Inside

The data for Inside with an Intel Core i5-12400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT shows a game that is remarkably easy to drive, even at extreme resolutions. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across the board, indicating that this combination is far more powerful than the title requires. The bottleneck in this scenario is almost entirely the GPU, but only at the highest settings and resolution, while the CPU provides ample headroom elsewhere.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear shift in performance limiting factors. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 316.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 288.5 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 224.6 FPS. This progression shows a modest performance cost, suggesting that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU fast enough to maintain near-triple-digit frame rates, with the GPU still having plenty of headroom.

The picture changes dramatically when looking at the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 242.6 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 176.2 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls to 112.8 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is significantly steeper than at Low settings. This indicates that as the graphical load increases, the GPU becomes the primary limiting component. The RX 7900 XT, with its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is still producing a very playable 112.8 FPS at 4K High, but the scaling curve clearly shows the GPU's work increasing.

The Ultra preset tells a similar story. The system delivers 237.8 FPS at 1080p, 166.9 FPS at 1440p, and 107.6 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra results in a drop of roughly 55%, which is a substantial reduction but not unusual for a demanding preset. The data suggests that Inside is a lightweight title, and this hardware combination is so powerful that it can push 4K Ultra past the 100 FPS mark, a feat that would be impossible in more graphically intensive games. The limiting component at 4K is clearly the GPU, as the CPU's performance is sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at lower resolutions where the GPU load is lighter.

Settings Recommendations

Given the extremely high frame rates measured, the optimal settings for this configuration are those that maximize visual fidelity without sacrificing the high refresh rate experience. The data shows that the Ultra preset at 1440p yields an average of 166.9 FPS, which is a superb result for a high-refresh monitor. The step up to 4K Ultra drops the average to 107.6 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS standard and smooth enough for most users. The measured data indicates that 4K Ultra is a viable option, as it remains above the 100 FPS threshold.

For users prioritizing the absolute highest frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p produces 316.5 FPS, but this sacrifices the game's atmospheric lighting and visual effects, which are integral to the Inside experience. The High preset offers a better balance, providing 242.6 FPS at 1080p and 176.2 FPS at 1440p. The data suggests that the High preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, offering a significant visual upgrade over Low while still delivering a frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. The jump from Medium to High at 1440p is only a 85.3 FPS difference, but the visual quality improvement is often more noticeable than the drop from High to Ultra, which is just 9.3 FPS. Therefore, based on the measured rows, the High preset at 1440p provides the best combination of visual fidelity and performance headroom, while 4K Ultra is entirely playable for those with a 4K display.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card that dominates the performance metrics in this title. Its benchmarks place it in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. The data places it in close competition with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile, which has an average score of 38349, a delta of 0%. This indicates that the desktop RX 7900 XT performs on par with a high-end mobile GPU in synthetic tests, though its role here is purely to render Inside.

The GPU's specifications are substantial, featuring 5376 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz are high, and the 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. In the context of Inside, these specifications are overkill. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 107.6, which is likely limited by the GPU's raw compute power and memory bandwidth, but the card is not being taxed to its absolute limit. The high memory capacity is largely irrelevant for this game, as its asset sizes are small. The GPU's role is to ensure that the frame rate remains high even at 4K, and the data confirms it does so with ease. The performance delta to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA CMP 70HX, is only 0.3%, showing that slight variations in synthetic scores do not translate to meaningful differences in this game's frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate this combo achieves?

A: The highest measured average is 316.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes. The data shows an average of 112.8 FPS at 4K High and 107.6 FPS at 4K Ultra, which are both smooth and playable.

Q: How does the 1080p Ultra performance compare to 4K Ultra?

A: The average frame rate drops from 237.8 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 107.6 FPS at 4K Ultra, a reduction of over 54%.

Q: What is the recommended resolution for the best balance of quality and speed?

A: Based on the measured rows, 2560x1440 with High settings provides a strong balance, offering an average of 176.2 FPS while maintaining high visual fidelity.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more of a limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the system reaches 316.5 FPS, suggesting the CPU is providing frames faster than a more demanding preset, indicating the GPU is not the primary limiter at this low graphical load.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark percentile relate to its in-game performance?

A: The GPU is in the 82nd percentile, and its in-game performance is exceptional, with all measured presets at 1440p exceeding 166 FPS, showing that high synthetic standing translates to high real-world results here.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting role in this configuration, but it is a crucial one for maintaining high frame rates. Its benchmarks show it in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19221. The data places it in close competition with the Intel Core i7-8700K, which has an average score of 19210, a delta of 0.1%. This indicates that despite being a 6-core, 12-thread part, its performance is on par with a previous-generation 8th-gen flagship.

The CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz and base clock of 2.50 GHz are respectable, and its 18 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient for this game. The single-threaded performance is strong, as evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 909 and passmark_singlethread score of 3481. In a game like Inside, which is not heavily multithreaded, this single-core strength is the most important factor. The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at any of the tested settings. Even at 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lowest, the system still achieves 316.5 FPS, indicating that the CPU can process the game's logic and draw calls fast enough to feed the GPU. The difference between the 1080p Low and 1080p High scores is 73.9 FPS, which is almost entirely due to the GPU's increased workload, not CPU limitation.

The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 5895 and cinebench_r23_multicore score of 16518 show it has enough multi-core muscle for modern titles, but for Inside, the single-threaded performance is what allows the frame rate to scale up to the monitor's refresh rate. The data confirms that the i5-12400F is a capable partner for the RX 7900 XT in this game, providing enough headroom to ensure the GPU is the primary variable in performance. It is not a weak link, and its performance is comparable to the AMD EPYC 7773X in synthetic tests, with a delta of 1.3%, though that server chip is irrelevant for gaming. This CPU/GPU pairing is well-matched for Inside, with the CPU ensuring that the GPU's power is fully utilized.