Inside

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 delivers a striking performance profile in Inside, a game that proves remarkably scalable across resolutions and settings. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but reveals significant CPU headroom at 1080p, where frame rates ascend well beyond the demands of most displays. This combination sits in the 206th position out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the top 12.3% of all configurations evaluated for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate trajectory from 1080p to 4K illustrates a classic bottleneck shift. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo produces 236.1 FPS, but dropping the resolution to 1440p only reduces this to 171.1 FPS—a 27.5% decline. Moving further to 4K Ultra yields 110 FPS, a further 35.7% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steepening curve indicates that the RTX 5070 becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises, with the CPU's influence waning significantly.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the system achieves 366.5 FPS at 1080p, 325.1 FPS at 1440p, and 222.3 FPS at 4K. The relatively modest drop from 1080p to 1440p (11.3%) suggests the CPU is still contributing meaningfully at these frame rates, while the larger 30.7% decline from 1440p to 4K shows the GPU workload dominating. This is a game where the RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 672.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to prevent memory-related stutters, but raw pixel throughput becomes the constraint at 4K.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically with resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 130.4 FPS (366.5 vs 236.1), representing a 35.6% performance penalty for maxing out settings. At 4K, the same comparison shows a 112.3 FPS gap (222.3 vs 110), a 50.5% reduction. This indicates that Ultra settings at 4K place a disproportionate load on the GPU, likely due to increased shading complexity and memory pressure, while the CPU can still feed frames efficiently at lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination's 206th rank out of 1671 combos places it comfortably in the upper echelon of tested systems for Inside. This percentile positioning suggests the pairing is well-balanced for this title, with neither component presenting a significant drag on the other. The RTX 5070's 83rd percentile against all GPUs and the i7-12700KF's 89th percentile against all CPUs indicate both components are above-average performers individually, which translates to a cohesive experience in this game.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when considering the game's release date of 2016-07-06. Inside is a puzzle platformer with relatively modest graphical demands compared to modern AAA titles, yet the data shows this modern hardware still finds headroom to scale. The combo outperforms the vast majority of alternatives, suggesting that even older game engines benefit substantially from contemporary CPU and GPU improvements.

The deltaPct values from the nearestRivals provide context for the CPU's contribution. The i7-12700KF scores within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-13600T, 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-12900HX, and just 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400. These margins are negligible, indicating that the specific CPU choice within this performance tier has minimal impact on Inside's frame rates. The GPU's rival deltas are similarly tight, with the RTX 5070 sitting 0.6% ahead of the RTX 3090 and 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300.

CPU Role

The i7-12700KF brings 12 cores and 20 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its Alder Lake architecture uses a hybrid design that combines performance and efficiency cores, though the 10 nm process node and 125W TDP suggest it runs relatively hot. For Inside, which is not a heavily threaded title by modern standards, the CPU's single-thread performance is likely more relevant than its multi-core capabilities.

Benchmark results confirm this assessment. The CPU scores 1043 in 3dmark_single_thread and 4091 in cinebench_r23_singlecore, while its multi-thread scores reach 9983 in 3dmark_max_threads and 28979 in cinebench_r23_multicore. The 3dmark_2_threads score of 2065 indicates that the CPU's dual-core performance is strong, which matters for a game engine that may only utilize a few threads for core simulation. The passmark_singlethread score of 3984 reinforces that this processor has ample single-core headroom.

The data suggests that at 1080p Low settings, where the system hits 366.5 FPS, the CPU is likely approaching its limit for this game's engine. The fact that 1440p Low only drops to 325.1 FPS (an 11.3% reduction) while 4K Low falls to 222.3 FPS (a 31.6% reduction from 1440p) indicates that the CPU can sustain high frame rates but the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution climbs. The 25 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for feeding the GPU without introducing stutter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce 366.5 FPS, Medium 336.9 FPS, High 247.9 FPS, and Ultra 236.1 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs only 29.6 FPS (8.1%), while moving from Medium to High costs 89 FPS (26.4%). The High to Ultra transition is comparatively minor at 11.8 FPS (4.8%). This pattern suggests that Medium settings represent a sweet spot for maximizing frame rates while maintaining visual quality, as the jump to High incurs a disproportionate penalty.

Moving to 1440p, the system still maintains excellent performance. Low settings yield 325.1 FPS, Medium 283.6 FPS, High 181.2 FPS, and Ultra 171.1 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each setting shows reductions of 11.3% (Low), 15.8% (Medium), 26.9% (High), and 27.5% (Ultra). The larger percentage drops at higher settings indicate that the GPU's fill rate and shading resources are being taxed more heavily, while the CPU continues to provide consistent frame delivery.

At 4K, the system remains playable but shows clear GPU limits. Low settings produce 222.3 FPS, Medium 179.7 FPS, High 114 FPS, and Ultra 110 FPS. The Low to Medium drop is 42.6 FPS (19.2%), while Medium to High costs 65.7 FPS (36.6%). Notably, High and Ultra are nearly identical, with just 4 FPS separating them (114 vs 110). This convergence suggests that at 4K, the Ultra preset's additional effects do not meaningfully improve visual quality while imposing a measurable performance cost, making High the more efficient choice at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 181.2 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This is a substantial 64.7 FPS increase over the 4K High result of 114 FPS, indicating that 1440p High offers a strong balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Q: Is this combo CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 366.5 FPS, while 1440p Low only drops to 325.1 FPS (an 11.3% reduction). This relatively small decline suggests the CPU is contributing significantly at these frame rates, though the increasing gap at higher settings shows the GPU becoming the primary constraint.

Q: How does the i7-12700KF compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 35355 is within 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-13600T, 0.2% of the Intel Core i9-12900HX, and 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14400. These differences are negligible for Inside performance.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, High settings produce 114 FPS while Ultra delivers 110 FPS, a difference of only 4 FPS (3.5%). This indicates that the Ultra preset offers minimal visual gains over High at 4K while imposing a small performance penalty.

Q: Does the RTX 5070 outperform the RTX 3090 in this context?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 41687 is 0.6% higher than the RTX 3090's score of 41441, based on the deltaPct values provided. This margin is within normal run-to-run variance and unlikely to produce noticeable differences in Inside.

Q: What is the lowest frame rate this combo produces in the measured data?

A: The minimum recorded average is 110 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. Even at the most demanding configuration tested, the system maintains a frame rate well above 60 FPS, indicating no playability concerns across any resolution or settings combination.