Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti produces a striking performance curve across resolutions in Inside. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 224.8 FPS, but this drops to 137.7 FPS at High, a 38.7% reduction. Moving to 1440p, the High preset yields 103.3 FPS, and at 4K, the same preset falls to 65.1 FPS. The steepest decline occurs between 1440p and 4K at High settings, where frame rates drop by 37.0%, indicating that the GPU is becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count grows. Conversely, the gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is only 12.4% (224.8 vs 197.0 FPS), suggesting that at lower graphical loads, the CPU still has headroom to feed the GPU. The data shows a classic transition: the combo is CPU-limited at 1080p Low but becomes progressively GPU-bound as resolution increases, with the 4K Ultra result of 59.3 FPS confirming that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component at the highest load.

Resolution Scaling

The benchmark results reveal a predictable scaling pattern, but with nuances that identify the bottleneck. At 1080p, the spread between Low (224.8 FPS) and Ultra (136.2 FPS) is 65.4%, which is substantial but not extreme. This indicates that even at Ultra, the CPU is not completely saturated, as the frame rate remains well above 60 FPS. Stepping to 1440p, the Low preset still delivers 197.0 FPS, but Ultra drops to 98.6 FPS — a 49.9% reduction from Low. This wider gap suggests the GPU is starting to feel the load, though the CPU still provides adequate throughput. At 4K, the pattern intensifies: Low yields 128.4 FPS, while Ultra falls to 59.3 FPS, a 53.8% drop. The most telling metric is the High preset, which goes from 137.7 FPS at 1080p to 103.3 FPS at 1440p (a 25.0% loss) and then to 65.1 FPS at 4K (a 37.0% loss from 1440p). This accelerating decline confirms that the RTX 3060 Ti’s rendering pipeline is the primary limiter at higher resolutions, while the i5-9400’s six cores are sufficient to maintain high frame rates at lower pixel counts.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus and a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, is the central component driving the 4K results. Its base clock of 1410 MHz and boost clock of 1665 MHz, combined with 4864 shading units, allow it to handle Inside’s stylized visuals effectively. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo produces 59.3 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold — a clear sign that the GPU’s pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s is being taxed. The GPU’s 16.20 TFLOPS FP32 performance is sufficient for the game’s puzzle-platformer geometry, but the transition from 4K High (65.1 FPS) to 4K Ultra (59.3 FPS) is only a 8.9% performance cost, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not disproportionately heavy. In contrast, the jump from 4K Low (128.4 FPS) to 4K Medium (103.2 FPS) is a 19.6% reduction, showing that medium-tier settings have a more pronounced impact on the GPU’s workload. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 25120 places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6700M, is only 0.2% faster, confirming that the RTX 3060 Ti is a mid-to-upper-tier part that handles 4K in this game with minor compromises.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 42.7 GB/s bandwidth provide adequate data throughput for Inside’s CPU demands. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 224.8 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s ceiling for this game, as the GPU is not heavily loaded. The fact that 1080p Medium (206.0 FPS) and 1080p High (137.7 FPS) show a 33.2% difference indicates that the CPU is not the bottleneck at these settings — the GPU is. In multi-core tests, the i5-9400 scores 3346 in Cinebench R20 and 7969 in Cinebench R23, placing it at the 50th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, is just 0.2% faster, showing that the i5-9400 is a competent but not exceptional processor. The data suggests that the CPU’s six cores are sufficient to prevent frame drops in Inside, as even at 4K Low (128.4 FPS), the frame rate remains high, implying that the GPU is the limiting factor rather than the processor’s 2.90 GHz base clock.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution and frame rate. For 1080p, the High preset (137.7 FPS) offers a balanced mix of visual quality and performance, well above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra (136.2 FPS) provides a marginal improvement of only 1.1% over High, making High the sensible choice. At 1440p, the Medium preset (163.9 FPS) is the standout option, delivering a 58.7% improvement over High (103.3 FPS) while still maintaining a smooth frame rate; Ultra (98.6 FPS) is viable but offers no significant advantage over High. For 4K, the Low preset (128.4 FPS) is the only setting that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, while Medium (103.2 FPS) and High (65.1 FPS) are playable but require a tolerance for lower frame rates. The Ultra preset at 4K (59.3 FPS) dips below the 60 FPS target, so it is not recommended for a consistent experience. The data indicates that Medium settings provide the best performance-per-visual-cost across all resolutions, with 4K Medium offering 103.2 FPS, which is 58.7% faster than 4K High and 74.0% faster than 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

In the overall database of tested combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1289th out of 1671 combos. This places it in the bottom 22.9% of all tested configurations, which is surprising given the strong absolute frame rates measured. The rank reflects the fact that Inside is a lightweight game, and many higher-end CPUs and GPUs can achieve even higher frame rates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU matters more. The combo’s 1080p Low result of 224.8 FPS is respectable, but it falls short of the top-tier combos that likely exceed 300 FPS. The GPU’s 69th percentile ranking (25120 average benchmark score) and the CPU’s 50th percentile ranking (2305 average benchmark score) contribute to this mid-pack position. The nearest GPU rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600, is 0.5% faster in average score, yet the combo rank suggests that other factors, such as driver optimization for this specific title, play a role. Despite the 1289th rank, the measured FPS data proves that this combo is more than capable of delivering a smooth 60+ FPS experience at 4K Medium and 100+ FPS at 1440p High, making it a practical choice for this game even if it does not top the charts.