Inside

Inside is a modestly demanding puzzle platformer by modern standards, yet the benchmark results for the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination reveal a fascinating scaling pattern that highlights the balance between CPU and GPU workloads. The measured data shows this pairing is exceptionally capable at every resolution tested, but the way frame rates shift from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about which component is doing the heavy lifting.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression across resolutions is revealing. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers 189.5 FPS, which drops to 135.1 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 85.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 55% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly depending on the quality level.

At Low settings, the scaling is particularly dramatic. The system achieves 330.9 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 288.4 FPS at 1440p and 181.3 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K drop here is 45%, which is less severe than the Ultra preset's 55% decline. This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU becomes more of a limiting factor at 1080p, as the GPU has less work to do and can push frame rates into territory where the i5-13400F's processing capabilities start to cap performance.

The Medium settings row shows a similar trend with 307.2 FPS at 1080p, 230.5 FPS at 1440p, and 144 FPS at 4K. The High preset follows with 202.2, 142.6, and 91.2 FPS respectively. Interestingly, the gap between 1080p and 1440p is larger at Medium (25% drop) than at High (29% drop), but the 1440p to 4K transition is more punishing at High (36% drop) versus Medium (38% drop). This non-linear scaling indicates that the game's rendering load doesn't scale uniformly with pixel count across different quality tiers.

The data strongly suggests that at 1080p, particularly with Low and Medium settings, the CPU is the primary constraint. Frame rates above 300 FPS are demanding on any processor, and the i5-13400F's 10 cores and 16 threads are being pushed to their limits. At 4K, the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth become the bottleneck, as the higher pixel count demands more fill rate and memory throughput.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 330.9 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This suggests the game is highly optimized and the hardware is more than sufficient for competitive play at lower quality presets.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: At 4K Ultra, the system averages 85.2 FPS, which is 104.3 FPS lower than the 189.5 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra. This represents a 55% performance reduction, indicating the GPU is heavily stressed at the highest resolution and quality combination.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 Ti capable of 1440p gaming in this title?

A: Yes, the data shows 142.6 FPS at 1440p High and 135.1 FPS at 1440p Ultra. Both exceed the 60 FPS threshold by a wide margin, making 1440p an excellent resolution for this combination with all settings maxed.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low settings produce 181.3 FPS while Ultra produces 85.2 FPS, a difference of 96.1 FPS. This shows the GPU has substantial headroom even at 4K when settings are reduced.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at any resolution?

A: The evidence points to CPU limitation at 1080p with Low settings, where 330.9 FPS is likely near the processor's maximum output in this game. The i5-13400F's single-thread score of 960 in 3dmark and 3004 in Cinebench R23 indicates strong per-core performance, but even the best CPUs have limits around 300+ FPS in physics-heavy scenes.

Q: How many combinations were tested for the overall ranking?

A: The combo ranks 569th out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the top 34% of all systems benchmarked in this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti combination holds rank 569 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the upper third of all systems, which is impressive considering the game's release in 2016 and the relatively modern hardware pairing. The rank reflects a system that can handle the game's modest demands with significant overhead, but it doesn't crack the top tier because many higher-end GPUs and CPUs can push even higher frame rates at 4K.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 82 versus all CPUs indicates it outperforms 82% of processors in general benchmarks, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% faster), showing the i5-13400F is very competitive in its class. The GPU's percentile ranking of 74 versus all GPUs, with an average score of 30849, places it slightly below the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (0.8% slower) and above the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (0.3% faster).

In the context of Inside specifically, the rank 569 out of 1671 suggests that while this combo is strong, there are many systems that achieve higher frame rates, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU-bound scenarios dominate. The 8 GB VRAM on the RTX 3070 Ti, while adequate for this game, may be a limiting factor in other more demanding titles, but it doesn't appear to hinder performance here.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers outstanding performance across all presets. Low settings yield 330.9 FPS, Medium produces 307.2 FPS, High achieves 202.2 FPS, and Ultra delivers 189.5 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is only 7.2% lower, but from Medium to High the drop is 34.2%, and High to Ultra adds another 6.3% reduction. This indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1080p, as the step to High costs significantly more frame rate for what may be modest visual gains.

