Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a performance profile in Inside that is defined by overwhelming headroom at lower resolutions and a shift toward GPU-bound scaling at 4K. The combination ranks 1161st out of 2887 tested combos for this title, placing it in the upper-mid tier of the database; this rank reflects a system that can max out the game’s refresh rate potential at 1080p and 1440p, while still comfortably clearing 60 FPS at 4K with higher presets. Benchmark results indicate that the primary bottleneck transitions from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, but neither component falls below the threshold of a playable experience. The data shows a consistent, predictable scaling pattern across all three resolutions and four quality presets, making this combo a straightforward recommendation for high-refresh 1440p gaming or smooth 4K presentation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1161 out of 2887 tested configurations places it in the 60th percentile of all measured systems for Inside. This is not a top-tier leaderboard position, but it is a strong showing for a mid-range pairing. The CPU alone sits at the 85th percentile versus all CPUs in the database, while the GPU is at the 58th percentile versus all GPUs. The asymmetry between these two percentile figures is telling: the i7-12700KF is a far stronger component relative to its peers than the RX 7700 is relative to its own class. In practice, this means the system’s overall rank is held back by the GPU, particularly at higher resolutions where the graphics card’s raw throughput becomes the limiting factor.

Examining the nearest rivals clarifies this dynamic. The i7-12700KF’s average benchmark score of 35365 is statistically indistinguishable from the Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, deltaPct -0.1), the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, deltaPct 0.2), and the Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, deltaPct -0.2). It also sits just 0.2% above the i7-12700K itself. This tells us that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class; there is no silicon lottery winner or loser here, just a solid 12-core part that holds its own against newer and similarly positioned chips. On the GPU side, the RX 7700’s average score of 15852 is within 1.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (16014). This puts the RX 7700 in a tight performance cluster, where the measured FPS in Inside will be more a function of the game’s engine and resolution than of any meaningful GPU performance gap.

The rank itself is a composite of these two components. At 1080p, where the CPU matters more, the combo punches above its GPU percentile. At 4K, the rank trends downward because the RX 7700’s 58th percentile standing becomes the dominant constraint. The data shows that this combo is not built for chasing leaderboard positions in Inside; it is built for delivering consistently high frame rates across a wide range of settings, which it does admirably.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this combo for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo averages 127 FPS, and with Medium settings it averages 203 FPS. Both comfortably exceed 144Hz, making 1440p the sweet spot for high-refresh displays. At 1920x1080, the averages are even higher (177 FPS on High, 282 FPS on Medium), but the frame rates exceed the refresh rate of most 144Hz monitors, offering no visual benefit.

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 76, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. However, dropping to High settings at the same resolution raises the average to 80 FPS. The data shows that 4K Ultra is playable, but High settings provide a small speed advantage.

Q: How much does the CPU matter for this game at 1080p?

A: The jump from 1080p Low (353 FPS) to 1080p Medium (282 FPS) suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU far more frames than it can render at lower settings. The i7-12700KF’s single-thread score of 1043 in 3DMark and its 85th percentile ranking indicate it is not the limiting factor at this resolution; the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the constraint.

Q: Is there a significant performance drop between Medium and Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the drop is consistent across all resolutions. At 1080p, moving from Medium (282 FPS) to Ultra (168 FPS) costs 114 FPS. At 1440p, the drop is from 203 FPS to 121 FPS, and at 4K, from 128 FPS to 76 FPS. This represents a 40-45% reduction in frame rate, which is typical for the graphical effects enabled by Ultra presets.

Q: How does this combo compare to an RTX 3060 Ti system?

A: The RX 7700’s average benchmark score is 15852, which is 1.7% below the RTX 3060 Ti’s 16129. In Inside, this small delta is unlikely to translate into a measurable FPS difference. The measured results show the combo delivering 177 FPS at 1080p High and 127 FPS at 1440p High, which are well within the performance envelope of both GPUs.

Q: Does the 16 GB of VRAM on the RX 7700 provide any advantage in this game?

A: Inside is not a VRAM-intensive title, and the measured FPS data does not show any dips that would indicate memory capacity issues. The 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth is far more than the game requires; the bottleneck at higher resolutions is raw compute throughput, not memory capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook shift in bottleneck behavior. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-bound, as evidenced by the enormous frame rates on Low settings (353 FPS). This number is far beyond what the RX 7700 can sustain at higher resolutions, indicating that the GPU is leaving performance on the table because the game’s render pipeline is not being stressed. Moving to 2560x1440, the Low setting average drops to 254 FPS, a 28% reduction, which shows the GPU beginning to take on more work. At 3840x2160, the Low setting average falls to 160 FPS, a 55% reduction from 1080p Low. This pattern is the signature of a GPU that is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count quadruples.

The scaling is not linear, however. From 1080p to 1440p (1.78x pixel increase), the High preset drops from 177 FPS to 127 FPS, a 28% decrease. From 1440p to 4K (2.25x pixel increase), the High preset drops from 127 FPS to 80 FPS, a 37% decrease. The larger drop at the higher resolution step confirms that the GPU is being pushed closer to its compute limits. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 168 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28% and 37% respectively, mirroring the High preset. This consistency suggests that the rendering cost of Ultra settings scales proportionally with resolution, and the RX 7700’s 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is the governing constraint.

