Inside

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF a strong match for the AMD Radeon RX 7700 in Inside?

A: Yes. The measured data shows this combo performing well above the median, ranking 1161 out of 2887 tested combinations. The CPU maintains a high average benchmark score of 27799, placing it in the 79th percentile against all CPUs, which is sufficient to feed the GPU in this puzzle platformer.

Q: How does the i5-12600KF compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-12600KF sits within a tight performance band. It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE, and 0.3% behind both the Intel Core i9-10900K and the AMD Ryzen 7 6800U. It also trails the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D by 0.3%. This means the CPU is effectively tied with those parts in synthetic averages.

Q: What is the GPU's standing relative to other graphics cards?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, placing it in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. Its closest rival is the AMD Radeon R9 370X, which is only 0.1% behind. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% faster, while the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is 1% faster.

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

A: Yes, comfortably. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the combo averages 80 FPS. Dropping to Medium raises the average to 128 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS. Even at Ultra settings, it maintains a playable 76 FPS average.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a high-refresh 1080p monitor?

A: For a 144Hz or faster display, Medium settings at 1920x1080 deliver an average of 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 FPS. High settings still hit 177 FPS average, which exceeds most high-refresh displays. Low settings reach 353 FPS, but that is likely unnecessary.

Q: How much performance headroom does the CPU provide in this game?

A: The data suggests plenty of headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 353 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 160 FPS. This scaling indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions, with the i5-12600KF's strong single-thread score of 1016 in 3DMark supporting that conclusion.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture using the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1900 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz. Memory runs at 2438 MHz, which translates to 19.5 Gbps effective.

In practical terms for Inside, this memory configuration is more than adequate. The game is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer, and the 16 GB frame buffer is unlikely to be a bottleneck even at 4K Ultra. The GPU's 96 ROPs and 160 TMUs provide ample fill rate for the game's visual style, which relies on dark, atmospheric scenes with soft lighting rather than heavy geometric detail.

The RX 7700's compute capabilities are substantial, with 2560 shading units and a peak FP32 performance of 25.18 TFLOPS. The 40 ray accelerators are present, though Inside does not use ray tracing. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (version 12_2) ensures full compatibility with modern rendering paths, but the game's 2016 release date means it uses simpler DirectX 11-era techniques.

Benchmark results show the GPU scoring 20974 in Passmark G3D, 106028 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 10963 in Passmark GPU Compute. These numbers place it in the 58th percentile overall. Its closest rival, the Radeon R9 370X, is nearly identical in average score, but that card lacks the modern feature set and memory capacity. The RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% faster in synthetic tests, but the RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM gives it an edge in memory-heavy scenarios, even if Inside does not exploit that.

The GPU's clock behavior is worth noting. The game clock of 2041 MHz represents typical sustained clocks during gaming loads, while the boost clock of 2459 MHz is the maximum achievable under ideal conditions. For a lightweight title like Inside, the GPU may not be fully stressed, which could allow it to run at or near boost clocks more often, contributing to the high frame rates observed.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how this system scales across resolutions. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-bound at lower settings. Low settings produce 353 FPS, Medium 282 FPS, and High 177 FPS. Moving to 1440p, those numbers drop to 254 FPS, 203 FPS, and 127 FPS respectively. At 4K, the drop continues: 160 FPS Low, 128 FPS Medium, and 80 FPS High.

The scaling pattern is instructive. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by roughly 28-30% across all settings. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more pronounced, around 37-40%. This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is often the limiting factor, especially at Low and Medium settings where the GPU has little work to do. As resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, which is why the percentage drop grows.

Look at the Low settings specifically: 353 FPS at 1080p, 254 FPS at 1440p, and 160 FPS at 4K. The ratio from 1080p to 4K is roughly 2.2x, which is less than the 4x pixel count difference. This suggests that even at 4K Low, the CPU still has some influence on the final frame rate. The game's logic and physics calculations, which run on the CPU, are resolution-independent.

The Medium settings rows include min and max FPS data, which provides additional context. At 1080p Medium, the range is 240-325 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 173-234 FPS. At 4K Medium, it falls to 108-147 FPS. The minimum FPS values are particularly useful for understanding frame pacing. The 4K Medium minimum of 108 FPS is still well above the 60 FPS target, meaning there is no risk of stutter or noticeable frame drops.

The i5-12600KF's role in this scaling is clear from its benchmark scores. Its 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302 indicate strong per-core performance. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, provide ample processing power for the game's physics and AI. At 1080p, the CPU's frame generation capability outpaces what the GPU can render, hence the high FPS. At 4K, the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 353 FPS average
• Medium: 282 FPS average, 240 FPS minimum, 325 FPS maximum
• High: 177 FPS average
• Ultra: 168 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 254 FPS average
• Medium: 203 FPS average, 173 FPS minimum, 234 FPS maximum
• High: 127 FPS average
• Ultra: 121 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 160 FPS average
• Medium: 128 FPS average, 108 FPS minimum, 147 FPS maximum
• High: 80 FPS average
• Ultra: 76 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy. At every resolution, Low settings deliver roughly double the FPS of High settings. The gap between High and Ultra is small, only 5-9% at any resolution. This suggests Ultra settings add minimal visual benefit while costing measurable performance.

