Inside

The Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a high-end combination that delivers exceptional frame rates in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The data shows this combo ranks 61st out of 1,671 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the top 3.6% of all systems. With the CPU sitting at the 84th percentile among all processors and the GPU at the 91st percentile, this pairing is well-matched for a game that is more demanding on the graphics card than the processor. The measured results confirm that even at 4K resolution with Ultra settings, the system maintains an average of 142.5 FPS, making it far more than capable of maxing out any high-refresh-rate display.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Inside?*

A: The system delivers playable frame rates at all tested resolutions. At 4K with High settings it averages 147.6 FPS, and at 1440p with High settings it reaches 232.6 FPS. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Low settings produce 359.3 FPS, but even 4K Ultra remains above 140 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's performance compare to its closest rivals in this system?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 66,473, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733), Tesla P40 (66,127), and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097). The RTX 4090 sits comfortably among these competitors, with a percentile ranking of 91 against all GPUs.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12600KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: The data suggests it is not a significant bottleneck. The CPU's multi-threaded Cinebench R23 score is 23,444, and its 3DMark max-threads score is 7,952. At 1080p Low, the system hits 359.3 FPS, indicating the processor can feed the GPU effectively even at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the difference between the CPU's single-thread and multi-thread performance?

A: The i5-12600KF scores 3,309 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 23,444 in multi-core. Its Geekbench single-core score is 2,529 versus 12,373 for multi-core. This 10-core, 16-thread processor with a 4.90 GHz boost clock provides strong performance across both workloads.

Q: How does the system perform at 1440p compared to 1080p?

A: The performance drop is modest. With High settings, the system drops from 279.1 FPS at 1080p to 232.6 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of about 16.7%. At Ultra settings, it goes from 274.9 FPS to 220.3 FPS, roughly a 19.9% decrease.

Q: Which settings preset should I use for the best experience?

A: For a 4K display, High settings at 147.6 FPS offers the best balance, as Ultra only drops to 142.5 FPS while Low jumps to 277.9 FPS. For 1440p, High at 232.6 FPS is recommended over Ultra's 220.3 FPS, as the visual difference is minimal but the frame rate gain is notable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this configuration, and its specifications explain why the frame rates are so high. The GPU features 16,384 shading units, 512 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units, all running at a boost clock of 2,520 MHz. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game like Inside that does not rely heavily on large textures.

The GPU's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is a key factor in the measured results. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 142.5 FPS, which is a demanding workload for most GPUs but trivial for the RTX 4090. The benchmark data shows the GPU scores 38,194 in PassMark G3D and 31,7684 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it at the 91st percentile of all GPUs. This raw compute headroom means the RTX 4090 is never the limiting factor in Inside, even at maximum settings and resolution.

The GPU's memory clock of 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) and pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s contribute to its ability to handle high resolutions. The measured FPS data confirms this: at 4K Low, the system produces 277.9 FPS, and at 4K High it drops to 147.6 FPS. The relatively small gap between High and Ultra settings (147.6 vs 142.5 FPS) indicates that the GPU has enough headroom to absorb the extra load without significant frame rate penalties.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF plays a supporting but capable role in this pairing. With 10 cores and 16 threads, it provides ample parallel processing power for Inside, which is not a heavily threaded game. The processor's base clock of 3.70 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensure high single-thread performance, which is critical for game logic and physics calculations in a puzzle platformer.

Benchmark results show the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23,444 and a single-core score of 3,309. Its 3DMark single-thread score is 1,016, while the max-threads score is 7,952. The CPU's PassMark multithread score of 27,575 and single-thread score of 3,925 place it at the 84th percentile of all CPUs. This puts it on par with the Intel Core i9-10900K, which has an average score of 27,829 (a 0% delta), and just slightly behind the Core i5-12600K at 27,851 (-0.1% delta).

For Inside, the CPU's role is primarily to keep the GPU fed. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 359.3 FPS, which is near the practical limit for many displays. The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core help reduce latency, and its support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory provides flexibility. The CPU's TDP of 125 W is modest compared to the GPU's 450 W, indicating that the power draw is dominated by the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo show consistent performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system averages 359.3 FPS on Low, 329.6 FPS on Medium, 279.1 FPS on High, and 274.9 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 84.4 FPS, which is relatively narrow given the settings range.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 322.6 FPS on Low, 295.3 FPS on Medium, 232.6 FPS on High, and 220.3 FPS on Ultra. The performance drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but not severe, with the largest gap occurring at High settings (279.1 to 232.6 FPS). At 3840x2160, the system averages 277.9 FPS on Low, 235.7 FPS on Medium, 147.6 FPS on High, and 142.5 FPS on Ultra.

The 4K results show a more pronounced difference between settings, with Low producing nearly double the frame rate of Ultra (277.9 vs 142.5 FPS). This suggests that at 4K, the GPU's workload becomes more significant, and the settings presets have a larger impact on performance. Interestingly, the gap between High and Ultra is small at all resolutions (4.2 FPS at 4K, 12.3 FPS at 1440p, 4.2 FPS at 1080p), indicating that Ultra settings do not add much visual benefit for the performance cost.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the system drops from 359.3 FPS at 1080p to 322.6 FPS at 1440p (a 10.2% decrease) and then to 277.9 FPS at 4K (a 22.7% decrease from 1080p). This relatively gentle scaling suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is still a partial limiting factor, as the GPU has plenty of headroom.

At High settings, the scaling is more aggressive. The system goes from 279.1 FPS at 1080p to 232.6 FPS at 1440p (a 16.7% decrease) and then to 147.6 FPS at 4K (a 47.1% decrease from 1080p). This steeper drop at 4K indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. The RTX 4090's 1.01 TB/s bandwidth is sufficient, but the increased pixel count demands more from the rendering pipeline.

The Ultra settings show a similar pattern to High, with 274.9 FPS at 1080p dropping to 220.3 FPS at 1440p (19.9% decrease) and then to 142.5 FPS at 4K (48.2% decrease). The scaling data confirms that Inside becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution increases, which is expected for a game with simple geometry but potentially complex lighting effects.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the optimal settings depend on the display resolution. At 4K, High settings at 147.6 FPS is the recommended choice, as it provides a substantial frame rate advantage over Ultra (142.5 FPS) with minimal visual difference. The jump to Medium (235.7 FPS) offers a significant performance boost, but the visual quality reduction may be noticeable in a game with atmospheric lighting.

At 1440p, High settings at 232.6 FPS is the sweet spot. This provides a comfortable margin above 144 Hz refresh rates, and the difference from Ultra (220.3 FPS) is only 12.3 FPS, which is unlikely to be perceptible. For competitive play or maximum smoothness, Low settings at 322.6 FPS is an option, but the visual trade-off is substantial.

At 1080p, all settings produce frame rates above 270 FPS, making the choice less critical. High settings at 279.1 FPS are recommended for the best visual quality, as the performance penalty compared to Low (359.3 FPS) is not meaningful when the frame rate is already so high. The data shows that Ultra at 274.9 FPS is nearly identical to High, so there is little reason to use it unless the user values the extra effects.

Overall, the RTX 4090 and i5-12600KF combination is so powerful that even the most demanding settings in Inside are easily handled. The only scenario where settings matter is 4K, where High provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance.