Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 produces a system that ranks 1719 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This position reflects a combination where the GPU, while modern, sits at the 66th percentile of all GPUs, and the CPU at the 84th percentile of all CPUs. The result is a machine that can handle the game’s dark, atmospheric puzzle-platforming at high frame rates across most settings, though the data reveals a clear performance hierarchy driven by resolution and graphical presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1719 out of 2887 tested configurations indicates that it outperforms roughly 40% of all recorded systems while trailing the majority. This is a mid-pack standing that aligns with the component mix: the RTX 5050 is a capable entry-level Blackwell GPU, but its 66th percentile standing among all GPUs means many rival cards deliver higher raw throughput. The Core i7-12700K, however, is a strong partner, with an 84th percentile ranking that places it well above average for processing power. The discrepancy between the CPU’s high percentile and the GPU’s lower one suggests the graphics card is the primary limiter in this pairing for Inside.

Benchmark results show the system handles 1080p with ease. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate hits 296 FPS, which is exceptionally high for a puzzle platformer. Medium settings produce 237 FPS, High yields 148 FPS, and Ultra drops to 141 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the combo is never CPU-bound; even the most demanding preset stays above 140 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern continues: Low delivers 213 FPS, Medium 170 FPS, High 106 FPS, and Ultra 101 FPS. The scaling is nearly linear, showing the GPU is handling the increased pixel count without dramatic bottlenecks.

At 4K, the ranking’s implications become clearer. The 3840x2160 results show a significant drop: Low settings average 134 FPS, Medium 107 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is minimal (only 3 FPS), suggesting the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling. Overall, the combo’s rank reflects a system that is overkill for 1080p play in Inside but becomes more balanced at higher resolutions, where the RTX 5050’s 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus start to show their limits.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB207 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines, along with 20 ray tracing cores and 80 tensor cores. The GPU’s base clock runs at 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz, while the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory operates at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective) across a 128-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. These specifications position the card as a modest performer, with an FP32 compute rating of 13.17 TFLOPS.

In Inside, the GPU’s role is evident from the frame rate scaling. At 1080p, the card is not stressed, as evidenced by the 296 FPS Low result. However, the performance gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (59 FPS) is larger than the gap between Medium and High (89 FPS), suggesting that the game’s medium preset introduces effects that moderately tax the GPU. At 4K, the GPU’s memory bandwidth becomes a factor. The 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is on the lower side for 4K gaming, and the results show this: High settings at 4K average 67 FPS, while Ultra drops to 64 FPS. The minimal difference between these two presets indicates the GPU is near its limit, likely due to memory bandwidth constraints rather than shader throughput.

The RTX 5050’s nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (average score 21153, delta -0.6%), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237, -1%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713, +1.6%). The RX 5600 XT, which is 1.6% faster in average benchmark score, would likely produce similar frame rates in Inside, though the RTX 5050’s newer architecture may handle the game’s lighting effects better. The GPU’s 66th percentile ranking confirms it is not a high-end card, but it is sufficient for this title’s modest graphical demands.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal experience depends on the display resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 141 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Since the game is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer, high frame rates are not critical, but the Ultra preset at 1080p provides the best visual quality without sacrificing performance. The data shows no reason to lower settings at this resolution, as even Ultra maintains 141 FPS.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 106 FPS offers a good balance between image quality and smoothness. Ultra at 101 FPS is also playable, but the 5 FPS difference between High and Ultra suggests that the extra visual features in Ultra have diminishing returns. Medium at 170 FPS is overkill for this genre, so High is recommended for the best visual-to-performance ratio. At 3840x2160, the situation changes. High averages 67 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for fast-paced sequences. Medium at 107 FPS provides a much more comfortable margin, and given the game’s slow pacing, the visual difference between Medium and High may not justify the 40 FPS drop. For 4K, Medium is the recommended preset, as it delivers 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS, ensuring no noticeable stutter.

The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, Low produces 296 FPS, which is far beyond what the display can show, and the visual downgrade is significant. At 4K, Low averages 134 FPS, but the graphical sacrifices are unnecessary when Medium offers 107 FPS with better visuals. The data indicates that Medium or High settings are the sweet spot for this combo, depending on resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The combo achieves an average of 141 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, while the RX 5600 XT scores 20713, making the RX 5600 XT 1.6% faster in average performance. In Inside, this difference would likely translate to a few frames per second at most.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for the RTX 5050 in this game?

A: The data suggests no. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking and the high frame rates at 1080p (148 FPS on High) indicate the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU has 12 cores and 20 threads, which is far more than Inside requires.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The only measured minimum FPS values are at Medium settings: 91 FPS at 4K, 145 FPS at 1440p, and 201 FPS at 1080p. No minimum values were recorded for Low, High, or Ultra presets.

Q: How much does the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K on High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average is 148 FPS. At 4K High, it drops to 67 FPS, representing a reduction of approximately 55% when moving from 1080p to 4K.

Q: Does the RTX 5050 have enough VRAM for 4K in this game?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory. Given that High settings at 4K average 67 FPS, the VRAM appears sufficient for Inside, as the game’s art style is not texture-heavy. The bottleneck is more likely memory bandwidth (320.0 GB/s) than capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 148 at 1080p to 106 at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 67 at 4K (a 55% decrease from 1080p). This scaling is roughly proportional to the pixel count increase: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 4 times. The measured drops are less severe than the pixel count ratios, indicating that the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p and has headroom to absorb the increased load.

At Low settings, the scaling is even more telling. The 1080p Low average is 296 FPS, while 1440p Low is 213 FPS (a 28% drop) and 4K Low is 134 FPS (a 55% drop). These percentages are nearly identical to the High settings, suggesting the game’s rendering workload scales consistently with resolution regardless of preset. The 4K results, in particular, highlight the GPU’s limits. At 4K Ultra, the average is 64 FPS, which is barely above the 60 FPS threshold. This indicates that the RTX 5050 is the limiting component at 4K, as the CPU’s performance (84th percentile) is more than adequate for the game’s physics and logic.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (296 FPS) and Ultra (141 FPS) is 155 FPS. At 4K, the difference shrinks to 70 FPS (134 vs 64). This narrowing suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor, and the extra work from Ultra settings (likely shadows and post-processing) has a proportionally smaller impact on total frame time.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory and has a TDP of 125 W. Its benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 19784 points, and single-core hits 1850.5 points. Geekbench multicore scores 15790, while single-core is 2308.

In Inside, the CPU’s role is minimal due to the game’s low computational demands. The 3DMark scores show strong multi-threaded performance (9979 on max threads), but the game does not utilize such parallelism. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (296 FPS) are far beyond what any display can show, indicating the CPU is not a bottleneck. Even at 4K Ultra (64 FPS), the CPU is likely idling, as the frame rate is constrained by the GPU’s pixel throughput.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-13600T (average score 35305, delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365, -0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, -0.3%). These extremely small deltas (all within 0.4%) confirm that the i7-12700K’s performance is well-established and that any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical results in Inside. The CPU’s 84th percentile ranking means it outperforms most processors in the database, but for this game, that power is largely untapped. The 12 cores and 20 threads are overkill for a puzzle platformer, and the data shows no scenario where the CPU limits frame rates. The combo’s overall rank of 1719 is thus entirely attributable to the GPU’s mid-tier standing, not the CPU.