Inside

Inside is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer from 2016 with a deliberately restrained visual style, so the performance profile of this Intel Core i9-14900K + AMD Radeon RX 7600 combo is more about headroom than stress. The measured data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions but has enormous CPU headroom that never becomes a limiting factor, even at 1080p where frame rates climb well past what most displays can show. This pairing delivers a smooth experience across the board, with the only real compromise appearing at 4K Ultra where the frame rate dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, but it follows a predictable pattern that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary constraint. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 282 at 1920x1080 to 127 at 3840x2160, a reduction of roughly 55%. At High settings, the drop is from 141 FPS at 1080p down to 64 FPS at 4K, which is a 54.6% decrease. This consistent scaling across different presets indicates that the RX 7600's rendering throughput is what determines the ceiling.

The Medium settings row provides the most complete data, with min and max FPS values recorded. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 226 FPS with a minimum of 192 and maximum of 259. Moving to 2560x1440 Medium drops the average to 162 FPS, with min/max of 138/186. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average falls to 102 FPS, with min/max of 87/117. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is a 37% reduction in average FPS, while the jump from 1080p to 1440p costs about 28%. This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that is running out of pixel fillrate headroom as resolution increases.

What is notable is that even at 4K, the Low preset still delivers 127 FPS on average, which means the game is not particularly demanding on the GPU when settings are reduced. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is striking: 127 FPS versus 61 FPS, a 108% difference. This tells you that the visual settings have a massive impact on the GPU load in this game, far more than resolution alone. The bottleneck at 4K Ultra is definitively the GPU, as the CPU has more than enough power to feed frames at any setting.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core, 32-thread processor with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. Its benchmark results place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097. The nearest rivals show it is essentially tied with the Intel Core i9-14900KF, which scores 79371 with a delta of -0.3%, and the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at 79574 with a -0.6% delta. It is slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395, which scores 77740 with a 1.7% delta.

In Inside, the CPU's role is almost entirely about maintaining a high minimum frame rate and ensuring that no frame pacing issues occur. The game is a side-scroller with limited on-screen geometry, so the CPU is never under heavy load. The data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the system produces 282 FPS on average, which is far beyond the GPU's ability to render at higher settings. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, the CPU is still capable of feeding 61 FPS without issue.

The single-threaded performance of the i9-14900K is strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2262.5 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2655. This matters for a game like Inside, which likely relies on a main game thread for logic and physics. The multi-core scores, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core result of 39399.5, are irrelevant here because the game simply does not scale to 24 cores. The result is that the CPU never becomes the limiting component in any of the measured configurations.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with high settings?

A: Yes, the measured data shows an average of 64 FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold, though it does not leave much headroom for demanding scenes.

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

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 101, which is below 144. To fully utilize a 144Hz display, you would need to use Low settings at 1440p, which delivers 203 FPS on average, or stay at 1080p where even High settings hit 141 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 7600 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 7600 has a Passmark G3D score of 16634, which places it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, scores 15199 with a delta of -0.2%, meaning the RX 7600 is effectively a direct match for that card in raw compute terms.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM enough for Inside?

A: The measured data shows no indication of VRAM limitations. At 4K Ultra, the game still runs at 61 FPS on average, which suggests the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient for this game's art style and texture sizes.

Q: Should I use the Ultra preset?

A: Only if you are playing at 1080p or 1440p. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 134, which is still smooth. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 97 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 61 FPS, which is borderline for a smooth experience.

Q: What does the combo rank tell us?

A: This CPU and GPU combination ranks 2500 out of 3716 possible combos for Inside. This places it in the middle of the pack, which makes sense given that the game is not particularly demanding and most modern hardware can run it well.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four presets at three resolutions, providing a complete picture of performance.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 282 FPS. The Medium preset averages 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 and a maximum of 259 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 141 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 134 FPS. All of these results are far above what any standard display needs, so at 1080p the system is never challenged.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 203 FPS. Medium settings drop the average to 162 FPS, with min/max values of 138/186 FPS. High settings average 101 FPS, and Ultra settings average 97 FPS. The step from Medium to High at this resolution is a 37.6% reduction in average FPS, which is a significant jump that suggests High settings introduce a heavier shading load.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 127 FPS. The Medium preset averages 102 FPS, with min/max of 87/117 FPS. High settings average 64 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 3 FPS, which is within the margin of error and suggests that the Ultra preset adds effects that are not particularly taxing on the GPU.

