Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016 that places almost no strain on modern high-end hardware. The benchmark results for the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile show a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at lower resolutions but becomes more balanced as the resolution climbs. The data indicates this combo is capable of delivering extremely high frame rates across all tested settings, making it an exceptional choice for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 307 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low settings drops that average to 275 FPS, a reduction of 32 FPS or roughly 10.4%. The jump to 3840x2160 at Low settings further reduces the average to 218 FPS, which is another 57 FPS drop from the 1440p result and a 29% decrease from the 1080p figure. This steep decline is expected, as the number of pixels nearly doubles from 1440p to 4K, placing a significantly heavier load on the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings levels. With High settings, the average frame rate falls from 236 FPS at 1080p to 174 FPS at 1440p, then to 109 FPS at 4K. The Ultra settings curve is similar: 230 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. The consistent drop-off between 1440p and 4K—roughly 37-40% in all cases—confirms that the RTX 5090 Mobile is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the small differences between settings (307 FPS at Low versus 230 FPS at Ultra) suggest that the CPU is beginning to constrain performance, though the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

The data indicates that this is not a scenario where the CPU holds the system back at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is 114 FPS (218 vs 104), showing that the GPU has headroom to work harder as visual fidelity increases. At 1080p, that same Low-to-Ultra gap shrinks to 77 FPS (307 vs 230), which points to a growing CPU bottleneck. For a game like Inside, which has modest geometry and physics demands, the Ultra 5 125H's 14 cores and 18 threads are more than sufficient to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the sheer pixel throughput required at 4K is what ultimately dictates the final frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the high frame rates observed. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. For a puzzle platformer with relatively simple textures and effects, this memory capacity is far beyond what the game requires, but the bandwidth ensures that even at 4K Ultra, there is no memory-related stuttering. The measured FPS data supports this: the 4K Medium run shows an average of 175 FPS with a minimum of 148 FPS and a maximum of 201 FPS, indicating smooth frame pacing without dips that would suggest memory or bandwidth constraints.

Clock speeds for the RTX 5090 Mobile are listed at a base of 990 MHz and a boost of 1515 MHz. These figures are modest compared to desktop parts, but the architecture's efficiency compensates. The GPU's 10496 shading units and 328 texture mapping units provide the raw compute needed to sustain high frame rates. The 31.80 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is substantial, and the benchmark results show it is effectively utilized. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5871 and a Passmark G3D score of 30034 place this GPU in the 84th percentile of all GPUs, which is a strong indicator of its capability.

Comparisons to nearest rivals show a tight grouping. The RTX 5090 Mobile has an average benchmark score of 45152, which is 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti (score 44795). It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT by 0.5% (score 45384) and the Intel Arc A730M by 1% (score 45592). These deltas are minimal, suggesting that in synthetic tests, these GPUs perform similarly. In Inside, however, the RTX 5090 Mobile's high memory bandwidth and large VRAM pool likely provide an edge at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the 4K results remaining above 100 FPS even at Ultra settings.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile ranks 884th out of 3716 total combos for Inside. This places it in the top 23.8% of all tested systems, which is a solid result for a mobile platform. The ranking indicates that while there are many faster desktop configurations, this laptop combo is firmly above the median for this game.

The ranking is influenced by both components, but the GPU's relative strength is more critical. The CPU's percentile against all processors is 79, while the GPU's percentile is 84. The combo rank of 884 suggests that the system performs slightly below what the GPU alone might suggest, likely due to the CPU's mobile-class power limits. However, the absolute frame rates are so high that the rank is somewhat academic; in practical terms, this system delivers a flawless experience for Inside at any resolution. The fact that the lowest average FPS recorded is 104 at 4K Ultra reflects the headroom this combo possesses.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the results are exceptionally high. Low settings produce an average of 307 FPS, Medium yields 283 FPS with a minimum of 241 and a maximum of 326, High reaches 236 FPS, and Ultra drops to 230 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 77 FPS, which is notable but does not impact playability given the starting point.

At 2560x1440, the averages remain high. Low settings deliver 275 FPS, Medium produces 254 FPS with a range of 216 to 292, High achieves 174 FPS, and Ultra maintains 165 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 110 FPS, reflecting the increased GPU load. The minimum FPS of 216 at Medium settings suggests that even in complex scenes, the system does not drop below 200 FPS at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the performance is still impressive. Low settings yield 218 FPS, Medium provides 175 FPS with a minimum of 148 and a maximum of 201, High reaches 109 FPS, and Ultra holds at 104 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 114 FPS, showing that the GPU is the clear bottleneck here. For a game like Inside, 4K Ultra at 104 FPS is far beyond what is necessary for a smooth experience, as the game's art style does not benefit from extreme pixel counts.

The Medium settings runs are the only ones with complete min/max data, and they show consistent performance. At 1080p, the minimum of 241 FPS is 85% of the average, indicating no major frame hitches. At 1440p, the minimum of 216 FPS is 85% of the average as well. At 4K, the minimum of 148 FPS is 84.6% of the average. This consistency suggests that the system maintains stable performance without thermal throttling or memory bottlenecks.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a mobile processor with 14 cores and 18 threads, based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The CPU's L3 cache is 18 MB shared, and it supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth. For a game like Inside, which is not heavily multithreaded, the CPU's single-core performance is more relevant. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1647.5 and Passmark single-thread score of 3399 indicate solid performance for everyday tasks.

The CPU's benchmark results show it is competitive with desktop parts from a few generations ago. Its average benchmark score is 27507, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 (score 27535) and 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i5-12600K (score 27578). It is 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G (score 27382). This places it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms most processors on the market.

In Inside, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and process game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is not fully saturated, as increasing settings from Low to Ultra only reduces FPS by 25%. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain constant regardless of settings. The fact that FPS drops with higher settings indicates the GPU is doing more work. However, at 4K, the CPU has ample headroom, as the frame rates scale almost linearly with the pixel count increase from 1440p. The 14 cores and 18 threads are overkill for this title, but they ensure that there is no CPU-induced stuttering or frame pacing issues, as evidenced by the stable minimum FPS values.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Inside?

A: The highest recorded average is 307 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The lowest average is 104 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the system maintain playable frame rates at 4K?

A: Yes, the data shows averages of 218 FPS at Low, 175 FPS at Medium, 109 FPS at High, and 104 FPS at Ultra for 3840x2160 resolution. All are well above 60 FPS.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H has an average benchmark score of 27507, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 5800, 0.3% lower than the Intel Core i5-12600K, and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355G.

Q: What is the GPU's memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The RTX 5090 Mobile has 24 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus with 896.0 GB/s bandwidth. This high bandwidth prevents memory bottlenecks, as shown by stable frame times even at 4K Medium settings with a minimum of 148 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main limiting factor in this game?

A: At 1080p, the CPU begins to limit performance, as frame rates do not scale fully with settings changes. At 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with frame rates dropping proportionally to the increased pixel count.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 884th out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 23.8% of systems for this game.