Inside

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The data shows this combination is heavily overqualified for the title, producing frame rates that far exceed display refresh rates at every tested setting. Analysis of the measured FPS indicates that the primary bottleneck shifts from the GPU at higher resolutions to the CPU at 1080p, but in all cases, the results are so high that gameplay remains fluid and responsive.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but tells a clear story about component limits. At the Low preset, the average frame rate falls from 396.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 316.7 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 200.9 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 49.3% reduction in frame rate when moving from Full HD to 4K at Low settings. The pattern is consistent across all presets: High drops from 220.3 FPS at 1080p to 159.9 FPS at 1440p and 100.7 FPS at 4K. Ultra follows the same trajectory, going from 210.7 FPS at 1080p to 151.6 FPS at 1440p and 97.4 FPS at 4K.

These numbers indicate that the GeForce RTX 3080 is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The pixel count increase from 1080p to 4K is roughly four times, and while the frame rates do not drop by that factor, the consistent decline across all settings shows the GPU working progressively harder. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes more relevant. The Core i7-13700K, with its boost clock of 5.40 GHz, keeps the minimum frame rates high, but the data suggests that even this powerful processor cannot fully feed the GPU at the lowest resolution and settings, where the 396.6 FPS figure is likely near the engine's practical limit.

CPU Role

The Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on a 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. While Inside is not a heavily threaded title, the CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks shows its capability. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 39000 in multi-core and 5505 in single-core tests. The PassMark single-thread score is 4333, and the 3DMark 2-thread score is 2262, which is relevant for a game that may not utilize all cores.

The data shows that the CPU's single-thread performance is more than adequate for this game. At 1080p Low, the 396.6 FPS average suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor at that setting, as the frame rate is exceptionally high. However, comparing the 1440p and 4K results, the frame rate scaling is proportional to resolution, which implies the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help ensure that the game's data is quickly accessible, reducing potential stutters. The processor's percentile ranking of 93 versus all CPUs confirms its high-end position, and its average benchmark score of 47282 places it just 0.1% behind the Intel Core i7-13700KF in the nearest rivals list, indicating near-identical performance to its unlocked counterpart.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA102 chip, manufactured on an 8 nm process by Samsung. It features 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is 1710 MHz, and it delivers 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card's 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with its average benchmark score of 35787, places it in a competitive position, though its nearest rivals show it is closely matched with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE, which is 0.9% faster.

For Inside, the GPU's raw power is overwhelming. The 4K High result of 100.7 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 97.4 FPS show that even at the most demanding settings, the card maintains a frame rate well above 60 FPS. The 10 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game's visual assets, as the data does not indicate any memory-related performance drops. The 320-bit memory bus and high bandwidth ensure that texture streaming is not a bottleneck. The GPU's performance at 1080p, where it achieves 350.8 FPS at Medium and 220.3 FPS at High, suggests that the card is not being fully utilized at lower resolutions, as the CPU becomes the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 331 out of 1671 tested combos in this game. This places it in the top 20% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects that while this combo is capable of extremely high frame rates, there are other combinations in the database that achieve even higher scores, likely featuring newer or more powerful components.

The CPU's position relative to its rivals is tight. The Core i7-13700K is 0.1% slower than the i7-13700KF, 0.3% faster than the AMD EPYC 4364P, and 0.4% faster than the Intel Core i9-12900F. This indicates that the processor's performance is well-balanced and consistent with its peers. The GPU's ranking shows it is 0.2% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro Duo, 0.4% faster than the AMD Radeon 880M, and 1% faster than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile. The combo's rank of 331 suggests that the pairing is well-matched for this title, with neither component significantly holding back the other at typical gaming resolutions, though the CPU's strength is more apparent at 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for the best experience. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 97.4 FPS, which is smooth for a puzzle platformer. However, the High preset at 4K improves the average to 100.7 FPS, a modest gain of 3.3 FPS. At 1440p, the High preset delivers 159.9 FPS, while Ultra drops to 151.6 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is consistent across resolutions, with Ultra being roughly 5-6% slower in each case. The visual difference between these settings is likely minimal in a game with Inside's art style, so the High preset offers the best balance of performance and quality. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates, hitting 200.9 FPS at 4K, but the visual compromises are unnecessary given the High preset's already excellent performance. For users with high refresh rate displays, the Medium preset at 1440p, which delivers 251.1 FPS, is a reasonable choice, but the High preset remains the recommended setting for most users, as it maintains a frame rate above 100 FPS at 4K and above 150 FPS at 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Core i7-13700K and RTX 3080 deliver exceptional performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 396.6 FPS, the Medium preset reaches 350.8 FPS, and the High preset produces 220.3 FPS. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with an average of 210.7 FPS. These numbers demonstrate that the combo is capable of driving the game at over 200 FPS even at the highest settings, making it ideal for 144Hz or 240Hz monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high. The Low preset averages 316.7 FPS, Medium drops to 251.1 FPS, and High settles at 159.9 FPS. The Ultra preset yields 151.6 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a decrease of approximately 20-30% across settings, which is expected given the higher pixel count. At 3840x2160, the performance is still strong. The Low preset achieves 200.9 FPS, Medium reaches 161.7 FPS, and High delivers 100.7 FPS. The Ultra preset produces 97.4 FPS, which is the lowest measured result but still comfortably above 60 FPS. The 4K results indicate that the RTX 3080 has enough power for this game at maximum resolution, with the High preset offering the best combination of visual fidelity and performance.