Inside

The Intel Core i5-14600K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers a formidable experience in Inside, a title that is far more demanding than its minimalist art style suggests. The benchmark data shows this combo is capable of obliterating even 4K Ultra settings, but the scaling patterns reveal where the GPU and CPU each take the lead. The 14-core processor's strong single-thread performance and the 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on the GPU create a balanced foundation, though the game’s engine clearly leans on raw fill rate at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but not catastrophic, indicating a system that scales predictably with pixel count. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 219.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 153.7 FPS at 2560x1440, then further to 98.8 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. The gap between 1440p and 4K is 54.9 FPS, while the gap between 1080p and 1440p is 65.5 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the primary limiter as resolution climbs.

Low settings tell a different story. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 391 FPS, but this drops to 308.8 FPS at 1440p and 192.7 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is only 82.2 FPS, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 116.1 FPS, showing that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck more aggressively at higher resolutions. Medium settings follow the same trend: 348.8 FPS at 1080p, 247.9 FPS at 1440p, and 156.5 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the CPU may be nearing its ceiling, as the frame rate exceeds what the GPU can sustain without hitting a wall.

Ultra settings are the most resolution-sensitive. The combo manages 208.1 FPS at 1080p, 145.3 FPS at 1440p, and 93.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is still well above 60 FPS, confirming that the RX 9070's 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth and 128 ROPs are sufficient to feed the pixel pipeline. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 35.6% performance loss, which is consistent with a rasterization-heavy workload rather than a compute-bound one.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Inside's stylized lighting and shadow effects. The boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are high enough to keep the 3584 shading units fed, and the 56 RT cores are largely irrelevant here since the game does not use ray tracing. The 128 ROPs are the key spec, as they directly determine pixel fill rate; this explains why 4K Ultra still yields 93.6 FPS.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6290 and Passmark G3D score of 25381 place it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs, indicating strong raw performance. The nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA A2 (deltaPct -0.2) and AMD Quadro GV100 (deltaPct 0.3), which are professional-grade cards, but the RX 9070's gaming-oriented architecture gives it an edge in this title. The FP32 throughput of 36.13 TFLOPS is more than enough for Inside's simple shaders, and the 4 nm process node keeps power draw manageable at 220 W.

The GPU's memory clock of 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective) contributes to the high bandwidth, and the 16 GB capacity means there is no risk of VRAM overflow at 4K. The data shows that the Low preset at 1080p (391 FPS) is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has headroom that the i5-14600K cannot fully exploit. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiter, as the 93.6 FPS result is just 4.8% higher than the 4K High score of 98.8 FPS, showing diminishing returns from lowering settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-14600K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 380th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 22.7% of all configurations. That is a strong showing, though not elite, which reflects the fact that the CPU is not the absolute fastest in the database. The i5-14600K has an average benchmark score of 49166 and sits in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival being the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X at a 0.2% deltaPct. The CPU's single-core performance is solid, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4642, which matters for a game that is not heavily threaded.

The GPU ranks 79th percentile, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA A2 at -0.2% deltaPct. In practice, the combo's rank is limited by the CPU's multi-threaded performance, as the game's engine does not scale well beyond a few cores. The 14 cores and 20 threads are overkill for Inside, but the 3.50 GHz base clock and 5.30 GHz boost clock ensure that single-threaded tasks are handled swiftly. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps with memory latency, which is beneficial for the game's physics calculations.

The rank of 380 out of 1671 means there are 379 combos that achieve higher average FPS, but many of those likely pair higher-end CPUs with the same or faster GPUs. The data suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p and 4K gaming, as the GPU is not bottlenecked by the CPU at those resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, which is why the frame rate caps out near 391 FPS rather than pushing higher.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 391 FPS on Low, 348.8 FPS on Medium, 219.2 FPS on High, and 208.1 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is 42.2 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High is a massive 129.6 FPS drop, indicating that High settings introduce a significant graphical load. The gap between High and Ultra is only 11.1 FPS, suggesting that Ultra adds minimal visual fidelity for a small performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the results are 308.8 FPS on Low, 247.9 FPS on Medium, 153.7 FPS on High, and 145.3 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 60.9 FPS, and from Medium to High is 94.2 FPS, showing that High settings are the first major performance hurdle. The Ultra preset only costs 8.4 FPS compared to High, which is negligible.

At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 192.7 FPS on Low, 156.5 FPS on Medium, 98.8 FPS on High, and 93.6 FPS on Ultra. The Low to Medium drop is 36.2 FPS, and the Medium to High drop is 57.7 FPS. The High to Ultra drop is only 5.2 FPS, meaning that Ultra is essentially free at 4K. The 4K Low result of 192.7 FPS is still well above 1440p High's 153.7 FPS, proving the GPU's strength at high pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to a clear winner: the Ultra preset at 1440p or 4K. At 1440p Ultra, the combo delivers 145.3 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate monitor. At 4K Ultra, the 93.6 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the performance cost from High to Ultra is only 5.2 FPS. This makes Ultra the recommended setting for both resolutions, as the visual improvements are essentially free.

If targeting 1080p, the High preset at 219.2 FPS is the sweet spot, as the drop to Ultra (208.1 FPS) is only 11.1 FPS but the jump from Medium to High is 129.6 FPS. The Low preset at 391 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing extreme frame rates on a 360 Hz monitor. At 4K, Medium at 156.5 FPS is a viable option for those who want to stay above 144 FPS, but the Ultra preset at 93.6 FPS is still smooth and visually superior. The data suggests avoiding Low at any resolution above 1080p, as the GPU has headroom to render higher settings without sacrificing playability.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra in Inside?*

A: Yes. The measured 4K Ultra average is 93.6 FPS, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the game's textures and effects.

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

A: At 1080p Low, the combo hits 391 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound given the i5-14600K's single-core score of 4642 in Cinebench R23. The GPU has headroom, as evidenced by the 4K Low score of 192.7 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost from 1440p to 4K?

A: The drop depends on settings. At High, it falls from 153.7 FPS to 98.8 FPS, a 54.9 FPS loss. At Ultra, it drops from 145.3 FPS to 93.6 FPS, a 51.7 FPS loss.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: At 1440p Ultra, the combo delivers 145.3 FPS, which is just above 144 Hz. At 4K, the Medium preset at 156.5 FPS is the only one that exceeds 144 Hz, while High and Ultra fall below.

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

A: It ranks 380th out of 1671 combos, placing it in the top 22.7%. The CPU is 93rd percentile and the GPU is 79th percentile, indicating a solid mid-to-high-end pairing.

Q: Is there a big difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: No. At 1080p, the difference is 11.1 FPS (219.2 vs 208.1). At 1440p, it is 8.4 FPS (153.7 vs 145.3). At 4K, it is just 5.2 FPS (98.8 vs 93.6). Ultra is recommended for negligible cost.