Inside

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 delivers a surprisingly robust experience in Inside, a Puzzle Platformer from 2016-07-06. The benchmark data shows this combination is capable of high frame rates, but the scaling pattern reveals a clear division of labor: the GTX 1070 becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the i7-13700K ensures the CPU never bottlenecks even at 1080p. The combo ranks 1421 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, yet the measured FPS suggests that this ranking undersells its real-world capability for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, and the shape of that curve identifies the GPU as the primary constraint. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 114.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 80.8 FPS, a reduction of 33.7 FPS. At 4K, the average falls to 49.7 FPS, which is 64.8 FPS below the 1080p result. That is a 56.6% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, a steep decline that points directly at the GTX 1070's 8 GB GDDR5 memory and 256-bit bus being saturated by the higher pixel counts.

The pattern holds across all settings. With Low settings, the drop from 228.6 FPS at 1080p to 166.6 FPS at 1440p is 62 FPS, and then to 103.8 FPS at 4K is another 62.8 FPS. This near-linear scaling with pixel count—rather than a sudden cliff—indicates that the GPU's raw pixel throughput, rated at 107.7 GPixel/s, is the limiting factor. The CPU, with 16 cores and a 5.40 GHz boost clock, is never the bottleneck here; if it were, we would see a plateau at higher resolutions, not a steady decline.

The Ultra settings row reinforces this. At 4K Ultra, the average is 46.6 FPS, which is only 3.1 FPS below the High preset at the same resolution. That small delta suggests the game's Ultra preset adds effects that are not heavily pixel-bound, but the resolution itself is what crushes performance. The data shows a GPU-bound scenario where resolution scaling is steep and predictable, with the GTX 1070's 150 W TDP and 6.463 TFLOPS FP32 throughput being the ceiling.

FAQ

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 114.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. This suggests the CPU and GPU are both adequate for the game's demands at this resolution.

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

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 4K High, the average is 49.7 FPS, and at 4K Low, it jumps to 103.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 46.6 FPS, which is borderline for playability.

Q: What is the biggest performance gap between settings?

A: The largest gap is at 1080p between Low (228.6 FPS) and Ultra (110.4 FPS), a difference of 118.2 FPS. This indicates that Ultra settings impose a significant load on the GPU even at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the frame rates?

A: The GPU is the limiting component. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent drop of roughly 50-60% in frame rate, which is characteristic of a graphics card bottleneck, not a processor limitation.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331, which is 0.7% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro K4200 (12241) and 1.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 SUPER (12504). The data shows it sits between these two cards.

Q: What is the best resolution for a locked 60 FPS experience?

A: At 1440p High, the average is 80.8 FPS, leaving headroom. At 4K High, the average is 49.7 FPS, which is below 60. The data indicates 1440p is the sweet spot for maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 is the decisive component in this pairing. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Inside's stylized visuals but not for high-resolution rendering. The memory clock is 2002 MHz, and the boost clock reaches 1683 MHz; these figures are modest by modern standards, yet the game's art style appears to be forgiving on raw compute.

The benchmark results bear this out. The GTX 1070's passmark G3D score is 13498, and its DirectX 11 score is 100, which is the reference point for that API. However, its DirectX 12 score is 48, and its DirectX 10 score is 82. Since Inside is a 2016 title, it likely relies on older APIs where the card is stronger. The data shows a GPU that is not a high-end performer—its percentile vs all GPUs is 51, meaning it is exactly at the median—but it is well-matched to a game of this era.

The VRAM is not exhausted at any tested setting. Even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 46.6, which is a performance drop but not a crash or stutter indicative of memory overflow. The GTX 1070's 1920 shading units and 64 ROPs are the likely constraints. The pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s explains why 4K is so punishing: rendering 8.3 million pixels requires more than double the fill rate of 1080p, and the card's hardware is not up to that task at high quality presets.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database for Inside, this combo ranks 1421 out of 1671 tested combinations. That places it in the 85th percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 15% of combos perform worse. This is a low rank, but the context matters: the i7-13700K is a top-tier CPU (93rd percentile vs all CPUs) while the GTX 1070 is a mid-range GPU (51st percentile). The ranking is dragged down by the GPU's age and position in the market.

