Inside

# Inside with Intel Core i7-13700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-13700K brings 16 cores and 24 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. This Raptor Lake-S part, built on Intel's 10 nm process, is a desktop-class processor with a 125 W TDP. The multi-threaded capacity is substantial, and the benchmark data confirms it: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 places it in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, while the single-core score of 2116 shows strong per-thread performance.

For a puzzle platformer like Inside, the CPU workload is typically light compared to AAA shooters or simulations. The game's measured FPS data indicates that even at 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 396 FPS average, which is far beyond any display refresh rate. The CPU is not the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p Low, the frame rate doubles from the 1080p High result of 198 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is still doing meaningful work even at lower settings. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a ceiling at high frame rates regardless of resolution or settings.

The 3DMark thread scaling results tell a similar story: 16-thread score of 10717, 8-thread score of 8193, and 4-thread score of 4469. The scaling from 4 to 8 threads is nearly 2x, and from 8 to 16 threads it's about 1.3x. This indicates good multi-threading efficiency, but Inside likely doesn't need all 16 cores; the 2-thread score of 2262 and single-thread score of 1136 in 3DMark show that the CPU's per-core performance is more than adequate for the game's physics and logic. The nearest rivals in CPU benchmark scores — AMD Ryzen 9 5900 at 46971 (delta -0.2%), AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 at 47022 (delta -0.3%), AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX at 46654 (delta 0.5%), and Intel Xeon w3-2535 at 46653 (delta 0.5%) — all sit within a narrow band, meaning the i7-13700K is competitive with top-tier alternatives but not decisively ahead in raw compute.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data provides four settings presets at each resolution: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 396 FPS, Medium 317 FPS, High 198 FPS, and Ultra 189 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is only 9 FPS (about 4.5%), while the drop from Medium to High is 119 FPS (about 37.5%). This suggests that High and Ultra are visually similar in cost, but Medium is significantly lighter on the GPU.

At 1440p, the pattern holds: Low produces 285 FPS, Medium 228 FPS, High 143 FPS, and Ultra 136 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 85 FPS (37.3%), while High to Ultra is only 7 FPS (4.9%). At 4K, Low gives 179 FPS, Medium 143 FPS, High 90 FPS, and Ultra 85 FPS. The High to Ultra delta is 5 FPS (5.6%), and Medium to High is 53 FPS (37.1%).

The most efficient experience for a smooth, high-refresh-rate display would be the Medium preset. It maintains 317 FPS at 1080p, 228 FPS at 1440p, and 143 FPS at 4K — all well above 120 FPS. The Medium preset also provides measured minimum FPS values: 270 at 1080p, 194 at 1440p, and 122 at 4K. These minimums are still high enough for a stable experience. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest quality, only provides 189 FPS at 1080p and 85 FPS at 4K, which is a marginal improvement over High but with a larger trade-off in frame rate. For players with a 144 Hz monitor, Medium at 1440p offers the best balance: 228 FPS average with a 194 FPS minimum.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At 1080p High, the average is 198 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 143 FPS (a 27.8% reduction); and at 4K High, it falls to 90 FPS (a 54.5% reduction from 1080p). The frame rate roughly halves when pixel count quadruples, which is expected for a GPU-limited scenario. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would stay flat as resolution increases, since the CPU work per frame would be unchanged.

The Low preset shows a similar trend: 396 FPS at 1080p, 285 FPS at 1440p (down 28.0%), and 179 FPS at 4K (down 54.8%). The consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the RTX 3070 Ti's rendering performance is the primary constraint. The Ultra preset follows the same pattern: 189 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p (down 28.0%), and 85 FPS at 4K (down 55.0%).

The data also shows that the scaling from 1440p to 4K is steeper in absolute terms for higher settings. For Medium, the drop from 1440p (228 FPS) to 4K (143 FPS) is 85 FPS, while for Low it's 106 FPS (285 to 179). This suggests that at higher settings, the GPU is more saturated, and the additional pixel count has a larger relative impact. The minimum FPS values at Medium — 270 at 1080p, 194 at 1440p, and 122 at 4K — show that frame pacing remains consistent, with the 4K minimum still above 120 FPS. This resolution scaling behavior confirms that the i7-13700K is not holding back the RTX 3070 Ti; the GPU is the limiting component at all resolutions and settings tested.

FAQ

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

A: Yes. The measured 4K High average is 90 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 85 FPS, still playable, but High offers a 5 FPS advantage with similar visual quality.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144 Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 228 FPS average with a 194 FPS minimum, comfortably exceeding 144 Hz. The High preset at 143 FPS is just below the 144 Hz threshold, so Medium is the safer choice for sustained high refresh rates.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-13700K a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 Ti in this game?

