Inside

The Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a performance envelope in Inside that is heavily dictated by resolution, with the GPU becoming the clear limiting factor as pixel count climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 282.6 FPS, which is more than double the 4K High result of 65 FPS. This massive spread indicates that at lower resolutions, the system has ample headroom, while at 4K, the rendering load saturates the graphics card.

Dropping from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average frame rate from 141.6 FPS to 103.9 FPS, a 37.7 FPS decline. The gap between 1440p and 2160p at High is even steeper, falling from 103.9 FPS to 65 FPS, a 38.9 FPS drop. This pattern shows a non-linear scaling curve where the cost of each additional pixel grows disproportionately, confirming that the Radeon RX 6600 XT's 8 GB frame buffer and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are being pushed hard at 4K. The data reveals that at 1080p, the CPU's high single-thread performance — evidenced by its Geekbench single-core score of 2932 — keeps the pipeline fed, but by 4K, the GPU's compute resources, rated at 10.60 TFLOPS FP32, become the bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested configurations, this specific pairing sits at rank 1131 out of 1671 combos for Inside. That places it in the lower third of all systems tested, which is a surprising result given the individual component strengths. The Core i7-14700K is a top-tier processor, holding the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 70074. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct 0) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (deltaPct -0.5), indicating the CPU is performing at the expected high level.

However, the Radeon RX 6600 XT only reaches the 71st percentile against all GPUs, with an average score of 27985. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct 0.1) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (deltaPct -0.9). The discrepancy between the CPU's elite ranking and the GPU's mid-tier standing explains the overall combo rank. The benchmark results indicate that in a light 2D-side-scrolling title like Inside, the GPU's raw throughput is the dominant factor, and the CPU's substantial headroom cannot compensate for the graphics card's limitations at higher settings. The data shows that while the processor is among the best available, the pairing's overall position is dragged down by the GPU, making this a CPU-heavy configuration that does not fully realize its potential in this particular game.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, manufactured on a 7 nm process by TSMC. Its memory subsystem consists of 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The card's clocks are notable: a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These frequencies are relatively high, which helps the card achieve a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s.

In Inside, the GPU's role becomes increasingly critical as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 282.6 suggests the card is not the limiting factor; the CPU and memory system can feed it enough data. Yet, the transition to 4K Low yields 127.2 FPS, which is still playable but demonstrates a 55% performance reduction. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 60.5 FPS, right at the edge of smooth gameplay. The card's 64 ROPs and 2048 shading units are the physical units processing the game's pixel and vertex data. The data shows that the GPU's performance scaling from Low to Ultra at any given resolution is consistent, but the absolute values at 4K suggest the 8 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for this title, as no texture swapping issues are indicated by the frame rate stability. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is relevant, though Inside is a simpler title that may not leverage all modern features.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1920x1080 with High settings?

A: The benchmark data shows an average of 141.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: How does the frame rate change from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 134.6. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 60.5, representing a significant 74.1 FPS reduction.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 127.2 (Low) to 60.5 (Ultra). Given the CPU's high percentile rank (96th) and the GPU's lower rank (71st), the results indicate the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as the frame rate scales heavily with settings changes that affect GPU load.

Q: What is the best performance result recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 282.6, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest GPU rival in terms of average score?

A: The Radeon RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti's score of 27956, with a deltaPct of 0.1.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Medium and High settings at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield an average of 160.7 FPS, while High settings produce 103.9 FPS, a difference of 56.8 FPS in favor of Medium.

Settings Recommendations

For this configuration, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, all presets are playable, but the data shows diminishing returns. The High preset at 1080p delivers 141.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and only 7 FPS lower than the Ultra preset's 134.6 FPS. Given the minimal difference, High is the recommended setting at 1080p, as it provides a slight performance margin without a noticeable visual penalty.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset stands out as the best choice, producing 160.7 FPS. This is significantly higher than the High preset's 103.9 FPS and the Ultra preset's 94.5 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 56.8 FPS, which is a substantial loss for a marginal increase in visual fidelity in a puzzle platformer. Therefore, Medium at 1440p offers the best experience, ensuring high frame rates while maintaining decent graphical quality.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Ultra preset averages 60.5 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 4K provides 65 FPS, a modest improvement. However, the Low preset at 4K yields 127.2 FPS, which is far smoother. For 4K gaming, the recommendation is to use the Low preset if frame rate stability is the priority, as the game's art style is minimalist and benefits less from high graphical settings. The Medium preset at 4K (100.3 FPS) offers a middle ground, but the 27 FPS gain from High to Medium is notable, making Medium the best compromise for 4K if visual upgrades are desired. Ultimately, the measured rows suggest that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can maintain high frame rates across all presets, while 4K requires dropping to Low or Medium settings for the smoothest experience.