Inside

# Inside Performance Analysis: Intel Core i5-12600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

This combo ranks 1719th out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. The pairing of a 10-core Alder Lake processor with an 8 GB Blackwell GPU produces a system that handles this 2016 puzzle platformer comfortably at most settings, though the data reveals interesting bottlenecks depending on resolution and preset.

How This Combo Ranks

With a combo rank of 1719 out of 2887, this system sits in the 40th percentile of all tested combinations for Inside. That ranking might seem modest for a modern desktop setup, but the game's modest requirements mean even mid-pack combos deliver playable frame rates. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus stands at 79, meaning the i5-12600KF outperforms roughly four-fifths of all processors in the database. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus is 66, indicating it beats about two-thirds of all graphics cards. This gap between CPU and GPU percentiles suggests the graphics card is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the i5-12600KF posts an average benchmark score of 27799. The Intel Core i9-10900K scores 27872, a delta of -0.3 percent, meaning the older i9 edges it out by a hair. The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D scores 27896, also -0.3 percent relative. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE trails at 27712, a +0.3 percent delta from the i5's perspective. These are all essentially statistical ties, with less than a third of a percent separating the four processors.

For the GPU, the RTX 5050's average benchmark score is 21035. The AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 21153 (-0.6 percent), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237 (-1 percent), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379 (-1.6 percent). The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT comes in at 20713, a +1.6 percent delta from the RTX 5050's perspective. The data shows the RTX 5050 sits in a tight cluster with these rivals, with only 1.6 percent separating the best and worst of the group.

FAQ

Q: Can this combination run Inside at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The measured data shows 64 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra, so yes, it clears the 60 FPS threshold, though without much headroom.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The maximum measured average is 296 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to the RX 5600 XT in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050 scores 21035 on average, which is 1.6 percent higher than the RX 5600 XT's 20713.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to bottleneck in this game?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor, especially at higher resolutions and settings, since the CPU ranks in the 79th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 66th.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low produces 213 FPS average while Ultra produces 101 FPS, a difference of 112 FPS.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at every tested configuration?

A: Yes, every measured row shows an average above 60 FPS, with the lowest being 64 FPS at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The RTX 5050 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2500 MHz, which translates to 20 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These specifications position the card as a capable entry-level option for modern gaming, and Inside's modest demands align well with its capabilities.

The GPU's shading units number 2560, paired with 80 texture mapping units and 32 raster output pipelines. The pixel rate is 82.30 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s. The card achieves 13.17 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16 operations, indicating a 1:1 ratio between these precision levels. The 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores provide ray tracing and AI acceleration features, though Inside itself is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer that doesn't leverage these capabilities.

The GPU's measured performance in synthetic tests shows a PassMark G3D score of 17326 and a PassMark GPU Compute score of 9184. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2502, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 90334 and 89381 respectively. The PassMark DirectX scores vary significantly: DirectX 9 at 186, DirectX 10 at 103, DirectX 11 at 150, and DirectX 12 at 66. The G2D score of 1113 suggests solid 2D performance, which is relevant for a game like Inside that renders primarily in 2D with 3D effects.

The GPU's 130 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector make it a straightforward addition to most systems. Its PCIe 5.0 x8 interface provides ample bandwidth for the data transfer requirements of a game like Inside. The card's transistor count of 16,900 million on a 149 mm² die, fabricated on TSMC's 5 nm process, indicates a dense, efficient design.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data covers three resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—each with four settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. All rows report average FPS, with the Medium preset additionally providing minimum and maximum values.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 296 FPS average, which is exceptionally high. Medium drops to 237 FPS average, with a minimum of 201 and maximum of 272 FPS. High produces 148 FPS average, and Ultra yields 141 FPS average. The spread from Low to Ultra is 155 FPS, showing that even at the most demanding settings, the combo maintains well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, Low produces 213 FPS average, Medium drops to 170 FPS (minimum 145, maximum 196), High yields 106 FPS, and Ultra produces 101 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 112 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset shows a minimum of 145 FPS, which is still comfortably above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, Low delivers 134 FPS average, Medium drops to 107 FPS (minimum 91, maximum 123), High produces 67 FPS, and Ultra yields 64 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 70 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 91 FPS remains well above playable thresholds, while the 4K High and Ultra averages of 67 and 64 FPS respectively are close to standard 60 Hz display refresh rates.

