Inside

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti presents a striking asymmetry in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The data shows a combination where a modern 20-core processor meets a Pascal-era flagship, and the measured FPS results reveal that the GTX 1080 Ti remains entirely capable of driving high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K performance depends heavily on the chosen preset. This pairing ranks 2004th out of 3716 tested combos for this title, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database, with the GPU’s age being the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 151 FPS. This suggests that even at the highest preset, the combo provides a smooth experience well above standard 60 Hz refresh rates.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 15548, which is 1.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (score 15290) and 1.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (score 15283). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 by 0.8% (score 15679).

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming according to the measured data?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset delivers an average FPS of 115 with a minimum of 97 FPS. This is the only 4K preset with recorded min/max values, and it offers a better balance than High (72 FPS) or Ultra (68 FPS), making it the playable option for 4K.

Q: How many cores and threads does the Intel Core i7-14700KF have?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF has 20 cores and 28 threads. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, and it features 33 MB of shared L3 cache.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti features 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. The memory clock is 1376 MHz, which translates to 11 Gbps effective.

*Q: Does the combo rank in the top half of tested configurations for Inside?*

A: Yes. The combo ranks 2004th out of 3716 tested combos, meaning it sits just past the median. This rank reflects that while the CPU is a high performer in general benchmarks, the GPU limits overall standing in this specific game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide clear guidance for each resolution. For 1920x1080, all presets are playable, but the data distinguishes between them. Low settings yield an average of 317 FPS, Medium 254 FPS, High 159 FPS, and Ultra 151 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is only 8 FPS, while the drop from Medium to High is 95 FPS. Given that High still delivers 159 FPS, it is the optimal preset for 1080p, as it provides a substantial visual upgrade over Medium with a still-massive frame rate cushion. Ultra’s marginal gain over High does not justify the small FPS loss, but both are well above 144 Hz.

At 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low runs at 228 FPS, Medium at 183 FPS, High at 114 FPS, and Ultra at 109 FPS. Medium is the standout choice here, as it maintains 183 FPS while High drops to 114 FPS—a 69 FPS penalty. The 1440p Medium preset also has a recorded minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 210 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. For users with 144 Hz monitors, Medium is the only preset that guarantees frames above the refresh rate, making it the recommended setting for 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the options become more restrictive. Low averages 143 FPS, Medium 115 FPS, High 72 FPS, and Ultra 68 FPS. The Medium preset is the clear winner, with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 132 FPS. High and Ultra both fall below 75 FPS, which is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but not for higher refresh rates. Low, while faster, sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a puzzle platformer where atmosphere matters. Therefore, Medium at 4K offers the best experience, balancing a 115 FPS average with the only min/max data showing no dips below 97 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the data consistently shows that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo. At 1080p, Medium’s 254 FPS is excessive; High is better. But for 1440p and 4K, Medium provides the highest preset that keeps average FPS above 100 FPS, with 1440p Medium at 183 FPS and 4K Medium at 115 FPS. The Ultra presets at every resolution show diminishing returns: 151 FPS at 1080p, 109 FPS at 1440p, and 68 FPS at 4K. Since the game is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer, visual clarity matters, but so does smoothness; Medium is the balanced recommendation for 1440p and 4K, while 1080p users can comfortably use High.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this pairing at 2004 out of 3716 tested combinations, which puts it at approximately the 54th percentile. This is a middling rank for a system containing a CPU that sits in the 94th percentile among all processors. The discrepancy highlights the GTX 1080 Ti’s role as the limiting factor. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of CPUs in the database, while the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 58, just above the median. In a game like Inside, which is not heavily multi-threaded, the GPU’s 58th percentile standing drags the overall combo rank down.

The nearestRivals data for the CPU shows it trading blows with other high-end chips. The i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70163, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (69996) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69875). It is 0.9% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) but 1% behind the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (70879). These deltas are within a 2% band, indicating that the CPU is performing exactly as expected for its class. However, this performance does not translate into a high combo rank because the game’s FPS is bottlenecked by the GPU.

For the GPU, the nearestRivals show a similar clustering. The GTX 1080 Ti’s average score of 15548 is 0.2% higher than the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15521) and 1.7% higher than both the RTX 2060 (15290) and GTX 580 (15283). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (15679) by 0.8%. This puts the GTX 1080 Ti in a group of mid-range cards from different eras, which explains its 58th percentile ranking. In Inside, this translates to strong 1080p performance but sub-100 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is consistent with a GPU that is now several generations old.

The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-tier GPU results in a rank that is lower than either component would achieve in isolation. The data suggests that for Inside, the CPU has no trouble feeding the GPU at any resolution, as evidenced by the FPS scaling: 1080p Low hits 317 FPS, which is far beyond what the game’s engine likely needs. The combo rank of 2004/3716 is thus a reflection of the GPU’s absolute capabilities, not a CPU limitation. Users seeking a higher rank would need a more modern GPU, as the CPU is already near the top of the database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings produce an average of 317 FPS, with no min/max recorded. Medium averages 254 FPS, with a minimum of 216 FPS and maximum of 292 FPS. High averages 159 FPS, with no min/max. Ultra averages 151 FPS, again without min/max. The gap between Low and Medium is 63 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 95 FPS. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost—likely related to shadow quality or post-processing—that cuts FPS nearly in half. Ultra only costs 8 FPS more than High, indicating that the final preset tier is relatively inexpensive.

