Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer with a deliberately restrained visual style, yet the benchmark data for the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination reveals surprisingly demanding performance curves that scale dramatically with resolution and settings. The measured frame rates show a system that is rarely challenged at lower presets but begins to show its architectural limits as the workload shifts toward the GPU at higher resolutions. The data suggests that this pairing is capable of extreme refresh rates, but the relationship between the 24-core processor and the 12 GB graphics card defines the experience across the board.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, which points to the RTX 4070 becoming the primary constraint at higher pixel counts. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 230.8 at 1920x1080 to 165.6 at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 28%, and then to 104.2 at 3840x2160, which is a further 37% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that the GPU’s shading and memory bandwidth are the limiting factors as resolution increases, because the CPU has ample headroom given its 24 cores and 32 threads.

Low settings tell an even more pronounced story about the CPU’s dominance at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 430.9 FPS, which is more than double the 4K High result. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 327.5 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 210.2 FPS. The scaling here is nearly linear with pixel count, which is typical for a scene that is heavily fill-rate bound. The fact that 4K Low (210.2 FPS) is still far above 1080p Ultra (219.4 FPS) suggests that the GPU is not the bottleneck at lower settings, but rather the game’s rendering pipeline is being fed as fast as the CPU can issue draw calls.

Ultra settings compress the resolution scaling curve, with 1080p Ultra at 219.4 FPS, 1440p Ultra at 156.4 FPS, and 4K Ultra at 101.4 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p is 63 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 55 FPS, showing that the GPU’s compute units are saturated more evenly as the preset increases. This implies that the RTX 4070’s 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs are the decisive factor at Ultra, whereas the CPU’s 6.00 GHz boost clock and 36 MB of L3 cache are more relevant at Low and Medium.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a 24-core processor with a base clock of 3.20 GHz and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz, and its benchmark results show it ranks in the 97th percentile among all CPUs. In Inside, the CPU’s role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the average FPS reaches 430.9. This is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple geometry, so the game’s thread utilization is likely limited to a few cores; however, the processor’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 3064 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7040, allows it to feed the GPU without stalling.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any measured configuration because the FPS never appears to plateau due to processor throughput. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 101.4 FPS, which is far below the 1080p Low figure, confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher settings. The CPU’s 32 threads and 36 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample bandwidth for the game’s data streaming, and the Passmark multithread score of 58674 suggests that even if Inside were to use more cores, the processor would not struggle.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the i9-14900K sits slightly above the Intel Core i9-14900KF with a deltaPct of 0.7, and it is 0.9% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K. These small differences in average benchmark scores (79824 for the i9-14900K versus 80041 for the AMD EPYC 7413, which is 0.3% faster) are unlikely to translate into meaningful FPS differences in Inside, given that the game is so GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The CPU’s 125 W TDP is a secondary consideration because the measured frame rates are consistently high enough that power draw does not appear to throttle performance.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the Intel Core i9-14900K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 219th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 13% of all configurations. This rank is notable because the RTX 4070 itself only sits in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, meaning that the high percentile rank of the CPU (97th) is helping to boost the combo’s standing. The data suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for this game, as the GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to avoid stutter, while the CPU’s single-core speed drives high average frame rates.

The rank of 219 is influenced by the fact that many combos use higher-tier GPUs like the RTX 4080 or 4090, which would naturally score higher at 4K Ultra. However, the i9-14900K’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900KF, has a similar average benchmark score (79245 versus 79824), so any difference in combo rank would come down to the GPU. The RTX 4070’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, has an average score that is 0.6% lower, but the RTX 4070’s 2.5% advantage over the AMD Radeon RX 5300M shows that it is firmly in the mid-to-high tier for this game’s requirements.