At 2560x1440, the numbers remain strong. Low settings hit 288.4 FPS, Medium reaches 230.5 FPS, High manages 142.6 FPS, and Ultra produces 135.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium shows a 20.1% drop, while Medium to High costs 38.1%, and High to Ultra only 5.3%. This pattern repeats the 1080p behavior where the High preset represents a significant performance cliff, suggesting that certain rendering features enabled at High have a disproportionate impact on performance.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are still playable across all presets. Low gives 181.3 FPS, Medium produces 144 FPS, High achieves 91.2 FPS, and Ultra delivers 85.2 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 20.6%, Medium to High is 36.7%, and High to Ultra is 6.6%. At 4K, even Ultra settings maintain an average above 85 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, built on the Ampere architecture with 6144 shading units, 48 ray tracing cores, and 192 tensor cores, is clearly the dominant component at higher resolutions. Its 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which becomes crucial at 4K where texture data and framebuffer operations demand more memory throughput. The GPU's base clock of 1575 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with a pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s, allow it to handle the game's simple geometry and lighting effects with ease.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its capability: a Passmark G3D score of 23356 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3478. Its compute performance, measured at 11601 in Passmark GPU Compute and 137518 in Geekbench OpenCL, shows strong parallel processing ability. However, the most telling data point is the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the 55% drop in performance aligns more closely with GPU-bound behavior, where the rendering workload doubles with each resolution step.

The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game, which was released in 2016 and doesn't feature high-resolution textures that would strain memory capacity. The GPU's 21.75 TFLOPS FP32 performance is overkill for a puzzle platformer, but it ensures headroom for any future titles or heavier scenes. The nearest GPU rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700, is only 0.8% faster in average benchmarks, indicating the RTX 3070 Ti is well-positioned among its peers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F with 10 cores and 16 threads, based on Raptor Lake architecture, plays a supporting role in this game's performance. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz, combined with 20 MB of shared L3 cache, provide strong single-threaded performance that is critical for game logic and physics. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores are impressive: 960 in 3dmark, 302 in Cinebench R15, 1261 in R20, and 3004 in R23, alongside a Passmark single-thread score of 3634.

The multi-threaded performance is equally robust, with Cinebench R23 multicore reaching 21279 and Passmark multithread scoring 25032. However, Inside likely doesn't utilize many threads, as evidenced by the frame rate behavior at 1080p Low. The 330.9 FPS at 1080p Low versus 288.4 FPS at 1440p Low shows a 12.8% drop, but the 1080p Medium to 1440p Medium drop is 25.0%. This suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is close to its maximum frame rate output, and the GPU has enough headroom to push frames as fast as the CPU can feed it.

The CPU's 65W TDP and 10 nm process node contribute to its efficiency, but the key metric is its percentile rank of 82 and average benchmark score of 25236, which puts it right between the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.1% faster) and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (0.5% faster). For a game like Inside, the CPU's role is primarily to maintain consistent frame pacing and handle the game's puzzle logic without becoming a bottleneck, which it does admirably given the high frame rates observed.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset at 307.2 FPS offers the best balance, as it delivers 97.4% of the Low preset's performance while providing improved visuals. The High preset at 202.2 FPS is still excellent for 144Hz monitors, but the 34% performance cost over Medium may not justify the visual upgrade in a game with simple art style. Ultra at 189.5 FPS is only 6.3% slower than High, so if you're on a 165Hz display, Ultra is a viable choice.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 142.6 FPS is the sweet spot for 144Hz displays, offering a 5.6% improvement over Ultra's 135.1 FPS. The Medium preset at 230.5 FPS is overkill for most monitors and sacrifices visual fidelity unnecessarily. Low at 288.4 FPS is only useful for competitive play or if you have a 240Hz+ display, but the visual compromises are significant.

At 3840x2160, the High preset at 91.2 FPS is recommended for 60Hz displays, as it provides a 6.6% improvement over Ultra's 85.2 FPS with minimal visual difference. The Medium preset at 144 FPS is ideal for 120Hz or 144Hz 4K monitors, and the Low preset at 181.3 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all 4K displays. Given that even Ultra maintains 85.2 FPS, there's no resolution where this combo fails to deliver a playable experience, making the choice purely about matching your display's refresh rate and personal preferences for visual quality.