Inside

Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016, presents an interesting case study for the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT pairing. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are exceptionally high, indicating that this combination is far more powerful than the game's typical requirements demand. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures that even at lower settings, the frame rate ceiling remains extremely high. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics, scaling behavior, and optimal settings based on the measured data.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic transition from a CPU-limited scenario at lower resolutions to a GPU-limited one at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 317.1 FPS. This is the highest average frame rate recorded in the dataset, and it suggests that the Intel Core i5-12400F is the primary limiting factor at this point, as the workload is light enough for the GPU to render frames as fast as the CPU can feed it draw calls. The 6-core, 12-thread processor, with its 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock, provides the necessary headroom to push frame rates past the 300 FPS mark.

Moving to 1440p, the frame rates remain extremely high but begin to show a greater dependency on the GPU. At Low settings, the average FPS drops to 287.2, a 9.4% decrease from the 1080p figure. This drop indicates that while the CPU is still a factor, the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is starting to take on more of the rendering load. The scaling continues at 4K, where the Low preset yields 183.6 FPS. This is a substantial 42.1% drop from the 1440p result, clearly demonstrating that at 4K, the GPU is now the dominant bottleneck. The RX 7800 XT's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, is being utilized more heavily to manage the increased pixel count.

The scaling pattern across all settings shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K. For example, on High settings, the 1080p result is 204 FPS, dropping to 146.2 FPS at 1440p (a 28.3% decrease), and then further to 90.9 FPS at 4K (a 37.8% decrease from 1440p). This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that has a large amount of memory bandwidth and processing power, but is still finite. The data shows that the RX 7800 XT is powerful enough to maintain playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra, but the performance cost of moving from 1440p to 4K is consistently higher than the cost of moving from 1080p to 1440p, confirming the GPU as the primary performance ceiling at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT, based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, plays the decisive role in determining the final frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. Its specifications are key to understanding the measured results. The GPU has a base clock of 1295 MHz and a boost clock of 2430 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz. These high clock speeds, combined with 3840 shading units, allow for rapid processing of pixel and vertex data. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is a significant asset, especially for a game like Inside, which, while not a massive open world, still benefits from having ample VRAM to store textures and frame buffers without paging to system memory.

The benchmark results show that the GPU is effectively the limiting component when the resolution is increased to 4K. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 86.9 FPS, which is a demanding workload for any GPU. The RX 7800 XT's performance here is strong, but the drop from the 1440p Ultra score of 143.8 FPS highlights the immense pixel throughput required at 3840x2160. The GPU's 96 ROPs are tasked with writing the final pixel data, and the 233.3 GPixel/s pixel rate determines how quickly this can be done. The data indicates that the combination of these factors allows the GPU to handle 4K High at 90.9 FPS, but the step to Ultra introduces a more significant burden.

The GPU's role is less critical at 1080p, where the CPU's performance is more likely to be the bottleneck. The fact that the 1080p Low setting (317.1 FPS) is so much higher than the 1080p Ultra setting (194.2 FPS) shows that the GPU is still doing more work at Ultra, but the CPU is not preventing it from reaching its full potential in either case. The performance difference between the CPU and GPU is also evident in their benchmark scores. The CPU's average benchmark score is 19221, placing it in the 77th percentile, while the GPU's average is 32619, placing it in the 76th percentile. This indicates they are both high-performing components, but for this specific game, the GPU becomes the deciding factor as graphical load increases.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this system in Inside?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 317.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system averages 86.9 FPS, which is still a very playable frame rate for this genre of game.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck for this game?

A: The bottleneck shifts depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates suggest the CPU is a limiting factor. At 1440p and especially 4K, the data clearly shows the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the primary performance limiter.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 287.2 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 143.8 FPS. This represents a 50.0% decrease in average frame rate when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: Is the 16 GB of VRAM on the GPU a relevant factor for this game?

A: While the game is not new, having 16 GB of GDDR6 memory ensures that there is ample headroom for texture storage and frame buffers, preventing any potential memory-related stuttering or performance dips, even at 4K.

Q: How does the 1080p High preset compare to the 4K Medium preset?

A: The 1080p High preset averages 204 FPS, while the 4K Medium preset averages 147.4 FPS. The 4K result is lower, but it shows the GPU's capability to handle a higher resolution with a moderate settings preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data represents the measured average frame rates for the Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination in Inside. All figures are average FPS, with no minimum or maximum frame rate data available.

• 1920x1080 (1080p)
• Ultra: 194.2 FPS
• High: 204 FPS
• Medium: 298.1 FPS
• Low: 317.1 FPS

• 2560x1440 (1440p)
• Ultra: 143.8 FPS
• High: 146.2 FPS
• Medium: 236.9 FPS
• Low: 287.2 FPS

• 3840x2160 (4K)
• Ultra: 86.9 FPS
• High: 90.9 FPS
• Medium: 147.4 FPS
• Low: 183.6 FPS

The data reveals a consistent pattern. The step from Low to Medium settings provides a significant increase in graphical fidelity with a relatively small performance penalty. For instance, at 1440p, the drop from Low to Medium is 50.3 FPS (287.2 to 236.9). However, the jump from Medium to High is much more costly, resulting in a 90.7 FPS reduction at 1440p. This suggests that the High preset enables more demanding graphical effects that heavily tax the GPU. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest quality, does not yield a proportional increase in visual quality for the performance cost, often being only a few frames lower than High but with a substantial reduction from Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for this system is the Medium preset. The performance figures for Medium are exceptionally high across all resolutions. At 1080p, the Medium preset achieves 298.1 FPS, which is nearly as fast as the Low preset (317.1 FPS). At 1440p, it delivers 236.9 FPS, and even at 4K, it maintains a very smooth 147.4 FPS. This indicates that the Medium preset offers a significant upgrade in visual detail over Low, while the performance cost is comparatively modest.

The High and Ultra presets, while providing the highest visual fidelity, result in a disproportionately large drop in frame rate. At 1440p, the High preset (146.2 FPS) and Ultra preset (143.8 FPS) are nearly identical in performance, but they represent a 38.3% reduction compared to the Medium preset. This performance cliff suggests that the higher presets enable features that are particularly demanding on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth. While 146 FPS is still exceptionally smooth, the substantial performance savings from the Medium preset, coupled with a likely minor visual difference in a game with this art style, makes it the more efficient choice.

For players with a 4K display, the Medium preset is strongly recommended, as its 147.4 FPS average is more than enough for a fluid experience and leaves significant headroom. The High preset at 4K (90.9 FPS) is also viable for those who prioritize image quality and have a high refresh rate 4K monitor. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 86.9 FPS, is the most demanding option but still provides a playable experience. Given the game's deliberate pacing and side-scrolling nature, even the 4K High result is more than sufficient. However, the data shows that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience, delivering a high frame rate with presumably a fraction of the rendering complexity of the higher presets.