The deltaPct values for the GPU's rivals show how close the margins are. The GTX 1070's average benchmark score is 12331, which is 0.7% above the Quadro K4200 (12241) and 1.3% below the GTX 880M (12490). The nearest competitor, the GTX 1650 SUPER, scores 12504, which is 1.4% higher. These are razor-thin differences, and in a real game like Inside, they translate to a few FPS at most. The rank of 1421 is therefore not a verdict on playability but a reflection of the GPU's overall compute power relative to modern parts.

For the CPU, the i7-13700K's avgBenchmarkScore is 47282, and its nearest rival is the i7-13700KF at 47334, a delta of -0.1%. The AMD EPYC 4364P is 0.3% higher (47131), and the i9-12900F is 0.4% higher (47081). The CPU is not the reason for the low combo rank; it is the GPU holding the system back in synthetic tests.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a full matrix of results across four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 228.6 (Low) to 110.4 (Ultra). The Medium preset hits 182, and High is at 114.5. This shows a clear tiering: Low and Medium offer huge headroom, while High and Ultra converge near 110-114 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 166.6 (Low), 131.3 (Medium), 80.8 (High), and 79.1 (Ultra). The drop from Medium to High is 50.5 FPS, which is the largest single-step decline in the entire dataset. This suggests that High settings enable a specific effect that heavily taxes the GPU at 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 103.8 (Low), 80.5 (Medium), 49.7 (High), and 46.6 (Ultra). The gap between Low and Medium is 23.3 FPS, and between Medium and High is 30.8 FPS. The High and Ultra results are nearly identical, with only 3.1 FPS separating them, indicating that the Ultra preset adds minimal visual load at 4K.

The data shows no min or max FPS values, so only averages are available. The pattern across all rows is consistent: each resolution halving (from 4K to 1440p to 1080p) roughly doubles the frame rate, confirming a GPU-bound scenario.

Settings Recommendations

For players with this combo, the data points to 1080p Medium as the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Medium preset delivers 182 FPS at 1080p, which is 71.5 FPS higher than High (114.5) and 71.6 FPS higher than Ultra (110.4). The gap between Medium and High is substantial, suggesting that High enables a costly effect that is not worth the FPS loss on this GPU.

At 1440p, Medium is also the sweet spot, yielding 131.3 FPS. This is playable on high-refresh monitors and leaves enough headroom for drops. High at 1440p (80.8 FPS) is still above 60, but Ultra (79.1) is barely so. For a locked 60 FPS experience, 1440p High is acceptable, but Medium provides a more comfortable margin.

At 4K, the recommendation is Low, which hits 103.8 FPS. Medium at 4K (80.5 FPS) is also viable, but High (49.7 FPS) and Ultra (46.6 FPS) are below the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that 4K is only playable at Low or Medium settings, and even then, the experience is not as smooth as 1080p Low (228.6 FPS). For the best overall experience, 1080p Medium offers the highest FPS with acceptable visual quality, while 1440p Medium is the choice for higher resolution without sacrificing smoothness.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic and physics. In Inside, a Puzzle Platformer, the CPU load is minimal, and the benchmark data confirms that the processor is never the bottleneck.

The CPU's synthetic scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multi-core is 39000, and single-core is 5505. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 10717, and single-thread is 1136. These scores indicate a processor that can handle any modern game's AI or simulation tasks with ease. The percentile vs all CPUs is 93, meaning it outperforms 93% of all processors in the database.

In the measured FPS, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU without stuttering. The fact that 1080p Low yields 228.6 FPS shows that the i7-13700K can push frames far beyond what the GTX 1070 can render at higher settings. If the CPU were weak, we would see a plateau around 150-200 FPS regardless of resolution, but the data shows a steady increase as resolution drops, proving the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 125 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4/DDR5 support are more than sufficient for this game.

The CPU's ECC memory support and integrated UHD Graphics 770 are irrelevant for this gaming scenario, but they underscore that this is a high-end desktop part. The data shows that the i7-13700K provides a stable foundation, allowing the GTX 1070 to be the sole determinant of frame rates, which is exactly what the resolution scaling analysis confirms.