Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a robust experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on raw frame throughput than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. The data shows a pairing where the GPU is the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s capabilities become relevant at the very high frame rates this game can produce at lower settings.

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

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a 14-core, 18-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. The chip’s cache layout includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 18 MB L3 cache. This processor is designed for a 28 W TDP, which places it in the mobile performance segment, though its actual sustained clocks will depend on the laptop's cooling solution.

In the context of Inside, which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer, the CPU's role is less about multi-threaded rendering and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing. The processor's benchmark results show strong single-thread capability, which is crucial for game logic and physics in titles like this. Specifically, its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1647.5, and its Passmark single-thread score is 3399. These numbers indicate a capable processor for handling the game's deterministic updates and collision detection without becoming a bottleneck.

However, the multi-core performance is where this chip shows its breadth. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12804.5 and a Passmark multithread score of 21100 suggest that the 14 cores can handle any background tasks or streaming loads without stealing resources from the game. When compared to its nearest rivals, the processor’s average benchmark score of 27507 puts it neck-and-neck with the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (which scores 27535, a -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i5-12600K (scoring 27578, a -0.3% delta). It is also slightly ahead of the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G, which scores 27382 (a +0.5% delta). This positioning confirms that the 125H sits in a performance tier where CPU limitations are unlikely to be the primary constraint in Inside, especially at lower resolutions where the frame rate can climb very high.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the clear workhorse in this pairing. It is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. The GPU is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. Its base clock is 1920 MHz, with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and the memory runs at an effective 21 Gbps. The card has 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, which translate to a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s.

For Inside, the GPU's raw fill-rate and shading power are what allow the game to hit high frame rates. The 12 GB VRAM buffer is more than sufficient for this title's art assets, even at 4K Ultra settings. The RTX 4070’s benchmark scores confirm its strength; it achieves a Passmark G3D score of 26927 and an average benchmark score of 37648. Its performance is closely matched with the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (scoring 37628, a +0.1% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (scoring 37507, a +0.4% delta). Interestingly, it is slightly behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile, which scores 38135 (a -1.3% delta), but ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6400, which scores 37157 (a +1.3% delta). This data indicates that the desktop RTX 4070 is a high-end part, and in a game like Inside, it will almost always be the component that dictates the final frame count, particularly when the resolution pushes up the pixel workload.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

When looking at the combined performance of this specific CPU and GPU pair in Inside, the database ranks this configuration at 1469 out of 2887 tested combos. This places it in the top half of all systems tested, which is a solid standing given that the list includes many high-end desktop configurations with more powerful CPUs. The ranking suggests that while this combo is not at the very top, it provides a level of performance that is well above the median for the entire database.

This rank of 1469 out of 2887 (roughly the 51st percentile) is slightly lower than the individual component percentiles would suggest. The CPU sits at the 79th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs. The discrepancy between the component percentiles and the combo rank implies that the pairing is not perfectly balanced for maximizing the absolute highest frame rates. This is likely because the 125H, while a good mobile chip, cannot push frames as high as a flagship desktop CPU could, thereby slightly holding back the RTX 4070 in scenarios where the frame rate is extremely high (like at 1080p Low). The data shows this combo is a strong mid-to-high-tier performer, but not a top-tier contender for leaderboard-topping frame rates.

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

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how this combo scales across resolutions and settings. At 1080p, the system is exceedingly fast. With Low settings, the average FPS is 307. Moving to Medium settings drops this to an average of 266 FPS, with a minimum of 226 and a maximum of 306. High settings yield an average of 166 FPS, while Ultra settings bring the average down to 159 FPS. These numbers illustrate that at 1080p, the system is rarely stressed, and the frame rate is often limited by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with draw calls.

Stepping up to 1440p, the performance remains very strong. Low settings still produce an average of 239 FPS. Medium settings deliver an average of 192 FPS, with a minimum of 163 and a maximum of 220. High settings average 120 FPS, and Ultra settings average 114 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a expected reduction in frame rates, but the system remains well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay even at Ultra settings. The data indicates that 1440p High is a very playable and visually rich target for this hardware.

At 4K (3840x2160), the RTX 4070 starts to show its limits. Low settings still produce a very playable average of 150 FPS. Medium settings bring the average down to 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138. High settings average 75 FPS, and Ultra settings average 72 FPS. The 4K results show that while the game remains playable at all settings, the gap between Low and Ultra settings is more pronounced, indicating that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck. The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium is 102, which is still excellent, but the overall trend suggests that 4K Ultra is pushing the GPU harder.

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

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck in this system. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 307 FPS at 1080p to 239 FPS at 1440p, and then to 150 FPS at 4K. This is a drop of roughly 22% from 1080p to 1440p, and another 37% from 1440p to 4K. This is a clear indication that at Low settings, the workload is scaling significantly with resolution, which points to the GPU being the main limiting factor, even at lower graphical presets, because the CPU is able to keep up with the lower draw call counts.

However, the picture changes when looking at Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system averages 159 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it averages 114 FPS (a 28% drop), and at 4K Ultra, it averages 72 FPS (a 37% drop from 1440p). The fact that the frame rate drops so dramatically from 1080p to 1440p and again to 4K suggests that the GPU is being saturated by the increased pixel count and texture complexity at higher resolutions. The CPU is not the limiter here; rather, the RTX 4070's shading and memory bandwidth are being fully utilized. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced, but the GPU becomes the clear performance ceiling as resolution increases. The system is capable of delivering high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K is reserved for more modest settings if high FPS is desired.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Given the measured data, the best experience depends on the user's target resolution and refresh rate. For a 1080p or 1440p display with a high refresh rate (144Hz or higher), the High preset is the optimal choice. At 1080p High, the system averages 166 FPS, and at 1440p High, it averages 120 FPS. These frame rates are high enough to take advantage of most high-refresh panels, and the High preset will provide a significant visual upgrade over Medium or Low settings without incurring a performance penalty that would be noticeable. The Ultra preset is only marginally more demanding (159 FPS vs 166 FPS at 1080p), but the visual difference between High and Ultra in a game like Inside is often negligible, making High the better pick for a smoother experience.

For users with a 4K display, the Medium preset offers the best balance. At 4K Medium, the system averages 120 FPS, which is excellent for a 120Hz display, but the minimum FPS of 102 is still well above the 60 FPS threshold. This preset provides a substantial visual boost over Low (150 FPS) while maintaining a very high frame rate. Choosing High at 4K drops the average to 75 FPS, which is still playable but begins to sacrifice the smoothness that this hardware can deliver. The Ultra preset at 4K, averaging 72 FPS, is not recommended because the performance cost over High is minimal, but the frame rate is lower. Ultimately, the Medium preset at 4K is the sweet spot, delivering a high frame rate without compromising visual quality. For those who prioritize maximum visual fidelity on a 60Hz 4K display, High or Ultra are viable, but for the best overall experience, Medium is the most sensible choice.