Inside

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7600 pairing delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a game whose 2D side-scrolling perspective is deceptively demanding at high resolutions. The measured frame rates reveal that this combination is heavily GPU-bound at 4K, but shifts toward CPU-bound territory at 1080p, where the processor’s strong single-thread performance takes over. Across all settings and resolutions, the combo never dips below 61 FPS, indicating that the hardware is more than sufficient for this title’s puzzle-platforming gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a predictable and steep performance curve as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 281.6 FPS, which drops to 202.7 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 129.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 54% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, a clear sign that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings: 133.8 FPS at 1080p, 96.6 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is barely above the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that the RX 7600’s 8 GB of VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are adequate but not excessive for this game at maximum fidelity.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 147.8 FPS (281.6 vs 133.8), but at 4K, the gap shrinks to 68.5 FPS (129.5 vs 61). This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that additional graphical fidelity has a relatively smaller impact on absolute frame rate. The 1440p results sit neatly between the two extremes, with High settings hitting 100.8 FPS and Medium reaching 160.8 FPS, making it the sweet spot for this combo if a high refresh rate monitor is in use.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Inside?*

A: Yes, but just barely at the highest settings. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 61 FPS, while High settings provide a more comfortable 64.8 FPS. Dropping to Medium yields 101.1 FPS, and Low reaches 129.5 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate gaming?

A: At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 229.2 FPS on Medium and 139.8 FPS on High, both well above 120 Hz. At 2560x1440, Medium settings hit 160.8 FPS, which also supports high refresh rate displays, though Ultra drops to 96.6 FPS.

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

A: The bottleneck shifts with resolution. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 281.6 FPS is likely limited by the CPU’s single-thread capabilities, given the i5-14400F’s 3093 score in Cinebench R23 single-core. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the constraint, as frame rates drop by more than half compared to 1080p.

Q: How does the RX 7600’s VRAM affect performance?

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for Inside, as even 4K Ultra uses less than the available capacity. The game’s simple art style and limited texture detail mean VRAM is not a limiting factor in any tested configuration.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 52.5% slower than Low (133.8 vs 281.6 FPS). At 1440p, the difference is 52.3% (96.6 vs 202.7 FPS). At 4K, Ultra is 52.9% slower (61 vs 129.5 FPS), showing a consistent penalty regardless of resolution.

Q: Does this combo rank well among all tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 1124 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the lower third of all configurations. However, this ranking includes systems with far more powerful GPUs, and the absolute frame rates here are still highly playable for Inside.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1124 out of 1671 tested combos places it in the 33rd percentile of all systems evaluated. This might sound underwhelming, but context matters: the database includes high-end configurations with flagship GPUs that cost several times more. For this specific game, the ranking reflects that the RX 7600, which sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, is paired with a CPU at the 88th percentile among all CPUs. The i5-14400F’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Core i7-12800H (deltaPct 0%), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (0.2%), and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (-0.2%), indicating it is solidly in the mid-range performance tier.

The RX 7600’s nearest rivals include the RX 7600 XT (0.6% higher avg score), RX 460 (0.8% higher), and RTX 3070 Mobile (-1.3% lower). This shows that the GPU is closely matched with the previous generation’s higher-tier mobile parts, though the desktop RX 7600 benefits from superior cooling and power delivery. In terms of actual game performance, the combo’s rank is more indicative of the GPU’s mid-range standing than any deficiency in the CPU, which is more than capable of feeding the GPU in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the i5-14400F and RX 7600 produce exceptional frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 281.6 FPS, Medium drops to 229.2 FPS, High delivers 139.8 FPS, and Ultra averages 133.8 FPS. The relatively small gap between High and Ultra (6 FPS) suggests that Ultra’s additional effects are not particularly taxing on the GPU at this resolution. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads, combined with a 4.70 GHz boost clock, ensure that there is no processor bottleneck even at the lowest settings where frame rates exceed 280 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low settings hit 202.7 FPS, Medium reaches 160.8 FPS, High averages 100.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 96.6 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 28% reduction at Low settings, but only a 28% reduction at Ultra, indicating that the GPU is beginning to become the primary constraint. At 3840x2160, the results are more modest: Low averages 129.5 FPS, Medium 101.1 FPS, High 64.8 FPS, and Ultra 61 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only configuration that dips close to the 60 FPS line, but it never crosses it.

The data reveals that High and Ultra settings produce nearly identical results at 4K (64.8 vs 61 FPS), which is unusual. This suggests that the game’s Ultra preset may introduce settings that are not fully utilized by the engine at higher resolutions, or that the GPU is hitting a memory bandwidth ceiling. The 128-bit bus and 8 GB GDDR6 memory are working hard at 4K, but the game’s relatively low texture complexity keeps the average frame rates playable.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside, particularly at higher resolutions. Based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with 2048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the GPU delivers a base clock of 1720 MHz and a boost clock of 2655 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for this game’s modest asset loads. The GPU’s 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient to handle the game’s 2D rendering at high frame rates.

The role of the GPU becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 1080p, the GPU is only partially utilized, as evidenced by the 281.6 FPS Low result, which is likely capped by the CPU’s frame submission rate. At 4K, the GPU is fully saturated, and the frame rate drops to 61 FPS at Ultra settings. The RX 7600’s 32 ray accelerators are not particularly relevant for this title, but the raw rasterization performance is what matters here. The GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs aligns with its measured performance: it is a solid mid-range part that handles Inside with ease at 1080p and 1440p, and remains playable at 4K with some settings adjustments.

The GPU’s memory configuration plays a subtle but important role. With 8 GB of VRAM, there is no sign of memory pressure in any tested scenario, as the game’s art style does not require large texture pools. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is also sufficient, as the 4K Ultra result of 61 FPS suggests that the GPU’s compute units, not its memory subsystem, are the limiting factor. The GPU’s boost clock of 2655 MHz is higher than the game clock of 2250 MHz, meaning the card can push further when thermal and power headroom allow, which explains why High settings at 4K achieve 64.8 FPS despite the heavier load. Overall, the RX 7600 is the right GPU for this game at this system’s price point, offering a balanced performance profile that scales predictably with resolution and settings.