Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 combination delivers a highly playable experience in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. Measured frame rates show that this pairing can push well beyond standard refresh rates at 1080p, with the performance ceiling ultimately dictated by the settings preset chosen. The data indicates a system that excels in lower-resolution scenarios but demonstrates the expected scaling characteristics of a mid-range GPU as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, highlighting the GPU as the primary performance governor at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 114.4 FPS at 1920x1080 to 86.2 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 28.2 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160 sees the average drop further to 52.2 FPS, which is less than half the 1080p figure. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the GTX 1070's 8 GB of GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus are increasingly tasked with filling more pixels.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. At Ultra, the average frame rate plummets from 108.8 FPS at 1080p to 79.6 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 46.9 FPS at 4K. The data suggests that while 1080p and 1440p are firmly in the field of high-refresh-rate gaming, 4K Ultra is the only configuration that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, rendering it less ideal for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly punishing, with performance nearly halving in the High and Ultra presets. This indicates that the GTX 1070 is operating at its architectural limits when addressing the 3840x2160 resolution, regardless of the graphical load.

Interestingly, the Low preset at 4K achieves an average of 104 FPS, which is higher than the High preset at 1440p (86.2 FPS). This suggests that Inside is not solely dependent on resolution; the shader complexity and texture filtering associated with higher presets also impose a significant cost on the GPU. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K results in a 57.1 FPS difference, demonstrating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle variable workloads, but the combination of high resolution and maximum settings is the most demanding scenario.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake family, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In the context of Inside, a game that is visually atmospheric but not heavily threaded, this CPU provides a solid foundation. The benchmark data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved at all settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate reaches 222.6 FPS, suggesting that the processor can handle the game's logic and draw calls without limiting the frame output.

The CPU's influence becomes more apparent when analyzing the scaling from Low to Ultra settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (222.6 FPS) and Ultra (108.8 FPS) is 113.8 FPS, a massive gap that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload. However, the fact that the frame rate does not increase linearly with resolution when the CPU is less stressed implies that the i5-9400's six physical cores are sufficient to keep up with the GTX 1070. The processor's 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s provide adequate bandwidth for this title.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 places it just 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i3-10305 and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134. It trails the Intel Core i7-8809G by 0.6%. This tight grouping suggests that the i5-9400 is positioned in a competitive performance tier, and for a game like Inside, the differences in synthetic CPU benchmarks are unlikely to translate into noticeable frame rate variations. The data confirms that the CPU's role here is to provide a stable baseline, allowing the GTX 1070 to be the decisive factor in the final frame rate.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average is 222.6 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High, the average frame rate is 52.2 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high refresh rates. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 46.9 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 12331, which is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 and 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 880M. It is 1.4% slower than the GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER.

Q: Is the CPU a limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests no. The frame rates at 1080p (ranging from 108.8 FPS at Ultra to 222.6 FPS at Low) indicate that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the Core i5-9400 can supply frames fast enough.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield an average of 86.2 FPS, while Ultra settings yield 79.6 FPS. This is a difference of 6.6 FPS.

Q: Where does this combination rank among all tested combos for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1415 out of 1671 tested combinations for Inside.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 holds the 1415th position out of 1671 total combos. This places it in the lower half of the performance spectrum, which is consistent with the individual component percentiles. The CPU sits at the 50th percentile against all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 51st percentile against all GPUs, indicating that this is a mid-pack configuration. The ranking suggests that while the system is fully capable of running the game, there are many other hardware pairings that achieve higher frame rates, likely utilizing more powerful processors and newer graphics cards.

The position is notable because the frame rate data shows strong performance at 1080p, yet the rank is relatively low. This discrepancy can be attributed to the inclusion of high-end combos in the database that dominate the top ranks. For a user with a 1080p or 1440p monitor, this combo offers a very good experience, but for 4K gaming, the rank reflects the GPU's limitations. The deltaPct values for the CPU's rivals are all within a narrow band (0.2% to 0.6%), and the GPU's rivals are within a slightly wider band (-1.7% to 0.7%), reinforcing that this combo is in a densely populated performance tier where small improvements in other components could shift the ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the GTX 1070 delivers its best results. The Low preset produces an average of 222.6 FPS, which drops to 181.8 FPS at Medium. The High preset averages 114.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 108.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 113.8 FPS drop, indicating that the GPU's shading units and texture units are heavily utilized at higher settings.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 167.7 FPS (Low), 134.1 FPS (Medium), 86.2 FPS (High), and 79.6 FPS (Ultra). The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with the Low preset seeing a 54.9 FPS drop and the Ultra preset seeing a 29.2 FPS drop. The High and Ultra presets remain above 60 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance metrics show a clear boundary. The Low preset averages 104 FPS, which is a significant 63.7 FPS drop from the 1440p Low result. The Medium preset averages 84.9 FPS, while High averages 52.2 FPS and Ultra averages 46.9 FPS. The data reveals that 4K is only viable for the Low and Medium presets if a 60 FPS target is desired; the High and Ultra presets fall below that threshold. The difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K is 57.1 FPS, demonstrating the GPU's struggle to maintain high frame rates when both resolution and graphical fidelity are maximized.