Inside

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The data shows this combination is capable of high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions, though the performance scaling reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. This analysis breaks down the benchmark results to understand the respective roles of the CPU and GPU, how the pairing ranks among other tested combinations, and what the frame rate data indicates about system limitations.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture. It operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and can boost up to 4.90 GHz, which provides substantial single-thread performance for older game engines. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU scores 1016 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3925 in passmark_single_thread, placing it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs tested. The processor also demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability, scoring 23444 in cinebench_r23_multicore and 27575 in passmark_multithread.

For Inside, the CPU's role is primarily to maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 283.1 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate in this dataset. This suggests the i5-12600KF provides enough processing headroom to push frame rates far beyond typical display refresh rates. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache likely help maintain consistent frame pacing in a game that involves physics-based puzzles and environmental interactions. Notably, the i5-12600KF's nearest rival in average benchmark score is the Intel Core i9-10900K, with a deltaPct of 0, indicating the two perform essentially identically in overall CPU benchmarks. The i5-12600K is only 0.1% behind, and the Core Ultra 5 125H trails by 0.2%.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 33 chip. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU has a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz, with a game clock rated at 2250 MHz. With 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, the RX 7600 delivers 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute performance. The GPU's pixel rate is 169.9 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 339.8 GTexel/s.

For Inside, the GPU's role becomes increasingly important as resolution and settings increase. At 4K Ultra, the system drops to 59.2 FPS, which is the lowest frame rate in the dataset. This indicates that the RX 7600's 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth are being strained at the highest settings. However, at 1440p High, the system still manages 99.4 FPS, showing the GPU can handle moderate resolutions comfortably. The GPU's percentile ranking is 63 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20258. Its nearest rival is the RX 7600 XT, which has a deltaPct of 0.6, meaning the RX 7600 is slightly ahead in average score despite the XT variant being nominally more powerful.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate data shows a clear pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, which reveals the shifting bottleneck between CPU and GPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 283.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 203.1 FPS, a reduction of 80 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls further to 127.2 FPS. This scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is still able to feed the GPU adequately, but the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

For High settings, the progression is even more pronounced. At 1080p High, the system hits 142.8 FPS. At 1440p High, this drops to 99.4 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls to 62.4 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p represents a 30.4% decrease, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is a 37.2% decrease. This indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU's performance headroom is not being fully utilized. The gap between Low and High settings at 4K is substantial — 127.2 FPS versus 62.4 FPS — showing that the RX 7600's shading units and memory bandwidth are heavily taxed by the higher visual fidelity settings.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination ranks 1113 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 33rd percentile of all tested pairings, meaning roughly two-thirds of combinations perform better in this game. While the individual components have respectable benchmark scores — the CPU in the 84th percentile and the GPU in the 63rd percentile — the combined ranking suggests that this pairing is not optimized for maximum performance in this specific title.

The relatively low combo ranking may be attributed to the game's age and its lighter CPU requirements. Inside was released in 2016, and its engine likely does not scale well with the i5-12600KF's 16 threads. The GPU, while capable, is not a top-tier model, so the combination produces solid but not exceptional results. The data shows that the CPU's strong synthetic benchmark scores do not translate into top-tier performance in this game, likely because the game's workload is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The combo's rank of 1113 out of 1671 indicates that many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher frame rates in Inside, particularly those with more powerful GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive picture of performance across different configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 283.1 FPS on Low settings, 227.1 FPS on Medium, 142.8 FPS on High, and 138 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 145.1 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom even at maximum settings. The step from Medium to High represents a 37.1% performance drop, while the step from High to Ultra is a more modest 3.4% drop.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 203.1 FPS on Low, 162.7 FPS on Medium, 99.4 FPS on High, and 99.4 FPS on Ultra. Notably, High and Ultra settings produce identical average frame rates at this resolution, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional graphical features are not significantly taxing the GPU at 1440p. The drop from Low to Medium at 1440p is 40.4 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 63.3 FPS, indicating that the High preset introduces more demanding effects.

At 3840x2160, the system achieves 127.2 FPS on Low, 101 FPS on Medium, 62.4 FPS on High, and 59.2 FPS on Ultra. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 3.2 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional features are not the primary cause of the performance drop. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings shows a 55.1% reduction in frame rate, while at High settings, the reduction is 56.3%. This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions, with the CPU providing sufficient performance to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: At 3840x2160, the system achieves 127.2 FPS on Low settings, 101 FPS on Medium, 62.4 FPS on High, and 59.2 FPS on Ultra. For a smooth 60 FPS experience, Low or Medium settings are recommended, as High barely exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27827, which is essentially identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K's 27829 (0% delta). The i5-12600K scores 27851, putting the i5-12600KF 0.1% behind, while the Core Ultra 5 125H scores 27872, 0.2% ahead.

Q: Is the GPU or CPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the system delivers 283.1 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest frame rate recorded. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (1016 in 3dmark_single_thread) allows the GPU to operate near its maximum potential at this resolution.

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

A: At 2560x1440, both High and Ultra settings produce identical average frame rates of 99.4 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset does not introduce additional performance overhead at this resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7600 combination ranks 1113 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the lower third of all pairings.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the system achieves 142.8 FPS at 1080p and 62.4 FPS at 4K, representing a 56.3% reduction in average frame rate. This substantial drop indicates the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.