What does this mean for the user? At 1080p, the CPU is the star, and the GPU is underutilized. At 1440p, the balance is near optimal, with both components contributing meaningfully to the final frame rate. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, but the average FPS on High (80 FPS) and Ultra (76 FPS) still clears the 60 FPS bar. The data shows that this combo offers a graceful degradation curve, where users can dial up resolution without hitting a wall that makes the game unplayable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a wide spread across presets. Low settings produce an average of 353 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. Medium settings drop to 282 FPS, with a minimum of 240 FPS and a maximum of 325 FPS. High settings yield 177 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 168 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra is only 9 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are relatively cheap at this resolution. All averages are far above the 144Hz refresh rate, meaning users with standard high-refresh monitors will see no difference between Medium and Ultra in terms of perceived smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings average 254 FPS, Medium averages 203 FPS (minimum 173, maximum 234), High averages 127 FPS, and Ultra averages 121 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 6 FPS, again indicating that Ultra is not much more demanding than High at this resolution. The Medium preset’s minimum of 173 FPS still exceeds 144Hz, making it a viable option for competitive play. The High and Ultra presets remain above 120 FPS, which is smooth for most displays.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop to levels that require more careful consideration. Low settings average 160 FPS, which is still very high. Medium settings average 128 FPS, with a minimum of 108 FPS and a maximum of 147 FPS. High settings average 80 FPS, and Ultra settings average 76 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is just 4 FPS, making the choice between them almost purely cosmetic. The minimum FPS on Medium (108) is above the 60 FPS floor, but the High and Ultra averages are closer to the boundary. For a locked 60 FPS experience, Medium is the safest choice, while High and Ultra will dip into the 70s and 80s on average.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the decisive factor at 4K and the secondary factor at lower resolutions. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Inside, a game from 2016 that does not exhibit high memory pressure. The GPU’s boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz are the clocks that matter for sustained load; the measured FPS data does not show any signs of thermal throttling or clock instability, as the scaling between presets is consistent and predictable.

The GPU’s 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the key number for understanding its 4K behavior. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 76 FPS, which is a 55% drop from the 1080p Ultra average of 168 FPS. This drop is roughly proportional to the pixel count increase (4x), but it is mitigated by the fact that Inside is not a graphically demanding title by modern standards. The GPU’s 96 ROPs and 160 TMUs are ample for this game’s 2D-heavy puzzle platformer rendering, which does not rely heavily on texture fill or pixel throughput.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 58 versus all GPUs places it in the middle of the pack, but its nearest rivals show that it is not far behind stronger cards. The 1% delta with the RX 9060 and the 1.7% delta with the RTX 3060 Ti mean that any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical results in Inside. The data suggests that the RX 7700 is not the part that will hold this combo back at 1080p or 1440p; its role becomes critical only at 4K, where its raw compute limits the frame rate to the 76-160 FPS range depending on settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is the dominant component at 1080p, where its 12 cores and 20 threads are more than enough to feed the GPU. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.00 GHz and base clock of 3.60 GHz are reflected in its 3DMark single-thread score of 1043, which is a strong result that explains the 353 FPS average on Low settings at 1080p. This frame rate is far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions, indicating that the CPU is not the limiting factor until the resolution increases and the GPU’s workload grows.

The CPU’s 25 MB of shared L3 cache and per-core L2 cache of 1.25 MB are more than adequate for Inside, which is not a cache-sensitive game. The benchmark results show that the CPU’s multi-threaded performance is also a non-issue: its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28838 and Geekbench multicore score of 14367 place it in the upper echelon of desktop processors. This headroom means that even if the game were to spawn additional background threads, the i7-12700KF would not break a sweat.

The CPU’s 85th percentile ranking versus all CPUs is the highest of any component in this combo, and its nearest rivals include the i7-13700T and i5-13600T, both of which are within 0.2% of its average score. This tells us that the i7-12700KF is performing exactly as expected, with no anomalous behavior. In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is to ensure that the GPU is never starved for draw calls or physics updates. The data shows that this is achieved with ease, as the frame rates only start to drop when the GPU’s pixel throughput is maxed out at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

For users with a 1080p display, the Medium preset is the optimal choice. It averages 282 FPS with a minimum of 240 FPS, which is far above any display’s refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 168 FPS is also excellent, but the 114 FPS gap between Medium and Ultra is not worth the visual upgrade for a game like Inside, which has a muted art style. The Low preset at 353 FPS is unnecessary unless the user is chasing extreme frame rates for a 360Hz monitor, which is not a common scenario.

For 1440p displays, the Medium preset is again the best balance, averaging 203 FPS with a minimum of 173 FPS. This leaves enough headroom for any 144Hz or 165Hz monitor. The High preset at 127 FPS is also viable for 120Hz displays, but the drop to Ultra at 121 FPS is negligible, making High the better choice over Ultra for a small performance gain. The Low preset at 254 FPS is overkill for most users.

For 4K displays, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. The Medium preset averages 128 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS, which is the only preset that guarantees a frame rate above 100 FPS. The High preset at 80 FPS is playable but will drop below 60 FPS in demanding scenes, which is not ideal for a smooth experience. The Ultra preset at 76 FPS is nearly identical to High, so there is no reason to choose Ultra over High at this resolution. The Low preset at 160 FPS is the best for a 144Hz 4K monitor, but it sacrifices visual quality. For most 4K users, Medium is the sweet spot, offering high frame rates without visually compromising the game’s atmospheric lighting and shadows.