Inside

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers extraordinary performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The measured frame rates are so high across all resolutions that they overshadow the typical bottlenecks found in modern AAA titles. This combination ranks 578th out of 3716 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 15.6% of all systems, a strong result that speaks to both the CPU's massive core count and the GPU's efficient Ada Lovelace architecture.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions but still maintains playable performance at the highest settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 409 FPS, which drops to 330 FPS at 1440p and further to 208 FPS at 4K. This represents a 49% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the RTX 4070 is the primary constraint even at the lowest settings. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets: the GPU's workload scales predictably with pixel count, while the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads are never the limiting factor.

The most telling data point is the gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 190 FPS (409 vs 219), while at 4K it narrows to 109 FPS (208 vs 99). This suggests that at 1080p, the GPU has so much headroom that even Ultra settings can't fully utilize the CPU's potential, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck more uniformly across settings. The 1440p results show a similar pattern, with Low producing 330 FPS and Ultra dropping to 157 FPS, a 52% reduction. This scaling behavior indicates that for competitive play at high refresh rates, 1080p or 1440p with lower settings is the sweet spot, while 4K remains viable for cinematic experiences at 99 FPS on Ultra.

FAQ

*Q: What is the maximum measured frame rate for this combo in Inside?*

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 409, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the absolute ceiling of what this system can produce in this game.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest rival in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). It trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile by 1.3%.

Q: What is the lowest measured frame rate across all resolutions and settings?

A: The lowest average FPS recorded is 99, at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only test point that falls below 100 FPS, indicating that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration.

Q: Does the i7-14700KF outperform the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X in synthetic benchmarks?

A: Yes, the i7-14700KF scores 70163 on average, which is 0.9% higher than the Ryzen 9 7950X's 69515. However, it is 1% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K's score of 70879.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the RTX 4070 provide?

A: The RTX 4070 features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This is a crucial factor for texture-heavy scenes in Inside at high resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to limit performance at 1440p Ultra?

A: At 2560x1440 with Ultra settings, the combo produces 157 FPS. Given that the same GPU at 1080p Ultra produces 219 FPS, the scaling suggests the GPU is the limiting component, as the CPU's 28 threads are more than sufficient for this puzzle platformer.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured results. With a base clock of 1920 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz, the GPU operates at very high frequencies, enabling the 5888 shading units to process Inside's relatively simple geometrically but atmospheric scenes with ease. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than adequate for a game of this era, even at 4K Ultra settings where the game only requires 99 FPS.

The GPU's 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for Inside, as the game does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS. However, the raw rasterization performance, measured at 29.15 TFLOPS FP32, is what drives the high frame rates. The 64 ROPs and 184 TMUs handle the pixel and texture processing, and the 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate are more than sufficient for the game's 2D-ish platformer visuals. The GPU's TDP of 200W and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensure it can sustain these clocks without thermal throttling, as evidenced by the consistent frame rates across multiple test points.

The RTX 4070's percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs underscores its position as a high-end part, though its nearest rivals show how close the competition is. The 0.1% lead over the Tesla P4 and 0.4% lead over the RX Vega 56 are marginal, but in Inside, the 4070's driver optimization and Ada Lovelace architecture deliver a clear advantage. The GPU's 5nm process node from TSMC allows for efficient power delivery, which is critical for sustaining the 2475 MHz boost clock during extended gaming sessions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings balance depends entirely on the target display refresh rate. For 1080p displays, even the Ultra preset delivers 219 FPS, which exceeds most high-refresh monitors' capabilities. The Medium preset at 1080p produces 367 FPS with a minimum of 312 FPS, making it the best choice for 360Hz monitors, though the difference between Medium and Low (409 FPS) is only 42 FPS. For 1440p, the High preset delivers 165 FPS, which is ideal for 165Hz displays, while Ultra produces 157 FPS, still comfortably above 144Hz. The Medium preset at 1440p offers 264 FPS, which is overkill for most users but useful for competitive play.

