Inside

Inside is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer from 2016, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT shows a combination that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but becomes increasingly CPU-dependent as resolution drops. The measured frame rates indicate that this system delivers exceptional performance, with the most significant bottleneck shifting from the graphics card at 4K to the processor at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a classic pattern of GPU limitation at higher pixel counts. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces an average of 230 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 165 FPS, a reduction of 65 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls to 104 FPS, which is a further drop of 61 FPS. This steep decline as resolution increases points directly to the GPU being the primary limiting component at 1440p and 4K.

The data becomes even more telling when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 367 FPS, which is an extremely high frame rate that suggests the CPU is nearing its practical limit for this game engine. At 1440p Low, the average is 329 FPS, a modest drop of 38 FPS. The jump from 1440p Low to 4K Low shows a more substantial reduction, with the 4K Low average landing at 207 FPS. The relatively small difference between 1080p and 1440p Low (38 FPS) compared to the larger gap between 1440p and 4K Low (122 FPS) confirms that at lower resolutions, the CPU is able to keep up, but the GPU workload scales dramatically with pixel count.

The Medium settings preset shows a similar trajectory. At 1080p Medium, the average is 339 FPS with a minimum of 288 FPS and a maximum of 389 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 264 FPS (min 224, max 304), and at 4K Medium, it falls to 166 FPS (min 141, max 191). The consistent reduction in frame rates as resolution increases, coupled with the shrinking minimum frame rates, indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor in these scenarios, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at these rates.

For Ultra settings, the pattern holds. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 219 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 157 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 99 FPS. The fact that 4K Ultra is the only setting/resolution combination that dips below the 100 FPS threshold suggests that this is the most demanding configuration for the GPU, while the CPU remains capable of handling the game's logic without becoming a bottleneck. The data clearly shows that for most settings, the RX 9070 XT is the determining factor for performance, with the i7-12700K providing sufficient processing power to avoid limiting frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This processor, built on the Alder Lake architecture with a 10 nm process node, demonstrates strong multi-threaded capability with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and a single-core score of 1850.5. In the context of Inside, which is a puzzle platformer that typically relies on a limited number of threads, the single-core performance is more relevant than the raw multi-core throughput.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the primary constraint in most tested configurations. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 367 FPS, which is likely near the engine's or CPU's maximum frame delivery. The fact that 1080p Ultra achieves 219 FPS, which is nearly identical to 4K High at 104 FPS when scaled for resolution, suggests that the CPU can handle the game's physics and logic at high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck. The PassMark single-thread score of 4013 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2308 further corroborate the processor's strong per-core performance, which is essential for a game that may not fully utilize all 20 threads.

The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks places it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T (average score 35305, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (average score 35365, delta -0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13700T (average score 35403, delta -0.3%). These negligible deltas (under 0.5%) indicate that the i7-12700K performs essentially identically to its closest competitors in general computing tasks. For Inside, this means that any of these CPUs would likely deliver similar frame rates, as the game's demands are not extreme enough to differentiate between them.

The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and the dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) provide the processor with adequate bandwidth for feeding the GPU, but the data suggests that the game's performance is not cache-sensitive, given the high frame rates achieved across all settings. The processor's boost clock of 5.00 GHz is likely the key factor in delivering the high minimum frame rates observed at 1080p, where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT in Inside?

A: No, the benchmark data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 367 FPS, which is exceptionally high, and at 4K Ultra, it drops to 99 FPS, showing that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system?

A: For a 1440p monitor, High settings provide an average of 165 FPS, while Ultra settings offer 157 FPS. At 4K, High settings deliver 104 FPS, which is playable, but Ultra drops to 99 FPS. The sweet spot for 4K is High settings, as it stays above the 100 FPS mark.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-core performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, which is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365), and the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403). The deltas are all under 0.5%, meaning there is no practical performance difference.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 9070 XT has an average benchmark score of 13543, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (13536) and 0.2% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13515). These are very small differences, indicating similar synthetic performance levels.

Q: What is the difference in frame rates between Medium and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 264, while at 1440p Ultra, it is 157 FPS. This represents a drop of 107 FPS, showing that Ultra settings impose a significant load on the GPU.

Q: Does the system maintain high minimum frame rates?

