Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that, on the surface, does not demand extreme hardware, yet the measured data for the Intel Core i5-12400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The dataset provides a complete picture of how this combination handles the game, from very high frame rates at 1080p to a more constrained experience at 4K, with the GPU’s 4 GB memory and the CPU’s six-core architecture both playing distinct roles.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a pronounced impact from resolution scaling, which is a classic indicator of where the bottleneck lies within this system. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 199 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 on the same preset drops that average to 143 FPS, a reduction of 56 FPS. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls further to 90 FPS. This scaling pattern—roughly halving the frame rate when quadrupling the pixel count from 1080p to 4K—suggests that at lower settings, the rendering load is still significant enough to be influenced by resolution, but the absolute numbers remain high.

For the Medium preset, the scaling is equally telling. At 1080p, the average is 159 FPS, dropping to 114 FPS at 1440p, and then to 72 FPS at 4K. The min FPS values for Medium at these resolutions are 135, 97, and 61, respectively, showing that even the worst-case frames remain playable at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the minimum dips to 61 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS threshold. The gap between 1440p and 4K for Medium (a 42 FPS drop) is steeper than the gap between 1080p and 1440p (a 45 FPS drop), indicating that the GPU’s capabilities are being stressed more heavily as pixel count rises.

High settings present a similar trend, with averages of 99 FPS at 1080p, 71 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding, yielding 95 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K. The data shows that from 1080p to 4K on Ultra, the average FPS drops by 52 FPS, which is a 54.7% reduction. This consistent drop across all presets indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s performance headroom does not compensate for the increased pixel workload. The fact that 4K High and Ultra both fall below 50 FPS suggests that this resolution is only suitable for lower presets with this hardware combination.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 95 FPS, which is only 4 FPS lower than High’s 99 FPS. This small delta means that Ultra is the best choice at 1080p, as it provides the highest graphical quality without sacrificing meaningful performance. The Medium preset at 1080p offers 159 FPS, which is far above any display’s refresh rate, but Ultra’s 95 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the most sensible option for a quality-focused experience.

At 2560x1440, the situation changes. Ultra averages 68 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. High settings yield 71 FPS, a marginal improvement of 3 FPS over Ultra, while Medium reaches 114 FPS. For a 1440p display, the data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, as it more than doubles the frame rate of Ultra while still providing a reasonable visual upgrade over Low. The 114 FPS average on Medium is comfortable for most gaming monitors, and the min FPS of 97 ensures stability. High settings are a viable alternative if visual fidelity is prioritized, but the difference between High and Ultra is negligible in FPS terms, making High the better choice over Ultra if you want a small performance buffer.

For 3840x2160, the hardware is clearly stretched. Ultra averages 43 FPS, and High averages 45 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings improve this to 72 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that achieves a playable average. Low settings at 4K hit 90 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial. Therefore, the recommendation for 4K is to use Medium settings, as it provides a playable experience with better visuals than Low, while avoiding the sub-60 FPS averages of High and Ultra. The min FPS of 61 on Medium at 4K confirms that even the lowest frames stay above the critical threshold.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is the central component in this analysis, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. The GPU has a base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost clock of 1740 MHz, with 2048 shading units, 64 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its memory configuration is 4 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s. The pixel rate is 55.68 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 111.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.127 TFLOPS.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor for this game. Inside is not a memory-heavy title, but the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 43, which is lower than 4K High’s 45 FPS. This small difference suggests that the GPU is not being limited by memory capacity alone, but rather by its raw shading and rasterization throughput. The 128-bit memory bus and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for a puzzle platformer, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions, but at 4K the pixel fill rate becomes a constraint.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 7.127 TFLOPS is modest by modern standards, and the data indicates that this is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach 199 FPS on Low, but at 4K, the GPU’s compute units are saturated, causing the average to fall to 90 FPS on Low. The RTX 3050 has 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, but these are irrelevant for a non-ray-traced, non-DLSS game like Inside, so the core shading units and ROPs determine the outcome. The GPU’s transistor count of 8,700 million on an 8 nm process from Samsung, with a die size of 200 mm², provides a baseline for its capabilities, and the data confirms that it is a solid 1080p performer but struggles at 4K.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 95, which is only slightly below the 99 FPS achieved on High settings.

Q: Does the 4 GB VRAM cause issues at 4K resolution?

