Inside

# Inside: Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER delivers a benchmark data set for Inside that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps frame rates exceptionally high even at 1080p. Across all measured configurations, this combo never drops below 126 FPS average, indicating that the game — a 2016 puzzle platformer — is easily saturated by this hardware pairing. The data shows a system that consistently delivers fluid motion, with the primary differentiator being the choice of quality preset rather than resolution headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows reveal that the Low preset provides the highest average frame rates at every resolution: 359 FPS at 1920x1080, 321 FPS at 2560x1440, and 264 FPS at 3840x2160. However, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance headroom, particularly when considering frame pacing. At 1080p, Medium averages 331 FPS with a minimum of 281 FPS and maximum of 381 FPS, which is only 7.8% lower than Low's 359 FPS average. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 281 at 1080p still exceeds the High preset's average of 276 FPS at the same resolution, suggesting that Medium provides more consistent frame delivery without sacrificing much throughput.

At 1440p, the Medium preset shines even more clearly: it averages 297 FPS with a minimum of 252 FPS and maximum of 341 FPS, while High averages 210 FPS and Ultra averages 200 FPS. The gap between Medium and Low at 1440p is only 24 FPS (297 vs 321), which is a modest 7.5% penalty for substantially better image quality. At 4K, Medium averages 211 FPS with a minimum of 180 FPS and maximum of 243 FPS, whereas High averages 132 FPS and Ultra averages 126 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K maintains a minimum above 180 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end displays. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, Low at 4K delivers 264 FPS average, but the Medium preset's 211 FPS average with tighter frame pacing makes it the recommended choice for the best overall experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, clocked at a base of 2295 MHz and boost of 2550 MHz. In Inside, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as resolution rises. At 4K, the frame rate drops from 359 FPS at 1080p Low to 264 FPS at 4K Low, a 26.5% reduction that reflects the added pixel throughput demand. The GPU's 10240 shading units and 112 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s, which is more than sufficient for a game with Inside's visual complexity, but the data indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER still has significant headroom even at 4K Ultra (126 FPS average).

The VRAM capacity of 16 GB is never a limiting factor in this dataset, as even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra) produces 126 FPS average without any signs of memory pressure. The GPU's FP32 compute of 52.22 TFLOPS suggests that the card is vastly overprovisioned for this title, which is consistent with the observation that the minimum FPS at 4K Medium (180 FPS) is higher than the average FPS at 4K Ultra (126 FPS). The RTX 4080 SUPER's nearest rivals — the RTX 4080 with a deltaPct of -0.1% and the Radeon Pro W5700X at -1.1% — are statistically tied in synthetic benchmarks, yet the measured game data shows that this card's real-world performance in Inside is dominated by the settings preset rather than any GPU compute limitation.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i5-12600KF and RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 279th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 7.5% of all configurations. The percentile ranking reflects the fact that many higher-tier CPU/GPU pairings (e.g., with newer flagship CPUs or dual-GPU setups) may achieve similar or higher frame rates, but this combo's 279th position still indicates elite-level performance. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 79 and the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 86 both contribute to this strong showing, though the game's modest requirements mean that the combo's rank is more influenced by the GPU's raw throughput than the CPU's multi-threaded capabilities.

The combo's rank of 279 out of 3716 becomes more impressive when considering that Inside is a 2016 title with relatively low system demands. The data shows that this pairing delivers 271 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is more than 4x the typical 60 FPS target, and even at 4K Ultra it maintains 126 FPS. The rank of 279 suggests that there are 278 configurations that outperform this combo, likely featuring more recent flagship GPUs or CPUs with higher synthetic scores, but the measured FPS deltas between this combo and those ranked above it are unlikely to be perceptible given the already-high frame rates. The combo's position in the top 7.5% reflects the RTX 4080 SUPER's 86th percentile GPU ranking and the i5-12600KF's 79th percentile CPU ranking working in concert.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values show a clear progression: Low averages 359 FPS, Medium averages 331 FPS (min 281, max 381), High averages 276 FPS, and Ultra averages 271 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 88 FPS (24.5%), which is surprisingly small given the visual quality difference. The Medium preset's minimum of 281 FPS is higher than the High preset's average of 276 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset provides more consistent frame delivery. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1016) begins to play a role, as the 359 FPS Low result is likely approaching the CPU's frame-generation limit for this game's logic.

At 2560x1440, the breakdown is: Low 321 FPS, Medium 297 FPS (min 252, max 341), High 210 FPS, and Ultra 200 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 87 FPS (29.3%), which is the largest settings delta observed at any resolution. This suggests that the High preset introduces significant GPU work (likely post-processing or shadow effects) that disproportionately impacts frame rate. The Medium preset's minimum of 252 FPS still exceeds the High preset's average of 210 FPS, reinforcing that Medium is the sweet spot for 1440p gaming with this combo.

