Inside

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a performance profile in Inside that is defined by extreme headroom and a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases. This is a 2016 puzzle platformer with modest graphical demands, and the data reflects that: even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains a near triple-digit average. The most significant observation is the scaling curve from 1080p to 4K, which shows the CPU’s dominance at lower resolutions giving way to GPU-bound performance at higher ones. At 1080p, the frame rates are astronomical, ranging from 219 FPS at Ultra to 333 FPS at Low, indicating that the 10-core, 16-thread processor is barely breaking a sweat. The delta between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 114 FPS, a substantial gap, but the absolute numbers are so high that the experience is fluid regardless of settings. Moving to 1440p, the pattern holds, but the GPU begins to assert itself more firmly; the Ultra preset drops to 157 FPS while Low reaches 298 FPS. At 4K, the curve steepens dramatically. The RTX 4070 is clearly the limiting factor here, with Low producing 208 FPS and Ultra falling to 99 FPS. This is a 109 FPS swing purely from settings at 4K, which starkly contrasts with the 114 FPS swing at 1080p. The limiting component shifts from being CPU-bound at 1080p to firmly GPU-bound at 4K, a classic sign of a balanced system where the resolution dictates the workload.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is the single most telling metric for this combo in Inside. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 230 FPS at 1080p to 165 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 65 FPS, and then to 104 FPS at 4K, another 61 FPS drop. This represents a 54.8% decrease in performance from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The trend is consistent across all presets. At Low, the drop is from 333 FPS to 298 FPS to 208 FPS, meaning the 4K figure is 62.5% of the 1080p figure. At Medium, the numbers are 307 FPS, 264 FPS, and 166 FPS, showing a similar proportional decline. The Ultra preset follows suit with 219 FPS, 157 FPS, and 99 FPS. What this data reveals is that the scaling is not linear; the largest absolute drop occurs between 1440p and 4K for every setting. For example, at Medium, the 1440p to 4K drop is 98 FPS, while the 1080p to 1440p drop is only 43 FPS. This non-linear behavior is the signature of a GPU that is becoming saturated. At 1080p, the i5-13400F is feeding the RTX 4070 more frames than the GPU can render, but the GPU is still fast enough to keep up. At 4K, the pixel throughput demand on the RTX 4070’s 5888 shading units becomes the dominant factor, and the CPU’s role diminishes. The data strongly suggests that for a player targeting 4K, the GPU is the bottleneck, and for 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, though both are powerful enough to keep frame rates well above any standard display refresh rate.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance on which preset offers the best experience. For a 60 Hz display, every preset at every resolution is overkill, as even 4K Ultra produces 99 FPS. However, for high-refresh-rate monitors, the choice becomes more nuanced. At 1080p, the High preset at 230 FPS provides a massive surplus of frames, and the jump to Ultra only costs 11 FPS (219 FPS), making Ultra the logical choice for maxing out visual fidelity without sacrificing fluidity. The Medium preset at 307 FPS is unnecessary for any current monitor, and Low at 333 FPS offers no practical benefit. At 1440p, the situation is similar. Ultra at 157 FPS is still well above 144 Hz, and High at 165 FPS is nearly identical in performance. The 8 FPS difference between High and Ultra is negligible, so Ultra is the recommended preset for 1440p. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 has enough headroom to handle the highest settings without any meaningful compromise. At 4K, the decision changes. Ultra at 99 FPS is playable but sits below 100 FPS, while High at 104 FPS is only 5 FPS faster. Both are acceptable for 60 Hz gaming, but for 120 Hz displays, neither will fully saturate the panel. The Medium preset at 166 FPS is a significant jump and would be the best choice for a 144 Hz 4K monitor, though it sacrifices some visual quality. Given that Inside is a puzzle platformer where visual atmosphere is part of the experience, the recommendation is to use Ultra at 1080p and 1440p, and High at 4K if visual fidelity is paramount, or Medium at 4K for a smoother frame pacing, as the 141 FPS minimum at Medium ensures minimal stutter.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 860th out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 23.1% of all system configurations in the database. The percentile ranking reflects the raw power of both components. The CPU itself sits at the 77th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 81st percentile against all GPUs. The combo rank of 860 suggests that there are many systems with more powerful components, likely featuring top-tier CPUs like the Core i9 series or GPUs like the RTX 4090, but the i5-13400F and RTX 4070 pairing is far from a slouch. The rank indicates that this system is in the upper quartile of performance for this specific game. The nearest rival for the CPU is the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, which has an average benchmark score of 25284, a 0% delta from the i5-13400F’s 25292. This shows that the i5-13400F is performing on par with a mobile flagship CPU from a previous generation, which is impressive for a mid-range desktop part. The GPU’s nearest rival is the NVIDIA Tesla P4, with a 0.1% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a 0.4% delta, indicating that the RTX 