Inside

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, with performance scaling that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck only at the most demanding settings. The data shows a predictable pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates drop consistently, but the magnitude of that drop varies significantly depending on the quality preset. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-bound at lower settings, while at 4K, the GPU workload dominates, revealing a different performance character.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling behavior across resolutions is telling. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 392.5 FPS to 295.9 FPS, a reduction of roughly 25%. At Medium settings, the same resolution step sees a drop from 328.3 FPS to 238.3 FPS, about 27%. This consistent ~25% decrease suggests that at these lower settings, the system is still capable of feeding the GPU enough data, and the frame rate is largely dictated by the rendering workload rather than a hard CPU limit.

However, the scaling steepens considerably when moving from 1440p to 4K. At Low settings, the frame rate plummets from 295.9 FPS to 188 FPS, a 36% reduction. At Medium, it falls from 238.3 FPS to 146.5 FPS, a 39% drop. This steeper decline at 4K indicates that the RX 7800 XT's pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor, as the sheer number of pixels to fill overwhelms the GPU's ability to maintain the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is also substantial, with Ultra achieving only 86.8 FPS compared to Low's 188 FPS, highlighting that the Ultra preset essentially doubles the GPU workload.

The data further reveals that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter at lower settings. At Low, the system achieves 392.5 FPS, but at High, it drops to 205.3 FPS. This massive 47% difference between Low and High at 1080p suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck at Low; the GPU is. When the GPU load is light, the frame rate is high, but when the preset increases the GPU workload, the frame rate falls to a level where the CPU can still keep up. In contrast, at 4K, the difference between Low and High is 93.6 FPS versus 188 FPS, a 50% gap, but the absolute numbers show the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the CPU's headroom is not exhausted at these lower frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 470th out of 1671 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 28% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given the game's age and the high-end nature of the components. The rank reflects a balanced pairing where neither component is severely underpowered for the other, allowing the system to consistently deliver high frame rates across all tested settings.

The CPU itself holds a 93rd percentile ranking among all processors, indicating it is near the top of the performance heap. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores within 0.2% of the i5-14600K, making them effectively equivalent in raw processing power. The GPU, with a 76th percentile ranking, is also well above average. The nearest rival is the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, which is within 0.2% of the RX 7800 XT's average score. This parity suggests that the combo's overall ranking is not dragged down by any single weak component, but rather reflects a well-matched pair that excels in this particular title.

The fact that the combo ranks 470th out of 1671 is particularly impressive considering the game's release date. Inside is an older title, and many newer, more powerful components may not have been tested with it. This ranking indicates that the i5-14600K and RX 7800 XT are more than capable of handling this game's engine, and the performance is likely limited by the game's own optimization rather than the hardware's potential.

Settings Recommendations

The data strongly suggests that the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for most users. At 1920x1080, High delivers 205.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. At 2560x1440, High achieves 150.2 FPS, still well above the 144Hz refresh rate that many monitors target. Even at 4K, High maintains 93.6 FPS, which is playable and smooth for a puzzle platformer, though it falls short of 100 FPS. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest visual fidelity, only yields marginal gains over High in terms of frame rate at 1080p (195.3 FPS vs 205.3 FPS), but the performance cost is significant at higher resolutions.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset is a safer choice. It provides 146.5 FPS at 3840x2160, which is a substantial 57% improvement over High's 93.6 FPS. The visual difference between Medium and High in a game like Inside, with its minimalist art style, is likely to be less noticeable than the frame rate difference. At 1440p, Medium offers 238.3 FPS, which is overkill for most monitors, while Low at 295.9 FPS is only beneficial for extreme refresh rate displays. For 1080p users, the Low preset is unnecessary, as even Ultra achieves nearly 200 FPS.

The data indicates that the Low preset is only useful for chasing maximum frame rates at 4K, where it hits 188 FPS. However, given the game's genre, this is likely overkill, and the visual downgrade may not be worth the performance gain. The Ultra preset, conversely, provides no tangible benefit at 1080p or 1440p over High, and at 4K it drops below 90 FPS, which is a noticeable compromise.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. Low achieves 392.5 FPS, Medium drops to 328.3 FPS, High settles at 205.3 FPS, and Ultra is slightly lower at 195.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is relatively small (64.2 FPS), but the jump from Medium to High is substantial (123 FPS), indicating that the High preset introduces effects that are more demanding on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. Low hits 295.9 FPS, Medium reaches 238.3 FPS, High manages 150.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 138.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 11.7 FPS, suggesting that Ultra is not a significant step up in visual quality but still carries a performance penalty.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more variable. Low achieves 188 FPS, Medium drops to 146.5 FPS, High falls to 93.6 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 86.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 52.9 FPS, which is the largest percentage drop of any preset transition at this resolution. This indicates that High's additional effects are particularly punishing at 4K, while Ultra's extra features are relatively minor.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with high refresh rates?*

A: Yes, at 4K with the High preset, the system averages 93.6 FPS. For higher refresh rates, the Medium preset delivers 146.5 FPS, which is sufficient for 144Hz displays.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor even at 1080p. At Low settings, the frame rate is 392.5 FPS, but at High it drops to 205.3 FPS, showing that the GPU workload is the primary constraint, not the CPU.

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

A: The High preset is recommended, as it achieves 150.2 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate common on 1440p monitors. The Ultra preset only offers 138.5 FPS, which is a marginal difference.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 470th out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the top 28% of all configurations tested for Inside. This is a strong position, given the game's age and the high performance of the components.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, Low achieves 188 FPS while Ultra reaches only 86.8 FPS, a difference of 101.2 FPS. This shows that Ultra more than doubles the GPU workload compared to Low.

Q: Is the i5-14600K a strong processor for this game?

A: Yes, the CPU holds a 93rd percentile ranking and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, is within 0.2% of its average score. This indicates the CPU provides ample processing power for Inside.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K features 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This configuration provides substantial multi-threaded performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32881 and Geekbench multi-core score of 15846. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 are more than sufficient for a game like Inside, which does not require extensive memory bandwidth.

The CPU's single-thread performance is equally strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2803. This is critical for Inside, as the game's physics and logic likely rely on a few primary threads. The high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that these threads are processed as quickly as possible. The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and its average benchmark score of 49166, which is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, confirm that it is not a limiting factor in this game's performance. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 392.5 FPS, which is likely near the game engine's limit, as the CPU is not preventing the GPU from rendering at full speed.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than adequate for Inside, even at 4K with Ultra settings, as the game's textures are not demanding. The GPU's 3840 shading units and 96 ROPs are capable of high pixel throughput, as demonstrated by its 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 4157.

The GPU's boost clock of 2430 MHz and game clock of 2124 MHz are relatively high, contributing to its strong performance. The PassMark G3D score of 24176 places it in the 76th percentile, and its average benchmark score of 32619 is within 0.2% of the AMD FirePro S9300 X2. The data shows that the GPU is the primary limiter at 4K, where the frame rate at Ultra is 86.8 FPS compared to 188 FPS at Low. This indicates that the GPU's raw rendering power is the key factor in determining performance at higher resolutions, while the CPU has enough headroom to keep up. The 16 GB of VRAM ensures there is no memory bottleneck, even at 4K with the Ultra preset, allowing the GPU to focus entirely on pixel shading and vertex processing.