Inside

The Intel Core i5-14600KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is a study in contrast: a modern, high-core-count processor from 2023 harnessed to a Pascal-era graphics card from 2016. In Inside, a 2D puzzle-platformer, this combination produces surprisingly playable results across the board, though the data clearly shows where the bottleneck lies. The measured frames per second reveal a system that is more than capable at 1080p, but begins to strain at higher resolutions, indicating that the GTX 1070's age is the primary limiting factor in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling metric in this dataset is how performance scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 227.4 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that figure to 164.4 FPS, a reduction of roughly 28%. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 105.4 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is doing progressively more work as pixel count increases, but the CPU is never saturated.

The gap between resolutions narrows significantly at higher settings. At Ultra, the 1080p average is 110.8 FPS, while 1440p yields 76.4 FPS and 4K drops to 48.6 FPS. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p at Ultra is about 31%, and from 1440p to 4K it's another 36%. This steeper decline at higher settings suggests that the GTX 1070's compute resources are being fully utilized, whereas at Low settings the frame rate is still high enough to mask some of the GPU's limitations.

The data points to the GPU as the definitive limiting component at 4K. The GTX 1070, with its 8GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus, simply cannot feed enough frames to keep up with the i5-14600KF's potential. The CPU's impressive multi-threaded scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 32889, are largely irrelevant in this scenario. The i5-14600KF is waiting on the GPU at every resolution, but the wait is much longer at 4K. This is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the frame rate is dictated by the graphics card's fill rate and shading power rather than the processor's instruction throughput.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p displays, the High preset at 115.5 FPS is the sweet spot for a responsive experience, while Ultra at 110.8 FPS offers only a marginal visual improvement for a slight frame rate cost. Low at 227.4 FPS is only useful for extreme refresh-rate monitors that can display beyond 200Hz.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 133 FPS is the clear winner for maintaining high smoothness. High at 82.5 FPS is still playable, but Medium provides a 61% performance headroom over High, which is substantial for a game with fast-moving dark scenes where frame pacing matters. Ultra at 76.4 FPS is acceptable, but the difference between High and Ultra is not worth the 7% performance hit.

For 4K, the situation changes drastically. Ultra at 48.6 FPS is borderline unplayable for a smooth experience, and High at 50.7 FPS is barely better. The Medium preset at 86.2 FPS is the only option that delivers a solid 60+ FPS experience. Low at 105.4 FPS is the fastest at 4K, but the visual downgrade in a game like Inside, which relies on atmospheric lighting and shadow, is severe. The recommendation is clear: stick to Medium for 4K, or drop the resolution to 1440p for High settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration ranks at 1409 out of 1671 tested combos for Inside. That places it in the bottom 16% of all systems tested, which is a lower standing than the individual components might suggest. The i5-14600KF itself is a top-tier performer, with a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 49367. Its nearest rivals include the i5-14600K (0.4% faster), AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (0.6% faster), and AMD EPYC 4345P (0.5% slower), showing it is essentially at parity with high-end desktop and even server-class parts.

The GTX 1070, however, sits at the 51st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12331. Its nearest rivals are the Quadro K4200 (0.7% faster), GTX 880M (1.3% slower), and GTX 1650 SUPER (1.4% slower). This places the GPU squarely in the mid-range of all graphics cards, and its age is evident. The low combo rank is therefore almost entirely due to the GPU dragging down the system's overall performance in a game that, while not graphically demanding, still requires a certain level of pixel throughput.

The data suggests that this combo is severely unbalanced for Inside. The CPU has enormous headroom, while the GPU is working at its limits. If the goal is to improve performance, upgrading the GPU would yield far greater gains than any CPU change. The rank indicates that many other tested combinations, likely those with more modern mid-range GPUs, achieve far better frame rates in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured averages provides a clear picture of the system's capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are as follows:

• Low: 227.4 FPS
• Medium: 184.1 FPS
• High: 115.5 FPS
• Ultra: 110.8 FPS

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 164.4 FPS
• Medium: 133 FPS
• High: 82.5 FPS
• Ultra: 76.4 FPS

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 105.4 FPS
• Medium: 86.2 FPS
• High: 50.7 FPS
• Ultra: 48.6 FPS

The pattern is consistent across all settings. The gap between Low and Medium is significant, showing a 19% drop at 1080p, 19% at 1440p, and 18% at 4K. The jump from Medium to High is much larger, with a 37% reduction at 1080p, 38% at 1440p, and 41% at 4K. This indicates that the High preset introduces a substantial rendering load, likely through more complex lighting and shadow effects, which the GTX 1070 struggles to process. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal, only 4% at 1080p, 7% at 1440p, and 4% at 4K, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds very little visual detail relative to its cost.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 plays a decisive role in this pairing. Its specifications show a GPU built on the 16nm Pascal architecture with a die size of 314 mm² and a transistor count of 7,200 million. The core runs at a base clock of 1506 MHz and a boost clock of 1683 MHz, with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The memory subsystem consists of 8GB of GDDR5 on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s.

In Inside, the game's art style is minimalist but relies on high-contrast lighting and shadow gradients. The GTX 1070's 64 ROPs are sufficient for the game's relatively low polygon count, but the pixel fill rate of 107.7 GPixel/s becomes a limiting factor at 4K. The measured FPS at 4K High (50.7) and Ultra (48.6) confirms that the GPU is saturated. The FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS is adequate for the shader work required, but it is not enough to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 8GB of VRAM is not a constraint in Inside, as the game's textures are simple and low-resolution. However, the memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s is a more critical factor. The 4K resolution requires significant bandwidth to move pixel data, and the GTX 1070's 256-bit bus is the bottleneck. The data shows that the GPU is the sole reason for the performance drop at 4K; the CPU is never the limiting factor, as evidenced by the high frames at 1080p.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of running Inside at 4K with acceptable smoothness?*

A: Yes, but only with the Medium preset. The measured average at 3840x2160 Medium is 86.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target. High and Ultra settings fall below 51 FPS, which is noticeable for a game requiring precise timing.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The Medium preset offers the best balance, with an average of 133 FPS. This provides a 61% performance increase over High (82.5 FPS) while still maintaining good visual quality. Low is faster at 164.4 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600KF has an average benchmark score of 49367. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 49166, which is 0.4% faster. The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X scores 49062, which is 0.6% faster, while the AMD EPYC 4345P scores 49595, which is 0.5% slower.

Q: Why is the combo rank (1409 of 1671) so low despite a strong CPU?

A: The low rank is driven by the GPU's mid-range standing. The GTX 1070 has a percentile rank of 51 among all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 12331 is only 0.7% faster than a Quadro K4200. The CPU's high performance cannot overcome the GPU's limitations in this game.

Q: What is the difference in performance between High and Ultra settings?

A: The difference is minimal. At 1080p, Ultra is 110.8 FPS versus 115.5 FPS for High, a 4% drop. At 1440p, the drop is 7% (76.4 vs 82.5), and at 4K it is 4% (48.6 vs 50.7). The visual improvement is negligible.

*Q: Is the 8GB of VRAM sufficient for Inside at 4K?*

A: Yes, the 8GB GDDR5 memory is not a bottleneck. The game's simple textures do not require large frame buffers. The limiting factor at 4K is the GPU's processing power and memory bandwidth, not the VRAM capacity.