Inside

Intel Core i7-14700F paired with the Intel Arc B390 in Inside presents an unusual bottleneck scenario. The CPU is a high-end 20-core part with a 91st percentile rank against all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 9th percentile against all GPUs. Benchmark results show that this combination is heavily GPU-limited at every resolution, with the Arc B390 acting as the definitive performance ceiling. The data indicates that while the processor is capable of far higher frame rates, the integrated graphics solution based on the Panther Lake chip cannot keep pace, making settings and resolution the primary levers for playability.

Settings Recommendations

For Inside, the measured data shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS. This is the most balanced option, offering a frame rate well above the 60 FPS threshold while still providing a meaningful upgrade from Low settings. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 156 FPS average, but the jump from Low to Medium only costs 31 FPS, which is a reasonable price for the visual improvements in a puzzle platformer where clarity matters.

The High preset at 1080p drops the average to 78 FPS, a significant 47 FPS reduction from Medium. This suggests that the High preset introduces effects that heavily tax the Arc B390’s limited 7.680 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. The Ultra preset at 1080p is even more demanding, falling to 74 FPS average. Given that the game is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle title, the extra visual detail from High or Ultra is unlikely to provide a substantial gameplay advantage over Medium, while the frame rate cost is steep.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset still holds at 90 FPS average with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This is a solid experience for a higher resolution display. The High preset at 1440p drops to 56 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and starts to feel less smooth. The Low preset at 1440p is the outlier, hitting 112 FPS, but it sacrifices the visual polish that makes Inside’s atmospheric art style stand out. For 1440p, Medium is the recommended preset; it maintains a playable frame rate with a reasonable minimum of 76 FPS, ensuring no major hitches.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Medium preset averages 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS. While the average is close to 60 FPS, the minimum of 48 FPS indicates potential stutters in more demanding scenes. The Low preset at 4K yields 70 FPS average, which is the only 4K option that clears the 60 FPS threshold comfortably. The High and Ultra presets at 4K drop to 35 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, making them effectively unplayable for a smooth experience. Given the data, the best experience overall is the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p. For 4K, users must drop to Low to maintain fluid motion.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700F and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2547 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the bottom 12% of all system configurations, which is a direct consequence of the GPU’s low performance percentile. The CPU is not the limiting factor; the i7-14700F’s benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122 and a single-core score of 4958. The combo’s poor rank is entirely attributable to the Arc B390, which has an average benchmark score of 1482 and a 9th percentile ranking against all GPUs.

Looking at rival GPUs, the Arc B390’s nearest competitor is the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which has an average score of 1463, a delta of 1.3% lower. The GeForce 800M is 1.5% lower, and the GT 625 OEM is 2.5% lower. These are all legacy or low-end mobile parts, indicating that the Arc B390 is performing at a level comparable to integrated graphics from a decade ago. This explains why the combo rank is so low despite the powerful CPU. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6505P, which is 0.2% faster, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X, which is 0.6% faster, showing that the processor is in excellent company.

In practical terms, this means the system has a massive imbalance. The CPU is capable of feeding a high-end discrete GPU, but the Arc B390 cannot utilize that potential. For Inside, the benchmark results indicate that the frame rate is wholly dependent on the GPU, so the combo’s rank reflects a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU sits idle waiting for the graphics pipeline. Users should not expect this combination to compete with even mid-range systems in this title.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the clear performance bottleneck in this configuration. Its specifications reveal why. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, but it relies on system shared memory for both capacity and bandwidth. This means the memory performance is "System Dependent," which is a severe limitation for a game like Inside that requires consistent texture streaming. The GPU’s memory bus width and bandwidth are both listed as "System Shared," confirming that it has no dedicated VRAM, a critical drawback for gaming.

The GPU’s compute capabilities are modest, with 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. These figures translate to a maximum FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, the Arc B390 scores 1482, which places it at the 9th percentile. This is a low score that aligns with its rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GT 710, both of which are entry-level parts from previous generations.

