Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a highly capable experience in Inside, but the data reveals a system that is firmly GPU-bound at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom. Benchmark results show that this combo ranks in the 13th percentile overall (3201 out of 3716 tested combos), yet the measured frame rates are consistently playable, with the Low preset at 1080p hitting 216 FPS average. The core issue is that the GTX 1660 Ti, which sits at the 41st percentile among all GPUs, becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, while the i7-12700KF, at the 85th CPU percentile, never appears to bottleneck the system. This analysis breaks down exactly how the hardware behaves across the four tested settings and three resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, with the Ultra preset averaging 103 FPS and the Low preset reaching 216 FPS. At 2560x1440, High drops to 78 FPS, and at 3840x2160, High falls to 49 FPS, so 1080p provides the most consistent high-refresh experience.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, which is 0.1% below the Intel Core i7-13700T and 0.2% above the Intel Core i5-13600T. It also edges out the Intel Core i7-12700K by 0.2%, showing the processor is competitive within its class.

Q: Is the GTX 1660 Ti a strong performer for this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 7723, placing it at the 41st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 540, scores 7673 (0.7% lower), and the Intel Arc A310 scores 7550 (2.3% lower), indicating the GTX 1660 Ti is slightly above entry-level competition.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 155 FPS, while Ultra averages 74 FPS. This represents a 109% performance drop when moving from the lowest to the highest settings, showing a significant impact from graphical fidelity.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset averages 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS, which is playable. High averages 49 FPS and Ultra averages 46 FPS, which are borderline for smooth gameplay, while Low reaches 98 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's DirectX performance compare across versions?

A: The passmark benchmarks show DirectX 11 scoring 103, DirectX 10 scoring 66, and DirectX 12 scoring 51. This indicates the GPU handles older APIs more efficiently, with a 50% drop from DirectX 11 to DirectX 12 performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti serves as the primary rendering engine in this pairing, and its specifications directly shape the Inside results. The GPU features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for the game's art style, but the 1500 MHz base and 1770 MHz boost clocks define the raw compute ceiling. With 1536 shading units, 96 TMUs, and 48 ROPs, the card achieves a pixel rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 5.437 TFLOPS is the theoretical limit for shader work, and the data suggests this becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The GPU's role is further clarified by its benchmark profile. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 indicates moderate DirectX 12 capability, while the Geekbench Vulkan score of 5827 shows similar performance in that API. The passmark G3D score of 12871 places it at the 41st percentile, and its average benchmark score of 7723 is only 0.7% higher than the AMD Radeon 540. This positioning explains why the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K: the 12 nm Turing architecture, with 6,600 million transistors on a 284 mm² die, simply lacks the raw throughput for demanding resolutions in this title.

The VRAM capacity of 6 GB is adequate for Inside's visual complexity, as the game doesn't require massive texture pools. However, the memory clock of 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective) and the 192-bit bus create a bandwidth ceiling that becomes apparent in the scaling patterns. At 1080p, the GPU can feed enough data to the shading units, but as resolution increases, the memory subsystem and compute units must work harder, leading to the frame rate drops observed in the measured data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system averages 108 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops performance to 78 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 3840x2160, High averages just 49 FPS, representing a 55% drop from 1080p. This scaling curve is steeper than what a CPU-bound system would show, confirming that the GTX 1660 Ti is the limiting component.

The Low preset illustrates this even more dramatically. At 1080p Low, the system hits 216 FPS average, which suggests the CPU can push significantly more frames if the GPU allows. At 1440p Low, it drops to 155 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 98 FPS. The progression from 216 to 155 to 98 shows a consistent halving of performance as pixel count roughly doubles, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU, with a 3DMark max threads score of 9983 and a passmark multithread score of 34092, has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions.

The Medium preset data includes minimum and maximum frame times that further illuminate the scaling. At 1080p Medium, the average is 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 and maximum of 199. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 and maximum of 90. The consistency of the frame times, with the minimum staying within 15-18% of the average, suggests the GPU is maintaining stable performance rather than experiencing stutter, but the overall level declines steadily.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results across all settings. The Low preset averages 216 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium averages 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 and maximum of 199, providing a smooth high-refresh experience. High averages 108 FPS, and Ultra averages 103 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is minimal (5 FPS), indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not heavily taxing the GPU at this resolution. The 1080p results show the combo is capable of exceeding 100 FPS on all settings, making it suitable for 144 Hz displays.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably but remains playable. Low averages 155 FPS, which is still excellent for competitive play. Medium averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143, keeping frame times tight. High averages 78 FPS, which is smooth for most players, while Ultra averages 74 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 4 FPS, similar to the 1080p pattern, suggesting the Ultra preset's incremental fidelity costs are consistent regardless of resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become clear. Low averages 98 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium drops to 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS, both of which fall below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K data shows the GTX 1660 Ti can handle the game at Low to Medium settings, but High and Ultra require a more powerful GPU. The 32 FPS gap between Low and Medium at 4K is larger than the 42 FPS gap at 1080p, indicating that the GPU's compute resources are saturated at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 3201 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 14% of all systems in the database. This low rank is primarily due to the GPU's position at the 41st percentile, while the CPU sits at the 85th percentile. The i7-12700KF's average benchmark score of 35365 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals: the Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403 (0.1% higher), the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428 (0.2% higher), and the Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287 (0.2% lower). This CPU performance is not the limiting factor.

The GPU's rank is more telling. With an average benchmark score of 7723, the GTX 1660 Ti sits just above the AMD Radeon 540 (7673, 0.7% lower), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100 (7580, 1.9% lower), and the AMD Radeon R7 250 (7557, 2.2% lower). The Intel Arc A310 scores 7550 (2.3% lower), making the GTX 1660 Ti the top performer among its nearest rivals. However, this is a low bar, as these are entry-level or older cards. The combo's overall rank of 3201 reflects that while the CPU is far above average, the GPU drags the system down in the overall hierarchy.

In Inside specifically, the measured FPS data shows the system performs better than its 14th percentile rank might suggest. At 1080p, all presets exceed 100 FPS, and even at 1440p, the Low preset hits 155 FPS. The rank is a general metric across all games and workloads, but in this puzzle platformer, the combo delivers smooth performance at 1080p and playable frame rates at 1440p on lower settings.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is the recommended choice. The data shows an average of 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS, ensuring no dips below 144 FPS. This provides a buttery-smooth experience on high-refresh monitors while maintaining better visual fidelity than Low. The High preset at 1080p averages 108 FPS, which is still excellent, but the jump from Medium to High costs 65 FPS (a 38% reduction) for what is likely a modest visual improvement in this art style.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p delivers 216 FPS average, which is more than enough for any display. However, the visual downgrade from Low to Medium is substantial, and the 43 FPS gain (from 173 to 216) may not justify the reduced graphical quality. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS, making it the best option for higher resolutions while maintaining playable frame rates. The Low preset at 1440p hits 155 FPS, but the Medium preset's visual improvements are worth the 31 FPS cost.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the only viable option for consistent gaming, averaging 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. The High preset at 4K drops to 49 FPS, which will cause noticeable stutter in a platformer that requires precise timing. The Ultra preset at any resolution offers marginal gains over High, with only a 2-5 FPS difference in the data, making it the least efficient choice. For this combo, the Ultra preset is effectively a waste of GPU resources across all resolutions, and players should stick to Medium or High depending on their resolution target.