Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on paper, should not stress a modern flagship combo like the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT. The benchmark data confirms this for the most part, but the scaling patterns reveal exactly where the bottlenecks lie. This combination sits at rank 152 out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the top 9% of all systems measured. The raw frame rates are exceptionally high across the board, but the way performance degrades from 1080p to 4K tells a clear story about which component is doing the heavy lifting and where the limits of this specific pairing emerge.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a massive performance envelope that shifts dramatically with resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, this combo produces 407.8 FPS, which is an absurdly high number for any game. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 358 FPS, a reduction of about 12%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 221.3 FPS, which represents a 46% drop from the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that even at 4K, the GPU is nowhere near saturated at Low settings; the CPU is likely still the limiting factor at lower resolutions, and the GPU only begins to take on more responsibility as pixel count rises.

Looking at High settings tells a more balanced story. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 245.5 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 180.6 FPS, a 26% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 110.2 FPS, which is a 55% drop from 1080p High. This steeper scaling curve at High settings suggests that the graphics workload is becoming more significant, and the RX 7900 XT is starting to feel the pressure of the 4K resolution. However, 110 FPS at 4K High is still exceptionally smooth for this genre.

The Ultra preset reveals the most pronounced scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 236.4 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 167.8 FPS, a 29% decrease. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 106.4 FPS, which is a 55% drop from 1080p. This consistent 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K across both High and Ultra presets indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at 4K, but it still maintains a very playable frame rate. The data suggests that this combo is overkill for 1080p and 1440p in this game, but it provides a comfortable 4K experience even at the highest settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT is the component that dictates the upper limits of frame rates at higher resolutions. Its 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus provides 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a game like Inside that does not have demanding texture loads. The boost clock of 2394 MHz and game clock of 2025 MHz drive the 5376 shading units, and the benchmark results show that these specifications are more than enough to push past 100 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position. It achieves a passmark G3D score of 29009 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623. Its percentile vs all GPUs is 82, meaning it outperforms the vast majority of graphics cards on the market. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile with an avgScore of 38349, which is essentially identical to the RX 7900 XT's 38358, with a deltaPct of 0. This means the RX 7900 XT is performing exactly at the level expected of its class. The data shows that in Inside, the GPU is not a limiting factor until you reach 4K, and even then, the frame rates remain high enough for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across presets. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is significant but not game-changing: 407.8 FPS versus 236.4 FPS. Both are far beyond the refresh rate of any standard monitor, so the choice of preset at 1080p is purely about visual fidelity. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 376.8 FPS, which is only 8% slower than Low, making it a strong choice for maximum smoothness with minimal visual compromise.

At 1440p, the situation is similar. Low delivers 358 FPS, Medium provides 284.6 FPS, and High offers 180.6 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium costs about 20% performance, but the jump from Medium to High costs another 37%. For a puzzle platformer, the visual improvements from Medium to High may not be worth the frame rate loss, but all options remain above 170 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p still delivers 167.8 FPS, which is excellent.

At 4K, the recommendations become more nuanced. Low settings yield 221.3 FPS, which is overkill for any display. Medium delivers 179.1 FPS, still exceptionally high. High drops to 110.2 FPS, which is the first preset where the frame rate falls below 120 FPS. Ultra yields 106.4 FPS, a marginal 3% drop from High. Given the minimal difference between High and Ultra (110.2 vs 106.4 FPS), the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for 4K, as it provides nearly identical performance to High with better visual quality. For users prioritizing frame rate above all else, Medium at 4K offers a massive 62% improvement over Ultra while still looking good.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 106.4, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The frame rate is consistently playable even at the highest preset.

Q: Is there a big performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: The data shows a minimal difference. At 4K, High delivers 110.2 FPS while Ultra delivers 106.4 FPS, a difference of only 3.5%. At 1440p, High is 180.6 FPS and Ultra is 167.8 FPS, a 7% gap. The visual gains from Ultra are likely worth the small performance cost.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz monitor?

A: At 1440p, the High preset delivers 180.6 FPS, which is above 144 FPS. Even the Ultra preset at 167.8 FPS exceeds 144 FPS. At 4K, only Low (221.3 FPS) and Medium (179.1 FPS) are above 144 FPS; High and Ultra fall below that threshold.

Q: How does this combo compare to other systems tested?

A: This combo is ranked 152 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the top 9% of all systems. This indicates it is a high-end configuration that outperforms the vast majority of setups in this game.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance more in this game?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is likely the primary limiter, given the extremely high frame rates (e.g., 358 FPS at 1440p Low). At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the steeper performance drop from 1440p to 4K on higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT holds a rank of 152 out of 1671 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the top 9.1% of all systems, which is a strong result for a game that is not particularly demanding. The CPU's avgBenchmarkScore is 70104, with a percentile of 96 against all CPUs. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-14700K with an avgScore of 70074 and a deltaPct of 0, meaning the KF variant performs identically to the K variant. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.4% faster, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 1.3% faster, but these differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

The GPU's avgBenchmarkScore is 38358, with a percentile of 82 against all GPUs. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0, showing that the RX 7900 XT is performing exactly in line with its expected class. The combination of a top-4% CPU and a top-18% GPU results in a system that is well above average for this game. The high rank is not surprising given the hardware, but it confirms that this pairing does not suffer from any notable bottleneck in Inside, delivering consistently high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it features 33 MB of shared L3 cache. In a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and AI, the CPU is not heavily taxed. The benchmark data supports this: at 1080p Low, the combo produces 407.8 FPS, which is likely near the engine's maximum frame rate limit.

The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks is exceptional. It scores 44557 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6290 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 19287. Its percentile vs all CPUs is 96, meaning it outperforms 96% of all processors. The nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-14700K with a deltaPct of 0, indicating they are identical in performance. The AMD EPYC 9115 is 0.3% faster, and the Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.4% faster, but these differences are within noise.

In Inside, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with enough data to avoid bottlenecking. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the limiting factor, as the frame rates are so high that the GPU is not fully utilized. At 4K, the CPU has more headroom, and the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The i7-14700KF's high single-thread performance (6290 in R23 single-core) ensures that even the most demanding game logic is handled without issue, allowing the RX 7900 XT to stretch its legs at higher resolutions. This pairing demonstrates a well-balanced system where the CPU's strength prevents it from being a hindrance in a lighter title like Inside.