Inside

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB produces a compelling dataset for Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher presets, yet shows signs of CPU limitation only at the most extreme low-settings scenarios. This analysis breaks down the performance characteristics, offering a detailed look at how this specific hardware combination handles the game's demands.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the bottleneck lies within this system. At the "Ultra" preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a drop from 168 FPS to 131 FPS, a 22% reduction in frame rate. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields 83 FPS, which is another 37% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5060 Ti is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, as the pixel throughput demand increases significantly.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically when examining the "Low" preset. Here, the frame rates are exceptionally high, with 222 FPS at 1080p, 199 FPS at 1440p, and 170 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only about 10%, and the subsequent drop to 4K is roughly 15%. This much flatter scaling curve suggests that the CPU, with its 6 cores and 6 threads running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost of 4.10 GHz, is starting to become a more significant factor. The GPU is rendering frames so quickly at low settings that it must wait on the processor, preventing the frame rate from scaling as aggressively with resolution.

The "Medium" preset offers a middle ground. The data shows a 205 FPS average at 1080p, falling to 183 FPS at 1440p and 139 FPS at 4K. The relative consistency between 1080p and 1440p, with a mere 11% difference, again points to CPU involvement, while the more substantial 24% drop from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU workload becoming dominant once more. The "High" preset follows a similar trend, with 171 FPS at 1080p, 138 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K.

Benchmark results indicate that for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, the "High" preset is the threshold, as it maintains an average of 87 FPS. However, the data shows that the CPU can keep up with the GPU's demands at 4K when settings are lowered, as evidenced by the 170 FPS average on "Low". This suggests the i5-9400 is capable of feeding frames fast enough even at high resolutions, but the RTX 5060 Ti's performance ceiling becomes the deciding factor for maximum visual fidelity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience in Inside. The "Ultra" preset delivers the highest visual quality but results in the lowest frame rates across all resolutions. At 4K, it averages 83 FPS, which is playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The "High" preset, however, provides a significantly better balance, offering a 4K average of 87 FPS, which is a 5% improvement over "Ultra" with likely minimal visual difference in this art style.

For users targeting higher refresh rate monitors, the "Medium" preset is the standout choice. At 1440p, it achieves an average of 183 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS, ensuring a consistently smooth experience on 144Hz displays. At 1080p, "Medium" reaches 205 FPS, making it suitable for 200Hz+ panels. The frame time data for "Medium" shows a minimum of 174 FPS and a maximum of 235 FPS at 1080p, indicating good stability.

The "Low" preset is the only option for maximizing frame rates, but it comes at the cost of visual fidelity. It produces 222 FPS at 1080p and 170 FPS at 4K, which are the highest averages recorded. However, given the game's atmospheric and puzzle-based nature, the visual downgrade may not be worth the performance gain. The data suggests that the "High" preset at 4K or the "Medium" preset at 1440p offers the best experience, providing high frame rates while maintaining a level of graphical detail that suits the game's aesthetic. The "Ultra" preset, while offering the highest fidelity, only provides a marginal FPS advantage over "High" at lower resolutions, making it a less efficient choice.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, released in late 2018. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In the context of Inside, its role becomes apparent when analyzing the performance deltas at lower settings. At 1080p with "Low" settings, the system produces 222 FPS. If the GPU were the sole bottleneck, we would expect to see a much larger jump from the 168 FPS recorded at "Ultra" settings. The comparatively modest increase suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance is limiting the maximum achievable frame rate.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, and its single-core score is 935. These are modest figures, placing the CPU in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. When compared to its nearest rivals, it sits within a very tight performance band. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 has an average score of 2259, which is 0.2% lower than the i5-9400's average of 2254. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% difference. This indicates that the CPU's processing power is squarely in the mid-range tier.

The data shows that the CPU's impact is most visible at 1080p and 1440p with lower settings. For instance, at 1440p, the frame rate only drops from 199 FPS on "Low" to 183 FPS on "Medium", a mere 8% difference. This suggests that the CPU is able to feed the GPU frames quickly enough that the GPU's workload increase from "Low" to "Medium" is the primary cause of the FPS drop. However, at 4K, the difference between "Low" (170 FPS) and "Medium" (139 FPS) is 18%, showing that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint. In summary, the i5-9400 is a capable processor for this title, but its performance ceiling is reached at high frame rates, preventing the RTX 5060 Ti from being fully utilized at the lowest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB holds a rank of 1556 out of 2887 combos for Inside. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is a significant finding given the modern GPU. The ranking is likely influenced by the CPU's age and performance relative to other processors in the database.

The GPU itself, while new, has a low percentile ranking of 29 among all GPUs based on its average benchmark score of 4901. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark list are older or lower-end cards like the AMD FirePro W5130M and the NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450, with score deltas of -0.1% and 0.2% respectively. This suggests that despite its modern architecture, the RTX 5060 Ti's raw compute performance is not exceptional when compared to the broader spectrum of GPUs in the database, which is reflected in its rank.

Conversely, the CPU's average benchmark score of 2254 places it in the 47th percentile, which is a middle-of-the-road result. The combination of a mid-tier CPU and a GPU that benchmarks lower than many others explains the combo's overall rank. It is not a top-tier performer, but it is far from the bottom. The measured FPS data shows that the combo can deliver excellent performance in Inside, but its rank suggests that many other CPU and GPU pairings can achieve even higher frame rates. The combo rank indicates that while this system is more than capable of running the game smoothly, it is not competitive with the highest-performing configurations in the database.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo at 4K?

A: The highest average FPS at 3840x2160 is 170, which is achieved with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Is the "Ultra" preset worth using at 1440p with this hardware?

A: The "Ultra" preset at 2560x1440 yields an average of 131 FPS. The "High" preset produces 138 FPS, which is 5% higher, suggesting that "High" offers a better performance-to-fidelity trade-off.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, a 0.2% difference, and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, a 0.4% difference. The performance is nearly identical.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the "Medium" preset at 1080p?

A: The measured data shows a minimum FPS of 174 for the "Medium" preset at 1920x1080, with an average of 205 FPS.

Q: Does the system show signs of CPU limitation at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data suggests CPU involvement at 1080p. The average FPS only increases from 168 on "Ultra" to 222 on "Low", a 32% gain, which is less than what would be expected if the GPU were the only bottleneck.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile compared to all other GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB is in the 29th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 4901.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table presents the exact measured FPS values for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | ------: | ------: | ------: |

| 3840x2160 | High | 87 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 170 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 139 | 118 | 160 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 83 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | High | 138 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 199 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 183 | 156 | 211 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 131 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | High | 171 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 222 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 205 | 174 | 235 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 168 | - | - |