Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that scales heavily with resolution and settings, and the data for the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 shows a system that is consistently capable of playable frame rates at 1080p, but which falls behind at higher resolutions. The measured results reveal a hardware combination where the GPU is the primary constraint as pixel count increases, while the CPU provides a solid foundation that rarely becomes the limiting factor. The benchmark database entries for this combo rank it near the bottom of the tested pool, indicating that while the experience is smooth at standard settings, it is not competitive with higher-tier configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and clearly indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck in this pairing. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 132.5 at 1920x1080 to 97.3 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 35.2 FPS, and then to 61.9 at 3840x2160, which is less than half of the 1080p result. This pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For High settings, the average drops from 67.4 at 1080p to 48.9 at 1440p and further to 32.2 at 4K. The scaling factor between 1080p and 4K is roughly 2.05x for Low, 2.09x for High, and 2.34x for Ultra, showing that the performance penalty becomes more pronounced at higher quality settings.

This behavior is typical of a system where the graphics card’s compute and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed by the increasing pixel count. The GTX 1650 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and a 128-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. At 4K, the demand on this memory subsystem is substantial, and the results show that even at Low settings, the card can only manage an average of 61.9 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K is particularly harsh, with the average FPS dropping by 36.4% on Low settings and by 34.1% on High settings. This suggests that the card’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are saturated, and the CPU’s capabilities are not being fully utilized at these resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor from the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores are impressive, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128, placing it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. In the context of Inside, a game that is not heavily multithreaded, this processor has ample headroom. The data shows that at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, the frame rates are high, with a Low settings average of 132.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold. This indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates, even at lower resolutions.

The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache likely help with the game’s physics and logic calculations, which are minimal for a puzzle platformer. The single-thread performance is particularly relevant, as the game’s engine may rely on a single primary thread. The Passmark single-thread score of 4013 and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 confirm that this CPU excels in tasks that require high clock speeds. However, the benchmark results show that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions; the frame rate drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU. For instance, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 27.5, which is a clear sign that the graphics card cannot keep up, regardless of the CPU’s capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU with 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock is 1485 MHz, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and it has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus. The memory clock is 2001 MHz, which translates to 8 Gbps effective, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The GPU’s benchmark scores are modest, with a Passmark G3D score of 7880 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. In Inside, this card’s performance is heavily dependent on the settings preset, as the measured FPS varies widely.

At 1080p Low, the card achieves an average of 132.5 FPS, which is excellent, but this drops to 107.3 FPS on Medium and 67.4 FPS on High. The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 64.5 FPS, which is still playable but close to the edge of smoothness. The card’s 4 GB VRAM is likely sufficient for this game at 1080p, but at 1440p and 4K, the memory capacity and bandwidth become a limiting factor. The 4K Ultra result of 27.5 FPS is below playable standards, and even the 4K Low result of 61.9 FPS is barely acceptable. The GPU’s 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is not enough to handle the pixel shader workload at higher resolutions, which is reflected in the steep performance drops.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i7-12700K and the GTX 1650 ranks 1602 out of 1671 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the bottom 4% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU’s limited performance, as the CPU is a high-end part that scores well in isolation. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, which has an average score of 35802, a delta of -0.3%, and the Intel Core i7-13700T, which scores 35468, a delta of 0.6%. These rivals are all within a narrow performance band, indicating that the CPU is not the issue.

In contrast, the GPU’s nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile, with an average score of 8746, a delta of -0.4%, and the AMD Radeon 550X, which scores 8749, a delta of -0.4%. These scores are all close to the GTX 1650’s average of 8713, confirming that this GPU is positioned at the lower end of the performance spectrum. When combined, the high-end CPU and low-end GPU create an imbalance that limits the overall system’s capability in this game. The ranking of 1602 out of 1671 suggests that most other tested configurations, even those with older or weaker CPUs, would outperform this combo if they have a more capable GPU.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the best experience for this combo is achieved at 1080p with Medium settings, which yields an average of 107.3 FPS. This provides a smooth frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold while maintaining a reasonable level of visual quality. The Low preset at 1080p offers a higher average of 132.5 FPS, but the visual fidelity is compromised, and the difference in playability is minimal for a puzzle platformer. The High preset at 1080p drops to 67.4 FPS, which is still playable, but the Ultra preset at 64.5 FPS is borderline, and any dip in performance could cause noticeable stutter.

At 1440p, the Medium preset provides an average of 80.1 FPS, which is also a viable option if the user prefers a higher resolution. However, the High preset at 48.9 FPS is below the ideal threshold, and the Ultra preset at 45.9 FPS is not recommended. At 4K, the only acceptable preset is Low, with an average of 61.9 FPS, but this is marginal, and the Medium preset at 45.9 FPS is too low for a smooth experience. Therefore, the recommendation is to play at 1080p Medium for the best balance of performance and visual quality, or 1440p Medium if a higher resolution is preferred, with the understanding that the frame rate will be lower.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 132.5 FPS, Medium averages 107.3 FPS, High averages 67.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 64.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 97.3 FPS, Medium averages 80.1 FPS, High averages 48.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 45.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 61.9 FPS, Medium averages 45.9 FPS, High averages 32.2 FPS, and Ultra averages 27.5 FPS. These numbers show a clear trend: the frame rate decreases as resolution increases, and the gap between settings widens at higher resolutions.

For example, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 68 FPS, while at 4K, the difference is only 34.4 FPS. This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU can drive higher frame rates, but the GPU’s limitations become more apparent at 4K, where even the Low preset struggles to maintain a high average. The data also shows that the Medium preset at 1440p (80.1 FPS) is comparable to the High preset at 1080p (67.4 FPS), suggesting that users can trade resolution for settings. Overall, the system is most comfortable at 1080p, where it can deliver high frame rates across all presets, but it falls short of the requirements for smooth 4K gameplay.