Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT paints a clear picture of a system that is massively overqualified for the title. The measured frames per second (FPS) at every resolution and settings combination are exceptionally high, indicating that this hardware combination is not likely to be the limiting factor in any real-world scenario for this game. The data suggests a focus on GPU scaling and how even a demanding card like the RX 7900 XT handles a game with this visual style.

Resolution Scaling

The progression from 1080p to 4K shows a predictable and significant drop in frame rate, revealing how the rendering load shifts to the GPU as pixel count increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 248 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that average to 178 FPS, a reduction of 70 FPS (about 28%). The jump to 4K is more severe, with the average falling to 112 FPS, which is a further drop of 66 FPS (about 37%) from the 1440p result. This scaling pattern indicates that while the CPU is easily feeding the GPU at lower resolutions, the GPU's work becomes more demanding at 4K, pulling the average down.

The scaling is even more pronounced on the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves a staggering 408 FPS average. At 1440p Low, this drops to 356 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 224 FPS. The gap between 1440p and 4K here is 132 FPS, which is a much larger absolute drop than the 52 FPS drop seen between 1080p and 1440p. This suggests that the GPU is beginning to hit a more substantial performance wall as the pixel fill rate requirement quadruples. The data implies that at 1080p and 1440p, the frame rate is likely capped or heavily influenced by CPU draw-call limits or other engine-level bottlenecks, given the absurdly high numbers.

The Medium preset shows the only instances of reported minimum FPS in the dataset. At 1080p Medium, the average is 377 FPS with a minimum of 320 FPS and a maximum of 433 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average is 285 FPS with a minimum of 242 FPS and a maximum of 328 FPS. The 4K Medium result has an average of 179 FPS, with minimum and maximum figures of 152 and 206, respectively. The consistency of the frame times, as evidenced by the relatively tight min/max ranges, suggests a stable experience even under load, which is crucial for a game that relies on precise timing for its puzzles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. In a game like Inside, which is not typically known for heavy multi-threaded CPU usage, the sheer number of cores is less critical than the high single-thread performance. The processor's benchmark scores support this, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160 and a multi-core score of 33440.5, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. This indicates that the i7-14700K has the single-core headroom to handle the game's logic, physics, and any scripting without becoming a bottleneck.

The data strongly suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at any resolution tested. At 1080p Low, the system outputs 408 FPS, a number so high that it is likely beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. The fact that this number drops to 356 FPS at 1440p and 224 FPS at 4K on the same Low preset shows a clear GPU dependency. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the FPS scales inversely with resolution, which is the classic behavior of a GPU-limited scenario. The i7-14700K's performance, with a PassMark single-thread score of 4472, is more than sufficient to feed the RX 7900 XT.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i7-14700K shows a negligible performance difference. It is 0.1% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 and 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in average benchmark score. These deltas are within the margin of error and would have no practical impact on gaming performance in Inside. The processor's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and support for fast DDR5 memory provide ample bandwidth for the game's assets, ensuring that data can be fed to the GPU without stutter. For this specific title, the CPU's role is to maintain a high, consistent frame delivery rate, and the data confirms it does so with ease.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 388 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 10.4% of all systems tested for this game. Given the high frame rates measured, this ranking is logical. However, it is important to note that the ranking is not higher, which is likely due to the sheer number of combinations that include even more powerful GPUs or CPUs that can push frame rates higher at lower resolutions, where the CPU might have a more significant impact.

The percentile ranking of 388/3716 indicates that a vast majority of systems tested for this game are capable of running it smoothly. The i7-14700K + RX 7900 XT combo is clearly in the upper echelon of performance. The data shows that this pairing is not just about achieving playable frame rates; it is about achieving extremely high frame rates that are far beyond the requirements of the game. The ranking reflects that while this is a top-tier setup, there are other combos in the database that produce even higher raw FPS numbers, particularly at 1080p, where the CPU can play a larger role in maximizing output.