4070 is slightly ahead of these older high-end cards in synthetic benchmarks. The high combo rank, combined with the measured FPS data, confirms that this system is not leaving any performance on the table for Inside. The rank is not just about raw numbers; it reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is severely holding back the other, allowing the system to achieve its full potential in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all nine combinations of resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 333 FPS average, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 307 FPS with a minimum of 261 FPS and a maximum of 353 FPS. High produces 230 FPS, and Ultra yields 219 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 114 FPS, showing how much headroom exists even at the highest settings. Moving to 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 298 FPS at Low, 264 FPS at Medium (with a min of 225 and max of 304), 165 FPS at High, and 157 FPS at Ultra. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 141 FPS, which is larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to feel the load. At 3840x2160, the numbers are 208 FPS at Low, 166 FPS at Medium (with a min of 141 and max of 191), 104 FPS at High, and 99 FPS at Ultra. The Low to Ultra delta is 109 FPS, which is smaller than at 1440p, suggesting a convergence as the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The Medium preset is the only one with minimum and maximum FPS data, showing a 50 FPS range at 1080p, a 79 FPS range at 1440p, and a 50 FPS range at 4K. This variance indicates that Medium settings introduce some frame time inconsistency, but the average frame rates are so high that it would be imperceptible. The 4K Ultra result of 99 FPS is the only figure below 100 FPS, and it is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows a consistent pattern: the combo is capable of 4K gaming, but it truly shines at 1440p and below, where it can easily drive high-refresh-rate monitors even at the highest settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 plays a critical role in determining the upper limits of performance in Inside, particularly at 4K. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus providing 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, the GPU has ample resources for this game’s textures and effects. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz, which translates to 21 Gbps effective, and this is more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer. The GPU’s 5888 shading units are the primary workhorses, and their performance is governed by the boost clock of 2475 MHz. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is not the limiting factor, as even the lowest frame rate at Ultra (219 FPS) is far above what the CPU could be holding back. However, at 4K, the pixel fill rate becomes crucial. The RTX 4070’s pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s are what allow it to maintain 99 FPS at Ultra, but the substantial drop from 208 FPS at Low to 99 FPS at Ultra demonstrates that the GPU is working hard at this resolution. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present but are not heavily utilized in a non-ray-traced 2.5D side-scroller, meaning the raw rasterization performance is what matters here. The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 26927 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 3854, place it at the 81st percentile, confirming its high-end status. The 200 W TDP and dual-slot design are typical for this class, and the data suggests that the GPU is well-suited for high-resolution gaming, though its limits are clearly visible when pushing 4K Ultra settings. The fact that the GPU is rated at 81st percentile against all GPUs, while the combo ranks in the top 23%, shows that the GPU is a strong contributor to the system’s overall capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F has a significant but often overlooked role in Inside, as the data reveals it is the limiting factor at lower resolutions. This processor features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process, provides a substantial amount of single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3191 and a 3DMark single-thread score of 960. In Inside, which is not heavily multi-threaded, these single-thread capabilities are what push frame rates to their extreme at 1080p. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 per core help keep the game’s data close at hand, reducing latency. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1880 and 4-thread score of 3459 are particularly relevant, as they show the processor’s strength in lightly-threaded workloads. At 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU with frames faster than the GPU can render, leading to the 333 FPS result at Low. However, as the resolution increases, the CPU’s role diminishes. The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is primarily due to the GPU, not the CPU, because the CPU’s frame generation capability remains constant. The i5-13400F’s 65 W TDP and launch MSRP of $196 make it an efficient and affordable choice, but the benchmark data is what matters here. Its average benchmark score of 25292 places it at the 77th percentile, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, has a delta of 0%, meaning they are statistically tied. The CPU’s performance in Cinebench R23 multi-core (22604) shows it has plenty of headroom for other tasks, but for Inside, the single-thread and low-thread scores are the key indicators. The data confirms that the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, but it is the primary driver of the exceptionally high frame rates seen at 1080p, making it a balanced partner for the RTX 4070.