Inside

Inside is not a typical GPU stress test. As a puzzle platformer from 2016, its rendering load is modest by modern standards, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 reflects that. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across all resolutions, indicating that the game is rarely bottlenecked by the hardware, but the scaling pattern still reveals which component shoulders the primary burden. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, the roles of the CPU and GPU, the combo’s overall ranking, the exact measured FPS, and practical settings guidance based solely on the provided data.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but not catastrophic, which suggests the game is becoming more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 282 at 1920x1080 to 127 at 3840x2160. That is a 55% reduction in performance when moving from Full HD to 4K, a large delta that points directly at the GPU as the limiting factor in this scenario. The RX 7600’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed harder as pixel count quadruples, and the data shows the renderer’s demand scaling faster than the GPU’s throughput.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but slightly less extreme. The average drops from 226 FPS at 1080p to 162 FPS at 1440p, then to 102 FPS at 4K. The 1080p-to-1440p step costs 64 FPS, while the 1440p-to-4K step costs 60 FPS. This near-linear scaling in absolute terms indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint once the resolution rises, with the CPU’s role diminishing as the pixel workload increases. The min FPS values at Medium settings also decline proportionally: from 192 at 1080p, to 138 at 1440p, down to 87 at 4K.

High settings show a different curve. At 1080p, the average is 141 FPS, which drops to 101 FPS at 1440p and then to 64 FPS at 4K. The 1440p-to-4K drop is 37 FPS, a 37% reduction, which is less severe than the Low settings’ 55% drop. This suggests that at higher visual fidelity, the GPU’s shading work becomes more dominant, but the frame rate remains high enough that the CPU is still able to feed the renderer adequately. The Ultra preset, the most demanding, yields 134 FPS at 1080phol and 61 FPS at 4K, a 54% reduction, mirroring the Low settings’ scaling pattern.

The data indicates that the RX 7600 is the limiting component at 4K, especially at Low and Ultra settings, where the frame rate halves. At 1080p, however, the CPU’s capability becomes more relevant, as the frame rates exceed 280 FPS, a region where even a strong processor like the i5-14600K might see its per-core performance become a factor. The i5-14600K’s boost clock of 5.30 GHz and its Raptor Lake architecture provide ample single-threaded headroom, but the game’s engine likely caps its utilization at such high frame rates. The verdict is clear: resolution scaling is GPU-limited, but the magnitude of the limit varies by preset, with Low and Ultra showing the largest percentage drops.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. In a puzzle platformer like Inside, the workload is typically light on multi-threading, favoring high single-core performance instead. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2064 and Geekbench single-core score of 2491 confirm its strength in this areahol. The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 282 FPS, a figure that is likely near the engine’s practical ceiling, meaning the CPU is doing its job without becoming a hard bottleneck.

The CPU’s 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game logic and physics data, which are common in 2D side-scrollers. The benchmark results indicate that the i5-14600K is never the primary constraint, as even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate stays above 60 FPS. The CPU’s percentile rank of 90th among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 48618, places it well above the median, and its nearest rivals in synthetic tests—like the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD EPYC 4345P (deltaPct 0.3)—show that it is competitively positioned for general compute, though those scores do not directly translate to gaming.

In the context of this game, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, especially at lower resolutions where the GPU is underutilized. At 1080p Medium, the average is 226 FPS, and at 1080p High, it is 141 FPS. These numbers suggest that the CPU can easily feed the GPU with draw calls and game state updates, as the frame rates are consistently high. The lack of min FPS data for most settings, except Medium, makes it harder to assess frame pacing, but the available min FPS values (192 at 1080p, 138 at 1440p, 87 at 4K) show no severe dips that would indicate CPU stalls.

The CPU’s 10 nm process node and 125 W TDP are not directly game-related, but they speak to its efficiency and thermal headroom. For a game from 2016, the i5-14600K is overkill, and the data shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor at any resolution or preset tested. The bottleneck, if any, lies with the GPU at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s capability ensures that the system can push frame rates well above display refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the more likely bottleneck in this pairing, especially at 4K. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for a game like Inside but becomes strained as resolution increases. The GPU’s base clock is 1720 MHz, with a boost clock of 2655 MHz and a game clock of 2250 MHz, offering solid raw throughput. The FP32 performance of 21.75 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s are more than adequate for the game’s simple geometry and lighting.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU’s performance scales predictably with resolution. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 127, which is 55% lower than the 1080p Low score of 282. This indicates that the GPU is being pushed to its limits at 4K, even at low settings, because the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are the primary constraints. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 61 FPS, a 54% reduction from the 1080p Ultra score of 134, confirming that the GPU’s rendering pipeline is saturated.

The RX 7600’s 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are well-suited for a game with modest shader complexity, but the 128-bit memory bus is a limitation at higher resolutions. The 8 GB VRAM is not a concern for Inside, as the game’s textures and effects are unlikely to exceed that capacity, but the memory bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s is the key factor in the 4K scaling. The GPU’s percentile rank of 57th among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15171, places it in the mid-range, and its nearest rivals—like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM (deltaPct -0.2) and the AMD Radeon 680M (deltaPct -0.7)—show that it is a capable but not high-end part.