This high ranking reflects the balance of the components. The RX 7900 XT has enough horsepower to handle the game at 4K Ultra with an average of 107 FPS, but the i7-14700K ensures that at lower resolutions, the system does not leave performance on the table. The combo's position in the top 10% is a strong indicator that users with this hardware will experience no performance-related issues in Inside, even with a high-refresh-rate display. The data confirms that this is a high-end configuration that sits comfortably above the median system in the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete view of performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the results are extremely high across the board. The Low preset leads with an average of 408 FPS, followed closely by Medium at 377 FPS. High settings see a drop to 248 FPS, and Ultra is the most demanding at 236 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 172 FPS, showing that the visual preset has a significant impact on the GPU load. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 320 FPS, indicating a very stable frame delivery.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally strong. The Low preset averages 356 FPS, while Medium drops to 285 FPS. High and Ultra settings average 178 FPS and 170 FPS, respectively. The difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is only 8 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not particularly taxing on the RX 7900 XT at this pixel count. The Medium preset's minimum of 242 FPS shows that even in more demanding scenes, the frame rate remains well above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the system still delivers very playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 224 FPS, which is still exceptionally smooth. Medium follows at 179 FPS, and High drops to 112 FPS. Ultra is the most demanding, with an average of 107 FPS. This is the only resolution where the High and Ultra presets dip below the 120 FPS threshold, but they remain perfectly smooth for a game of this genre. The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum of 152 FPS, which is still a high frame rate. The data shows a clear and consistent hierarchy: Low is fastest, Ultra is slowest, and the GPU is the primary scaling factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is a high-end graphics card based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, featuring 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus with 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock is rated at 2394 MHz, with a game clock of 2025 MHz. These specifications are more than sufficient for a game like Inside, which uses a distinctive 2D silhouette art style that is not typically demanding on GPU resources. The card's high memory capacity and bandwidth are largely irrelevant for this title, but they do not hurt performance.

The GPU's performance in the benchmark data shows it is the primary driver of the FPS changes seen across resolutions. The card’s PassMark G3D score is 29009, placing it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. This percentile is lower than the CPU's 94th percentile, which is a curious data point. It appears in this database, the RX 7900 XT's average benchmark score is close to lower-end cards like the AMD Radeon 660M and NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile, with deltas of -0.5% for both. This is an artifact of the average score calculation and does not reflect the card's actual gaming performance, as the measured FPS in Inside shows it is an exceptionally capable card.

The card's ability to handle 4K Ultra at 107 FPS average demonstrates its raw power. The scaling from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset (236 FPS down to 107 FPS) shows a 54% reduction in performance, which is a large but expected drop given the 4x increase in pixel count. The GPU is clearly the component that scales the workload, and its performance in this game is more than adequate. The 20 GB of VRAM is a massive over-provision for a game from 2016, but it ensures that there are no texture loading issues or memory-related stutters.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the best settings recommendation is highly dependent on the display's refresh rate. For users with a standard 60Hz or 144Hz monitor, the Ultra preset at 4K is the best choice. The 107 FPS average is well above 60 FPS and close to 120 FPS, providing the best visual fidelity without any noticeable performance compromise. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 5 FPS (112 vs 107), so selecting Ultra yields the maximum visual quality for a negligible performance cost.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors (144Hz or higher), the High preset is the sweet spot. It delivers an average of 178 FPS, which is well above 144 FPS, and it offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium. The Medium preset at 285 FPS is overkill for any current monitor, and the jump from Medium to High is visually noticeable in terms of shadow and effect quality. The data shows that High at 1440p provides an excellent balance of visual fidelity and performance.

At 1080p, the High preset at 248 FPS is the recommended choice for those with 240Hz monitors. The Ultra preset is only 12 FPS slower (236 FPS) and offers the highest visual quality. Since both are above 240 FPS, the choice comes down to whether the user prefers the absolute highest FPS or the highest settings. For most users with a 1080p 144Hz panel, the Ultra preset is the best option, as it delivers 236 FPS, which is far beyond the display's capabilities. The Low and Medium presets are unnecessary for this hardware, as they produce frame rates so high that they provide no practical benefit over High or Ultra.