At 3840x2160, the breakdown is: Low 264 FPS, Medium 211 FPS (min 180, max 243), High 132 FPS, and Ultra 126 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 53 FPS (20.1%), while the drop from Medium to High is 79 FPS (37.4%). The Ultra preset's 126 FPS average is only 6 FPS lower than High's 132 FPS, indicating diminishing returns between High and Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 180 FPS at 4K is higher than the High preset's average of 132 FPS, making Medium the clear recommendation for 4K displays that support high refresh rates.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling data reveals how the limiting component shifts across the 1080p to 4K spectrum. From 1080p Low (359 FPS) to 1440p Low (321 FPS), the frame rate drops by 38 FPS (10.6%), which is less than the pixel count increase of 77.8% (from 2.07M to 3.69M pixels). This sub-linear scaling indicates that at Low settings with this combo, the CPU is partially limiting performance at 1080p, and the GPU has enough headroom to absorb some of the resolution increase. From 1440p Low (321 FPS) to 4K Low (264 FPS), the drop is 57 FPS (17.8%), while the pixel count increases by 125% (from 3.69M to 8.29M pixels). The larger frame rate drop at this transition suggests the GPU is becoming more dominant.

For the Medium preset, the scaling is more consistent: from 1080p (331 FPS) to 1440p (297 FPS) is a 10.3% drop, while from 1440p to 4K (211 FPS) is a 29.0% drop. This pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiter at 4K Medium, as the pixel throughput demand exceeds what the RTX 4080 SUPER can fully compensate for. The High and Ultra presets show even steeper scaling: High drops from 276 FPS at 1080p to 210 FPS at 1440p (23.9%) and then to 132 FPS at 4K (37.1%). The data clearly shows that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K for all settings, while at 1080p the CPU's 10-core, 16-thread configuration with a 4.90 GHz boost clock can keep up with the GPU's frame generation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF's role in Inside is primarily defined by its single-thread performance, given the game's 2016 release date and puzzle platformer genre. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302 indicate strong per-core performance, which is crucial for a game that likely relies on a single main thread for game logic. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads (with 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 20 MB shared L3) provide ample multi-threading headroom, as evidenced by the 3DMark max-threads score of 7952 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391. However, in Inside, the data shows that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck except at the lowest FPS values.

At 1080p Low (359 FPS average), the CPU's frame generation capability might be approaching its limit, as the 3DMark 16-thread score of 7956 suggests that the CPU can handle about 7960 units of synthetic throughput, but the game's actual single-thread demands (3DMark single-thread 1016) are what matter. The CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i9-10900K (deltaPct -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE (deltaPct 0.3%), AMD Ryzen 7 6800U (deltaPct -0.3%), and AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (deltaPct -0.3%) — are all within 0.3% of the i5-12600KF's average benchmark score of 27799, indicating that any of these CPUs would yield similar results in Inside. The CPU's 125 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform provide sufficient power delivery for sustained boost clocks of 4.90 GHz, which is critical for maintaining high frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 delivers 211 FPS average with a minimum of 180 FPS and maximum of 243 FPS. This is the highest quality setting that maintains a minimum above 180 FPS, whereas High and Ultra drop to 132 FPS and 126 FPS averages respectively. The Low preset achieves 264 FPS but sacrifices visual quality, making Medium the optimal choice for 4K.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the RTX 4080 in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54247, resulting in a deltaPct of -0.1% (the SUPER is 0.1% slower in this comparison). The Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% higher, and the Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.7% higher. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests partial CPU limitation at 1080p Low: the frame rate is 359 FPS, and the resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p Low only drops 10.6% despite a 77.8% pixel increase. This sub-linear drop indicates the CPU is limiting at 1080p, while at 4K the GPU becomes the primary limiter.

Q: What is this combo's ranking among all tested configurations?

A: This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 279th out of 3716 total combos tested in Inside, placing it in the top 7.5% of all configurations. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 86 and the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus is 79.

Q: How much frame rate is lost between Medium and High settings?

A: At 1080p, the drop from Medium (331 FPS) to High (276 FPS) is 55 FPS (16.6%). At 1440p, the drop is 87 FPS (29.3%) from 297 to 210 FPS. At 4K, the drop is 79 FPS (37.4%) from 211 to 132 FPS. The largest percentage drop occurs at 4K, indicating the GPU is more stressed at higher resolutions.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K Ultra?

A: Yes, the 16 GB GDDR6X memory is more than adequate. The 4K Ultra configuration achieves 126 FPS average with no indication of memory limitations. Even the most demanding setting combination (4K Ultra) stays well above 120 FPS, and the GPU's 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is far beyond what Inside requires.