Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing produces a fascinating bottleneck dynamic in Inside, a game that is far more demanding on the GPU than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. The data indicates that this combo delivers exceptional frame rates across all tested configurations, but the scaling patterns reveal that the CPU begins to assert its influence at lower resolutions, capping performance well below what the GPU is capable of delivering.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 clearly demonstrates where the performance ceiling lies. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves 167.8 FPS, which drops to 150.7 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 127.2 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 24.2% decline from 1080p to 4K at the highest settings, a relatively modest drop that suggests the system is not purely GPU-bound at the lower resolution.

The Low settings preset tells a more revealing story. At 1080p Low, the system produces 224.6 FPS, but at 1440p Low it only drops to 198.9 FPS — a mere 11.4% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K Low brings the figure to 169.4 FPS, another 14.8% decline. This pattern indicates that when the GPU workload is light, the Intel Core i5-9400's six cores and six threads become the limiting factor, preventing the frame rate from scaling linearly with the resolution reduction.

The gap between settings presets narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 56.8 FPS (224.6 vs 167.8). At 4K, that gap shrinks to 42.2 FPS (169.4 vs 127.2). This convergence is a classic sign of a system transitioning from a CPU-limited state at low resolution to a GPU-limited state at high resolution. The data strongly suggests that at 1080p, the i5-9400 is holding back the RTX 4080 SUPER, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER brings substantial hardware to this puzzle platformer, and the benchmark results reflect its capability. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for Inside's rendering demands. The GPU's 10240 shading units, 320 TMUs, and 112 ROPs provide the raw compute necessary for the game's lighting and shadow effects.

The clock behavior is noteworthy. The GPU has a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and the measured FPS figures suggest the card is operating well within its thermal and power envelope across all tested settings. The fact that the 4K Ultra result of 127.2 FPS remains far above the 60 FPS threshold indicates that the RTX 4080 SUPER is never seriously challenged by this title, even at maximum resolution and quality.

The memory subsystem plays a role in the scaling behavior. The 736.3 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for Inside's texture and geometry data, which is why the performance drop from 1440p to 4K is relatively contained. The GPU's 5 nm process node and Ada Lovelace architecture contribute to its efficiency, allowing it to maintain high clock speeds without hitting power limits that would cause frame rate dips.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 819 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 51st percentile of all tested configurations, which is a surprisingly low position given the GPU's pedigree. The explanation lies in the CPU's limitations.

The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 places it at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 (0.2% faster) and the Intel Core i7-8809G (0.6% slower). This mid-pack CPU performance is the anchor that drags the combo's ranking down, despite the RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile standing among all GPUs.

The GPU alone averages 53610 in benchmark scores, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti. However, in Inside, the combo's rank of 819 out of 1671 indicates that many systems with weaker GPUs but stronger CPUs achieve better frame rates, particularly at 1080p where the CPU bottleneck is most pronounced.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers 204.3 FPS, which is 36.5 FPS higher than High (173.9 FPS) and only 20.3 FPS lower than Low (224.6 FPS). The jump from Medium to High costs 30.4 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs only 6.1 FPS. This suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for 1080p, offering a substantial performance buffer over the higher presets with minimal visual compromise.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern holds. Medium produces 184.8 FPS, which is 28.8 FPS above High (156 FPS) and 34.1 FPS above Ultra (150.7 FPS). The gap between Medium and Low (198.9 FPS) is only 14.1 FPS, making Medium the recommended choice for 1440p gaming on this hardware.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers 155.5 FPS, which is 26.3 FPS above High (129.2 FPS) and 28.3 FPS above Ultra (127.2 FPS). The Low preset at 169.4 FPS is only 13.9 FPS ahead of Medium. For 4K, Medium again provides the best balance, keeping frame rates well above 144 FPS while preserving most visual quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset reveals consistent scaling across all configurations. At 1920x1080, the results range from 224.6 FPS at Low to 167.8 FPS at Ultra, with Medium at 204.3 FPS and High at 173.9 FPS. The 1080p results show the smallest spread between presets, indicating CPU involvement in limiting maximum frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the range narrows slightly: Low produces 198.9 FPS, Medium 184.8 FPS, High 156 FPS, and Ultra 150.7 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 14.1 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 5.3 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the top end.

At 3840x2160, the spread widens again: Low achieves 169.4 FPS, Medium 155.5 FPS, High 129.2 FPS, and Ultra 127.2 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is just 2 FPS, making Ultra essentially indistinguishable from High in performance terms. The 4K results confirm that the GPU becomes the dominant factor at this resolution, as the CPU can feed frames fast enough to keep the RTX 4080 SUPER occupied.

FAQ

*Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes. The lowest 4K result is 127.2 FPS at Ultra settings, and the Medium preset achieves 155.5 FPS. All 4K configurations exceed 120 FPS.

Q: Which resolution provides the highest frame rate?

A: 1920x1080 with Low settings produces 224.6 FPS, the highest measured result. The 1080p Medium preset reaches 204.3 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost when upgrading from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Ultra settings, the drop is from 167.8 FPS at 1080p to 127.2 FPS at 4K, a 24.2% reduction. At Low settings, the drop is from 224.6 FPS to 169.4 FPS, a 24.6% reduction.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests yes at 1080p. The relatively small frame rate differences between Low and Medium presets at 1080p (20.3 FPS) compared to 4K (13.9 FPS) indicate the CPU limits maximum frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the best settings preset for this hardware?

A: Medium provides the best balance across all resolutions. At 1080p it delivers 204.3 FPS, at 1440p 184.8 FPS, and at 4K 155.5 FPS, all while staying well above 144 FPS.

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

A: It ranks 819 out of 1671 combos in Inside, placing it in the middle of the field. The RTX 4080 SUPER is strong, but the i5-9400's mid-pack CPU performance limits the overall ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide modest single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125 and multi-core score of 7969. The CPU's 9 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for most games.

In Inside, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The benchmark results show that at 1080p, the i5-9400 becomes the limiting factor, capping frame rates at approximately 224 FPS even at Low settings. This is why the combo ranks only 819th out of 1671 — many systems with slower GPUs but faster CPUs achieve higher frame rates in CPU-limited scenarios.

The CPU's 50th percentile standing among all processors is the primary weakness of this pairing. Its nearest rivals, the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, are within 0.2% of its average score of 2305, while the Intel Xeon E-2134 is 0.4% behind. The RTX 4080 SUPER, by contrast, sits in the 88th percentile among GPUs, creating a significant imbalance that manifests most clearly at lower resolutions where the frame rate ceiling is determined by the CPU rather than the GPU.