Inside

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers exceptional frame rates in Inside, a title that proves remarkably scalable across resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 339 FPS, which drops to 248 FPS at High settings. Moving to 1440p, the average at Low is 304 FPS, while High settings yield 178 FPS. At 4K, the gap narrows considerably: Low settings produce 224 FPS, and High settings drop to 112 FPS. This scaling pattern reveals a system that is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the GPU becoming the limiting factor only as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate delta from 1080p to 4K is stark and informative. At Low settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a drop from 339 FPS to 304 FPS, a modest 10% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K Low yields 224 FPS, another 26% decline. This indicates that at Low presets, the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as the GPU has ample headroom to render frames quickly even at higher resolutions. The data supports this: the i5-14400F’s boost clock of 4.70 GHz and 10 cores provide substantial single-thread performance, which is critical for a game like Inside that relies on consistent physics updates.

At High settings, the scaling is more aggressive. The 1080p average of 248 FPS falls to 178 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop), and then to 112 FPS at 4K (a 37% drop from 1440p). This steeper curve suggests that the RX 7900 XT’s rendering workload is becoming more significant, though the GPU is still not fully saturated. The 4K High result of 112 FPS is notably lower than the 4K Medium result of 179 FPS, indicating that the High preset introduces effects that disproportionately impact the GPU. The RX 7900 XT’s 20 GB of GDDR6 memory and 800.0 GB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for 4K, but the pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s begins to show its limits when combined with higher-quality shading.

Ultra settings tell a similar story. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 236 FPS, which is only 5% lower than High. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 170 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 107 FPS. The 4K Ultra figure is nearly identical to 4K High (107 vs. 112 FPS), suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional features are largely CPU-independent and place minimal extra load on the GPU. This is unusual; most titles see a wider gap between High and Ultra at 4K. Here, the difference is just 4%, implying that the game’s Ultra settings are more about minor visual tweaks than heavy computational demands.

The medium preset provides the most balanced scaling data. With min/max frames recorded, the 1080p Medium average of 313 FPS (min 266, max 360) drops to 281 FPS at 1440p (min 239, max 323), and then to 179 FPS at 4K (min 152, max 206). The consistency of the min/max values across resolutions indicates that frame pacing remains stable even as the GPU load increases. The 4K Medium min of 152 FPS is still far above the 60 FPS threshold, confirming that this combo can handle 4K without dropping below playable rates, even in demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The RX 7900 XT’s specifications are crucial to understanding these results. With a base clock of 1387 MHz and a boost clock of 2394 MHz, the GPU is capable of significant throughput. The game clock of 2025 MHz represents the sustained frequency under typical gaming loads, and the benchmark data suggests that Inside is not a worst-case scenario for this card. The 5376 shading units and 336 texture mapping units provide ample parallelism for the game’s 2D sprite rendering and particle effects. The 192 ROPs, combined with a pixel rate of 459.6 GPixel/s, allow for efficient fill-rate operations, which is essential for a game with large, full-screen visual effects.

Memory configuration is another key factor. The 20 GB GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Inside is not a memory-heavy title, but the sheer capacity ensures that even at 4K Ultra, the game never approaches the VRAM limit. This is reflected in the data: there is no catastrophic frame rate collapse at higher resolutions, which would indicate memory swapping. The texture rate of 804.4 GTexel/s further supports the GPU’s ability to handle high-resolution textures without stutter.

Interestingly, the GPU’s average benchmark score of 13745 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, but its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon 660M and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, which are far less powerful. This discrepancy is likely due to the benchmark database’s scoring methodology, which may weight compute tasks differently than gaming. The RX 7900 XT’s FP32 performance of 51.48 TFLOPS and FP16 of 103.0 TFLOPS (2:1) are indicative of a compute-focused design, but in Inside, the gaming performance is what matters. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is never the limiting factor at 1080p or 1440p, and only becomes relevant at 4K where the frame rate is still exceptionally high.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance is the High preset at 1440p. At this setting, the combo achieves an average of 178 FPS, which is more than sufficient for a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p yields only an 8 FPS difference (178 to 170 FPS), so players with 144 Hz displays may prefer Ultra for the marginal visual improvement without sacrificing fluidity.

For 4K users, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. The average of 179 FPS at 4K Medium is nearly identical to the 1440p High result, and the min FPS of 152 ensures no noticeable dips. The High preset at 4K drops to 112 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 37% reduction from Medium. Given that the visual difference between Medium and High is likely subtle in a game with Inside’s minimalist art style, the higher frame rate of Medium is the better trade-off. The 4K Ultra preset at 107 FPS offers no meaningful advantage over High and should be avoided unless the user prioritizes marginal visual fidelity over frame rate consistency.

