at the most demanding settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-12400 and RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 184 out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 11% of all configurations. This ranking is impressive given that the CPU is a mid-range part, but it is heavily influenced by the GPU's dominance. The CPU itself holds a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, while the GPU holds a percentile rank of 91, illustrating that the graphics card is the stronger component in this pairing. The combo's rank suggests that it outperforms many systems with more powerful CPUs, but it also indicates that there are 183 configurations that achieve higher frame rates, likely featuring higher-end processors like the Core i9 series.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals provides further insight. The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19,850, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-9700 (19,831, a 0.1% difference) and the Intel Core i7-8700 (19,894, a -0.2% difference). This indicates that the i5-12400 is on par with older i7 processors in general compute tasks, but its 12 threads and modern architecture give it an edge in newer, more thread-hungry workloads. In Inside, this parity means that the combo's rank is not significantly hindered by the CPU choice, as the game is not heavily multi-threaded. The data shows that the combo's rank confirms the RTX 4090's ability to carry the system to high frame rates, with the CPU playing a supporting role that is more than adequate for this title.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Inside?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 315.6, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed closely by 291.5 FPS at Medium settings and 284 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19,850. This is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 (19,831) and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K (19,771). It is 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700 (19,894).

*Q: Is the RTX 4090's performance in Inside limited by the CPU?*

A: The data suggests that the CPU begins to limit the GPU at the highest settings. At 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 142.5, which is lower than the 145.4 FPS at High, indicating that the i5-12400's 6-core/12-thread configuration is a bottleneck at this extreme setting.

Q: What is the GPU's Passmark G3D score and how does it rank?

A: The RTX 4090 has a Passmark G3D score of 38,194, which places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs. This high score reflects its strong rasterization performance, which is crucial for Inside's rendering.

Q: What is the difference in FPS between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 264.8 FPS, while the High preset achieves 219.3 FPS. This represents a 45.5 FPS difference, or a 17.2% reduction in performance when moving from Medium to High.

*Q: How does the combo's rank in Inside compare to its overall component rankings?*

A: The combo ranks 184th out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside, which is in the top 11%. The CPU ranks in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 91st percentile among all GPUs, showing that the GPU is the primary driver of this combo's high ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings, providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across the board: Low settings yield 315.6 FPS, Medium yields 291.5 FPS, High yields 242 FPS, and Ultra yields 238.4 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 77.2 FPS, indicating that the GPU is the primary scaling factor. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced drop: Low produces 284 FPS, Medium produces 264.8 FPS, High produces 219.3 FPS, and Ultra produces 215.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 68.3 FPS, a slightly smaller gap than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly, but the RTX 4090 still maintains high frame rates. Low settings achieve 242.3 FPS, Medium achieves 226.5 FPS, High achieves 145.4 FPS, and Ultra achieves 142.5 FPS. The most striking observation here is the large gap between Medium and High, which is 81.1 FPS. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost, likely related to advanced lighting or shadow effects, that heavily impacts GPU performance. The Ultra preset is only 2.9 FPS lower than High, indicating that the additional effects in Ultra are minimal compared to the jump from Medium to High.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern of frame rate scaling as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the drop varies by settings. At Low settings, the FPS decreases from 315.6 at 1080p to 284 at 1440p, a drop of 31.6 FPS (10.0%), and then to 242.3 at 4K, a further drop of 41.7 FPS (14.7%). The total decrease from 1080p to 4K is 73.3 FPS, or 23.2%. This relatively modest drop indicates that the RTX 4090 has sufficient bandwidth and memory to handle the increased pixel count without a severe penalty, and the CPU is not the limiting factor here.

At High settings, the scaling is more pronounced. The FPS drops from 242 at 1080p to 219.3 at 1440p, a 22.7 FPS (9.4%) decrease, and then to 145.4 at 4K, a substantial 73.9 FPS (33.7%) decrease. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 96.6 FPS, or 39.9%, which is significantly larger than at Low settings. This suggests that the High preset's additional shading and texture work places a greater load on the GPU's compute units, making it more sensitive to resolution increases. The 4K High result of 145.4 FPS is close to the 4K Ultra result of 142.5 FPS, indicating that at this resolution, the system is hitting a performance plateau where the CPU's limitations begin to surface, preventing the GPU from fully utilizing its capacity. This is further supported by the fact that the drop from 1440p to 4K at High (33.7%) is much larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (9.4%), implying that the CPU is becoming a bottleneck at 4K, as it cannot feed the GPU fast enough to maintain the frame rate scaling seen at lower resolutions.