Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle-platformer from 2016, and its rendering demands are modest by modern standards. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher settings, but the frame rates are so high across the board that the experience is defined by the monitor’s refresh rate rather than the hardware’s raw capability. The benchmark results reveal a pairing that can push well past 100 FPS at 4K Ultra and exceed 350 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the game’s visual style and limited geometry allow this high-end duo to operate at a fraction of its potential.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep but predictable for a game with simple 2D rendering. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 270.3 at 1920x1080 to 192.0 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 78.3 FPS, and then to 123.2 at 3840x2160, a further drop of 68.8 FPS. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4070 Ti is the primary limiting component as resolution increases, with the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth becoming more significant factors. The GPU’s 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth and 80 ROPs are being taxed more heavily at 4K, even though the game’s art style is not texture-heavy.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more dramatic in relative terms, but the absolute numbers remain high. The average FPS goes from 367.4 at 1080p to 327.2 at 1440p and then to 245.8 at 4K. The 4K Low result is still 121.6 FPS higher than the 4K High result, showing that the setting preset has a massive impact on the GPU workload. The fact that 4K Low produces 245.8 FPS while 4K High produces 123.2 FPS suggests that the High preset introduces effects like advanced lighting or post-processing that double the rendering cost. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU is starting to become a co-limiter, as the 367.4 FPS Low result is only 39.8 FPS higher than the 1440p Low result, a smaller gap than the 81.4 FPS difference between 1440p and 4K.

CPU Role

The Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, built on the Alder Lake architecture. Its synthetic benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29241 and a single-core score of 4128. However, in Inside, the CPU’s role is minimal because the game’s physics and logic are not demanding. The 1080p Low result of 367.4 FPS is the highest measured, and the fact that it does not scale linearly with resolution suggests that the CPU is providing a ceiling around that range.

The processor’s 3DMark scores show a steady progression from 1043 in single-thread to 9979 in max-threads, but a game like Inside likely uses only a few threads for its core loop. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2065 and 4-thread score of 4011 indicate that the processor’s hybrid design with performance and efficiency cores is well-suited for this workload. The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache is ample for the game’s small asset footprint. The data shows that the i7-12700K is never the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as the FPS drops are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, but at 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K 120 FPS?

A: Yes, at High settings the average FPS is 123.2, which is above 120. At Ultra settings, the average drops to 117.8, which is just below 120 FPS. For a locked 120 FPS experience at 4K, the High preset is the appropriate choice.

Q: What is the best resolution for maximum frame rate?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 367.4 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. If absolute frame rate is the goal, 1080p is the best choice, though the difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 12.1 FPS, indicating diminishing returns on settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Ti compare to its nearest rival in this context?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 44900, which is 0.6% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile’s score of 45152. This means the 4070 Ti is effectively at parity with that mobile part in synthetic tests, but its desktop cooling and power delivery may allow for more sustained performance in long sessions.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for this game?

A: At 1080p, the data suggests a minor CPU limitation, as the FPS at Low settings (367.4) does not scale as much as expected when moving to higher resolutions. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, as the FPS differences align with GPU workload increases.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: The average FPS drops from 327.2 at Low to 185.7 at Ultra, a difference of 141.5 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset nearly halves the frame rate compared to Low, making it a significant performance cost for visual gains.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: This combination ranks 125th out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the top 7.5% of all systems. This ranking reflects a high-performance pairing that is well above the median for Inside.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 125 out of 1671 tested combinations places this system in the top percentile of all tested hardware pairs for Inside. This is a strong result, but the ranking is not surprising given the components’ individual performance percentiles. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU ranks in the 85th percentile of all GPUs. The gap between the CPU and GPU percentiles is small, but the game’s low demand means that the ranking is more indicative of raw hardware capability than optimization.

The rank of 125 is likely influenced by the fact that many higher-ranked combos use newer or more expensive components, such as the RTX 4090 or top-tier Ryzen 9 processors. The data shows that this combo is within 0.7% of the Intel Core i5-14500HX’s average CPU score, indicating that the 12700K is competitive with a newer mobile part. For a game like Inside, the ranking demonstrates that this system has enough headroom to run the game at maximum settings at any resolution, and the rank is more of proof of the system’s overall power than its specific suitability for this title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience. At 4K, the High preset delivers 123.2 FPS, which is the sweet spot for a high-refresh-rate display, as Ultra drops to 117.8 FPS, a negligible visual improvement for a 5.4 FPS loss. At 1440p, the High preset at 192.0 FPS is the best balance, as it stays well above 144 Hz, while Ultra at 185.7 FPS is still playable but offers no tangible benefit for most users. At 1080p, the High preset at 270.3 FPS is recommended for users with high refresh rate monitors, as the jump to Medium at 337.6 FPS is noticeable only to those with 360 Hz displays, and the Low preset at 367.4 FPS is for competitive play where every frame matters.

The Ultra preset is never the best choice for frame rate optimization, as it reduces performance by 4.4% at 4K, 3.3% at 1440p, and 4.5% at 1080p compared to High. The Medium preset offers a significant boost over High, with gains of 74.4 FPS at 4K, 113.6 FPS at 1440p, and 67.3 FPS at 1080p, making it the best option for maximizing frame rate without dropping to the lowest visual quality. The data suggests that the High preset is the intended experience, as it provides a consistent frame rate across all resolutions that is well above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 258.2 at Ultra to 367.4 at Low. The Medium preset produces 337.6 FPS, and High produces 270.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 29.8 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 67.3 FPS, and High to Ultra is 12.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 185.7 at Ultra to 327.2 at Low. Medium produces 305.6 FPS, and High produces 192.0 FPS. The largest drop is between Medium and High at 113.6 FPS, indicating that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 117.8 at Ultra to 245.8 at Low. Medium produces 197.6 FPS, and High produces 123.2 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 74.4 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 5.4 FPS, showing that the game’s Ultra preset is not much more demanding than High at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 7680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s, and the boost clock reaches 2610 MHz. The synthetic benchmark scores show a strong GPU, with a Passmark G3D score of 31624 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 205028. In Inside, the GPU’s role is to handle the rendering of the game’s atmospheric lighting, particle effects, and post-processing, which are the primary drivers of the FPS differences between presets.

The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at 1440p and 4K, as the FPS scales inversely with pixel count. The 4K High result of 123.2 FPS is nearly half of the 1080p High result of 270.3 FPS, which is consistent with a roughly fourfold increase in pixel count. The GPU’s 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than enough for this game, and the limiting factor is likely the memory bandwidth and ROP throughput. The fact that the RTX 4070 Ti sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs and is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon Pro 580’s average score indicates that it is a high-end part, but the game’s simplicity means that even a mid-range GPU could achieve playable frame rates. The GPU’s 80 ROPs are sufficient for the 2D rendering style, and the high clock speeds ensure that the frame pacing remains consistent.