Inside

Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer with a deliberately muted visual palette, presents an interesting stress profile for modern flagship hardware. The measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D reveals a combination that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but begins to show CPU limitations at 1080p. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, composite ranking, and component-specific roles to clarify what this pairing delivers for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic pattern of shifting bottlenecks. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination achieves an average of 408 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average drops to 366 FPS, a reduction of 42 FPS. At 3840x2160 with Low settings, the average falls further to 313 FPS. This scaling curve is relatively shallow, indicating that at lower resolutions, the CPU is the primary limiter, preventing the GPU from fully flexing its capabilities.

The situation changes dramatically when examining the High preset. At 1080p High, the average is 314 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 255 FPS, a significant 59 FPS decline. At 4K High, the average is 160 FPS, another 95 FPS drop from the 1440p result. This steeper decline at higher quality settings indicates the GPU is becoming the dominant constraint, as the increased pixel count and shading work load the RTX 5090 D much harder.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data, with min and max FPS values recorded. 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 338 FPS, with a minimum of 287 FPS and a maximum of 388 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 256 FPS, with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS. The gap between min and max FPS remains fairly consistent, suggesting stable frame pacing even as the average drops by 82 FPS from 1080p to 1440p and another 82 FPS from 1440p to 4K.

The Ultra preset mirrors the High preset’s pattern. The average at 1080p Ultra is 309 FPS, at 1440p Ultra it is 243 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it is 153 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 1440p is 66 FPS, while the difference between 1440p and 4K is 90 FPS. This indicates that the scaling penalty increases as resolution rises, a clear sign of the GPU’s pixel throughput limits being approached. The data shows that for this game, the RTX 5090 D provides ample headroom at 1080p, but the i7-14700K’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination holds a composite rank of 30 out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside. This places the pairing in the top 1% of all tested systems, indicating that it is among the fastest configurations for this game. The rank is a holistic measure that accounts for performance across all tested resolutions and settings, and a top-30 finish confirms that this hardware pairing delivers elite-level frame rates.

The CPU’s individual percentile ranking reinforces this position. The Intel Core i7-14700K sits in the 94th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 69355. Its nearest rivals in the CPU hierarchy include the AMD EPYC 9115, which scores 69288 and is 0.1% slower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which scores 69515 and is 0.2% faster. The small deltaPct values of -0.2 and -0.7 against the Ryzen 9 7950X and Ryzen 9 7940HX, respectively, show that the i7-14700K is essentially trading blows with the top-tier AMD options in general compute tasks.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5090 D ranks in the 92nd percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77712. Its nearest rivals are somewhat unexpected, with the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scoring 76904 (1.1% slower) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scoring 78940 (1.6% faster). These deltas are relatively large compared to the CPU’s rivals, but the absolute scores place the RTX 5090 D firmly in the upper echelon of graphics hardware. The combination of a 94th percentile CPU and a 92nd percentile GPU yields a 30th overall rank out of 2887, which is a strong indicator of balanced high-end performance for Inside.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture and features a massive 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The GPU’s boost clock is rated at 2407 MHz, with a base clock of 2017 MHz. For a game like Inside, which is not graphically demanding by modern standards, this hardware is exceptionally overprovisioned.

The measured frame rates confirm this overprovisioning. At 4K Ultra, the combination still manages an average of 153 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The GPU’s raw compute power, rated at 104.8 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, is more than sufficient to handle the game’s rendering demands at any resolution. The 32 GB VRAM allocation is also far beyond what Inside requires, meaning there is no risk of memory capacity limiting performance.

The GPU’s role shifts depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the GPU is often idle waiting for the CPU to feed it data, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS gains between Low and Ultra presets (408 to 309 FPS). At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, with the FPS dropping from 313 at Low to 153 at Ultra. This shows that the GPU’s pixel fill rate and shading units are being utilized more effectively as resolution increases, but the absolute performance remains exceptionally high. The GPU’s benchmark scores, such as the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and the Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915, position it as a top-tier part, though the nearest rivals in the database (RX 6650M XT, RX 6850M XT) are notably lower-end parts, suggesting the benchmark aggregation may not fully capture the RTX 5090 D’s gaming dominance in this specific title.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 408 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How much does the average FPS drop when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 309 at 1080p to 153 at 4K, a difference of 156 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in any configuration?