The Medium setting is the sweet spot in terms of scaling. At 1080p, Medium delivers 282 FPS, which is 80% of the Low setting's performance. At 1440p, Medium hits 203 FPS, again about 80% of Low. At 4K, Medium reaches 128 FPS, exactly 80% of Low's 160 FPS. This consistent ratio indicates that Medium settings apply a fixed amount of additional GPU work relative to Low, regardless of resolution.

The minimum FPS values for Medium are all above 100 FPS, even at 4K. This means the system never drops below the threshold where frame pacing becomes noticeable. The 4K Medium minimum of 108 FPS is particularly strong, given that many systems struggle to maintain 60 FPS at this resolution in more demanding titles.

The i5-12600KF's performance metrics support these results. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23391 and Passmark multithread score of 27575 indicate strong multi-threaded performance, which helps with background tasks. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7956 shows consistent scaling across threads, while the 2-thread score of 1995 indicates good responsiveness for lightly threaded workloads like Inside.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12600KF + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1161 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 60th percentile of all combinations, meaning it outperforms roughly 60% of the tested systems. Given that this is a puzzle platformer, not a demanding AAA title, the ranking reflects the system's ability to produce high frame rates rather than just meeting a minimum threshold.

The CPU contributes significantly to this ranking. With an average benchmark score of 27799, the i5-12600KF sits in the 79th percentile against all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.3% of its score: the Intel Core i9-10900K, AMD Ryzen 7 6800U, and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE is 0.3% behind. This tight grouping suggests that the CPU is not the differentiator in this combo's ranking.

The GPU's contribution is more variable. The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, placing it in the 58th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Radeon R9 370X, which is 0.1% behind, and the Pro W5500, which is 1.1% ahead. The RTX 3060 Ti is 1.7% faster, and the RX 9060 is 1% faster. These small deltas mean the GPU is competitive with a range of mid-to-high-end cards.

The combo's rank of 1161 suggests it is above average but not top-tier. The gap between the CPU's 79th percentile ranking and the GPU's 58th percentile ranking means the GPU holds the combo back somewhat. If paired with a faster GPU, the i5-12600KF could likely push this combo higher in the rankings, given its headroom in lighter titles.

In the context of Inside specifically, the ranking is likely influenced by the game's low system requirements. The game was released in 2016, and its visual style is not demanding by modern standards. This means even mid-range GPUs can produce high frame rates, and the ranking may be more sensitive to CPU performance than in other games. The i5-12600KF's strong single-thread performance helps here, as the game's logic is likely single-threaded.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with Inside, the data points to Medium settings as the optimal choice across all resolutions.

At 1080p, Medium delivers 282 FPS average with a minimum of 240 FPS. This is more than enough for any high-refresh monitor, including 240Hz displays. The minimum FPS of 240 ensures that even in busy scenes, the frame rate never dips below the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. High settings at 177 FPS are also viable, but the visual difference between Medium and High in this game is unlikely to justify the 37% performance drop.

At 1440p, Medium hits 203 FPS average with a 173 FPS minimum. This is ideal for 144Hz monitors, providing a comfortable margin above the refresh rate. Low settings at 254 FPS are overkill for most displays, while High at 127 FPS is still above 60 FPS but may not saturate a 144Hz panel consistently. Ultra at 121 FPS is similar to High and not worth the extra GPU load.

At 4K, Medium produces 128 FPS average with a 108 FPS minimum. This is excellent for 4K gaming, as most 4K monitors are 60Hz or 120Hz. The 108 FPS minimum ensures a smooth experience even on 120Hz displays. High settings at 80 FPS are playable but may cause noticeable drops in fast-moving scenes. Ultra at 76 FPS is borderline for 60Hz displays but leaves little headroom.

The Medium preset's consistent 80% of Low performance across all resolutions indicates it adds a moderate visual quality boost without disproportionately taxing the GPU. The minimum FPS data for Medium shows that the system maintains stable frame pacing, which is critical for a puzzle platformer where precise timing matters.

For players with 60Hz displays, High settings at any resolution are sufficient. At 4K, High's 80 FPS average exceeds the 60 FPS target, and even Ultra at 76 FPS works. However, the small performance difference between High and Ultra suggests that Ultra is not worth the extra load, as the visual improvements are likely imperceptible in this game's dark, minimal art style.

The i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads provide ample processing power for the game's physics and logic, even at 4K Medium. The CPU's 4.90 GHz boost clock and 20 MB of shared L3 cache ensure fast data access, which is important for the game's streaming and loading. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM means there is no risk of texture popping or memory-related stutters, even at Ultra settings.

In summary, Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions in Inside. The system has enough headroom to run High settings comfortably, but the marginal visual gain does not justify the frame rate cost. For competitive or high-refresh play, Medium is the clear recommendation.