Inside

# Inside — Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers a remarkably consistent performance profile across Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer that is far more demanding than its minimalist art style suggests. The measured data shows this combination holds a combo rank of 1719 out of 2887 tested configurations, placing it in the 40th percentile overall — a solidly mid-pack result. The 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake processor, which boosts to 4.40 GHz and sits in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, proves more than sufficient for this game's physics-based puzzles. Meanwhile, the RTX 5050, based on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, becomes the primary performance arbiter as resolution climbs. The most striking finding is that this combo never drops below 64 FPS even at 4K Ultra, and at 1080p Low it reaches 296 FPS — indicating exceptional headroom for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The data paints a picture of a balanced pairing where the GPU governs scaling, but the CPU never bottlenecks the experience at any tested setting.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario that intensifies with higher preset quality. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 296 at 1920x1080 to 213 at 2560x1440 — a 28% reduction — and then to 134 at 3840x2160, representing a 55% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep scaling curve is the signature of a graphics card that is fully utilized, with the RTX 5050's 2560 shading units and 80 texture mapping units working progressively harder as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly compressed margins: 237 FPS at 1080p, 170 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease), and 107 FPS at 4K (a 55% drop from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage declines across Low and Medium settings indicates that the rendering pipeline scales predictably with resolution, and the CPU's role remains constant regardless of graphical load. The Core i5-12400's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 12 threads provide ample compute for the game's physics simulation, which does not appear to create any resolution-dependent bottleneck.

High settings demonstrate a slightly gentler scaling curve: 148 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop), and 67 FPS at 4K (a 55% drop from 1080p). Ultra settings mirror this pattern with 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p (a 28% reduction), and 64 FPS at 4K (a 55% decline). The near-identical percentage drops across all four presets — always hovering around 28% for the 1080p-to-1440p transition and 55% for the 1080p-to-4K transition — strongly suggests that the limiting component is the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the CPU. The RTX 5050's 320.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus width are the constraining factors at higher resolutions, while the processor's 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clocks never become a limiting variable.

This scaling behavior indicates that players targeting 4K should expect roughly half the frame rate of 1080p, regardless of preset. The fact that even 4K Ultra maintains 64 FPS average demonstrates that the RTX 5050 has sufficient headroom for this title at maximum resolution, though the gap between 4K Ultra (64 FPS) and 4K Low (134 FPS) shows how much performance can be reclaimed by lowering quality settings.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, the data shows 4K Ultra averages 64 FPS, 4K High averages 67 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 107 FPS. Even the most demanding 4K preset stays above the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K gaming viable across all settings.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K with this hardware?

A: At Low settings, 1080p delivers 296 FPS versus 134 FPS at 4K — a 55% reduction. The same 55% drop applies to Medium (237 to 107 FPS), High (148 to 67 FPS), and Ultra (141 to 64 FPS), showing consistent resolution scaling.

Q: Which preset offers the best balance of quality and performance?

A: Medium settings provide the most compelling tradeoff, delivering 237 FPS at 1080p, 170 FPS at 1440p, and 107 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset also includes measured minimum and maximum FPS values (e.g., 201-272 at 1080p), indicating stable frame pacing compared to other presets.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. Resolution scaling produces near-identical percentage drops across all presets (28% for 1080p-to-1440p, 55% for 1080p-to-4K), which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance. The Core i5-12400's 12 threads and 4.40 GHz boost clock provide more than enough processing power.

*Q: How does the RTX 5050's memory configuration affect Inside performance?*

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for this game at all tested resolutions. The consistent scaling pattern suggests no VRAM capacity issues, as even 4K Ultra maintains playable frame rates without evidence of memory-related stuttering.

Q: What frame rates can players expect with V-sync or high-refresh displays?

A: At 1080p, all presets exceed 141 FPS, with Low reaching 296 FPS and Medium hitting 237 FPS — ample for 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitors. At 1440p, Low and Medium exceed 170 FPS, while High and Ultra stay above 101 FPS, suitable for 144 Hz displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050's specifications directly explain the measured performance in Inside. With a base clock of 2317 MHz and boost clock of 2572 MHz, the Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU delivers 13.17 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which proves more than adequate for this puzzle platformer's rendering demands. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operating at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) provides 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth, and the 128-bit bus width is the key constraint that becomes apparent as resolution increases.

The GPU's 2560 shading units and 80 texture mapping units handle the game's visual effects efficiently, but the 32 ROPs (render output units) are likely the component that limits fill rate at 4K. This explains why 4K Ultra (64 FPS) and 4K High (67 FPS) are so close together — both are constrained by the same ROP throughput, while dropping to Medium (107 FPS) or Low (134 FPS) reduces the per-pixel work enough to unlock higher frame rates. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s are the specifications that govern how quickly the GPU can process the game's layered 2.5D environments.

The RTX 5050's 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores are present but largely irrelevant for Inside, which was released in 2016 and does not employ ray tracing or DLSS features. This means the GPU's raw rasterization performance — measured by its Passmark G3D score of 17326 — is what drives the results. The GPU sits in the 66th percentile among all graphics cards, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% faster) and NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.6% slower), positioning it as a mainstream performer that handles this game with comfortable margins.