A: The lowest minimum frame rate recorded is 218 FPS, observed at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as evidenced by the moderate FPS differences between Low and Ultra presets (408 vs 309 FPS), indicating the GPU has headroom to spare.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 30th out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the top 1% of all systems.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 5090 D has a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, delivered via 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Inside. At 4K resolution, the Low preset yields an average of 313 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 256 FPS. The High preset gives 160 FPS, and Ultra gives 153 FPS. Since even the Ultra preset at 4K maintains an average above 150 FPS, there is no performance reason to drop below High or Ultra settings. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 7 FPS, so choosing Ultra is a safe option for maximum visual quality without a significant FPS penalty.

At 1440p, the story is similar. The Low preset achieves 366 FPS, Medium achieves 338 FPS, High achieves 255 FPS, and Ultra achieves 243 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is just 12 FPS, making Ultra the preferred choice for users with high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (314 FPS on High, 309 FPS on Ultra) that the settings choice is purely aesthetic; the CPU limits performance to around 300 FPS regardless of the preset.

The optimal configuration is to run the Ultra preset at any resolution. The data shows that the RTX 5090 D has sufficient headroom to maintain high frame rates even at 4K Ultra, with the minimum recorded frame rate at 4K Medium being 218 FPS. Since Ultra is only 7 FPS slower than High at 4K and 12 FPS slower at 1440p, the visual fidelity gains from Ultra settings come at a negligible performance cost. For players seeking the absolute highest frame rates, the Medium preset offers a substantial boost (e.g., 256 FPS at 4K vs 153 FPS on Ultra), but the Ultra preset remains well above any playability threshold.

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. It features 33 MB of shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 or DDR5 memory. For a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple AI and physics, the CPU’s single-threaded performance is far more critical than its multi-threaded capabilities.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reflect its strong single-thread performance. In Cinebench R23, the i7-14700K scores 2160 points in the single-core test and 33440.5 points in the multi-core test. In Geekbench, it scores 2569 in single-core and 20767 in multi-core. These scores place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, with its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, scoring 69515 in the average benchmark (0.2% faster) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scoring 69875 (0.7% faster).

In Inside, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates plateau around 400 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that the CPU’s single-thread performance is the limiting factor, as the GPU is capable of rendering far more frames. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is likely being utilized, and the 20 cores provide ample parallel processing for any background tasks, but the game’s main thread is the binding constraint. At 4K, the CPU’s load decreases relative to the GPU, and the frame rates become more dependent on the GPU’s pixel throughput. The CPU’s high single-thread score of 4472 in Passmark underscores its capability, but Inside’s engine appears to be well-optimized enough to push the CPU to its limits at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo in Inside is as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the Low preset delivers an average of 313 FPS. The Medium preset averages 256 FPS, with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS. The High preset averages 160 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 153 FPS.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the Low preset averages 366 FPS. The Medium preset averages 338 FPS, with a minimum of 287 FPS and a maximum of 388 FPS. The High preset averages 255 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 243 FPS.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Low preset averages 408 FPS, the highest in the dataset. The Medium preset averages 377 FPS, with a minimum of 320 FPS and a maximum of 433 FPS. The High preset averages 314 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 309 FPS.

This breakdown reveals a few key insights. The minimum FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset, which shows that even at the lowest recorded frame rate (218 FPS at 4K), the experience remains exceptionally smooth. The difference between High and Ultra settings is consistently small across all resolutions (7 FPS at 4K, 12 FPS at 1440p, 5 FPS at 1080p), suggesting that Ultra is the intended experience. The scaling from Low to Medium is substantial (e.g., 313 to 256 FPS at 4K), but from High to Ultra it is minimal, indicating that the High preset may already be hitting a performance ceiling. The data confirms that this hardware combination is overkill for Inside, providing playable frame rates at all tested settings and resolutions.