At 4K, the recommendations change significantly. The High preset produces 104 FPS, which is smooth for 60Hz displays but not high-refresh. The Ultra preset drops to 99 FPS, and while this is still playable, the visual fidelity gain over High is minimal for a platformer. The Medium preset at 4K delivers 166 FPS, which is excellent for 144Hz 4K monitors, but the 141 FPS minimum suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable. The Low preset at 4K produces 208 FPS, which is remarkable but sacrifices the game's atmospheric lighting and shadow quality. For the vast majority of users, the High preset at 1440p or 4K offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, as it maintains over 100 FPS at both resolutions.

The data indicates that the Medium preset provides the best overall experience across all resolutions, with minimum frame rates of 312 FPS at 1080p, 225 FPS at 1440p, and 141 FPS at 4K. These minimums are all above 120 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience even in the most demanding scenes. The Ultra preset, while visually the most impressive, only provides a 10-15% performance penalty over High, making it a viable option for those with high-refresh displays at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the i7-14700KF and RTX 4070 ranks 578th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 15.6% of all systems. This rank is impressive given the game's age and the fact that many modern high-end systems with RTX 4090s or RX 7900 XTXs are included in the pool. The combo's performance is driven primarily by the RTX 4070's strong 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3854 and its Passmark G3D score of 26927, which rank it in the 81st percentile among all GPUs.

The CPU's contribution to this rank cannot be understated. The i7-14700KF's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 44167 and Geekbench multicore score of 21462 place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, ensuring that it never bottlenecks the GPU in Inside. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F (0.2% higher average score) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K (1% higher), show that the i7-14700KF is competitive with the latest silicon, despite being released in late 2023.

The rank of 578 suggests that while this combo is excellent, there are 577 other systems that perform better, primarily those with higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4080 or RTX 4090. However, the delta between this combo and those higher-ranked systems is likely small in Inside due to the game's low system requirements. The 3716 total combos include many budget and mid-range systems, so being in the top 15.6% is a strong endorsement of this pairing's capability for both this game and similar titles.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across all common resolutions and settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 409 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 367 FPS, with a minimum of 312 FPS and a maximum of 423 FPS. The High preset averages 230 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 219 FPS. This 1080p data shows that even the most demanding settings cannot push the frame rate below 219 FPS, making this resolution ideal for competitive gaming on any available monitor.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 330 FPS, while the Medium preset averages 264 FPS with a minimum of 225 FPS and a maximum of 304 FPS. The High preset produces 165 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 157 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate a 50% reduction from Low to Ultra, which is a more pronounced scaling than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor. The 157 FPS at Ultra is still excellent for 144Hz displays, and the 165 FPS at High is perfect for 165Hz panels.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 208 FPS, the Medium preset averages 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 FPS and a maximum of 191 FPS, the High preset averages 104 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS. The 4K data shows a dramatic scaling, with Ultra producing less than half the frame rate of Low. The 99 FPS at Ultra is the only test point below 100 FPS, but it remains smooth for 60Hz displays and even for 100Hz panels. The Medium preset at 4K is the standout performer, delivering 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz 4K monitors.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF plays a supporting role in this pairing, but its specifications ensure it never becomes a bottleneck in Inside. With 20 cores and 28 threads, the CPU has an abundance of processing power for a game that is primarily GPU-bound. The base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz provide excellent single-threaded performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6235 and Geekbench single-core score of 2578. These scores are crucial for Inside's physics calculations and game logic, which rely on fast single-thread execution.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache ensure that game data is readily accessible, reducing latency and improving frame pacing. The 10nm process node and 125W TDP allow for sustained boost clocks without excessive power draw, which is important for maintaining consistent frame rates over long gaming sessions. The CPU's DDR4 and DDR5 memory support means it can be paired with either memory type, though the dual-channel memory bus is adequate for this game's bandwidth requirements.

The i7-14700KF's benchmark scores place it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 70163. Its nearest rivals show how tight the competition is: the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F scores 69996 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX scores 69875 (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69515 (0.9% lower). The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K scores 70879 (1% higher), showing that the i7-14700KF is still competitive with the latest Intel parts. In Inside, the CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 4480 and multithread score of 52425 are more than sufficient, as the game rarely utilizes more than a few cores. The CPU's 94th percentile rank means it outperforms the vast majority of installed CPUs, making it a future-proof choice for years to come.