Inside

The Intel Core i5-14400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a game that is neither graphically demanding nor CPU-intensive. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are high enough that the limiting factor shifts depending on where you look. This analysis breaks down how this combo behaves, what settings to use, and where it stands among other tested systems.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a clear pattern: Inside scales with resolution, but the RTX 4060 has enough headroom to keep frame rates well above playable thresholds even at 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 332 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 237.7 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 150.2 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth but represents a 55% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, but the game’s simple geometry means the 4060 never gets overwhelmed.

The gap between settings widens as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (332 FPS) and Ultra (160.8 FPS) is 171.2 FPS. At 4K, that same Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 77.9 FPS (150.2 vs 72.3). This is typical behavior for a game where pixel fill rate becomes more important than shader complexity. The RTX 4060’s 272.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 118.1 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient to keep 4K playable, but the jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 50.8 FPS (123.1 to 72.3), indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects heavily tax the GPU.

At 1440p, the story is more balanced. High settings yield 120.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 116.7 FPS. This narrow margin (3.9 FPS) suggests that at this resolution, the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are not a bottleneck, but the GPU is starting to feel the load of higher-quality shadows and post-processing. The 1080p results reinforce this: High (165.4 FPS) and Ultra (160.8 FPS) are nearly identical, meaning the game is likely CPU-limited at these lower resolutions, or at least the GPU has so much headroom that preset changes barely matter.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60Hz display, every setting combination in the measured data is overkill. Even 4K Ultra delivers 72.3 FPS, which is above the refresh rate of most standard monitors. However, for high-refresh displays, the choice becomes clearer. At 1080p, Medium (268 FPS) offers a 62.4% improvement over High (165.4 FPS) while still looking substantially better than Low (332 FPS). The jump from Medium to Ultra (160.8 FPS) is only 7.2 FPS, so Medium is the practical sweet spot if you want high frame rates without sacrificing visual fidelity.

At 1440p, Medium (192.3 FPS) is again the standout. It provides nearly double the frame rate of Ultra (116.7 FPS) while retaining most of the visual enhancements. High (120.6 FPS) is barely better than Ultra, so there is no reason to choose it over Ultra unless you prefer slightly higher frame rates. For 4K users, the recommendation flips: Medium (123.1 FPS) is solid, but High (73 FPS) drops below the 75Hz threshold many 4K monitors use. Ultra (72.3 FPS) is essentially identical to High, so if you have a 60Hz 4K panel, High is the best choice for maximum quality.

The data indicates that Low settings are unnecessary for this combo. Even the most demanding preset at 4K clears 60 FPS, so there is no scenario where you need to sacrifice visuals to reach playability. The only reason to use Low would be for competitive play at 1080p, where 332 FPS gives you a slight edge on 300Hz monitors, but the visual downgrade is severe.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. Its Cinebench R23 scores (21914 multi-core, 3093 single-core) place it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. For Inside, a 2D puzzle platformer with minimal physics, this processor has ample compute headroom. The game’s logic likely runs on a single or few threads, and the i5-14400F’s single-core performance is strong enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The benchmark results support this. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 332 FPS. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect frame rates to plateau regardless of resolution or settings. Instead, the FPS drops steadily as resolution increases, which points to the GPU being the limiting factor. The 1440p results are particularly telling: High (120.6 FPS) and Ultra (116.7 FPS) are close, but Medium (192.3 FPS) is much higher. This suggests that the GPU’s shading units (3072) and texture units (96) are handling the preset differences, while the CPU’s 20 MB of L3 cache is sufficient for the game’s asset streaming.

The i5-14400F’s 65W TDP and 10 nm process mean it runs cool and quiet, which is irrelevant for frame rates but relevant for system builders. The processor’s 88th percentile ranking puts it just 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 and 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i7-12800H in average benchmark scores. For Inside, these differences are moot; the game is not CPU-bound at any resolution tested.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i5-14400F and RTX 4060 ranks 863rd out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. That places it just above the midpoint (51.6% percentile). This is a surprisingly low rank given the high frame rates measured. The reason is that Inside is an old game (released in 2016) with simple graphics, so even mid-range GPUs from older generations can produce high FPS. The RTX 4060’s 66th percentile ranking among all GPUs is dragged down by the fact that many older, cheaper cards can run this game at similar speeds.

The nearest GPU rivals illustrate this: the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 0.6% higher on average, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780 Ti scores 0.7% higher. These are older or lower-tier cards that perform comparably in this game because it does not stress modern GPU features like ray tracing or DLSS. The RTX 4060’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are not advantages in Inside, which likely uses less than 4 GB of VRAM even at 4K Ultra.

The CPU’s rank is more favorable. The i5-14400F’s 88th percentile means it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs in synthetic benchmarks. In gaming, however, its 10 cores and 16 threads are overkill for Inside. The combo rank of 863 suggests that pairing this CPU with a much older GPU (like a GTX 1060) would likely yield similar frame rates in this specific game, because the bottleneck is almost always the GPU, and even a weak GPU can handle Inside at high settings.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. At 4K High settings, the combo averages 73 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it averages 72.3 FPS. Both are above 60 FPS, so you can play at maximum quality on a 4K 60Hz monitor.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p high-refresh gaming?

A: Medium settings provide 192.3 FPS at 1440p, which is well above 144Hz. High settings drop to 120.6 FPS, and Ultra to 116.7 FPS. For 165Hz monitors, Medium is the only option that fully saturates the refresh rate.

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

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between High (165.4 FPS) and Ultra (160.8 FPS) is small, suggesting the game is lightly GPU-bound. The CPU’s 10 cores are not fully utilized by this title.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 0.6% higher on average in GPU benchmarks, and the Intel Arc B580 scores 0.7% lower. In Inside, these differences are negligible, as all three cards produce triple-digit frame rates at 1440p.

Q: Should I use Low settings for competitive play?

A: Only if you have a 300Hz+ monitor. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 332 FPS. Medium still offers 268 FPS, which is sufficient for most high-refresh panels. Low settings do not provide a meaningful advantage beyond that.

Q: Does the i5-14400F hold back the RTX 4060 in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s single-core score of 3093 in Cinebench R23 is more than enough for Inside. The frame rates scale with resolution and settings, which indicates the GPU is the primary limiter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 332 FPS, Medium 268 FPS, High 165.4 FPS, and Ultra 160.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 102.6 FPS, making Medium the clear choice for high-refresh gaming. High and Ultra are nearly identical, with only a 4.6 FPS difference.

At 2560x1440, the results are still excellent. Low averages 237.7 FPS, Medium 192.3 FPS, High 120.6 FPS, and Ultra 116.7 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 71.7 FPS, which is significant. High and Ultra remain close, with a 3.9 FPS difference.

At 3840x2160, the GPU starts to show its limits. Low averages 150.2 FPS, Medium 123.1 FPS, High 73 FPS, and Ultra 72.3 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 50.1 FPS, the largest relative jump in the entire dataset. High and Ultra are effectively the same, differing by only 0.7 FPS. This indicates that the Ultra preset’s extra effects are not GPU-bound at 4K, or they are so minor that they do not affect performance.

For all settings, the minimum and maximum FPS values are not reported, so the averages represent the complete picture. The data shows that this combo is capable of running Inside at maximum settings in 4K without dropping below 60 FPS, making it a versatile choice for both high-resolution and high-refresh gaming scenarios.