Inside

# Inside Performance Analysis: Core i7-12700K + RTX 4070 Ti SUPER

This combination of the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer that is far from demanding by modern standards. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are remarkably high, with the combo ranking in the 91st percentile among all tested system configurations for this game. With 3716 total tested combos, this pairing sits at rank 334, indicating that only about 9% of tested systems outperform it in this specific title. The data reveals a system that is massively overqualified for the graphical demands of Inside, yet the benchmark results still offer interesting insights into how these components scale across different settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 334 out of 3716 tested configurations places this system firmly in the upper echelon for Inside performance. This ranking reflects the combination of the Core i7-12700K's strong CPU capabilities and the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's substantial GPU horsepower. The CPU itself holds the 84th percentile among all processors in the database, while the GPU sits at the 76th percentile among all graphics cards. When paired together in this game, their combined performance exceeds what either component's individual percentile might suggest, indicating that Inside is not particularly bottlenecked by either component.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals provides context for its contribution to this combo's standing. The Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287, which places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core i5-13600T (avg score 35305) and 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-12700KF (avg score 35365). These minuscule deltas suggest that for a game like Inside, which does not heavily stress multi-threaded workloads, the CPU choice within this performance class would have minimal impact on actual frame rates. The GPU's nearest rivals show similar clustering, with the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's average score of 31087 sitting just 0.4% below the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (avg score 31206) and 1.9% below the NVIDIA TITAN RTX (avg score 31676).

What makes this ranking particularly notable is the game's age and genre. Inside launched in 2016 as a Puzzle Platformer with relatively modest visual demands. The fact that this 2024-era GPU paired with a 2021-era CPU still ranks in the top 9% of all tested combos suggests that many systems in the database struggle with this title due to other factors, possibly driver overhead, system configuration issues, or the specific way the game engine interacts with modern hardware. The data indicates that this particular pairing delivers a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience without any apparent compatibility or optimization concerns.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER brings substantial resources to bear on Inside. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 672.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2340 MHz with a boost clock of 2610 MHz, while memory runs at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications are far beyond what a 2016 puzzle platformer requires, yet they manifest in the measured frame rates in interesting ways.

The GPU's 8448 shading units, 264 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines provide the raw compute capacity that drives the high frame rates observed. The card also features 66 RT cores and 264 tensor cores, though Inside does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS features. The FP32 throughput of 44.10 TFLOPS and texture rate of 689.0 GTexel/s are more relevant to the game's rendering workload, which primarily involves 2D sprite-based visuals with some 3D depth effects.

What is particularly revealing is how the GPU performs relative to its nearest rivals in the database. The RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's passmark G3D score of 31811 is competitive with the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (which has an average score of 31206, putting the RTX card 0.4% ahead) and the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell (avg score 31532, delta of -1.4%). However, these comparisons are based on synthetic benchmarks rather than game-specific performance. In Inside, the GPU's actual workload is relatively light, which is why the measured frame rates reach such extraordinary levels even at 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's 76th percentile ranking among all graphics cards suggests that while it is a strong performer, there are many faster options in the database. Yet in Inside, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's performance headroom means that even the most demanding settings tested (4K Ultra) still produce an average of 117 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold most players consider smooth. This indicates that the GPU is far from being the limiting factor in this system's Inside performance.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals how the system scales across resolutions, offering insight into where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 367 FPS average, which drops to 329 FPS at 1440p Low and 245 FPS at 4K Low. This represents a 33.2% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 25.5% additional drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling pattern suggests that at Low settings, the system is still CPU-bound even at 4K, as the frame rates remain extraordinarily high.

Moving to High settings, the pattern shifts slightly. At 1080p High, the average is 271 FPS, dropping to 195 FPS at 1440p High (a 28% reduction) and 123 FPS at 4K High (a 36.9% reduction from 1440p). The steeper drop from 1440p to 4K at High settings compared to Low settings indicates that the GPU is beginning to become more involved in the performance equation, though even at 4K High, the system maintains over 120 FPS.

The Medium settings data provides the most complete picture, with min and max FPS recorded for each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 339 FPS with a minimum of 288 and maximum of 389. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 303 FPS (min 258, max 349), and at 4K Medium, the average falls to 196 FPS (min 167, max 226). The variance between min and max FPS narrows as resolution increases, with the spread being 101 FPS at 1080p, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 59 FPS at 4K. This tightening of frame time consistency at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's workload becomes more uniform as pixel count increases.

Ultra settings show the most significant resolution scaling impact. From 258 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 186 FPS at 1440p Ultra (a 27.9% drop) and finally 117 FPS at 4K Ultra (a 37.1% drop from 1440p). The pattern across all settings reveals that Inside scales predictably with resolution, but the system maintains playable frame rates even at the most demanding configuration tested. This suggests that for this game, the GPU becomes the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, but the CPU's strong single-thread performance (evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5) ensures that even at 1080p, frame rates are not artificially capped.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Inside?*

A: The highest recorded average is 367 FPS at 1080p with Low settings. This represents the system's peak performance ceiling in the measured configurations.

