Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is an overwhelmingly powerful combination for Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across all settings and resolutions, often exceeding the refresh rates of even the best gaming monitors. Based on the data, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the most balanced experience, delivering a 193 FPS average. This setting provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining a frame rate that is both well above 144Hz and comfortably within the GPU's performance headroom. At 3840x2160, the High preset still delivers a very playable 121 FPS average, making it the optimal choice for 4K displays. The Low preset yields the highest frame rates—364 FPS at 1080p—but the visual compromises are unnecessary given the hardware's capability to handle higher settings with ease.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combo reveals a system with massive performance reserves. The primary consideration is not whether the hardware can run the game, but rather which settings provide the best visual fidelity without sacrificing the fluidity that the high refresh rate monitors demand. The Medium preset is the baseline for smoothness, with the 2560x1440 resolution producing a 301 FPS average and a minimum of 256 FPS, ensuring zero perceptible stutter. However, the upgrade to High is significant: at 1440p, the average FPS drops to 193, which is still a 60% improvement over the 120Hz baseline and represents a major boost in shadow quality, texture detail, and post-processing effects. The frame rate remains exceptionally high, making High the sweet spot for competitive or high-refresh gameplay.

At 4K, the High preset is the clear winner. It produces a 121 FPS average, which is perfectly suited for a 120Hz display. The Ultra preset, while offering the maximum visual quality, drops the 4K average to 115 FPS and the 1440p average to 184 FPS. The performance cost of Ultra over High is a mere 6 FPS at 4K, but the visual difference in a game with Inside's minimalist art style is likely negligible. For players with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, the High preset at 1440p is the best choice to maximize both visual quality and frame rate. The Low preset at 1080p, which produces a 364 FPS average, is only relevant for esports-level competitive play or for users with exceptionally high refresh rate monitors (240Hz+), as the graphical downgrade is substantial for a game where atmosphere is paramount. Ultimately, the data suggests that High is the default recommendation for this hardware, with Medium serving as a fallback for 240Hz+ displays and Ultra reserved for those who prioritize absolute visual fidelity over the marginal FPS difference.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed in these benchmarks. The GPU's specifications—a 24 GB GDDR6 memory pool on a 384-bit bus delivering 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth—ensure that texture streaming and asset loading are never bottlenecks, even at 4K resolution. This is critical for a game like Inside, which features detailed, atmospheric environments. The RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process, provides the raw compute power necessary to sustain high frame rates. The boost clock of 2498 MHz and game clock of 2365 MHz allow the GPU to operate at high frequencies, translating directly to the high FPS figures seen in the data.

The GPU's performance is also reflected in its benchmark scores, which show a unique profile. The Passmark G3D score of 31238 is strong, but the GPU's percentile ranking versus all GPUs is 64, and its average benchmark score is 19410. Interestingly, its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp, with deltaPct values of 0.4% and 1.2% respectively. This seems counterintuitive given the RX 7900 XTX's modern architecture and massive memory capacity. However, the benchmark data suggests that the RX 7900 XTX excels in specific workloads, such as the Geekbench Vulkan score of 85612, which is likely more representative of its gaming performance than the average score. The GPU's high FP32 throughput of 61.39 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s are the technical underpinnings of its ability to render the game's visuals at high resolutions. In Inside, the GPU is clearly the dominant component, as evidenced by the significant FPS scaling with resolution changes.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF provides ample processing power to ensure the GPU is never starved of data. With 12 cores and 20 threads, the CPU's Alder Lake architecture handles the game's physics, AI, and scene management effortlessly. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is particularly important for single-threaded tasks, and the CPU's strong single-core performance is reflected in its benchmarks, such as a 3DMark single-thread score of 1043 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4071. This high single-thread performance is crucial for maintaining consistent frame times, especially in a game like Inside that may not be heavily multi-threaded.