The complete data table is as follows:

• 1920x1080 Low: 282 FPS average
• 1920x1080 Medium: 226 FPS average, 192 min, 259 max
• 1920x1080 High: 141 FPS average
• 1920x1080 Ultra: 134 FPS average
• 2560x1440 Low: 203 FPS average
• 2560x1440 Medium: 162 FPS average, 138 min, 186 max
• 2560x1440 High: 101 FPS average
• 2560x1440 Ultra: 97 FPS average
• 3840x2160 Low: 127 FPS average
• 3840x2160 Medium: 102 FPS average, 87 min, 117 max
• 3840x2160 High: 64 FPS average
• 3840x2160 Ultra: 61 FPS average

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip, manufactured on a 6 nm process at TSMC. It has 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation pipelines. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1720 MHz, a game clock of 2250 MHz, and a boost clock of 2655 MHz. Memory is 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a mixed picture. Its Passmark G3D score is 16634, which places it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 2310. The nearest rivals are tightly clustered: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 with a -0.2% delta, the AMD Radeon Pro 560X scores 15082 with a 0.6% delta, the AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 with a -0.7% delta, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 Ti scores 15063 with a 0.7% delta. This places the RX 7600 in a performance tier where it trades blows with entry-level dedicated GPUs and high-end integrated graphics.

In Inside, the GPU's role becomes dominant as resolution and settings increase. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is not the bottleneck at Low settings, where the CPU can push 282 FPS. However, as settings rise to High and Ultra, the GPU load increases and the frame rate drops to 141 and 134 FPS respectively. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor: even at Low settings, the frame rate is halved from the 1080p result, and at Ultra it drops to 61 FPS.

The VRAM situation is worth noting. The 8 GB frame buffer is adequate for Inside, as evidenced by the fact that the game runs at 4K Ultra with 61 FPS. However, the 128-bit memory bus and 288 GB/s bandwidth are modest, which likely contributes to the significant frame rate penalty when moving from 1440p to 4K. The GPU's pixel rate of 169.9 GPixel/s and texture rate of 339.8 GTexel/s are decent for the class, but they are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with higher presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset to use based on your display and performance goals.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is the best choice. It delivers 134 FPS on average, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and even exceeds 120 FPS for high-refresh displays. The step down to High only gains 7 FPS, so there is no reason to sacrifice visual quality at this resolution. The Medium preset offers 226 FPS, but that is overkill for any standard display and the visual downgrade is not worth it.

For 1440p displays, the High preset is the sweet spot. It averages 101 FPS, which is smooth on a 60Hz or 100Hz display. The Ultra preset is nearly identical at 97 FPS, so the choice between High and Ultra comes down to personal preference for visual effects. If you have a 144Hz display, you would need to drop to Low settings to reach 203 FPS, but this is a significant visual compromise for a game that benefits from its atmospheric art style.

For 4K displays, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It averages 102 FPS, which is excellent for a 4K experience and provides smooth gameplay with min FPS of 87. The High preset drops to 64 FPS, which is still playable but does not provide as much headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 61 FPS is borderline; it will feel smooth in most situations but may dip below 60 FPS in busy scenes.

The data shows that the Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions. It is the only preset that maintains an average above 100 FPS at 4K, and it provides comfortable headroom at 1440p and 1080p. The game's art style is stylized and minimalist, so the visual difference between Medium and High is likely less noticeable than in a graphically intensive AAA title. If you prioritize smoothness above all else, the Low preset at your native resolution will deliver the highest frame rates, but for most players, Medium provides the best overall experience.