Inside

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a game that is clearly not demanding by modern standards. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the combo never dips below 68 FPS on average, indicating that both the CPU and GPU have ample headroom for this title. The data shows that the primary bottleneck shifts from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at 1080p, but neither component is ever pushed to a point that compromises smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet still capable of extreme frame rates. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 159 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 114 FPS, a 28% reduction, and at 4K it falls further to 72 FPS, a 55% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the GTX 1080 Ti is the limiting factor as pixel count increases, a typical pattern for a game that is not heavily threaded.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the combo achieves a massive 317 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 228 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 143 FPS at 4K (a 55% decrease from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings suggests that the game's rendering load scales linearly with resolution, and the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth are the dominant constraints. The GTX 1080 Ti’s 484.4 GB/s memory bandwidth and 139.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are being taxed heavily at 4K, but they still manage to deliver playable results.

Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K in absolute terms. For instance, at Medium settings, the 1080p average of 254 FPS drops to 183 FPS at 1440p, a difference of 71 FPS. However, the drop from 1440p to 4K is 68 FPS (from 183 to 115 FPS). This indicates that the GPU is approaching its limits at 4K, where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p, even though the frame rate does not drop to a quarter. This is a classic sign of a GPU that is strong but not overkill for 4K in this specific title.

The data does not show any CPU-related frame rate collapse at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 317 FPS average is extremely high, but it does not suggest a CPU bottleneck because the i5-12400F has a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and a PassMark single-thread score of 3481. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 further supports that the CPU can handle the game's logic without holding back the GPU at these settings. The verdict is clear: this combo is a 1080p and 1440p powerhouse, and a solid 4K performer, with the GPU being the definitive limiting factor at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for optimal settings, balancing visual quality against frame rate. For 4K displays, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering an average of 72 FPS. This is above the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, drops to 68 FPS, which is still playable but offers only a marginal improvement over High for a noticeable performance cost. The Medium preset at 4K, averaging 115 FPS, is a better choice if higher frame rates are preferred over maximal detail, as it provides a 60% performance uplift over High.

At 1440p, all presets are highly playable. The Ultra preset averages 109 FPS, while High averages 114 FPS, a negligible difference. Given the small performance gap, the High preset is the recommended choice for 1440p as it provides nearly identical performance to Ultra with potentially more stable frame pacing. The Medium preset at 1440p, averaging 183 FPS, is excessive for most displays, but it does illustrate that the combo has massive headroom at this resolution. The Low preset at 228 FPS is only useful for competitive play on high-refresh-rate monitors, but the visual quality loss is unnecessary for this puzzle platformer.

For 1080p, the story is about maximizing frame rates without wasting performance. The Ultra preset averages 151 FPS, which is excellent. The High preset, at 159 FPS, is only 5% faster, making Ultra the better choice for the best visual experience. The Medium preset at 254 FPS and Low at 317 FPS are overkill for any standard 60Hz or 144Hz monitor, but they do confirm that the CPU is not a bottleneck. The data suggests that for the best experience on this combo, users should set High or Ultra at 1440p for a balance of quality and speed, or High at 4K for a console-like experience. The Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice for those who prioritize frame rate above all else, as the 115 FPS average is a significant jump from the 72 FPS of High.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is the driving force behind this combo's performance, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured results. The GPU features 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for 4K gaming, as the high bandwidth prevents texture streaming bottlenecks. The benchmark results show that the GPU handles 4K Medium at 115 FPS, which indicates that the memory subsystem is sufficient for this game's requirements.

The GPU's clock speeds are also a factor. With a base clock of 1481 MHz and a boost clock of 1582 MHz, the GTX 1080 Ti operates at high frequencies that contribute to its 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This compute power is more than enough for Inside, which is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle game with limited 3D geometry. The GPU's 3584 shading units and 224 texture mapping units are underutilized, but they allow for high fill rates at 4K without breaking a sweat.

The GTX 1080 Ti's percentile rank of 58 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15548, places it in the mid-range of modern graphics cards. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (score 15679, 0.8% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (score 15290, 1.7% slower). Despite being an older architecture (Pascal, 16 nm), the 1080 Ti still holds its own against newer cards, as evidenced by its performance in this game. The GPU's 11 GB of VRAM is ample for Inside, which likely does not exceed a few gigabytes of usage, making the memory size a non-issue for this title.

