Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle-platformer from 2016, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher settings, but with enough CPU headroom to deliver extremely high frame rates at lower presets. The measured results indicate that this combination is overkill for the game’s core logic, making the graphics card the primary determinant of performance. The data shows a clear hierarchy where reducing settings yields disproportionate FPS gains, confirming that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the GPU as the bottleneck. At Ultra settings, the average FPS falls from 122.4 at 1920x1080 to 89.9 at 2560x1440, and then to 55.7 at 3840x2160. This represents a 54.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At Low settings, the system achieves 255.5 FPS at 1080p, drops to 185.9 at 1440p, and further to 118.6 at 4K. This scaling suggests that even at 4K Low, the RTX 2060 is still delivering playable performance, but the GPU’s pixel throughput is clearly being taxed.

The resolution scaling behavior indicates that the game is not CPU-limited at any tested configuration. The i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient for a game of this scope, as evidenced by the fact that the FPS does not plateau at lower resolutions. Instead, the FPS continues to climb as resolution decreases, which is the classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. For instance, at Medium settings, the jump from 91.3 FPS at 4K to 150 FPS at 1440p and 203.6 FPS at 1080p shows a nearly linear relationship with pixel count, confirming the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users will need to accept either High or Ultra settings at just above 55 FPS, or drop to Medium for a substantial boost to 91.3 FPS. At 1440p, the system is more flexible, with High and Ultra both hovering around 90 FPS, while Medium provides a significant jump to 150 FPS. At 1080p, even Ultra settings exceed 120 FPS, making this resolution the sweet spot for high refresh rate displays.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frames, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 4K, Medium delivers 91.3 FPS, which is 64.5% higher than High’s 55.5 FPS, while still looking substantially better than Low’s 118.6 FPS. At 1440p, Medium hits 150 FPS, a 67.4% improvement over High’s 89.6 FPS, and at 1080p, Medium reaches 203.6 FPS, compared to High’s 130.9 FPS. The step from Medium to High is costly, with a performance penalty of roughly 40% at every resolution, while the visual difference in a game like Inside is typically less impactful than in 3D titles.

For players targeting 60 FPS, High settings at 4K are just barely sufficient at 55.5 FPS, but Medium is the safer choice. At 1440p, High and Ultra both clear 89 FPS, making them viable for 60 Hz displays, but Medium provides a massive headroom cushion. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 122.4 FPS is the only preset that dips below 130 FPS, but it still far exceeds 60 FPS. The data strongly suggests that Medium is the optimal preset for this combo, as it delivers frame rates that are more than double the High preset at 1080p and 1440p, while maintaining a smooth experience at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, with its 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, provides a 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth. The GPU’s base clock is 1365 MHz with a boost clock of 1680 MHz. The measured FPS data shows that the RTX 2060 is the primary driver of performance differences between settings. At 4K Ultra, the GPU produces 55.7 FPS, which is nearly identical to High’s 55.5 FPS, suggesting that Ultra and High impose a similar load on the GPU’s 1920 shading units. The 48 ROPs and 120 TMUs are sufficient for this game’s 2D rendering, but the pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

The VRAM capacity of 6 GB does not appear to be a bottleneck in this title. The fact that Low settings at 4K reach 118.6 FPS, far exceeding the High preset, indicates that the frame rate is not constrained by memory capacity but by shader and pixel processing. The RTX 2060’s 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than adequate for a game like Inside, which has simple geometry and lighting. The GPU’s Turing architecture, with 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, is largely irrelevant here, as the game does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS. The data shows that the GPU’s raw rasterization performance, particularly its texture and pixel fill rates, determines the scaling between presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 255.5 FPS on Low, 203.6 FPS on Medium, 130.9 FPS on High, and 122.4 FPS on Ultra. The delta between Low and Medium is 51.9 FPS, while the delta between Medium and High is 72.7 FPS. At 2560x1440, the results are 185.9 FPS (Low), 150 FPS (Medium), 89.6 FPS (High), and 89.9 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p results show High and Ultra are nearly identical, with a difference of only 0.3 FPS, indicating a settings ceiling. At 3840x2160, the system achieves 118.6 FPS (Low), 91.3 FPS (Medium), 55.5 FPS (High), and 55.7 FPS (Ultra). The 4K data shows a similar pattern, with High and Ultra being effectively the same, while Medium offers a 64.5% improvement over High.

The data reveals that the step from Medium to High is the most punishing, with an average FPS drop of 55.8% across all resolutions. In contrast, the step from High to Ultra is negligible, with less than 1% difference at 1440p and 4K. This suggests that the High preset likely enables certain effects that Ultra does not meaningfully enhance, or that the GPU is already saturated at High. The Low preset is consistently the fastest, but the visual quality is significantly reduced. For competitive play or high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1080p (203.6 FPS) or 1440p (150 FPS) is the most practical choice.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination ranks 1341 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the bottom 20% of all tested systems, which is surprising given the high CPU performance. The i7-14700K alone has an average benchmark score of 70074 and ranks in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, however, has an average benchmark score of 16074 and ranks in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The combo rank is dragged down by the GPU, which is a mid-range card from 2019. In a game like Inside, where the CPU has minimal impact, the combo’s ranking is almost entirely determined by the RTX 2060’s performance.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct 0) and the AMD EPYC 9115 (deltaPct 0.3), showing that the CPU is on par with the top performers. The GPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (deltaPct 0.5) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (deltaPct -1.7), indicating that the RTX 2060 is competitive with mid-range mobile and workstation cards. The combo’s low rank is a direct consequence of the GPU’s 58th percentile standing. For a game that is heavily GPU-bound, this means the combo will not deliver top-tier frame rates compared to systems with newer or higher-end GPUs, despite the CPU’s excellent capabilities.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Inside?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates, with the Ultra preset hitting 122.4 FPS and Low reaching 255.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 150 FPS, making it a viable choice for high refresh rate displays.

Q: Does the RTX 2060’s 6 GB VRAM cause any issues in this game?

A: No, the benchmark results do not indicate VRAM limitations. The FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings, suggesting that the 6 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for Inside’s requirements.

Q: How does the High preset compare to Ultra?

A: The measured FPS shows they are nearly identical, with Ultra at 55.7 FPS and High at 55.5 FPS at 4K, and 89.9 versus 89.6 at 1440p. The difference is less than 0.5% at all resolutions.

Q: Is the i7-14700K holding back the RTX 2060?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. The FPS increases linearly with decreasing resolution, which is a sign of GPU limitation. The i7-14700K’s 20 cores and 28 threads are far more than needed for this game.

Q: What is the frame rate at 4K Medium settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 91.3, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems?

A: It ranks 1341 out of 1671 combos, placing it in the lower 20% despite the high-end CPU. This is due to the RTX 2060’s mid-range GPU performance, which is the limiting factor in this game.

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. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample data for game logic, but Inside is not a CPU-intensive title. The benchmark data shows that the CPU’s performance is largely irrelevant to the frame rates achieved. At 1080p Low, the system hits 255.5 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s limit, but the CPU could easily handle more if the GPU allowed.

The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287 demonstrate its massive headroom for any game. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52392 further confirms this. In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data, which it does with ease. The fact that the FPS scales so predictably with resolution and settings is proof that the i7-14700K is not a limiting factor. Even at 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idle waiting for the GPU to complete its work. For this game, the CPU could be downgraded significantly without impacting performance, but the i7-14700K ensures there is no possibility of a CPU-side bottleneck in any scenario.