At 1080p, the Low preset’s 339 FPS is excessive for any display, and the Medium preset’s 313 FPS is equally unnecessary. The High preset at 248 FPS is the sweet spot for 1080p, providing a 24% reduction from Low but with significantly better visual quality. The Ultra preset at 236 FPS is only 5% lower than High, so it is also a viable option for those who want maximum settings without worrying about frame rate. In all cases, the system’s performance is so far above the 60 FPS baseline that users have flexibility to prioritize visuals over frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable at 1080p?

A: The highest recorded average is 339 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. At Ultra settings, the average drops to 236 FPS.

Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with any preset?

A: Yes. The lowest recorded 4K average is 107 FPS at Ultra settings, which is still 78% above the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K Low preset achieves 224 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7900 XT’s memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth, paired with 20 GB of GDDR6 memory, ensures that memory is never a bottleneck. This is evidenced by the consistent frame rates across 4K presets, with no signs of texture thrashing.

Q: Is the i5-14400F holding back the RX 7900 XT in this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as shown by the smaller FPS drops between Low and High settings. However, the CPU’s 4.70 GHz boost clock and 10 cores are sufficient to keep frame rates above 170 FPS even at 1440p Ultra.

Q: What is the difference between the High and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: The average FPS difference is minimal: 112 FPS for High versus 107 FPS for Ultra, a 4% reduction. This suggests the Ultra preset adds negligible GPU load in this title.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 630 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 17% of all configs in the database for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 630 out of 3716 tested combinations places it in the 83rd percentile of all configs tested in Inside. This is a strong showing, but it is important to note that the ranking is heavily influenced by the CPU’s performance. The i5-14400F’s percentile of 83 versus all CPUs is identical to the combo’s rank percentile, suggesting that the CPU’s single-threaded prowess is the primary driver of the high placement. The GPU’s percentile of 55 versus all GPUs is lower, but this is misleading because the RX 7900 XT’s gaming performance is far superior to its average benchmark score suggests.

When compared to the CPU’s nearest rivals, the i5-14400F’s average benchmark score of 32279 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U and 0.5% of the Intel Core i7-12800H. This tight grouping indicates that the CPU’s performance is consistent with other high-end processors, but it does not have a decisive edge. The combo’s rank of 630 suggests that there are many other configurations with faster CPUs that push higher frame rates in Inside, particularly at 1080p where the CPU is the bottleneck. The gap between this combo and the top-ranked configs is likely due to CPUs with higher single-thread scores, as the game’s logic is heavily serialized.

The GPU’s nearest rivals are far less relevant, as they are mid-range or mobile parts. The RX 7900 XT’s average score of 13745 is within 1.5% of the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT, but the 9070 XT is a newer card. In Inside, the RX 7900 XT’s performance is sufficient to push frame rates to the CPU’s limit, so the GPU rank is not a limiting factor. The combo’s placement in the top 17% confirms the balanced nature of the pairing, though users seeking absolute maximum FPS at 1080p would benefit from a faster CPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F’s specifications are central to its performance in Inside. With 10 cores and 16 threads, the CPU provides substantial multi-threaded capability, but the game’s engine is more reliant on single-thread performance. The base clock of 2.50 GHz is modest, but the boost clock of 4.70 GHz is where the CPU operates under gaming loads. This high boost clock, combined with a 20 MB shared L3 cache, ensures that the CPU can quickly access frequently used data, reducing latency in game logic updates.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its strengths. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21645 and single-core score of 3055 indicate a strong balance. The Geekbench multi-core score of 11268 and single-core score of 2058 further confirm this. In Inside, the single-core performance is more critical, and the 3055 R23 score is sufficient to drive frame rates above 300 FPS at 1080p Low. However, the data shows a clear ceiling: at 1080p Low, the FPS is 339, but at 1080p High, it only drops to 248 FPS. This 27% reduction is not proportional to the GPU load increase, implying that the CPU is still the bottleneck even at High settings.

The 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are notable for power efficiency, but they do not directly impact gaming performance. The memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with dual-channel bus, provides flexibility, though the memory bandwidth is not listed. The 10 nm process node and Raptor Lake architecture are older, but the data shows they are still competitive. The CPU’s percentile of 83 versus all CPUs indicates it is in the top 17% of all processors, and its nearest rivals are all within 0.5% of its average score, confirming it is a mid-to-high-tier part. In this game, the i5-14400F’s role is to provide a stable, high-frequency foundation that allows the RX 7900 XT to reach its potential without being constrained by CPU limitations.