At 2560x1440, the numbers scale down proportionally. Low averages 228 FPS. Medium averages 183 FPS, with a minimum of 155 FPS and maximum of 210 FPS. High averages 114 FPS. Ultra averages 109 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum of 155 FPS is notable because it stays above 144 Hz, making it suitable for high-refresh monitors. High’s 114 FPS average is still playable on 60 Hz panels but falls short of 120 Hz displays. The delta between Medium and High is 69 FPS, which is a larger percentage drop (37.7%) than at 1080p (37.4%), showing consistent scaling.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to struggle. Low averages 143 FPS. Medium averages 115 FPS, with a minimum of 97 FPS and maximum of 132 FPS. High averages 72 FPS. Ultra averages 68 FPS. The Medium preset is the only one that maintains an average above 100 FPS, and its minimum of 97 FPS is just under that threshold. High and Ultra both fall below 75 FPS, which is borderline for 60 Hz displays. The drop from Medium to High is 43 FPS, a 37.4% reduction, which mirrors the pattern seen at lower resolutions. Low at 143 FPS is playable but visually compromised for a game that relies on moody lighting.

Comparing resolutions, the data shows typical scaling. At Low settings, 1080p to 1440p drops from 317 to 228 FPS (a 28% reduction), and 1440p to 4K drops to 143 FPS (a 37% reduction). At Medium, the progression is 254 to 183 to 115 FPS, with the 4K figure representing 45% of the 1080p number. At High, it goes from 159 to 114 to 72 FPS, with 4K at 45% of 1080p. At Ultra, it goes from 151 to 109 to 68 FPS, with 4K at 45%. This consistency indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and bandwidth are the limiting factors, rather than any specific setting causing an anomaly.

The only preset with min/max data at all three resolutions is Medium: 1080p (216-292), 1440p (155-210), and 4K (97-132). This suggests that the Medium preset is the most stable in terms of frame pacing, which is another reason to recommend it. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium is 97, meaning the game never drops below 60 FPS, making it a smooth experience on standard displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is built on the Pascal architecture with the GP102 chip, manufactured on a 16 nm process by TSMC. It has 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s. The memory clock is 1376 MHz, which equates to 11 Gbps effective. With 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 88 ROPs, the GPU delivers a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 11.34 TFLOPS, while FP16 is a paltry 177.2 GFLOPS due to a 1:64 ratio. The base clock is 1481 MHz with a boost clock of 1582 MHz.

In Inside, the GPU’s role is dominant. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (68 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (151 FPS) shows a 55% drop when pixel count increases by 4.5x, but the FPS does not scale linearly due to other bottlenecks. The GPU’s 11 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as Inside is a 2D side-scroller with limited texture memory requirements. The GDDR5X bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s is likely not a limiting factor either, given the game’s simple geometry.

The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus is 58, placing it above the median but far below the CPU’s 94th percentile. Its average benchmark score of 15548 puts it near the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (15521) and Radeon Pro W5500 (15679), which are both workstation or mobile parts. The nearest rival among desktop cards is the RTX 2060 (15290), which is 1.7% slower. This proximity to a mid-range card from the next generation explains why the GTX 1080 Ti achieves 115 FPS at 4K Medium but only 68 FPS at 4K Ultra. The Ultra preset likely enables effects that push the GPU’s fill rate to its limits.

The boost clock of 1582 MHz is modest by modern standards, but the Pascal architecture’s efficiency allows it to perform well in this older title. The GPU’s TDP of 250 W and suggested PSU of 600 W are not relevant to FPS but indicate its power draw. The data shows that the GTX 1080 Ti is the bottleneck in this combo, as evidenced by the fact that the CPU’s high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235) cannot push FPS beyond what the GPU renders. For a game released in 2016, this GPU is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but shows its age at 4K with high presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, specifically Raptor Lake-R, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 33 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, and it has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. This is a desktop part with an unlocked multiplier, released in October 2023.

In terms of raw performance, the CPU’s benchmarks are exceptional. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 44167, and single-core is 6235. Geekbench scores are 21462 multi-core and 2578 single-core. PassMark tests show a multi-thread score of 52425 and a single-thread score of 4480. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of all CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 70163 places it within 1% of several other high-end chips, including the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (69515) and Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (70879).

However, Inside does not stress the CPU heavily. The game is a puzzle platformer with a fixed camera and limited on-screen entities, so it likely uses only a few threads. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (317 FPS) is near the engine’s likely frame cap, and the CPU’s single-thread performance is more than adequate to feed the GPU at any settings. The 5.60 GHz boost clock is particularly beneficial for games that rely on single-thread performance, but even at 4K Ultra, the CPU is not the limiter—the GPU is.

The CPU’s 20 cores are overkill for this title, but they do not hurt. The data shows no evidence of CPU bottlenecking: at 1080p Low, FPS hits 317, and at 4K Low, it drops to 143, which reflects GPU load, not CPU limits. The CPU’s nearestRivals all have similar average scores, and the deltas are within 1%. This means the i7-14700KF is performing as expected, but its massive multi-threaded capabilities are irrelevant to Inside’s frame rates. The CPU’s role is to ensure the GPU never waits for data, and with a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a single-thread PassMark score of 4480, it succeeds. The combo rank of 2004/3716 would not improve with a faster CPU; it would only improve with a faster GPU.