A: The data shows minimum frame rates only for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 288 FPS, at 1440p Medium it is 224 FPS, and at 4K Medium it is 141 FPS. These minimums are still high, indicating stable performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT combination ranks 693rd out of 3716 tested combos in Inside. This places the system in the top 18.7% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing for a game that is not particularly demanding. The rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows the combo delivering playable frame rates at all tested resolutions and settings.

The rank of 693 out of 3716 suggests that while this is a high-performing combo, there are many other systems that achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is likely because Inside is an older title (released in 2016) and can be run at very high frame rates even on less powerful hardware, meaning that the top ranks are occupied by combos with even more extreme CPUs or GPUs that push frame rates beyond what this system achieves. However, the 693rd rank is still respectable, as it indicates the system outperforms the vast majority of combos tested.

The data shows that the combo's performance is consistent across settings, with the rank likely being driven by the 4K Ultra result of 99 FPS, which is the lowest measured average. At 1080p Low, the 367 FPS average is competitive with high-end systems, but the 4K results are where the RX 9070 XT's performance is more moderate relative to other GPUs. The combo's rank of 693rd out of 3716 indicates that for users targeting 1080p or 1440p gaming, this system is more than adequate, but for 4K Ultra, there are faster configurations available.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a 4 nm process node from TSMC, featuring the Navi 48 chip with 53,900 million transistors. The GPU has a base clock of 1660 MHz, a boost clock of 2970 MHz, and a game clock of 2400 MHz. It is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. The GPU's 4096 shading units, 256 TMUs, and 128 ROPs contribute to its pixel rate of 380.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 760.3 GTexel/s.

In Inside, the GPU's role is to render the game's side-scrolling environments and lighting effects. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the main limiting factor at higher resolutions. For example, at 4K High, the average is 104 FPS, while at 1080p High, it is 230 FPS. This scaling indicates that the GPU's workload increases significantly with resolution, as expected. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as Inside is not a VRAM-intensive title, and the high bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not an issue.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 7260 and a PassMark G3D score of 26795. Its average benchmark score is 13543, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals in terms of average score are the AMD Radeon HD 7770M (13536, delta 0.1%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13515, delta 0.2%), and the NVIDIA P106-090 (13470, delta 0.5%). These deltas are minimal, but the comparison to older GPUs like the GTX 570 is notable, as the RX 9070 XT is a modern card with much higher raw compute power (48.66 TFLOPS FP32). The synthetic benchmark scores may not fully reflect the card's gaming performance in modern titles, but for Inside, the measured FPS data is more relevant.

The GPU's boost clock of 2970 MHz is high, and the game clock of 2400 MHz suggests that the card maintains a high frequency during gaming. The 644.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is ample for the game's needs, and the 16 GB VRAM ensures there is no memory capacity limitation. The data shows that for 4K Ultra, the GPU delivers 99 FPS, which is just below the 100 FPS threshold, indicating that the card's compute performance is the limiting factor at that setting.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, and Ultra). The data is measured, not estimated, and includes average FPS for all combinations, with minimum and maximum FPS recorded only for Medium settings.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average FPS:

• Low: 367 FPS
• Medium: 339 FPS (minimum 288, maximum 389)
• High: 230 FPS
• Ultra: 219 FPS

The 1080p results show a clear progression, with Low settings providing the highest frame rate at 367 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is significant (109 FPS), while the difference between High and Ultra is much smaller (11 FPS). This suggests that the High to Ultra transition is less demanding on the GPU than the Medium to High transition.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are:

• Low: 329 FPS
• Medium: 264 FPS (minimum 224, maximum 304)
• High: 165 FPS
• Ultra: 157 FPS

At 1440p, the frame rates are still very high, with Low settings exceeding 300 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 99 FPS, which is the largest gap between consecutive settings at this resolution. The High to Ultra difference is only 8 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings are only slightly more demanding than High at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are:

• Low: 207 FPS
• Medium: 166 FPS (minimum 141, maximum 191)
• High: 104 FPS
• Ultra: 99 FPS

At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, with Low settings still providing over 200 FPS, but High settings falling to 104 FPS and Ultra to 99 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum FPS of 141 is still high, indicating that the system maintains smooth performance even in demanding scenes. The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration that fails to reach an average of 100 FPS, making it the most demanding test for this combo.