Inside

The Intel Core i9-14900K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is an unusual pairing in a benchmark database context—a top-tier 24-core processor from 2023 driving a mid-range 2019 graphics card. For a game like Inside, a 2D puzzle platformer with a dark atmospheric aesthetic, the results are revealing about where the bottleneck actually lies. The data shows this combination delivers extremely high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, confirming that the CPU’s immense processing power is largely idle while the GPU does the heavy lifting. This page analyzes the measured performance, ranking, and scaling characteristics of this specific combo.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall performance rank of this combo in Inside?*

A: The combo ranks 2556 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this specific game, despite the high-end CPU.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 60 FPS. With High settings at the same resolution, it improves to 63 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 yield an average of 162 FPS, which comfortably exceeds the 144Hz threshold. Low settings reach 202 FPS, while High drops to 101 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's benchmark performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79097, which is 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i9-14900KF (79371) and 0.6% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (79574). It outperforms the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 by 1.7%.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and bandwidth?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its memory clock is listed as 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed.

Q: Is the frame rate more limited by the CPU or GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests a GPU limitation. At 1080p Low, the system hits 281 FPS, but moving to 4K High drops it to 63 FPS. This massive drop with resolution indicates the GPU is the primary constraint, not the CPU.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience in Inside. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness on high-refresh-rate displays, the Low preset is the standout choice. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce an average of 281 FPS, which is a significant jump from the 225 FPS seen at Medium. This headroom ensures the frame pacing remains consistent even in scenes that might cause dips, though the min FPS data is not available for Low to confirm the floor.

However, for most users, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance. At 1080p, Medium delivers 225 FPS with a measured minimum of 191 FPS, meaning it will not drop below the refresh rate of most standard 144Hz monitors. The step up to High at 1080p yields 141 FPS, which is still smooth but represents a 37% decrease from Medium. The jump from Medium to High provides diminishing visual returns in a game with Inside's muted art style, making Medium the logical sweet spot.

At 2560x1440, the recommendation shifts slightly. Medium settings achieve 162 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz displays. Low settings push this to 202 FPS, but the visual downgrade is more noticeable at this resolution. High settings drop to 101 FPS, which is still playable but misses the high-refresh-rate mark. For 4K displays, the situation is more constrained. High settings at 3840x2160 produce 63 FPS, which is borderline for 60Hz displays. Medium settings at 4K reach 102 FPS, offering a much better experience for high-refresh 4K panels, but this comes with a visual trade-off. Ultra settings are not recommended at any resolution, as they only provide a marginal frame rate increase over High at 4K (60 vs 63 FPS) while presumably adding significant visual strain.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 141 FPS at 1920x1080 to 101 FPS at 2560x1440, a 28% reduction. Moving to 3840x2160, the frame rate plummets to 63 FPS, a 55% drop from the 1440p figure. This aggressive scaling is characteristic of a GPU that is being pushed to its limits, as the number of pixels increases substantially with each resolution step.

The Low settings data paints an even clearer picture of the GPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system produces 281 FPS, but this falls to 202 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 127 FPS at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). While the absolute numbers are high, the percentage drops are substantial. If the CPU were the limiting factor, these frame rates would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not scale with pixel count. Instead, the data shows steep declines, confirming that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component.

The Medium settings row provides the only min and max FPS data in the pack. At 1080p, the average is 225 FPS, with a minimum of 191 FPS and a maximum of 259 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 162 FPS, with a minimum of 137 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS. At 4K, the average is 102 FPS, with a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS. This data shows that the frame time consistency scales with resolution; the variance between min and max FPS remains proportionally similar, but the overall headroom shrinks as the GPU becomes more saturated.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2556 out of 3716 tested combinations places it in the 31st percentile of all tested pairings for Inside. This is a surprisingly low ranking for a system with a CPU that sits in the 95th percentile of all CPUs. The discrepancy is explained by the GPU, which only ranks in the 62nd percentile of all GPUs. The ranking system for this game evidently weights the GPU performance heavily, as the frame rates are so high that the CPU's contribution becomes negligible.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows that the Core i9-14900K is practically identical in performance to its direct sibling, the i9-14900KF, with a delta of only -0.3%. It is also very close to the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus (-0.6%) and the AMD EPYC 7413 (-1.2%). This suggests that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside when paired with the same GPU. The fact that the combo ranks so low despite having a top-tier CPU indicates that the ranking is primarily a function of the GPU's capability.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (-0.4%), AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (-0.5%), AMD Radeon RX 460 (-1.5%), and Intel Arc A770M (-1.6%). These deltas are all small, meaning the RTX 2060 SUPER is performing exactly in line with its expected tier. The ranking of 2556 does not indicate a problem with the hardware, but rather that many other combinations in the database use more powerful GPUs that achieve higher frame rates in this undemanding game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture and utilizes the TU106 chip, manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 2176 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. The card also includes 34 RT cores and 272 tensor cores, which are not heavily utilized in a 2D platformer like Inside. Its compute capabilities are rated at 7.181 TFLOPS for FP32 and 14.36 TFLOPS for FP16 (2:1). The GPU clock speeds are listed as a base of 1470 MHz and a boost of 1650 MHz.

The memory subsystem is a key factor in this game's performance. The card has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This bandwidth is sufficient for the textures used in Inside, which is not a graphically intensive title by modern standards. The GPU's average benchmark score is 18093, and its percentile rank of 62 indicates it is a solid mid-range performer. The PassMark G3D score of 16462 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 provide further evidence of its capability.

In the context of Inside, the GPU's role is straightforward: it must render the 2D scenes efficiently. The data shows that it does this well up to 1440p, but begins to struggle at 4K, particularly with the Ultra preset. The 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor here, as the game's texture memory requirements are modest. The boost clock of 1650 MHz appears to be sustained adequately, as the frame rates are consistent across the measured rows. The GPU is the definitive bottleneck in this pairing, but it is a capable one for the game's demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact measured average frame rates for each resolution and settings combination.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 1920x1080 | Low | 281 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 225 | 191 | 259 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 141 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 134 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 202 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 162 | 137 | 186 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 101 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 96 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 127 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 102 | 86 | 117 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 63 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 60 | - | - |

At 1080p, all settings are easily playable. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a predictable decline: 281 to 225 to 141 to 134 FPS. The small difference between High and Ultra (141 vs 134 FPS) suggests that Ultra is not a significant additional load over High, but it does not offer a frame rate advantage either.

Moving to 1440p, the same pattern holds. Low produces 202 FPS, Medium 162 FPS, High 101 FPS, and Ultra 96 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra remains small (5 FPS), confirming that the Ultra preset is not well optimized for this hardware. The Medium preset's min FPS of 137 indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system will stay above 130 FPS.

At 4K, the frame rates become more critical. Low achieves 127 FPS, which is still very smooth. Medium drops to 102 FPS, which is excellent for a 4K display. However, High and Ultra fall to 63 and 60 FPS respectively, which are only suitable for 60Hz displays. The data shows a steep cliff between Medium and High at 4K, suggesting that the Ultra and High presets introduce rendering effects that disproportionately impact the RTX 2060 SUPER's fill rate at this resolution. The 4K Medium results, with an average of 102 FPS and a minimum of 86 FPS, represent the best 4K experience for this combo.