Inside

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers an exceptionally high-performance experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on the CPU than one might expect. The measured data shows that this combination is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond the refresh rates of most monitors, even at 4K resolution. The benchmark results indicate a system where the GPU is the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures that minimum frame rates remain consistently high across all settings. This analysis breaks down how the combo behaves across resolutions, where it ranks among other tested configurations, and what settings provide the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate behavior across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, though the absolute numbers are so high that the system never feels stressed. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 217 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings, the average drops to 156 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K, the average falls to 98 FPS, which is another 37% drop from 1440p. This progression shows that the RX 9070 is the limiting factor as pixel count increases, while the i7-13700K has ample headroom to feed it.

The scaling becomes more dramatic when looking at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves a staggering 396 FPS average. At 1440p Low, this drops to 311 FPS, and at 4K Low, it hits 196 FPS. The 4K Low result is still more than double the 1080p High result, which illustrates that the GPU has significant compute reserves that are only fully taxed at higher resolutions and quality presets. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck in any tested configuration, as even the lowest 4K result (93 FPS at Ultra) is far above what would be considered a playable threshold.

The Medium settings row is the only one with measured minimum and maximum frame rates, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 4K Medium, the average is 157 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS. This 133 FPS minimum represents a 15% drop from the average, suggesting some frame pacing variance at higher resolutions. At 1440p Medium, the average is 249 FPS with a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 287 FPS, showing a similar relative variance. At 1080p Medium, the average is 346 FPS with a minimum of 294 FPS and a maximum of 398 FPS. The consistency across resolutions indicates that the frame time spikes are likely related to game logic rather than GPU load, as the relative variance remains stable even as the absolute FPS changes dramatically.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the i7-13700K and RX 9070 ranks 818th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations in the database. This rank reflects the game's unique CPU sensitivity, as the i7-13700K's strong multi-threaded performance contributes significantly to the overall score. The CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (average score 46971, delta -0.2%), the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (average score 47022, delta -0.3%), the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX (average score 46654, delta 0.5%), and the Intel Xeon w3-2535 (average score 46653, delta 0.5%). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, indicating that the i7-13700K is performance-equivalent to its closest competitors in general compute tasks.

The GPU's rank tells a different story. The RX 9070 sits in the 69th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23877. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (average score 23736, delta 0.6%), the AMD Radeon RX 6800S (average score 24063, delta -0.8%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile (average score 23628, delta 1.1%), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER (average score 24170, delta -1.2%). The tight delta range of -1.2% to 1.1% means the RX 9070 trades blows with last-generation high-end parts, but its 16 GB of VRAM and modern architecture give it advantages in newer titles. For Inside, the combo's 818th rank out of 3716 is respectable, though the game's age means many newer GPUs with higher raw throughput will score better.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture using a 4 nm process at TSMC, with the Navi 48 chip containing 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die. It has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory runs at 2518 MHz (20.1 Gbps effective), which is ample for a game like Inside that has modest texture requirements. The GPU's clock speeds are 1330 MHz base, 2070 MHz game clock, and 2520 MHz boost. The game clock is the more relevant figure for sustained gaming loads, and the data shows it is sufficient to drive the high frame rates measured.

The GPU's compute resources include 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operation units. It has 56 ray tracing cores, though Inside does not use ray tracing. The FP32 performance is 36.13 TFLOPS, and the pixel rate is 322.6 GPixel/s with a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s. These specifications explain why the GPU scales so predictably across resolutions: the pixel rate directly limits fill-rate-bound scenarios, and the texture rate handles the game's simple 2D assets effectively. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot cooler with 2x 8-pin power connectors are reasonable for this performance class, and the suggested 550 W PSU is conservative given the CPU's 125 W TDP.

In Inside, the GPU's role is primarily to maintain high frame rates at high resolutions. The benchmark results show that at 4K Ultra, the combo delivers 93 FPS average, which is the lowest measured result. This indicates that even the most demanding preset is not enough to fully saturate the GPU's capabilities, as the game's rendering workload is relatively light. The 16 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor, as the game's assets fit easily within even a fraction of that capacity. The GPU's performance is consistent with its synthetic benchmark scores, which show a Passmark G3D score of 25381 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290, placing it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how each preset performs at each resolution. For players targeting 60 FPS, every preset at every resolution exceeds this threshold, including 4K Ultra at 93 FPS. For players with high-refresh monitors (144 Hz or higher), the situation becomes more nuanced. At 1080p, all presets deliver well above 144 FPS, with the lowest being Ultra at 206 FPS. At 1440p, all presets also exceed 144 FPS, with Ultra at 148 FPS being the only one that is close to the threshold. At 4K, only Low and Medium presets exceed 144 FPS, with Medium at 157 FPS and Low at 196 FPS.