The memory configuration deserves particular attention: 8 GB at 320.0 GB/s is modest by modern standards, but Inside's art style — which relies on silhouettes, dynamic lighting, and fog effects rather than high-resolution textures — does not stress VRAM capacity. The absence of any measured minimum FPS below 91 (at 4K Medium) suggests that memory bandwidth never becomes a critical bottleneck, as stuttering or frame drops would likely appear if the GPU were forced to swap data to system memory.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, Medium settings provide the optimal experience for this hardware combination, offering the best frame rate headroom while maintaining visual fidelity. The Medium preset delivers 237 FPS at 1080p, 170 FPS at 1440p, and 107 FPS at 4K — all comfortably above 60 FPS, with the 4K result being nearly 70% higher than Ultra's 64 FPS. Crucially, the Medium preset is the only configuration with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values: 201-272 at 1080p, 145-196 at 1440p, and 91-123 at 4K. This data indicates consistent frame pacing without severe dips, whereas the other presets lack such measurements, suggesting they may exhibit less predictable performance.

For competitive or high-refresh-rate play at 1080p, Low settings at 296 FPS maximize the frame rate ceiling, though the visual compromise may not be worthwhile given that Medium still achieves 237 FPS — a 59 FPS difference that is unlikely to be perceptible on most displays. At 1440p, Medium's 170 FPS is the clear choice for 144 Hz monitors, as it provides 69 FPS more than High (106 FPS) and 69 FPS more than Ultra (101 FPS) while retaining sufficient graphical quality for a game that relies on atmosphere and lighting.

At 4K, the decision becomes more nuanced. Ultra (64 FPS) and High (67 FPS) are nearly identical, both hovering just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium at 107 FPS offers a substantially smoother experience with a 43 FPS advantage over High, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays. The data suggests that High settings provide negligible visual improvement over Medium for this title, as the 4K High (67 FPS) and 4K Ultra (64 FPS) results are within 3 FPS of each other, while Medium jumps to 107 FPS — a 60% improvement. Players seeking the highest fidelity should note that Ultra's 64 FPS at 4K is playable but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes, while Medium's 107 FPS provides a buffer against frame drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination ranks 1719 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 59.6th percentile — meaning roughly 60% of tested configurations perform better. This mid-pack ranking reflects the RTX 5050's position as a mainstream GPU; it sits in the 66th percentile among all graphics cards, while the Core i5-12400 ranks in the 72nd percentile among CPUs. The GPU's lower percentile ranking compared to the CPU indicates that the graphics card is the limiting component in this pairing.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its performance ceiling. The Intel Core i7-1355U scores 0.3% higher, the AMD EPYC 7643 scores 0.1% lower, and the AMD Ryzen AI 5 330 scores 0.7% higher — all within a tight 1% band. This clustering suggests that the Core i5-12400's processing power is not a differentiator in Inside, as any of these CPUs would produce similar results given the same GPU. The GPU's nearest rivals show a wider spread: the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL is 0.6% slower, the AMD Radeon HD 8970M is 1% slower, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT is 1.6% faster, and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile is 1.6% slower. This positioning indicates that the RTX 5050 performs near the RX 5600 XT level in this game.

The combo rank of 1719 suggests that while this pairing is capable of excellent frame rates — including 296 FPS at 1080p Low — there are many faster configurations in the database. The 2887 tested combos span a wide range of hardware, and this mid-pack result reflects the RTX 5050's position as an entry-level 50-series card rather than any deficiency in the Core i5-12400. For a game with Inside's modest requirements, this combo delivers far more performance than necessary for a smooth experience, and the ranking primarily indicates that higher-end GPUs can achieve even higher frame rates at 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combination reveals consistent scaling across all twelve tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 296 FPS, Medium 237 FPS (with minimum 201 FPS and maximum 272 FPS), High 148 FPS, and Ultra 141 FPS. The 1080p results show a 155 FPS spread between Low and Ultra, with Medium providing a 89 FPS advantage over High while presumably offering similar visual quality.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are: Low 213 FPS, Medium 170 FPS (minimum 145 FPS, maximum 196 FPS), High 106 FPS, and Ultra 101 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate a 112 FPS spread, with Medium exceeding High by 64 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs only 5 FPS (106 to 101), suggesting that Ultra's additional effects are negligible in this title.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 134 FPS, Medium 107 FPS (minimum 91 FPS, maximum 123 FPS), High 67 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The 4K results show a 70 FPS spread, with Medium providing a remarkable 40 FPS advantage over High. The 4K Medium minimum of 91 FPS is particularly noteworthy, as it exceeds the average FPS of both High (67 FPS) and Ultra (64 FPS), indicating that Medium maintains consistent performance even in demanding scenes.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the only configuration with complete min/max measurements, suggesting it was tested more thoroughly or exhibited frame pacing worth documenting. The 1080p Medium range of 201-272 FPS shows a 71 FPS variance, the 1440p Medium range of 145-196 FPS shows a 51 FPS variance, and the 4K Medium range of 91-123 FPS shows a 32 FPS variance. This decreasing variance with higher resolution indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as pixel count increases, reducing frame time spikes. Across all resolutions, the RTX 5050 never falls below 64 FPS average, ensuring a playable experience at any setting, while the Core i5-12400's 12 threads ensure that CPU-bound scenarios never materialize in this title.