What the rank does not reveal is how close the combo is to the top 10% of configurations. With 1671 total combos, the 219th spot indicates that there are 218 other setups that achieve higher average FPS in Inside, likely due to more powerful GPUs or higher-clocked CPUs. Yet the measured FPS at 1080p High (230.8) and even 4K High (104.2) are both well above the 60 FPS threshold, so the rank is more a reflection of raw performance potential than playability.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates, with Low settings averaging 430.9 FPS, Medium at 368.9 FPS, High at 230.8 FPS, and Ultra at 219.4 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is a 62 FPS drop, but the more significant gap is from Medium to High, which loses 138.1 FPS, suggesting that High enables heavy post-processing effects that tax the GPU’s pixel throughput. Ultra is only 11.4 FPS slower than High, indicating that the additional settings in Ultra are not as demanding as the step from Medium to High.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 327.5 FPS for Low, 265.1 FPS for Medium, 165.6 FPS for High, and 156.4 FPS for Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is roughly 24% lower for Low, 28% lower for Medium, 28% lower for High, and 29% lower for Ultra, which is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario. The 1440p Low result is still higher than 1080p High, confirming that the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops to 210.2 FPS on Low, 169.1 FPS on Medium, 104.2 FPS on High, and 101.4 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High is 64.9 FPS, which is the largest relative drop at 4K, and it underscores that High settings introduce a significant load on the RTX 4070’s 64 ROPs. The difference between High and Ultra is only 2.8 FPS, meaning that Ultra’s extra features are nearly free in terms of performance cost at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K at Low settings?

A: The average FPS falls from 430.9 at 1080p Low to 210.2 at 4K Low, which is a 51% reduction. This is because the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors as the pixel count quadruples, even though the CPU has plenty of headroom with its 24 cores.

Q: Is the Intel Core i9-14900K or the RTX 4070 the main bottleneck in Inside?

A: The data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU drives 430.9 FPS, but at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 101.4 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4070’s 5888 shading units are saturated rather than the CPU’s 32 threads.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 219th out of 1671 tested configurations, placing it in the top 13%. This is driven by the CPU’s 97th percentile ranking, while the GPU is in the 81st percentile, showing that the processor helps boost the overall standing.

Q: What is the best setting for a 1440p monitor?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings average 165.6 FPS, which is well above refresh rates of most monitors. Even Ultra at 156.4 FPS is playable, but High offers a 5.9% performance improvement over Ultra with minimal visual difference in this puzzle platformer.

Q: Does the RTX 4070’s 12 GB VRAM cause any issues at 4K?

A: The measured data shows no evidence of VRAM limitations, as 4K Ultra still averages 101.4 FPS. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Inside’s textures, even at the highest preset.

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

A: Yes, the drop from Medium to High is substantial across all resolutions. At 1080p, it costs 138.1 FPS (from 368.9 to 230.8), and at 4K, it costs 64.9 FPS (from 169.1 to 104.2), indicating that High enables demanding effects that heavily tax the GPU.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the High preset at 2560x1440 offers an excellent balance, averaging 165.6 FPS. This is more than enough for smooth gameplay on most high-refresh monitors, and it avoids the 64.9 FPS penalty that comes from moving to Ultra at 4K. If you prefer 1080p, High at 230.8 FPS is the recommended choice because it provides a 11.4 FPS gain over Ultra while likely preserving most visual fidelity. For 4K, High at 104.2 FPS is the sweet spot, as Ultra only adds 2.8 FPS of performance loss for what is likely a negligible visual difference in a game with a muted art style.

Low settings are not recommended for this combo because they push frame rates above 400 FPS at 1080p, which exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all displays and wastes GPU headroom. Medium is a reasonable alternative if you want higher frame rates than High, but the data shows that the step from Medium to High is where the most visual quality is gained per FPS lost, making High the most efficient preset overall.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus. Its boost clock of 2475 MHz and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are directly reflected in the measured FPS, particularly at 4K where the pixel throughput demands more from the memory subsystem. The GPU’s 64 ROPs are likely the limiting factor at Ultra settings, as the average FPS at 4K Ultra is 101.4, which is only 2.8 FPS lower than High, indicating that the ROPs are saturated regardless of the extra settings.

The RTX 4070’s benchmark scores place it in the 81st percentile among all GPUs, and its Passmark G3D score of 26927 is a strong indicator of its rasterization performance. In Inside, which is a 2D side-scroller with 3D rendering, the GPU’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than sufficient, and the data shows that the card is never the bottleneck at 1080p Low (430.9 FPS). The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is not a concern because the game’s textures are modest, as evidenced by the fact that 4K Ultra does not show a frame rate collapse that would indicate memory swapping.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database, such as the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, have an average score that is 0.6% lower, but the RTX 4070’s advantage of 2.5% over the AMD Radeon RX 5300M is more relevant. This suggests that the RTX 4070 is positioned well above entry-level cards but below the top-tier 4080 and 4090, which is consistent with its 81st percentile ranking. In terms of game performance, the 2475 MHz boost clock is the key driver of high FPS at 1080p, while the 192-bit memory bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are what allow the card to maintain playable frame rates at 4K.