Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers an exceptionally high-performance experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The benchmark data shows that this combination is capable of producing frame rates far beyond what the game’s display logic requires, making it a case study in how modern hardware utterly overwhelms older titles. The measured results across all resolutions and settings reveal that the primary differentiator is not the CPU or GPU’s raw capability, but rather the chosen graphics preset and its impact on the rendering pipeline.

Settings Recommendations

For the most balanced experience, the High preset at 2560x1440 is the clear standout. It delivers an average of 156.2 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors while maintaining a substantial visual upgrade over Low settings. At 1920x1080, the High preset reaches 218.1 FPS, indicating that the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. While the Ultra preset at 1080p produces 209.2 FPS, its 4K performance drops to 93.1 FPS, a significant 55% reduction from the High preset’s 4K score of 95.9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns in visual fidelity for a performance cost.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is a hidden gem, particularly for 4K displays. It achieves 157.2 FPS at 3840x2160, which is 64% higher than the High preset’s 4K result. This indicates that Medium offers the best compromise between visual quality and raw speed for high-resolution gaming. For users with 1440p monitors, the Low preset’s 312.3 FPS is overkill, but it does highlight the CPU’s ability to feed frames at an extraordinary rate. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and its 4K average of 93.1 FPS, while still playable, is the only configuration that dips near the 60 FPS threshold, suggesting that it is best reserved for lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070’s specifications are crucial to interpreting these results. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the GPU has ample bandwidth and capacity for Inside’s relatively simple textures, even at 4K. The memory clock of 2518 MHz translates to 20.1 Gbps effective, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. This high bandwidth is likely why the GPU can maintain high frame rates at 4K with the Medium preset, as the game’s data transfer requirements are easily satisfied.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, including 3584 shading units and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, are more than adequate for this title. The measured FPS at 1080p High (218.1 FPS) shows the GPU is far from being a bottleneck, as the frame rate scales dramatically when moving to 1440p (156.2 FPS) and 4K (95.9 FPS). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor when increasing resolution, but it is never actually strained to its maximum potential. The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS and a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s are theoretical maxima that the game’s rendering engine does not come close to saturating, as evidenced by the near-linear FPS scaling across settings at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is the most telling indicator of system balance. At the High preset, the average FPS falls from 218.1 at 1920x1080 to 156.2 at 2560x1440, a 28.4% reduction, and then to 95.9 at 3840x2160, a further 38.6% drop. This consistent decline suggests that the rendering load is scaling directly with pixel count, which is the expected behavior for a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 9070’s 16 GB VRAM ensures that memory capacity is never a factor, so the performance loss is purely due to the increased shading and rasterization work.

However, the scaling is non-linear across settings. At 1080p, the difference between Low (369.3 FPS) and Ultra (209.2 FPS) is 43.4%, but at 4K, the difference between Low (197.5 FPS) and Ultra (93.1 FPS) is 52.9%. This widening gap at higher resolutions indicates that the Ultra preset introduces more complex pixel shaders and post-processing effects that tax the GPU’s fill rate and texture units more heavily as the resolution increases. The fact that the CPU-bound frame rates at 1080p Low (369.3 FPS) are so high suggests that the Core i7-12700K is capable of feeding the GPU without becoming a bottleneck, even at these extreme frame rates.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this hardware?*

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 with the High preset (156.2 FPS) offers an excellent balance of smoothness and visual fidelity. For 4K, the Medium preset (157.2 FPS) is superior to High (95.9 FPS), providing 64% more performance.

Q: Is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 overkill for this game?

A: Yes, the benchmark results indicate the GPU is rarely challenged. Even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 93.1, which is well above the 60 FPS standard. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 369.3 FPS, demonstrating that the GPU has significant headroom.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 4K?

A: The Ultra preset is more demanding, yielding 93.1 FPS compared to High’s 95.9 FPS, a 2.9% difference. This suggests that the visual improvements from Ultra are minimal and come at a slight performance cost.

Q: Can this system handle high refresh rate gaming at 1440p?

