Inside

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 delivers a compelling performance profile in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by graphics settings and resolution, with the CPU showing remarkable strength in lower-resolution scenarios. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS figures to understand the balance between the processor and graphics card.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 255.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 185.5 FPS, a reduction of 69.7 FPS. The jump to 4K Low further reduces performance to 117.9 FPS. This scaling indicates that at lower resolutions and settings, the graphics card is the primary limiting factor, as the frame rate drops significantly with each increase in pixel count.

At higher settings, the scaling pattern shifts. With Ultra settings, the 1080p result is 121.6 FPS, which falls to 85.6 FPS at 1440p and then to 57.7 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is approximately 52.5%, compared to a 53.8% drop at Low settings. This similar relative decline suggests that the RTX 2060 is consistently the bottleneck across all settings, though the absolute frame rates remain playable even at 4K Ultra.

The 4K High result of 58.6 FPS is notably close to the 4K Ultra result of 57.7 FPS. This small 0.9 FPS difference indicates that the step from High to Ultra at this resolution is nearly indistinguishable in performance cost. The data suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s and 6 GB of VRAM are sufficient for the game’s demands, as the frame rate is not collapsing due to memory limitations but rather scaling with the computational load.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, shows its capabilities through the measured results. Its boost clock of 1680 MHz and 1920 shading units contribute to a Passmark G3D score of 14111, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The card’s 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which appears adequate for Inside’s art style.

The GPU’s role is most evident in the scaling from Medium to High to Ultra settings. At 1080p, the progression from Medium (204.3 FPS) to High (126.8 FPS) to Ultra (121.6 FPS) shows a steep drop when moving from Medium to High, but a much smaller drop from High to Ultra. This suggests that the High preset introduces effects that are significantly more demanding than Medium, while Ultra adds relatively little additional load on the 2060.

In comparison to its nearest rivals, the RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074, placing it 0.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 7600S and 1.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro W5500. The card’s 4K performance, with a Low setting result of 117.9 FPS, demonstrates that it can handle the resolution well when the graphical load is reduced. The 2:1 FP16 ratio of 12.90 TFLOPS may also assist in certain rendering paths, though the game’s specific engine utilization is not detailed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its benchmark results are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and a single-core score of 3004. The processor’s Passmark multithread score of 25032 and single-thread score of 3634 place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs. This compute capability is crucial for maintaining high frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed.

The CPU’s role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p Low result of 255.2 FPS. This figure, which is more than double the 4K Low result, indicates that the i5-13400F is capable of feeding frames to the GPU at a very high rate. The processor’s L3 cache of 20 MB shared and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory, while not directly measured in the FPS data, contribute to its ability to handle the game’s logic and physics without becoming a bottleneck.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25236, which is 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H and 0.5% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D. The processor’s 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and 2-thread score of 1880 show strong scaling across thread counts. In this game, the CPU’s performance is sufficient to push the RTX 2060 to its limits, as evidenced by the large FPS differences between settings at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 204.3 FPS, which is 77.5 FPS higher than High and 82.7 FPS higher than Ultra. At 1440p, Medium provides 147.1 FPS, comfortably above the 85.6 FPS of Ultra. Even at 4K, Medium achieves 92.8 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

The High preset, while producing 126.8 FPS at 1080p, drops to 91.6 FPS at 1440p and 58.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is just below the 60 FPS mark, suggesting that users with 4K displays may prefer Medium for a more consistent experience. The Ultra preset offers the highest fidelity but at a significant cost: 121.6 FPS at 1080p, 85.6 FPS at 1440p, and 57.7 FPS at 4K. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal in frame rate terms, so High is the more sensible choice for those wanting maximum quality without the extra performance hit.

For competitive play or high-refresh-rate displays, the Low preset is the clear choice. It delivers 255.2 FPS at 1080p and 185.5 FPS at 1440p, which are excellent for 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitors. However, the visual downgrade from Medium is substantial, so users should weigh their preference for smoothness against visual fidelity.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1357th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places the combo in the lower half of tested systems, which is a direct consequence of the RTX 2060’s age and performance tier. The GPU’s 58th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with the CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking, creates a system where the graphics card is the limiting factor.

The combo’s rank indicates that while it can run the game at playable frame rates, there are many other tested combinations that achieve higher performance. The GPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 7600S with a 0.5% higher average score, would likely produce similar results. The CPU’s strong performance, however, ensures that the combo is not held back by processor limitations, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low.

The data suggests that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can achieve high frame rates on Medium or High settings. At 4K, the combo is still capable, but users will need to accept Medium settings to stay above 60 FPS. The rank of 1357 out of 1671 reflects this mid-tier positioning, offering a solid experience for the hardware’s capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values are as follows: Low settings produce 255.2 FPS, Medium delivers 204.3 FPS, High reaches 126.8 FPS, and Ultra achieves 121.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 50.9 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 5.2 FPS. This shows diminishing returns at the higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the results are 185.5 FPS for Low, 147.1 FPS for Medium, 91.6 FPS for High, and 85.6 FPS for Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by 27.3% at Low, 28.0% at Medium, 27.8% at High, and 29.6% at Ultra. This consistent reduction across settings confirms the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the data shows 117.9 FPS for Low, 92.8 FPS for Medium, 58.6 FPS for High, and 57.7 FPS for Ultra. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 36.4% at Low, 36.9% at Medium, 36.0% at High, and 32.6% at Ultra. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value, but it remains above 30 FPS, ensuring the game is playable. The 4K High and Ultra results are nearly identical, with only 0.9 FPS separating them, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects have minimal impact at this resolution.