A: The data does not show a clear memory-related bottleneck. At 3840x2160, the average FPS for High is 45 and for Ultra is 43, while Medium reaches 72 FPS. This suggests that the GPU’s compute throughput, not VRAM capacity, is the primary limiter.

Q: Which settings preset provides the highest average FPS at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 143, followed by Medium at 114 FPS. Ultra and High produce 68 and 71 FPS, respectively.

Q: How does the min FPS on Medium settings vary across resolutions?

A: The min FPS on Medium settings is 135 at 1920x1080, 97 at 2560x1440, and 61 at 3840x2160. This shows a consistent decline, but all values remain above 60 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 3050 4 GB capable of 4K gaming in Inside?

A: Yes, but only with lower presets. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average FPS is 72, while High and Ultra fall below 50 FPS. Low settings achieve 90 FPS.

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

A: At 1920x1080, High settings average 99 FPS, and Ultra settings average 95 FPS, a difference of only 4 FPS, making Ultra the better choice for quality.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB ranks 3242 out of 3716 tested combos for this game. This percentile placement indicates that this setup is below the median, which is expected given the modest GPU and mid-range CPU. The rank is not a reflection of poor performance in absolute terms—the combo can run Inside at high frame rates at 1080p—but rather a comparison against a wide range of other systems, many of which feature more powerful GPUs.

The CPU itself holds a percentile of 73 against all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 73% of processors in general benchmarks. Its avg benchmark score is 19039, which is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047, deltaPct 0) and the Intel Core 3 201E (19056, deltaPct -0.1). This suggests that the i5-12400F is a competent processor, but in the context of Inside, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, dragging the overall combo rank down. The combo’s rank of 3242 out of 3716 means it sits in the lower 13% of tested systems, which aligns with the GPU’s 50th percentile standing among all GPUs. For a game like Inside, which is not heavily threaded, the CPU’s six cores are more than adequate, but the GPU’s 4 GB memory and modest compute power prevent the combo from climbing higher in the rankings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a six-core, twelve-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has an 18 MB shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. The CPU’s TDP is 65 W, and it supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores are notable: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 12380 and a single-core score of 1680, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1964 and multicore score of 9472.

In Inside, the CPU’s role is secondary to the GPU, as evidenced by the FPS scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 199, which is near the upper limit for many displays, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution. The single-thread performance, reflected in a 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and Passmark single-thread score of 3481, is sufficient for the game’s logic and physics. The multicore performance, with a 3DMark max threads score of 5912 and Passmark multithread score of 19433, provides headroom for background tasks but does not significantly impact the frame rate.

The data shows that as resolution increases, the CPU’s influence diminishes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 43, which is limited by the GPU, not the CPU. The CPU’s boost clock of 4.40 GHz ensures that it can keep up with the GPU’s demands at lower resolutions, but at higher resolutions, the GPU’s pixel processing becomes the limiting factor. The nearest rivals to the i5-12400F, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and Intel Core 3 201E, have nearly identical avg scores, suggesting that any of these CPUs would yield similar results in Inside. Overall, the CPU is a capable partner for the RTX 3050 in this game, providing enough performance to avoid holding back the GPU at 1080p and 1440p, but not being the reason for high frame rates at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo across all resolutions and settings is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average FPS of 199, with no min or max values recorded. Medium settings yield an average of 159 FPS, with a min of 135 and max of 183. High settings average 99 FPS, and Ultra settings average 95 FPS, both without min or max data. This shows that at 1080p, the combo can easily exceed 90 FPS on any preset, with Low settings nearly doubling the frame rate of Ultra.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 143 FPS, while Medium averages 114 FPS, with a min of 97 and max of 131. High settings average 71 FPS, and Ultra settings average 68 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces the average FPS by 56 on Low, 45 on Medium, 28 on High, and 27 on Ultra. This indicates that the GPU’s performance scales consistently with resolution, but the absolute frame rates remain playable on all presets except for the highest quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 90 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a min of 61 and max of 83, High averages 45 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is more severe on High and Ultra, with reductions of 26 and 25 FPS, respectively, while Low and Medium see reductions of 53 and 42 FPS. The min FPS of 61 on Medium at 4K is the only recorded min value at this resolution, and it remains above 60 FPS, indicating that Medium is the only preset at 4K that guarantees a smooth experience. The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the ideal resolution for this combo, 1440p is viable with Medium settings, and 4K is only playable on Low or Medium presets.