Q: How does the system perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system maintains an average of 117 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration tested, yet it still delivers frame rates well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data suggests the system is largely CPU-bound at lower resolutions, given that 1080p Low produces 367 FPS while 4K Low produces 245 FPS. However, at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes more of a factor, with frame rates dropping more steeply with resolution increases.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at higher resolutions?

A: At Medium settings, the frame time spread narrows as resolution increases. The difference between min and max FPS is 101 at 1080p, 91 at 1440p, and 59 at 4K, indicating more consistent frame delivery at higher resolutions.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This pairing ranks 334th out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 9% of all configurations tested for Inside. The CPU holds the 84th percentile while the GPU holds the 76th percentile among their respective component categories.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates across all settings?

A: Yes. Even the lowest recorded average is 117 FPS at 4K Ultra. All tested configurations exceed 60 FPS averages, with the minimum FPS recorded at 167 (4K Medium), indicating the system never drops below playable thresholds.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo across all tested configurations reveals a system with exceptional headroom. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 367 FPS on Low, 339 FPS on Medium (min 288, max 389), 271 FPS on High, and 258 FPS on Ultra. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 26.7% performance penalty for the highest quality settings compared to the lowest.

At 2560x1440, the results are 329 FPS on Low, 303 FPS on Medium (min 258, max 349), 195 FPS on High, and 186 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 43.5%, significantly larger than at 1080p. This indicates that the GPU's workload increases disproportionately with resolution when quality settings are also elevated.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 245 FPS on Low, 196 FPS on Medium (min 167, max 226), 123 FPS on High, and 117 FPS on Ultra. The Low-to-Ultra performance penalty at 4K is 52.2%, the largest of any resolution. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is notably small (123 vs 117 FPS, only a 4.9% drop), suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional visual features have diminishing returns at this resolution.

The minimum FPS values, available only for Medium settings, show that even at 4K, the system never drops below 167 FPS, which is still far above the threshold for perceptible frame drops on most displays. The maximum FPS of 389 at 1080p Medium indicates the system can push very high frame rates when the scene allows, though this is likely limited by the game engine's internal frame rate cap or CPU single-thread performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K plays a crucial role in enabling the high frame rates observed in Inside. With 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, the CPU offers a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The 10 nm process node and 125W TDP represent the power envelope that allows these clocks to be sustained. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides fast access to frequently used game data.

For a game like Inside, which primarily relies on single-threaded performance for its game logic and physics, the CPU's single-core capabilities are particularly important. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5 and Geekbench single-core score of 2308 demonstrate strong single-thread performance. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 further confirms this, suggesting that the CPU can handle the game's main thread without becoming a bottleneck, even at frame rates approaching 400 FPS.

The CPU's multi-threaded performance, while likely underutilized by Inside, still contributes to overall system responsiveness. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19784 and Geekbench multi-core score of 15790 indicate that the CPU can handle background tasks and system overhead without interfering with game performance. The PassMark multithread score of 34404 and the 3DMark 16-thread score of 9276 provide additional evidence of the CPU's robust multi-threading capabilities.

Comparing the CPU to its nearest rivals, the Core i7-12700K's average benchmark score of 35287 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, delta of -0.1%) and the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365, delta of -0.2%). This suggests that for Inside, any of these CPUs would deliver nearly indistinguishable performance. The CPU's 84th percentile ranking among all processors indicates that it is a strong performer, though not the absolute fastest available. The data implies that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this system's Inside performance, as even at 1080p Low where CPU load is highest relative to GPU, the system still achieves 367 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo in Inside depend on the player's display capabilities and preference for visual quality versus frame rate headroom. For players with a 60 Hz display, even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra at 117 FPS average) provides more than enough performance for a locked 60 FPS experience. The data suggests that at 4K, Ultra settings deliver a 117 FPS average, which is 95% of the High preset's 123 FPS, making Ultra the clear choice for 4K displays with 120 Hz refresh rates.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance headroom. At 303 FPS average with a minimum of 258 FPS, this configuration supports 240 Hz displays without ever dropping below the refresh rate threshold. The Ultra preset at 1440p (186 FPS average) still supports 144 Hz displays comfortably, but the 117 FPS difference between Medium and Ultra may not justify the visual improvements for a game with Inside's stylized art direction.

At 1080p, the Ultra preset (258 FPS average) is recommended for high-refresh-rate displays, as it provides the best visual quality while still supporting 240 Hz monitors with headroom. The Low preset (367 FPS) offers no practical advantage over Ultra on any commercially available display, as even the fastest 360 Hz panels would be saturated by the Ultra preset's 258 FPS average. The Medium preset's minimum FPS of 288 at 1080p ensures that even during demanding scenes, the system maintains frame rates above 240 Hz, making it a safe choice for competitive play if frame time consistency is prioritized.

For players seeking the absolute smoothest experience with maximum visual fidelity, the 4K Medium preset (196 FPS average, 167 FPS minimum) stands out as the best overall recommendation. This configuration delivers frame rates that saturate all but the fastest available displays while maintaining a minimum FPS that exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The relatively small performance gap between High (123 FPS) and Ultra (117 FPS) at 4K suggests that players should choose Ultra if they have a 120 Hz display, as the visual benefits come at minimal performance cost.