Inside

The Radeon RX 570 paired with the Core i7-12700KF delivers a playable experience in Inside, though the data reveals a significant performance cliff as resolution increases. At 1080p, the game runs smoothly across all presets, but at 4K, only the Low preset maintains a comfortable frame rate. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to identify the limiting component at each resolution and provides actionable settings recommendations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a stark drop when moving from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate falls from 65 FPS at 1920x1080 to 49 FPS at 2560x1440, and then plummets to 27.3 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 58% reduction in performance from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings. The pattern is consistent across all presets: High settings drop from 66.9 FPS at 1080p to 31.2 FPS at 4K, while Medium settings fall from 110.2 FPS to 51.9 FPS.

The scaling behavior reveals that the RX 570's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in this title. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at 4K: Low achieves 63.4 FPS while Ultra manages only 27.3 FPS, a 2.3x difference. At 1080p, the same comparison shows Low at 136 FPS versus Ultra at 65 FPS, a 2.1x difference. This suggests that the GPU's compute resources (5.095 TFLOPS FP32) are being saturated at 4K, leaving little headroom for visual enhancements.

The Core i7-12700KF, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, is not the limiting factor in any resolution tested. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 and a single-core score of 4091, indicate it has ample processing power for a puzzle platformer. The data shows that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering workload, not CPU-side game logic or physics calculations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570, based on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, operates with a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz. Its 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s. These specifications explain the observed performance scaling: at 1080p, the GPU can process frames quickly enough to reach 136 FPS on Low settings, but at 4K, the pixel fill rate becomes a hard ceiling.

The GPU's 4 GB memory capacity is a critical constraint at higher resolutions. At 3840x2160, the frame buffer requirements exceed what the 4 GB GDDR5 can efficiently manage, causing the frame rate to collapse on Ultra settings to 27.3 FPS. The 256-bit memory bus provides 224.0 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but insufficient for 4K textures and effects. The measured data shows that even with a powerful CPU, the RX 570 can only achieve 31.2 FPS at 4K High settings.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 74 places it above most graphics cards, but its nearest rivals in the benchmark database — including the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 with a 0.2% higher average score and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT with a 0.2% higher score — are notably newer architectures. The RX 570's Geekbench Vulkan score of 42752 and OpenCL score of 32084 demonstrate its compute capabilities, but these do not translate to 4K gaming performance in this title. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 880 confirms its DirectX 12 capability, yet the game's 4K Ultra preset remains unplayable.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF, with its Alder Lake architecture, provides a strong foundation for Inside's CPU demands. The processor's 12 cores (with 20 threads) and boost clock of 5.00 GHz ensure that game logic, physics, and audio processing never become bottlenecks. The benchmark results support this: the PassMark multithread score of 34092 and single-thread score of 3984 indicate robust performance across both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads.

In the context of this game, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game world state. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (136 FPS) demonstrates that the CPU can support very high frame rates when the GPU is not constrained. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and 2-thread score of 2065 show that even with limited thread usage, the CPU excels. The Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2921 and single-core score of 412 further confirm this capability.

The CPU's 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to frequently used data, which is beneficial for the game's level streaming and object management. The processor's 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs places it well above average, and its nearest rivals — the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% higher average score) and Intel Core i7-13800H (0.2% lower) — show that it competes favorably with newer parts. However, the data indicates that the CPU is never the limiting factor in this game; even at 4K Ultra with 27.3 FPS, the bottleneck is clearly the GPU.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Core i7-12700KF or the Radeon RX 570 the limiting factor in Inside at 4K?*

A: The data shows the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K. At Ultra settings, the frame rate drops to 27.3 FPS at 3840x2160, while the same preset achieves 65 FPS at 1920x1080. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 indicates it has ample headroom.

*Q: What is the best resolution for this hardware combination in Inside?*

A: The measured data shows 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution for consistent frame rates. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset achieves 65 FPS, while at 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 49 FPS and at 4K it falls to 27.3 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 570's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: The GPU's 4 GB GDDR5 memory with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for 4K rendering. At 3840x2160, the High preset only reaches 31.2 FPS, suggesting the frame buffer overflows and causes severe performance degradation.

Q: Does the CPU's boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide any benefit in this game?

A: The high boost clock contributes to the CPU's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by the PassMark single-thread score of 3984. This helps maintain high frame rates at 1080p, where the GPU is less constrained.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings achieve 98.4 FPS while Ultra settings drop to 49 FPS, a 2x difference. This indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant GPU workload that the RX 570 can only handle at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 30158 places it within 0.2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, and 0.6% above the NVIDIA Tesla M60. This suggests the RX 570 performs competitively despite its older architecture.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average frame rates across settings are: Low at 136 FPS, Medium at 110.2 FPS, High at 66.9 FPS, and Ultra at 65 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal (1.9 FPS), suggesting that Ultra settings add little visual benefit over High at this resolution. The 1080p results show the GPU is capable of handling the game's demands comfortably, with even the most demanding preset staying well above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease proportionally: Low at 98.4 FPS, Medium at 80.9 FPS, High at 51.2 FPS, and Ultra at 49 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (29.7 FPS) is larger than the gap between High and Ultra (2.2 FPS), indicating that High settings impose a significant additional workload. At this resolution, Low and Medium presets remain playable, but High and Ultra dip below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops substantially: Low at 63.4 FPS, Medium at 51.9 FPS, High at 31.2 FPS, and Ultra at 27.3 FPS. Only the Low preset maintains a frame rate above 60 FPS at 4K. The Medium preset is borderline playable at 51.9 FPS, while High and Ultra are not recommended for a smooth experience. The overall pattern shows that resolution has a linear effect on performance, with the GPU's limited memory bandwidth becoming the primary constraint at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this hardware combination in Inside is achieved at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. The 65 FPS average at this configuration provides a smooth gameplay experience while maximizing visual quality. The minimal difference between High (66.9 FPS) and Ultra (65 FPS) means that Ultra settings should be used without concern for performance loss.

For users with 2560x1440 displays, the Medium preset at 80.9 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and playability. The High preset at 51.2 FPS is playable but may feel less responsive during fast-moving sequences. The Ultra preset at 49 FPS is not recommended, as the performance drop from Medium is substantial (31.9 FPS) without a proportional increase in visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 63.4 FPS is the only recommended configuration, as it maintains a smooth frame rate. The Medium preset at 51.9 FPS is acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate consistency. High (31.2 FPS) and Ultra (27.3 FPS) presets should be avoided at 4K, as the frame rates fall below what is generally considered playable. The data clearly shows that the RX 570's 4 GB memory and 224.0 GB/s bandwidth are best utilized at 1080p, where even the highest settings remain within its capabilities.