The Medium preset across all resolutions shows the only available min/max data. At 1080p, the frame times range from 201 to 272 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 145 to 196 FPS. At 4K, it tightens further to 91 to 123 FPS. This pattern indicates that as resolution increases, the frame rate ceiling lowers, compressing the range between minimum and maximum.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K reveal how the system scales with resolution. At Low settings, the progression goes from 296 FPS at 1080p to 213 FPS at 1440p to 134 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 83 FPS (28 percent), and from 1440p to 4K is 79 FPS (37 percent). At Medium settings, the progression is 237 to 170 to 107 FPS, with drops of 67 FPS (28 percent) and 63 FPS (37 percent) respectively.

At High settings, the progression is 148 to 106 to 67 FPS, with drops of 42 FPS (28 percent) and 39 FPS (37 percent). At Ultra settings, the progression is 141 to 101 to 64 FPS, with drops of 40 FPS (28 percent) and 37 FPS (37 percent). The consistent percentage drops across all settings presets—roughly 28 percent from 1080p to 1440p and 37 percent from 1440p to 4K—indicate the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions because the processor's workload wouldn't change significantly. Instead, the substantial frame rate decreases at higher resolutions show that the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count increases. This is expected behavior for a game like Inside, which has modest CPU requirements that this 10-core processor easily satisfies.

The fact that 4K Low still produces 134 FPS average demonstrates the GPU has considerable headroom at lower quality settings. The 4K Ultra average of 64 FPS shows the card reaching its limit at maximum quality and highest resolution, but it still clears the 60 FPS threshold.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate performance. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 237 FPS average with a minimum of 201 FPS, ensuring no perceptible frame drops. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 FPS, still exceptionally smooth. Even at 4K Medium, the average of 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS provides a consistently fluid experience.

The High preset is also viable, with 148 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The 4K High average of 67 FPS is just above 60, which should be acceptable for most users but lacks the headroom of Medium's 107 FPS at the same resolution. The Ultra preset offers 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure of 64 FPS is the only measured average close to the 60 FPS threshold, making it the riskiest choice for maintaining consistent frame pacing.

For users with 1080p or 1440p displays, Ultra settings provide excellent frame rates of 141 and 101 FPS respectively, so there's no reason to compromise on quality at these resolutions. For 4K displays, Medium is the recommended choice due to its 107 FPS average and 91 FPS minimum, which offers a better experience than High or Ultra at 67 and 64 FPS respectively. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates, likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that emphasizes atmosphere and lighting.

The Medium preset's min/max data shows the frame time consistency at each resolution. The 201-272 FPS range at 1080p, 145-196 FPS at 1440p, and 91-123 FPS at 4K all indicate stable performance without significant stuttering. This consistency makes Medium the safest recommendation for a smooth experience across all resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It features 6 performance cores and 4 efficiency cores, though the fact pack does not specify this split. The base clock of 3.70 GHz can boost up to 4.90 GHz, providing strong single-threaded performance. The processor has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark scores demonstrate its capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23391 multi-core and 3302 single-core. Geekbench yields 12137 multi-core and 2157 single-core. The 3DMark tests show scores of 7956 for 16 threads, 1995 for 2 threads, 3806 for 4 threads, 6128 for 8 threads, and 7952 for max threads. The single-thread 3DMark score is 1016. PassMark scores include 27575 for multithread, 3925 for single-thread, 343231 for data compression, and 18445 for data encryption.

For Inside, a puzzle platformer that primarily renders 2D scenes with limited physics complexity, the CPU's single-threaded performance is the most relevant metric. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3302 and 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 indicate strong per-core performance. The processor's 79th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it's well above average for gaming workloads.

The CPU's nearest rivals in average benchmark score are all within 0.3 percent, showing that the i5-12600KF performs on par with the Intel Core i9-10900K, AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, and AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE. This means any differences in gameplay between these processors would be imperceptible. The CPU's 125 W TDP and support for both DDR4 and DDR5 memory provide flexibility in system configuration.

Given the GPU's 66th percentile ranking versus the CPU's 79th, the i5-12600KF has plenty of headroom for this game. The measured FPS data supports this conclusion: as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, frame rates drop consistently across all settings, indicating the GPU is the bottleneck rather than the CPU. The i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient for a game of Inside's scope, ensuring that the processor never becomes the limiting factor in this combination.