Inside

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination delivers a highly playable experience in Inside, but the performance profile reveals a clear bottleneck. Across all tested resolutions, the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as evidenced by the steep performance drop when moving from 1080p to 4K. The combo ranks in the 1429th position out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the lower tier of systems, yet the game's modest demands ensure that even this mid-range pairing can achieve high frame rates at most settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 104.8 FPS, but at 3840x2160 Ultra, the average plummets to 45.7 FPS—a reduction of 56.4%. This dramatic drop indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti's rendering throughput is exhausted as pixel count increases, while the i5-12400F has ample headroom to feed frames.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. With Low settings, the system achieves 216.9 FPS at 1080p, 159 FPS at 1440p, and 101.9 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K is 53.0% for Low, 51.8% for Medium, 56.4% for High, and 56.4% for Ultra. This uniformity suggests that the resolution penalty is driven by the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth—the GTX 1660 Ti offers 84.96 GPixel/s pixel rate and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth—rather than any CPU limitation.

Notably, the gap between Medium and High presets widens at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Medium (177.1 FPS) and High (108.3 FPS) is 38.9%, but at 4K it shrinks to 40.4% (80 vs. 47.7 FPS). This indicates that the game's graphics settings have a nonlinear impact on GPU load, with High and Ultra taxing the hardware more severely than the step from Low to Medium.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: The data shows 1440p High (81.9 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (76.9 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS, while 4K High (47.7 FPS) and 4K Ultra (45.7 FPS) fall below that threshold. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1440p at any settings preset works, but 4K requires Low settings (101.9 FPS) to stay comfortably above 60.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti's VRAM capacity affect 4K performance?

A: The 6 GB GDDR6 memory with 192-bit bus width is sufficient for Inside at 4K, as even the most demanding preset (Ultra) runs at 45.7 FPS. The lack of stutter or min-FPS data suggests the 6 GB capacity does not cause swapping, but the low average at 4K Ultra indicates compute limitations rather than memory exhaustion.

Q: Is the i5-12400F holding back the GTX 1660 Ti in this game?

A: No. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and multi-thread score of 5912 show strong per-core performance, and Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer with modest CPU demands. The GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions, as proven by the consistent FPS drop when resolution increases.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 216.9 FPS while Ultra produces 104.8 FPS, a difference of 112.1 FPS or 51.7%. This shows that even at the lowest resolution, the GPU is doing significant work to render the game's visual effects at higher presets.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1429th out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the 85.5th percentile of tested systems. This means roughly 14.5% of combos tested are slower, which is expected given the GTX 1660 Ti's mid-range positioning.

Q: Can this system handle high refresh rate monitors?

A: At 1080p, yes. The combo exceeds 144 FPS on Low (216.9) and Medium (177.1) presets, and hits 108.3 FPS on High. For 1440p, Low settings (159 FPS) support 144 Hz displays, but Medium (127 FPS) and higher presets fall short of that refresh rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1429 out of 1671 places this system firmly in the lower performance tier for Inside. This ranking is surprising given the game's 2016 release date and puzzle-platformer genre, but it reflects the GPU's age and position. The GTX 1660 Ti scores 12871 in PassMark G3D, which places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19221 puts it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs.

The delta between these percentile positions explains the bottleneck. The CPU is significantly stronger relative to its peers than the GPU, meaning the GPU's limitations define the combo's overall ranking. In the context of Inside, which is not a demanding title by modern standards, this pairing still delivers playable frame rates, but the low rank indicates that many other systems—particularly those with newer GPUs—would achieve much higher frame counts.

The nearest rival for the GPU, the AMD Radeon RX 570X with a score of 13871 (0.4% difference), shows that the GTX 1660 Ti is performing at the edge of its class. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210, 0.1% delta) and AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364, -0.7% delta), confirm that the i5-12400F is a strong performer that won't hinder the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following averages: Low 216.9 FPS, Medium 177.1 FPS, High 108.3 FPS, and Ultra 104.8 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear tiering where Low and Medium are well above 144 Hz refresh rates, while High and Ultra remain above 100 FPS, making all presets playable on standard 60 Hz monitors and competitive on 120 Hz displays.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 159 FPS, Medium 127 FPS, High 81.9 FPS, and Ultra 76.9 FPS. The 1440p results maintain 60+ FPS across all presets, with Low and Medium supporting high refresh rates. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 26.7% for Low, 28.3% for Medium, 24.4% for High, and 26.6% for Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 101.9 FPS, Medium 80 FPS, High 47.7 FPS, and Ultra 45.7 FPS. The 4K results show that only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS, while High and Ultra dip below the 60 FPS threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 55.2% (101.9 vs. 45.7 FPS), illustrating the GPU's struggle with the higher pixel count.

GPU Role

The GTX 1660 Ti's specifications directly explain the observed performance. With a base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, the GPU's 1536 shading units process the game's visuals. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory at 12 Gbps effective provides 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for Inside's relatively simple textures and effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores align with its in-game performance. The PassMark G3D score of 12871 and DirectX 11 score of 103 indicate solid mid-range capability, while the DirectX 12 score of 51 suggests the GPU is less optimized for modern APIs. Inside uses DirectX 11 features, which explains why the GPU performs better than its DirectX 12 score would suggest.

The pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s is the key constraint at 4K. At 3840x2160, the GPU must render 8.3 million pixels per frame, and the combination of pixel rate and texture rate (169.9 GTexel/s) determines the maximum achievable frame rate. The 4K Ultra average of 45.7 FPS indicates that the GPU is processing approximately 379 million pixels per second, which is close to the theoretical pixel rate limit when accounting for other rendering overhead.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F provides a strong foundation for gaming, with 6 cores and 12 threads operating between a 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock. The CPU's benchmark results show it is well-suited for this title: the 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and multi-thread score of 5912 demonstrate robust performance, while the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518 confirms its ability to handle more demanding workloads.

For Inside, the CPU's role is minimal due to the game's simple physics and logic. The 18 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast data access, while the DDR4/DDR5 memory support ensures adequate bandwidth. The CPU's 65W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are standard for its generation, and its 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the GPU's 55th percentile standing.

The data shows no CPU bottleneck because the frame rates scale smoothly with resolution changes. If the CPU were limiting performance, the FPS would remain similar across resolutions, but instead we see a consistent 20-30% drop from 1080p to 1440p and another 20-30% drop from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern is the signature of a GPU-bound system, where the i5-12400F's single-thread performance of 2332 in Cinebench R23 is more than sufficient for this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p, the Low preset (216.9 FPS) and Medium preset (177.1 FPS) both support 144 Hz monitors, while High (108.3 FPS) and Ultra (104.8 FPS) are best for 120 Hz displays. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 3.2%, so Ultra is essentially free in performance terms.

For 1440p, the Low preset (159 FPS) is the only option that supports 144 Hz refresh rates. Medium (127 FPS) works for 120 Hz, while High (81.9 FPS) and Ultra (76.9 FPS) are suitable for 60 Hz gaming. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is 6.1%, making Ultra a reasonable choice for users with 60 Hz monitors.

For 4K, the choices are more constrained. Low (101.9 FPS) and Medium (80 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS, while High (47.7 FPS) and Ultra (45.7 FPS) fall below. The performance difference between High and Ultra at 4K is 4.2%, but both are below 60 FPS, so users should select Medium for the best balance of visual quality and smoothness. The Ultra preset at 4K provides only marginal visual improvements over High while demanding an extra 4.4% of performance, making it the least efficient choice in the entire dataset.