A: No. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent drop that aligns with GPU workload. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 396 FPS, which is near the CPU's practical limit for frame generation in many games, but the scaling pattern indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at standard settings.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 29945, placing it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Mobile (29928, delta 0.1%), AMD Radeon RX 6800 (30095, delta -0.5%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 Ti (29783, delta 0.5%), and AMD Radeon RX 6700 (30433, delta -1.6%). The deltas are all within 1.6%, so performance is effectively tiered together.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: The difference is minimal. At 1080p, High gives 198 FPS and Ultra gives 189 FPS (a 4.5% drop). At 1440p, it's 143 FPS vs 136 FPS (4.9%). At 4K, it's 90 FPS vs 85 FPS (5.6%). The Ultra preset offers little benefit for the cost in frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU's multi-threading help in this game?

A: The game's light workload means the CPU's 24 threads are not fully utilized. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 and max-thread score of 12412 show strong multi-threading, but the single-thread score of 1136 and 2-thread score of 2262 are more relevant for a puzzle platformer. The CPU has ample headroom.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with the GA104 chip, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It packs 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units, with 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock is 1575 MHz with a boost clock of 1770 MHz, and memory runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The FP32 throughput is 21.75 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s.

For Inside, which is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer with a dark, atmospheric art style, the GPU's raw compute is more than sufficient. The measured FPS data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 85 FPS, which is playable. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM is not stressed by this game's textures, given the relatively simple geometry and limited draw distance. The memory bandwidth of 608.3 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and memory access are not bottlenecks at any resolution tested.

The RTX 3070 Ti's benchmark scores place it in the 75th percentile of all GPUs, with a Passmark G3D score of 23356 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3478. Its average benchmark score of 29945 is close to its nearest rivals: RTX 5070 Mobile (29928, delta 0.1%) and RX 6800 (30095, delta -0.5%). The GPU's compute performance in OpenCL (119718) and Vulkan (139541) further confirms its capability for modern rendering APIs, though Inside likely uses DirectX 11 or similar given its 2016 release date. The DirectX 11 Passmark score of 192 and DirectX 12 score of 91 show the GPU is well-optimized for both APIs.

The 290 W TDP and 600 W suggested PSU indicate the GPU is power-hungry, but for this game, the GPU is rarely at full load given the high frame rates. The dual-slot design and 267 mm length make it a standard fit for most cases. The 48 ray tracing cores are not utilized in Inside since the game does not feature ray-traced effects, but they don't hinder performance either.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. The Low preset averages 396 FPS, which is the maximum measured in this dataset. The Medium preset averages 317 FPS with a minimum of 270 FPS and a maximum of 365 FPS. The High preset drops to 198 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 189 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is the largest single-step drop at 119 FPS, while High to Ultra is only 9 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates scale down proportionally. Low averages 285 FPS, Medium 228 FPS with a minimum of 194 FPS and maximum of 263 FPS, High 143 FPS, and Ultra 136 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 85 FPS, and High to Ultra is 7 FPS. The 1440p Medium minimum of 194 FPS is still very high, indicating consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is more stressed. Low averages 179 FPS, Medium 143 FPS with a minimum of 122 FPS and maximum of 165 FPS, High 90 FPS, and Ultra 85 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 53 FPS, and High to Ultra is 5 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 122 FPS is above the 120 FPS threshold, making it viable for high-refresh 4K displays. The 4K High average of 90 FPS is suitable for 60 Hz panels, and the Ultra preset at 85 FPS is still playable but offers no significant visual improvement over High based on the small FPS delta.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the best balance of frame rate and quality, with the highest measured minimums. The Low preset is useful for maximum frame rates, but the visual fidelity of Inside at Low settings may not match the game's intended atmosphere. The Ultra preset provides marginal gains over High, as evidenced by the 4-5% FPS differences.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 1099 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 29.6% of all tested configurations, which is a solid position for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the overall performance across all measured resolutions and settings, weighted by the FPS data.

The 1099th position out of 3716 combos indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti, while capable, is not at the top tier for this game. Many higher-end GPUs (e.g., RTX 3080, RX 6800 XT) would rank higher, but the data shows that this combo still delivers excellent playable frame rates at all settings. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and the GPU's 75th percentile ranking suggest that the combo is balanced, with the GPU being the more limiting factor.

The rank is especially notable given the game's age and low system requirements. Inside released in 2016, and the hardware in this combo is several generations newer. The fact that it still ranks in the top 30% of all tested combos suggests that the test pool includes many older or lower-end systems, and this pairing is well above the median. For a player seeking high refresh rates at 1080p or 1440p, this combo is more than adequate, with the 4K High preset providing a smooth 90 FPS experience. The rank of 1099 confirms the RTX 3070 Ti's efficiency at higher resolutions, where it still manages 85 FPS at 4K Ultra, a result that many GPUs from the same generation cannot match.