The data shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, but it is not a weak link. The fact that it can push 143 FPS at 4K Low and 68 FPS at 4K Ultra demonstrates a wide performance envelope. The 88 ROPs and 139.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient to handle the game's pixel shading demands, even at 3840x2160. Overall, the GTX 1080 Ti is a capable partner for the i5-12400F, providing a balance that is only challenged at the highest resolution and preset combination.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU and GPU combination ranks 2004 out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 46th percentile of all systems. This rank is somewhat surprising given the high frame rates achieved, but it reflects the fact that Inside is not a demanding game, and many lower-tier components can also run it well. The rank indicates that the combo is slightly below average when compared to all other pairings in the database, but this is a measure of relative performance across a wide range of hardware.

The rank is more meaningful when considering the components' individual strengths. The i5-12400F has a percentile rank of 73 against all CPUs, and the GTX 1080 Ti has a percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs. The combo's rank of 2004 is lower than either component's individual percentile, suggesting that the game is not sensitive to high-end hardware. In other words, the system is overqualified for the task, and the rank is dragged down by the fact that many cheaper combos can achieve similar frame rates.

The combo's position in the middle of the pack means that users should not expect top-tier performance relative to the absolute best systems, but the measured FPS data tells a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 151 FPS, which is far above what a standard 60Hz display can show. Even at 4K Ultra, the 68 FPS average is respectable. The rank of 2004 is a statistical outlier when compared to the actual user experience, which is uniformly smooth. This discrepancy highlights that raw ranking does not always translate to real-world usability, especially for a game with modest graphical demands.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (average score 19047, 0% difference) and the Intel Core 3 201E (score 19056, -0.1% difference), showing that the i5-12400F is well-matched with other mid-range processors. For the GPU, the nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (score 15521, 0.2% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (score 15290, 1.7% slower). These comparisons show that the combo is built from components that are competitive within their respective tiers, but the overall rank in this game is more about the game's low requirements than the hardware's absolute power.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F plays a supporting role in this combo, and the data indicates that it is never a bottleneck in Inside. The CPU features 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This configuration is more than sufficient for a game that primarily relies on single-threaded performance. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and PassMark single-thread score of 3481 are strong, indicating that it can handle the game's physics and logic without slowing down the GPU.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12380 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 19433. However, Inside is not a game that scales well with many cores, so these scores are largely irrelevant to the measured FPS. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 show that the CPU can handle heavy workloads, but the game does not push it to those limits. The 1080p Low setting, which achieves 317 FPS, demonstrates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to reach extremely high frame rates.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and its Alder Lake architecture (10 nm process) contribute to its efficiency. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz is particularly important for gaming, as it ensures that single-core performance is maximized when needed. The fact that the frame rates at 1080p Low (317 FPS) and Medium (254 FPS) are so high suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor, even when the GPU is less stressed. The data shows that the i5-12400F is a capable partner that provides a stable foundation for the GTX 1080 Ti, and it is only at 4K that the GPU's workload becomes the dominant constraint.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and the Intel Core 3 201E, both with average benchmark scores within 0.1% of the i5-12400F. This indicates that the i5-12400F is a solid mid-range performer. In this game, the CPU's role is to maintain a high minimum frame rate and avoid stutters, which it does admirably. The benchmark results confirm that for Inside, the CPU is a non-issue, and all performance variations are attributable to the GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The combo achieves an average of 72 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck at 1080p. At Low settings, the combo reaches 317 FPS, and at Ultra it hits 151 FPS, showing that the i5-12400F can handle the game's logic without limiting the GPU.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 2060?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 15548, which is 1.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060's score of 15290. In this game, the 1080 Ti is slightly faster.

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p display?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 averages 114 FPS, while Ultra averages 109 FPS. The difference is only 5 FPS, so High is recommended to save performance with a negligible visual impact.

*Q: Does the combo rank high among all tested systems in Inside?*

A: The combo ranks 2004 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the 46th percentile. This is a mid-pack ranking, but the actual frame rates are excellent for this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 115, with a recorded minimum of 97 FPS and a maximum of 132 FPS. This shows a stable performance window.