A: Absolutely. The High preset at 2560x1440 delivers 156.2 FPS, which is sufficient for 144Hz monitors. The Low preset even reaches 312.3 FPS, enabling compatibility with 300Hz displays if needed.

Q: Does the CPU limit the GPU in this title?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 369.3 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame generation limit. However, the GPU still manages to scale its output up to 4K, indicating that the CPU is not a bottleneck at standard resolutions.

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

A: At 1080p, Low (369.3 FPS) is 76.5% faster than Ultra (209.2 FPS). At 4K, Low (197.5 FPS) is 112% faster than Ultra (93.1 FPS), showing that the gap widens with resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K’s specifications are essential for understanding the high frame rates at low settings. With 12 cores (20 threads) and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, the CPU has immense single-threaded and multi-threaded capability. This is reflected in its benchmark scores, such as 4128 points in Cinebench R23 single-core and 29241 in multi-core. For Inside, a game that relies on a single primary simulation thread, the CPU’s 3.60 GHz base clock and 5.00 GHz boost clock ensure that physics and game logic are processed quickly, allowing the GPU to render frames without waiting.

The 3DMark scores highlight the CPU’s scaling. The single-thread score of 1043 and 2-thread score of 2065 show that even with minimal thread usage, performance is high. The jump to 8 threads (7202) and max threads (9979) indicates that the Alder Lake architecture, with its 25 MB of shared L3 cache, efficiently handles multi-threaded workloads. In Inside, the CPU is so fast that at 1080p Low, it can feed the GPU enough data to reach 369.3 FPS. This is likely near the upper limit of the game’s engine, as the frame rate does not scale linearly with the GPU’s power.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data reveals a clear hierarchy across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 369.3 FPS, the highest average recorded. The Medium preset follows at 337.7 FPS, then High at 218.1 FPS, and finally Ultra at 209.2 FPS. The performance delta between Low and Ultra is 160.1 FPS, a 76.5% improvement for Low. This suggests that the game’s engine is highly sensitive to the number of active effects and shadow quality.

At 2560x1440, the trend continues but with a compression of the upper range. Low produces 312.3 FPS, Medium 248.5 FPS, High 156.2 FPS, and Ultra 147.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 164.7 FPS, but the percentage difference remains similar at 111.5%. This indicates that the GPU is beginning to feel the load of higher pixel counts, but the CPU is still able to maintain high frame generation.

The 4K results show the most significant impact of resolution. Low drops to 197.5 FPS, Medium to 157.2 FPS, High to 95.9 FPS, and Ultra to 93.1 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K for the High preset is 38.6%, while for Low it is 36.8%. This consistent reduction confirms that the RX 9070’s performance is scaling predictably with pixel count, and the 16 GB VRAM is sufficient to prevent any memory-related stutters or texture loading issues.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 393 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 23.5% of all systems, which is impressive for a game that is not particularly demanding. The high rank is likely due to the CPU’s exceptional single-threaded performance, which enables the high frame rates seen at 1080p, and the GPU’s ability to maintain playable frame rates at 4K.

The CPU’s performance percentile of 89 vs all CPUs indicates that it is well above average, but its nearest rivals show a tight cluster. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is only 0.3% behind, while the Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% behind. This suggests that the i7-12700K’s rank is not solely due to CPU strength, but also its pairing with the RX 9070. The GPU’s percentile of 79 vs all GPUs shows it is also above average, but its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA A2 (-0.2%) and Quadro GV100 (+0.3%), are surprisingly close in average benchmark score, indicating that the GPU’s performance in synthetic tests does not directly translate to a massive lead in this game.

The combo’s rank of 393 suggests that while this system is excellent, there are 392 other combinations that perform better. This is likely due to the game’s age and the fact that many modern CPUs and GPUs can achieve similar frame rates. However, the data shows that this particular pairing is extremely well-balanced, offering no obvious bottleneck at any resolution tested. The rank reflects the fact that for a title like Inside, most modern high-end hardware will produce an overly smooth experience, and this combo’s specific strengths in single-threaded CPU performance and high GPU bandwidth make it a top-tier choice.