Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT delivers a commanding performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more forgiving on hardware than its atmospheric presentation suggests. The combo ranks 476th out of 1,671 tested configurations, placing it in the top 28.5% of all combos in the database for this specific title. This is a strong showing, though the ranking reflects the game's low absolute demands rather than any bottleneck in the system. The CPU, with an average benchmark score of 35,355, sits at the 89th percentile against all processors, trading blows with the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% faster) and the Intel Core i9-12900HX (0.2% slower). The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 76th percentile against all graphics cards, with an average score of 32,619, placing it just 0.2% ahead of the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 and 0.4% behind the NVIDIA P104-100. These are not components struggling to render a 2D side-scroller; they are vastly overqualified, as the measured FPS data confirms.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 476 out of 1,671 tested combinations indicates that while it is not at the absolute top, it sits comfortably in the upper third of all systems tested. For a game like Inside, which is a 2.5D puzzle platformer with a muted color palette and relatively simple geometry, this position is expected. The data shows that the system is not the limiting factor; the game's engine is. The CPU's performance is particularly noteworthy—its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28,979 and single-core score of 4,091 demonstrate a processor that excels in both threaded and lightly-threaded workloads. This matters because Inside is not a heavily threaded game, so the single-core strength is what drives the high frame rates seen in the measurements. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth are also far beyond what this title requires, but they ensure that there is no memory pressure even at maximum settings. The deltaPct values from the nearest rivals are all within 0.7%, meaning the CPU is effectively tied with its closest competitors; the ranking is therefore more a function of the GPU's position (76th percentile) than any CPU deficiency. In essence, this combo is overkill for Inside, but the benchmark results show it handles every scenario with massive headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience is found at the Medium preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 331.1 FPS, which is only slightly lower than Low's 367 FPS but offers better visual fidelity. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 235.4 FPS, still far above any refresh rate a typical monitor can display. Even at 3840x2160, Medium provides 152 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth. The High preset is also viable, with 204.8 FPS at 1080p, 150.3 FPS at 1440p, and 92.4 FPS at 4K; the latter is just above the 90 FPS threshold for high-refresh 4K displays. The Ultra preset, however, shows diminishing returns: it drops to 88 FPS at 4K, which is below the 90 FPS mark, and while it offers 140.6 FPS at 1440p and 195.7 FPS at 1080p, the visual difference between High and Ultra in a game with this art style is minimal. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot—it more than doubles the frame rate of Ultra at 4K (152 vs 88 FPS) while likely providing most of the visual benefits. For users with 60 Hz displays, even High at 4K is sufficient, but for those chasing maximum smoothness, Medium is the clear choice. Low settings are unnecessary, as the game is not demanding enough to require them, and the jump from Low to Medium is only a 19% frame rate penalty at 1080p (367 to 331.1 FPS) for a substantial improvement in shadows and texture filtering.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the system achieves 187.8 FPS on Low, 152 FPS on Medium, 92.4 FPS on High, and 88 FPS on Ultra. This indicates that even at the highest resolution, the combo maintains playable frame rates, with Medium offering a 73% improvement over Ultra (152 vs 88 FPS).

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

A: Neither is a limiting factor. The CPU's single-core score (4,091 in Cinebench R23) and the GPU's Passmark G3D score of 24,176 are both far above what Inside requires. The game is not demanding, so the measured FPS values are primarily constrained by the game engine's frame pacing rather than hardware limits.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K on the same settings?

A: On Low settings, the average FPS drops from 367 at 1920x1080 to 187.8 at 3840x2160, a 49% reduction. On Medium, it drops from 331.1 to 152, a 54% reduction. On High, it drops from 204.8 to 92.4, a 55% reduction. These scaling patterns show that the GPU is handling the resolution increase efficiently, with frame rates remaining high at every step.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a meaningful benefit over High?

A: The data shows Ultra is 5% slower than High at 1080p (195.7 vs 204.8 FPS), 6% slower at 1440p (140.6 vs 150.3 FPS), and 5% slower at 4K (88 vs 92.4 FPS). Given the game's minimalist art style, the visual difference is likely imperceptible, making High the more sensible choice if settings must be maximized.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested systems?

A: It ranks 476th out of 1,671 combos, placing it in the top 28.5%. This rank is solid but not exceptional, reflecting the fact that Inside is not a demanding title and many lower-tier systems can also achieve high frame rates.

Q: What is the impact of the GPU's memory bandwidth on performance?

A: The RX 7800 XT has 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth and 16 GB of VRAM. In Inside, this is never a constraint, as the game's textures are small and the frame buffer is easily managed. The measured FPS values are consistently high across all resolutions, indicating that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system starts at 367 FPS on Low, which is the highest average recorded across any resolution and setting. Medium drops to 331.1 FPS, a 10% reduction. High comes in at 204.8 FPS, which is a 38% drop from Medium and a 44% drop from Low. Ultra is the slowest at 1080p, with 195.7 FPS, representing a 47% reduction from Low. The scaling from Low to Ultra is steep, but even the lowest value is far above any display's refresh rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern holds but with lower absolute numbers. Low achieves 297.2 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. Medium delivers 235.4 FPS, a 21% drop from Low. High provides 150.3 FPS, a 36% drop from Medium. Ultra drops to 140.6 FPS, which is a 40% reduction from Low. The delta between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 6.5%, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not worth the performance cost.

At 3840x2160, the stress on the GPU becomes more apparent, though the values remain impressive. Low hits 187.8 FPS, which is still above 144 Hz. Medium reaches 152 FPS, a 19% drop from Low. High falls to 92.4 FPS, a 39% drop from Medium. Ultra is the lowest at 88 FPS, a 53% reduction from Low and a 5% drop from High. The 92.4 FPS at High is just above the 90 FPS mark, making it suitable for high-refresh 4K monitors, while Ultra's 88 FPS dips below that threshold. Across all resolutions, the frame rate scaling is consistent, with Low always providing roughly double the FPS of Ultra. The system's performance is so high that even the most demanding setting combination—4K Ultra at 88 FPS—is playable, but the data strongly suggests that Medium at any resolution offers the best balance of smoothness and visual quality.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is the primary driver of the frame rates in Inside, given that the game is a visual experience with minimal CPU load. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is far more than the game requires; Inside's assets are small, and the measured data shows no signs of memory throttling at any resolution. The 256-bit memory bus provides 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient to feed the GPU's 3,840 shading units and 96 ROPs at all tested settings. The clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1295 MHz, a game clock of 2124 MHz, and a boost clock of 2430 MHz. The boost clock is what matters in practice, and the data suggests that the GPU is running at or near this frequency during gameplay, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings. The GPU's pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s are more than enough to handle the game's simple 2D sprites and occasional lighting effects.

The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 24,176 places it at the 76th percentile, with its nearest rival being the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (0.2% slower) and the NVIDIA P104-100 (0.4% faster). This indicates that the RX 7800 XT is a mid-to-high-tier card, but for Inside, it is overkill. The 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is never fully utilized, as the game does not push the GPU to its limits. The 60 ray accelerators are also irrelevant, as Inside does not use ray tracing. The GPU's role here is to render a mostly static 2D scene with minimal post-processing, and it does so with massive headroom. The measured data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the GPU maintains 88 FPS, which confirms its raw power rather than any optimization in the game. The 263 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU are not factors in performance, but they indicate the card's power envelope is modest for its capability. In summary, the RX 7800 XT is the star of this combo, providing frame rates that exceed any display's capabilities, and its memory and bandwidth are so excessive for this title that they never become a consideration.