The impact of these specs is visible in the measured FPS. At 1080p Low, the GPU manages 156 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it falls to 74 FPS. This 53% drop shows that the GPU lacks the raw throughput to sustain higher settings. The 3nm process node and Xe3-LPG architecture are modern, but the implementation as an IGP with shared memory severely limits its gaming potential. The GPU’s 80 W TDP and "IGP" slot width indicate it is designed for low-power integration, not high-performance gaming. For Inside, the GPU is the sole determinant of frame rate, and its performance suggests that users must prioritize resolution and settings over graphical features.

FAQ

Q: Why is the frame rate so low at 4K despite the strong CPU?

A: The Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component. Its average benchmark score is 1482, ranking at the 9th percentile against all GPUs. The CPU’s performance is irrelevant here because the GPU cannot render frames fast enough. At 4K Ultra, the combo only achieves 34 FPS average.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with Medium settings is the sweet spot, yielding 125 FPS average with a minimum of 106 FPS. If you prefer 1440p, Medium still delivers 90 FPS average. 4K is only playable on Low settings, which gives 70 FPS average.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-14700F holding back the GPU?

A: No. The CPU has a 91st percentile rank against all CPUs and a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 35122. The combo’s rank of 2547 out of 2887 is due to the GPU, which performs at a level comparable to the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, a legacy part.

Q: Can I run the game at Ultra settings?

A: You can, but only at lower resolutions with a frame rate penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 74, and at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 53. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 34 FPS. These are below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU’s shared memory affect performance?

A: The GPU has no dedicated VRAM; its memory size, type, and bus width are all "System Shared." This makes bandwidth "System Dependent," which is a major limitation for texture-heavy scenes, contributing to the low FPS at higher settings.

Q: What is the GPU’s relative performance compared to rivals?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, scores 1463, which is 1.3% lower. This places the Arc B390 in the same performance tier as very old entry-level GPUs.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the GPU’s weakness. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 156 at 1080p to 112 at 1440p, a 28% reduction, and then to 70 at 4K, a 55% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is struggling with the increased pixel count, as the shared memory bandwidth becomes a bottleneck.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar: 125 FPS at 1080p, 90 FPS at 1440p, and 56 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K is 55%, mirroring the Low preset’s trend. High settings show a more dramatic fall: 78 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K, a 55% drop from 1080p to 4K as well. Ultra settings follow the same pattern, with 74 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 34 FPS at 4K.

The consistent 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K across all settings suggests that the limiting factor is the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the scaling would be less severe at lower resolutions. The data shows that the Arc B390’s 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and shared memory architecture cannot handle the 4K pixel count, resulting in a frame rate that is roughly half of the 1080p result. The conclusion is that the GPU is the sole limiting component, and resolution scaling has a predictable, linear impact on performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F plays a minimal role in Inside’s performance, as the game is not computationally demanding. The CPU has 20 cores and 28 threads, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for game logic. In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU excels, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 19620 and a single-core score of 2429. The Passmark multi-thread score is 41317, and the single-thread score is 4257, indicating strong overall performance.

However, these scores are irrelevant to the frame rates in Inside. The measured FPS at 1080p Low is 156, which is high, but the GPU can still manage that. The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X with an average score of 53288 (0.6% faster), show that the i7-14700F is competitive with top-tier desktop processors. Yet, the combo rank of 2547 out of 2887 confirms that the CPU is not the differentiator.

The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node make it an efficient part, but its power is wasted in this configuration. The data implies that the CPU is essentially idling while waiting for the GPU to render frames. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, the CPU’s workload is light, so the i7-14700F’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4958, ensures no bottleneck. But the GPU’s 9th percentile ranking means that even a much weaker CPU would produce identical frame rates. The processor is a non-factor in this game’s results; the Arc B390 is the sole arbiter of performance.