Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer where the measured performance data for the Intel Core i7-14700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti combination shows extreme headroom across all tested resolutions and settings. The pairing delivers frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate capabilities, making the bottleneck almost entirely irrelevant at standard gaming configurations. The data indicates a system that is massively overqualified for the title's visual demands, with the lowest average result still hitting 98 FPS at 4K Ultra.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this hardware?

A: All three tested resolutions deliver playable frame rates, but 2560x1440 offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1440p, the High preset averages 164 FPS, while 4K High drops to 103 FPS; for a puzzle platformer, the higher pixel density of 4K is viable, but 1440p provides nearly 60% more average FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i7-14700F holds an average benchmark score of 53,620, placing it 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and 0.8% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7313P. Its nearest rival is the Intel Xeon 6505P, which is only 0.2% faster, a negligible margin in real-world gaming.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 390 FPS, while Ultra averages 218 FPS. The gap between these two extremes is 172 FPS, but even the Ultra result is more than three times the refresh rate of a standard 60Hz monitor.

Q: Does the GPU's memory bandwidth matter for this game?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti's 912.4 GB/s bandwidth over a 384-bit bus is more than sufficient for Inside. The measured frame rates show no signs of memory bottlenecks, as even the most demanding 4K Ultra preset maintains an average of 98 FPS, indicating the title is not bandwidth-limited.

Q: Is there a measurable frame time variance at Medium settings?

A: The data includes min and max FPS for Medium presets only. At 4K Medium, the range is 140 to 190 FPS (average 165), while at 1440p Medium it ranges from 223 to 302 FPS (average 263). At 1080p Medium, the range is 306 to 414 FPS (average 360), showing consistent frame pacing without major dips.

Q: How does the GPU rank against its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 Ti's average benchmark score is 41,187, placing it 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and 2% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M40 24 GB by 1.2%, though these synthetic comparisons don't reflect gaming performance in this specific title.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700F brings 20 cores and 28 threads to the system, a configuration that is entirely excessive for Inside's single-threaded puzzle mechanics. The CPU's boost clock of 5.40 GHz, combined with a base clock of 2.10 GHz, provides the high single-core performance that older game engines typically favor. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 4,958 points in single-core and 35,122 in multi-core, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs tested.

The 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache are more than adequate for the game's asset streaming. The measured FPS data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a limiting factor; even at 1080p Low, where GPU load is lightest, the average frame rate reaches 390 FPS. This suggests the CPU's single-thread performance is sufficient to feed the GPU at extremely high frame rates without introducing a bottleneck.

The processor's 65W TDP is notably low for a 20-core part, which is reflected in its synthetic scores. The PassMark multi-thread score of 41,317 and data compression score of 505,885 indicate strong general compute capabilities. However, these figures are irrelevant for Inside, which relies on simple collision detection and physics that a single core can handle with ease. The benchmark results confirm that the i7-14700F's role in this combo is purely to avoid any CPU-side stalls, which it does successfully across all tested settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, providing 12 GB of GDDR6X memory across a 384-bit bus. The memory runs at 19 Gbps effective, yielding a bandwidth of 912.4 GB/s, which is far beyond what a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer requires. The GPU's 10,240 shading units and boost clock of 1665 MHz deliver a FP32 throughput of 34.10 TFLOPS, ensuring that even the highest preset at 4K is rendered without breaking a sweat.

The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings. At 4K, the average frame rate drops from 206 FPS on Low to 98 FPS on Ultra, a 52% reduction that reflects the increased pixel and shading load. At 1080p, the same settings change results in a smaller relative drop, from 390 FPS to 218 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still not fully saturated at lower resolutions.

The RTX 3080 Ti's 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are unused by Inside, which has no ray tracing or DLSS support. This means the GPU's raw rasterization performance is the only relevant metric, and it is overwhelmingly sufficient. The GPU's percentile ranking of 83rd among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41,187, confirms its high-end status, though its nearest rivals include the older Tesla M40 cards, which are compute-oriented rather than gaming-focused.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Core i7-14700F and RTX 3080 Ti ranks 653rd out of 3,716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 18% of all systems evaluated. This ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's raw power, as the game is graphically simple but benefits from high fill rates. The percentile ranking indicates that the majority of tested combos are slower, but the sheer number of configurations ahead of this one (652) suggests that many systems with newer or more powerful GPUs exist.

Within the context of the measured data, this combo's ranking reflects its ability to exceed 100 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is a threshold that many systems cannot reach in more demanding titles. The combo's position is not a reflection of any weakness, but rather the competitive landscape of high-end hardware. The CPU's 91st percentile ranking and the GPU's 83rd percentile ranking combine to place this system firmly in the upper tier of gaming performance, even if the specific game does not stress either component heavily.

The delta to the next rival in the GPU's synthetic benchmarks is small—within 2% of the RTX 5070—but this combo's measured FPS in Inside is what matters. The data shows that the system is overkill for the game, and its rank of 653 is likely due to other combos with faster GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX, which would push frame rates even higher. For the target audience of this page, the rank confirms that this is a high-performing setup, not the absolute fastest, but more than enough for smooth gameplay.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers the best experience for most users, balancing visual quality with a 164 FPS average. This provides a 60% improvement over the 4K High result (103 FPS) while still delivering sharp imagery on a 1440p monitor. For those with 4K displays, the High preset at 3840x2160 is the recommended choice, as it maintains a 103 FPS average, which is above the 90 FPS threshold for smooth motion.

The Ultra preset provides no tangible benefit over High in this title, as the average FPS drops to 156 at 1440p and 98 at 4K, while the visual differences in a dark, minimalist puzzle game are likely imperceptible. The Medium preset is a solid middle ground, especially at 4K where it averages 165 FPS with a minimum of 140 FPS, ensuring no frame drops below 120 FPS. The Low preset is unnecessary for this hardware, as it yields 329 FPS at 1440p and 390 FPS at 1080p, which exceeds the refresh rate of nearly all displays.

For competitive or high-refresh-rate gaming, the Medium preset at 1080p (360 FPS average) is the best option, as it provides the highest minimum FPS (306) among all settings, ensuring minimal variance. However, the game's genre does not require such high frame rates, so the High preset at 1440p is the recommended default for a balance of quality and performance. The data does not indicate any stability issues at any setting, so the choice comes down to display capabilities and personal preference.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset averages 390 FPS, Medium averages 360 FPS (min 306, max 414), High averages 228 FPS, and Ultra averages 218 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is substantial at 132 FPS, but even the Ultra result is more than triple the refresh rate of a standard 60Hz monitor. This resolution leaves significant headroom, and the CPU-GPU combo is never stressed.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a clearer scaling pattern. Low averages 329 FPS, Medium averages 263 FPS (min 223, max 302), High averages 164 FPS, and Ultra averages 156 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 15-30% depending on the setting, with the High preset experiencing the largest relative decline. The Medium preset's minimum of 223 FPS ensures a consistently smooth experience even in scenes with complex silhouettes.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its workload, but the results are still impressive. Low averages 206 FPS, Medium averages 165 FPS (min 140, max 190), High averages 103 FPS, and Ultra averages 98 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 5 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects have diminishing returns. The 4K Medium preset is the most balanced, with a minimum of 140 FPS that keeps the experience above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh 4K displays. The data confirms that this combo can handle 4K gaming with ease, though the title's simple graphics mean that even the lowest settings are overkill for a smooth experience.