The data reveals that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as the frame rates halve from 1080p to 4K. At 1440p, the GPU is less strained, with averages ranging from 97 FPS at Ultra to 203 FPS at Low, indicating that the RX 7600 can handle the game comfortably at that resolution. The GPU’s boost clock of 2655 MHz helps maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the pixel throughput is not enough to keep 4K frame rates at the same level as 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 7600 ranks 2500th out of 3716 combos for Inside. This is a percentile rank of approximately 67th, meaning it performs better than two-thirds of the tested systems but falls short of the top tier. The rank is not a reflection of absolute performance, as the frame rates are high, but rather a measure of how this combo compares to others with potentially more powerful GPUs or CPUs.

The combo’s rank of 2500 suggests that while the i5-14600K is a strong processor (90th percentile), the RX 7600 (57th percentile) holds back the overall score in a game that is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU’s average score of 48618 is close to its nearest rivals, with the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H being only 0.2% slower and the AMD EPYC 4345P being 0.3% faster. The GPU’s average score of 15171 is similarly competitive, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM being 0.2% faster and the AMD Radeon 680M being 0.7% faster.

The data indicates that this combo is well-balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the CPU and GPU complement each other, but it is not optimized for 4K. The rank of 2500 out of 3716 is below the median, which is likely due to the GPU’s mid-range positioning. However, for a game as undemanding as Inside, the combo still delivers playable frame rates at 4K, as the lowest average is 61 FPS at Ultra settings. The ranking reflects the hardware’s overall capability relative to other tested combos, but the actual gaming experience is smooth across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 134 at Ultra to 282 at Low. The Medium preset yields 226 FPS, with a min FPS of 192 and a max of 259, indicating stable performance. High settings produce 141 FPS, which is 53% lower than Low, showing that the High preset adds significant visual effects that impact the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 97 FPS at Ultra, 101 FPS at High, 162 FPS at Medium, and 203 FPS at Low. The Medium preset again provides min and max data: 138 FPS minimum and 186 FPS maximum, a 48 FPS spread that suggests some frame time variance. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is noticeable but not severe, with the High preset losing 28% of its average FPS (from 141 to 101) and the Low preset losing 28% as well (from 203 to 282. wait, that is incorrect, the Low preset drops from 282 to 203, a 28% reduction).

At 3840x2160, the averages are 61 FPS at Ultra, 64 FPS at High, 102 FPS at Medium, and 127 FPS at Low. The Medium preset has a min FPS of 87 and a max of 117, which is a 30 FPS range, indicating that even at 4K, the frame rate can dip below 90 FPS in demanding scenes. The Low preset at 4K achieves 127 FPS, which is 55% lower than the 1080p Low score, highlighting the GPU’s bandwidth limit.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium settings always have min and max values, while other presets only have averages. This suggests that the Medium preset is the most thoroughly tested, providing insight into frame pacing. The averages alone are sufficient to understand the overall performance, but the Medium min values (192, 138, 87) show that the system never drops below 87 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves?

A: The highest average FPS is 282, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, all tested settings at 3840x2160 yield averages above 60 FPS, with the lowest being 61 FPS at Ultra settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 48618, which is 0.2% lower than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H and 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 4345P.

Q: What is the GPU’s performance relative to its peers?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600 has an average benchmark score of 15171, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM and 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon 680M.

Q: Which resolution shows the biggest frame rate drop?

A: The largest percentage drop occurs from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 at Low settings, where the average FPS falls from 282 to 127, a 55% reduction.

Q: Are there any settings where the combo ranks in the top half?

A: The combo ranks 2500th out of 3716 tested combos, which is above the median, indicating it performs better than approximately 67% of systems in this game.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset appears to be the optimal choice. At 1080p, it delivers 226 FPS with a min of 192, providing smooth performance with headroom. At 1440p, it yields 162 FPS with a min of 138, which is still well above typical refresh rates. Even at 4K, Medium achieves 102 FPS with a min of 87, ensuring a consistent experience without dipping below 60 FPS.

The Low preset offers the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality, with the only benefit being a 25% increase over Medium at 1080p (282 vs 226 FPS) and a similar margin at other resolutions. The High preset is less appealing, as it provides only marginally better visuals than Medium but a 38% lower average FPS at 1080p (141 vs 226). The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and while it is playable at 1080p (134 FPS) and 1440p (97 FPS), it drops to 61 FPS at 4K, which is on the edge of playability.

Given that the game is a puzzle platformer with no competitive multiplayer, frame rates above 60 FPS are more than sufficient. The Medium preset at 1440p strikes the best balance, offering 162 FPS with a min of 138, which is smooth and leaves room for the GPU to handle any sudden scene complexity. At 4K, Medium is the recommended choice, as it maintains an average of 102 FPS, avoiding the steep drop seen at High and Ultra. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing high frame rates at all resolutions without pushing the GPU to its limits.