The CPU's multi-threaded capabilities are also more than sufficient. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and the Passmark multithread score of 34092 indicate that the CPU can handle any background tasks without impacting game performance. The L3 cache of 25 MB (shared) helps maintain low latency for frequently accessed data, further contributing to a smooth gaming experience. The CPU's performance is so robust that in Inside, its role is largely to avoid becoming a bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU's percentile ranking versus all CPUs is 85, and its average benchmark score of 35365 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct -0.1%) and the Intel Core i5-13600T (deltaPct 0.2%). This performance parity means the 12700KF is well-positioned to deliver consistent frame rates, but the FPS in the game is determined by the GPU, not the CPU. The 125W TDP and unlocked multiplier also indicate that this is a high-performance desktop part, designed for sustained workloads without throttling, which is essential for long gaming sessions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combined performance of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX places this system in the top tier of tested configurations for Inside. The combo ranks 362nd out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 10% of all systems. This is a strong result, but it is important to interpret this ranking within the context of the game's age and the hardware's power. The rank is based on the average FPS across all settings and resolutions, and the high frame rates achieved by this combo are evidence of its capability. The ranking indicates that this system is faster than the vast majority of other configurations, but it is not the absolute best, as there are 361 other combos with higher average FPS.

The ranking makes sense given that the RX 7900 XTX, despite its modern architecture, has an average benchmark score of 19410 and a percentile ranking of 64. This suggests that the GPU's raw compute power is not at the very top of the database's rankings, which may be due to the benchmark suite's weighting. However, in a lighter title like Inside, the GPU's high clock speeds and memory bandwidth are more than enough to achieve exceptional frame rates. The CPU's rank of 85 among all processors is also high, but it is not the fastest available. The combination of a top-15% CPU and a top-36% GPU yields a top-10% gaming system, which demonstrates the synergy between the two components. The data confirms that this is a high-end build that will provide an excellent experience in Inside and other similar games, with the ranking reflecting its position among the fastest systems in the database.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling across resolutions provides a clear picture of the system's bottleneck characteristics. At the High settings preset, the average FPS drops from 268 at 1920x1080 to 193 at 2560x1440, and then to 121 at 3840x2160. This represents a 28% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a further 37% drop from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 55%, which is a significant reduction. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's pixel rate and memory bandwidth are being increasingly taxed as the resolution increases, leading to lower frame rates.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the FPS reaches 364, which is likely near the maximum throughput of the game engine or the CPU's ability to feed the GPU. The fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with resolution—the 4K High score is 45% of the 1080p High score—indicates that the GPU is struggling to fill the extra pixels. The RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of VRAM is not a constraint, as the game's texture sizes are modest. The primary constraint is the GPU's shader and rasterization throughput. This is a classic sign of a GPU-limited workload. The CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures that it can maintain high frame rates at lower resolutions, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. For this combo, users targeting 4K should expect a solid 121 FPS on High, while those at 1080p can enjoy maximum settings with frame rates well above 300 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 yields a 193 FPS average, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset drops to 184 FPS, offering marginal visual gains, while Medium runs at 301 FPS for maximum smoothness.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the High preset achieves a 121 FPS average, which is perfect for 120Hz displays. The Ultra preset is still playable at 115 FPS, but the Low preset runs at 242 FPS for those seeking maximum frame rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting component. The FPS drops significantly with resolution scaling (from 364 FPS at 1080p Low to 242 FPS at 4K Low), which is a classic GPU-bound pattern. The CPU's strong performance ensures it is not a bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo compare to other systems in the database?

A: This combo ranks 362nd out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 10% of all systems. It outperforms the vast majority of configurations, but there are 361 faster combos, likely featuring more powerful GPUs.

Q: What is the minimum FPS I can expect on Medium settings?

A: The data provides minimum FPS values only for the Medium preset. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 286 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 256 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 165 FPS. These figures guarantee a stutter-free experience.

Q: Is the 24 GB VRAM on the RX 7900 XTX necessary for this game?

A: No, Inside is a 2016 game with modest texture requirements. The 24 GB of VRAM is overkill, but it ensures that the game will never be memory-limited, even at 4K with future texture mods. The GPU's bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is more important for performance than the capacity in this title.