The optimal experience depends on the display. For a 4K 144 Hz monitor, Medium settings provide the best balance, delivering 157 FPS average with a 133 FPS minimum. This ensures that even the worst frame times stay above the 144 Hz refresh rate, avoiding any potential screen tearing or judder. High settings at 4K drop to 98 FPS, which is still excellent but might be noticeable on a 144 Hz panel. For 1440p 165 Hz or higher monitors, High settings at 156 FPS are the recommended choice, as they provide a significant visual upgrade over Medium while keeping the frame rate near the refresh ceiling. Ultra settings at 1440p drop to 148 FPS, which is still smooth but may not justify the visual gains in a game with such a stylized art direction.

For 1080p 240 Hz monitors, the data shows that Low settings at 396 FPS and Medium at 346 FPS both exceed the refresh rate, but High at 217 FPS falls short. This suggests that players with 240 Hz panels should use Medium settings to maximize responsiveness, as the visual difference between Medium and High in Inside is minimal given the game's monochromatic palette and simple geometry. The 1080p Medium result also has the most complete frame time data (294 min, 398 max), indicating that the engine maintains consistency even at very high frame rates. Ultimately, the recommendation is to prioritize Medium settings for high-refresh displays and High settings for standard 60 Hz panels, as Ultra offers diminishing returns in a game that was originally released in 2016.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 396 FPS, Medium settings produce 346 FPS (with a minimum of 294 FPS and a maximum of 398 FPS), High settings produce 217 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 206 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 50 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 11 FPS. This suggests that the High to Ultra transition adds minimal GPU load, likely due to minor shadow or post-processing changes. The Medium preset's maximum of 398 FPS nearly matches the Low preset's average, indicating that the GPU is approaching its peak output at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low settings produce 311 FPS, Medium produces 249 FPS (with a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 287 FPS), High produces 156 FPS, and Ultra produces 148 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 93 FPS, which is the largest single-preset jump across all resolutions. This indicates that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost, likely related to higher-resolution textures or more complex lighting calculations. The Ultra preset at 1440p (148 FPS) is nearly identical to the High preset (156 FPS), showing that the Ultra settings are not much more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates remain highly playable. Low settings produce 196 FPS, Medium produces 157 FPS (with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS), High produces 98 FPS, and Ultra produces 93 FPS. The 4K results show the largest relative drop between Low and Medium (39 FPS) and between High and Ultra (5 FPS). The 4K Medium minimum of 133 FPS is the lowest minimum recorded across all settings and resolutions, but it is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data confirms that this combo is overkill for Inside at any resolution, and even the most demanding configuration (4K Ultra at 93 FPS) delivers a fluid experience.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured data shows 93 FPS average at 3840x2160 Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience, though players with 144 Hz 4K monitors may want to use Medium settings (157 FPS) or High settings (98 FPS) to achieve frame rates closer to the refresh rate.

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

A: The resolution scaling data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 396 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 196 FPS. This 50% reduction is consistent with GPU fill-rate limitations. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 1136) ensures it is not a bottleneck at any tested resolution.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 818th out of 3716 tested combinations in Inside, placing it in the top 22%. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 69th percentile. The high overall rank reflects the game's sensitivity to CPU performance, where the i7-13700K excels.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144 Hz monitor?

A: For a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p, High settings (156 FPS) are the best choice, as they exceed the refresh rate. At 4K, Medium settings (157 FPS) are required to stay above 144 Hz, as High drops to 98 FPS. At 1080p, all presets exceed 144 Hz, so players can choose based on visual preference.

Q: Does the GPU's 16 GB VRAM matter for this game?

A: No. Inside is a puzzle platformer with simple 2D assets that do not require significant video memory. The 16 GB GDDR6 memory is more than sufficient, and the measured frame rates show no signs of VRAM-related stuttering or texture pop-in. The memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s is also more than adequate for this game's workload.

Q: How consistent are frame times across different settings?

A: The only setting with complete min/max data is Medium. At 1080p Medium, the average is 346 FPS with a minimum of 294 FPS and a maximum of 398 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 249 FPS with a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 287 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 157 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS. The relative variance (minimum vs. average) is consistent at approximately 15% across all resolutions, indicating stable frame pacing.