Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016 that is remarkably forgiving on modern hardware. The benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-12600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 shows that this combination is heavily overqualified for the task, delivering frame rates that are playable at 4K and extraordinarily high at lower resolutions. The game’s age and simple 2D side-scrolling presentation mean that even at the highest settings, the bottleneck is almost entirely the GPU’s ability to push pixels rather than any complex CPU logic.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K resolution?

A: Yes. The data shows an average of 81.8 FPS at 3840x2160 on High settings, and 77.5 FPS on Ultra. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset delivers 126.4 FPS, which is not quite enough for a 144Hz refresh rate. However, the Medium preset pushes the average to 199.8 FPS, which fully saturates a 144Hz display and leaves headroom for a 165Hz or even 200Hz panel.

Q: Is the low preset ever necessary for this game?

A: Only for extreme refresh rates. At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 350.5 FPS, while the Medium preset still achieves 283.7 FPS. For standard 60Hz, 144Hz, or 240Hz monitors, Medium or High are better choices as they offer higher visual quality without sacrificing frame rate.

Q: How does the CPU benchmark score compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Core i5-12600KF has an average benchmark score of 27827, which is statistically identical to the Intel Core i9-10900K at 27829 (0% delta). It is also 0.1% behind the Core i5-12600K and 0.2% behind the Core Ultra 5 125H, but 0.4% ahead of the Core i7-13700H.

Q: How does the GPU benchmark score compare to its nearest competitors?

A: The RTX 5060 scores 30109 on average, which is essentially tied with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT at 30097 (0% delta). It trails the AMD Radeon RX 570 by 0.2% and outperforms the NVIDIA Tesla M60 by 0.5% and the RTX 5070 Mobile by 0.6%.

Q: Does the game prefer more CPU cores or higher clock speeds?

A: Given the game's release date, it is not heavily threaded. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 4.90 GHz are far beyond what Inside requires. The data shows no CPU bottleneck, as frame rates scale almost perfectly with resolution and settings changes, indicating GPU dependency.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across the four presets. At 1920x1080, the jump from Low (350.5 FPS) to Medium (283.7 FPS) is a 66.8 FPS drop, but the visual upgrade is substantial. The High preset (178.4 FPS) still provides an excellent experience, while Ultra (170.5 FPS) is only slightly slower and is the best choice for maxing out visual fidelity on a 144Hz monitor.

For 2560x1440 users, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. It produces 199.8 FPS, which is more than enough for any high-refresh-rate display, while the High preset at 126.4 FPS is still very smooth. Ultra at 118.4 FPS is playable but does not offer a significant enough visual improvement over High to justify the frame rate drop on most monitors.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The High preset (81.8 FPS) is the recommended setting for a 4K 60Hz display, as it provides a fluid experience. The Ultra preset (77.5 FPS) is also viable, but the 4.3 FPS difference between the two is negligible. The Medium preset (127.7 FPS) is overkill for a 60Hz screen but is ideal for those with a 120Hz 4K panel. The Low preset is not recommended at this resolution, as the game's atmospheric lighting and shadows are a core part of its presentation, and the 159.7 FPS it provides is unnecessary.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23444 and a single-core score of 3309. The PassMark single-thread score of 3925 further illustrates its strong per-core performance.

However, for a puzzle platformer like Inside, these specifications are largely irrelevant. The game does not scale with the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities; the data confirms this by showing that FPS remains high even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be the most likely bottleneck. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 350.5 FPS, which indicates that the CPU is not limiting the frame rate. The CPU’s 125W TDP and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory are general platform features that do not influence the game’s performance metrics.

The 84th percentile ranking among all CPUs means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, but this headroom is unused in this specific title. The core count and clock speed are simply not taxed. The game’s physics and logic are simple, and the 10 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to handle them without breaking a sweat. The data suggests that even a much weaker CPU would achieve similar frame rates in this scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 ranks 717th out of 1671 tested combinations for this game. This mid-pack placing is interesting because it reflects the overall hardware landscape, not the absolute performance of this specific pairing. Since Inside is so easy to run, many older or lower-end GPUs can also achieve high frame rates, meaning the ranking is not a measure of playability but of raw FPS output.

The ranking indicates that this specific combo is faster than roughly 57% of the other tested systems. This is a strong position, but it is not at the top because the RTX 5060 is not the most powerful GPU available. The data shows that the combo’s performance is sufficient for all practical purposes, including 4K High settings at 81.8 FPS. The rank reflects the GPU’s position in the broader market rather than any deficiency in the CPU-GPU pairing. The CPU does not hold the GPU back, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions where CPU overhead would be most apparent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 is the primary driver of performance in this title. It features 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 2280 MHz and a boost clock of 2497 MHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a PassMark G3D score of 20891 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 120785.

The GPU’s role in Inside is clear from the performance scaling. The memory size and bandwidth are more than adequate for the game’s textures, and the 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any resolution tested. The FP32 performance of 19.18 TFLOPS is sufficient to handle the game’s simple shading and lighting effects at high resolutions. The data shows that the GPU is the sole determinant of frame rate in this test, as the FPS changes proportionally with resolution and settings.

At 3840x2160 Ultra, the GPU renders 77.5 FPS, which confirms its raw power for a 2D game. The pixel rate of 119.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 299.6 GTexel/s are more than enough to fill the screen with the game's dark, atmospheric visuals. The GPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all GPUs is a better indicator of its performance than the combo's overall rank, and it shows that this is a competent mid-range card that handles this game with ease.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high: Low averages 350.5 FPS, Medium 283.7 FPS, High 178.4 FPS, and Ultra 170.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 7.9 FPS, making Ultra the better choice for maximum visual quality.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains impressive: Low produces 253.4 FPS, Medium 199.8 FPS, High 126.4 FPS, and Ultra 118.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 73.4 FPS, which is significant. This suggests that the High preset introduces a noticeable increase in rendering complexity, but the Medium preset still offers a visually rich experience at a much higher frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates begin to drop to more conventional levels: Low averages 159.7 FPS, Medium 127.7 FPS, High 81.8 FPS, and Ultra 77.5 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is roughly a doubling of pixel count, and the FPS drops accordingly. The High preset at 81.8 FPS is the recommended target for 4K gaming, as it stays above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 77.5 FPS is also playable, but the 4.3 FPS loss is not worth the minor visual uplift. The data confirms that the combo is capable of running the game at playable frame rates at 4K, which reflects the GPU's efficiency.