Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on frame rate headroom than its minimalist art style suggests. Benchmark results show this pairing is capable of obliterating standard refresh rate targets at every resolution, with the primary bottleneck shifting decisively from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at 1080p. The data indicates a highly balanced system for this title, though its position in the global combo ranking reveals that specialized hardware can push even higher.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 156. This places the experience well above the 144 Hz refresh rate threshold, ensuring smooth, tear-free gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. The jump from 1080p High (217 FPS) to 1440p High (156 FPS) represents a 28% performance drop, which is a typical cost for the increased pixel count.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36,938, placing it 0.2% behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and 0.5% behind the Intel Core i9-12900T. It is effectively tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which has a deltaPct of 0. In practical terms for Inside, this means the CPU's 10 cores and 10 threads are more than sufficient, as even the most demanding 1080p scenarios do not appear to be limited by processor throughput.

Q: What is the maximum FPS recorded at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The maximum FPS recorded is 180, with an average of 157 FPS and a minimum of 133 FPS. This data point shows that even at the highest resolution, the AMD Radeon RX 9070 with its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth can push frame rates that rival what many systems achieve at 1440p on less powerful hardware.

Q: Does the AMD Radeon RX 9070 use a multi-chip module design?

A: No, it uses a single monolithic die. The GPU is built on the Navi 48 chip, which is a 4 nm TSMC process node containing 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die. This is distinct from the chiplet design used in some other AMD products, and the data shows this monolithic architecture delivers strong results in this game.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems for Inside?*

A: The combination ranks 589th out of 2,887 tested combos. This places it in the top 20.4% of all systems, which is a strong showing. However, it also indicates that the game is not particularly demanding on high-end components, as many other combinations with different CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher scores, likely due to higher CPU clock speeds.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: Yes, the difference is substantial. The measured average FPS at 1080p Low is 404, while at Ultra it drops to 206 FPS. This represents a 49% reduction in frame rate, showing that the Ultra preset nearly halves the performance. The High preset (217 FPS) is nearly identical to Ultra (206 FPS) in cost, suggesting the jump from High to Ultra has a minimal performance impact.

Settings Recommendations

The data suggests that the High preset offers the most efficient balance between visual fidelity and performance for this hardware. At 1080p, High produces an average of 217 FPS, which is only 11 FPS higher than Ultra (206 FPS). This indicates that the Ultra preset's additional graphical effects have a negligible cost on this GPU. Conversely, dropping to Medium (346 FPS) or Low (404 FPS) provides a massive frame rate boost but likely sacrifices visual quality that the GPU can easily handle.

At 1440p, the High preset yields 156 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate gaming. The Ultra preset drops to 148 FPS, a marginal 5% decrease from High, making Ultra a viable choice for users who prioritize maximum visual settings. The Medium preset at 249 FPS is overkill for most displays and suggests the GPU is not being fully utilized, as the frame rate is more likely capped by the CPU's single-thread performance.

For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the most compelling option. It delivers an average of 157 FPS, which is far above the 60 FPS standard and even exceeds 144 Hz on many monitors. The High preset (98 FPS) and Ultra preset (93 FPS) are still playable but do not take full advantage of high-refresh-rate displays. The Low preset at 4K (196 FPS) shows the GPU's raw power, but the visual compromise is likely unnecessary. Therefore, Medium at 4K is the recommended sweet spot, as it provides the highest frame rate that still benefits from the GPU's capabilities without hitting a significant CPU bottleneck.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions. Its specifications—16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth—provide ample headroom for Inside's memory footprint, which is not particularly large for a 2016 title. The GPU's boost clock of 2520 MHz and its 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power are the primary drivers of the high frame rates observed.

The performance scaling across resolutions highlights the GPU's role. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, with an average of 93 FPS. This is a 55% drop from the 1080p Ultra score of 206 FPS, demonstrating that the increase in pixel count from 2.07 million to 8.29 million significantly taxes the shader units (3,584) and ROPs (128). However, even at this load, the GPU maintains a playable frame rate, showing that it is not overwhelmed by the game's engine.

At 1080p, the GPU's role diminishes. The difference between Low (404 FPS) and Medium (346 FPS) is 58 FPS, but the difference between High (217 FPS) and Ultra (206 FPS) is only 11 FPS. This suggests that at lower resolutions, the frame rate is increasingly constrained by the CPU, as the GPU has spare capacity to render frames faster than the processor can issue draw calls. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 6,290 and Passmark G3D score of 25,381 confirm it is a high-tier card, but its performance in Inside at 1080p is not fully realized due to the CPU bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 589 out of 2,887 tested systems places it in the top 20.4% of all configurations. This is a strong result, but it is not exceptional. The data suggests that Inside is a title that can be heavily influenced by CPU single-thread performance, and the Core Ultra 5 225's 4.90 GHz boost clock is good but not class-leading.

The nearest CPU rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which is statistically tied in average score (36,945 vs 36,938). The Intel Core i9-12900T has a slightly higher score (37,112), but its lower boost clock likely makes it less effective in gaming scenarios. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, has a 1.2% higher average benchmark score (24,170 vs 23,877), which could translate to a few more FPS in Inside at 4K.

Despite these rivalries, the rank of 589 indicates that there are 588 other combinations that achieve higher performance in this specific game. This is likely due to CPUs with higher single-thread scores, such as those from the Ryzen 7000 series or Intel's 14th generation, which can push frame rates higher at 1080p. The data shows that this combo is well-balanced for 1440p and 4K, but it is not the absolute top-tier for esports-level 1080p performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. Its base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.90 GHz are moderate for a desktop CPU, but its performance in synthetic benchmarks is solid. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25,891 and single-core score of 3,655 show a balanced processor that can handle both threaded workloads and single-threaded tasks.

In Inside, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p. The frame rates at this resolution—404 FPS on Low, 346 FPS on Medium, 217 FPS on High, and 206 FPS on Ultra—show a clear scaling pattern. The significant drop from Medium to High (346 to 217 FPS) suggests that the High preset introduces CPU-intensive physics or draw calls that limit the frame rate. The CPU's 20 MB of L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache are likely sufficient for this game's data, but the 10 threads are adequate, as the game does not appear to be heavily multi-threaded.

The Passmark single-thread score of 4,412 is a key indicator. This score is 85% percentile among all CPUs, indicating strong single-core performance. However, the data from Inside shows that the CPU is still the bottleneck at 1080p, as frame rates do not scale linearly with GPU capability. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s (DDR5 dual-channel) is also a potential limiting factor, though the game's data footprint is small enough that this is unlikely to be a major issue. Overall, the CPU provides sufficient performance for 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p, it holds back the GPU's full potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS is 404 on Low, 346 on Medium, 217 on High, and 206 on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 294 FPS and a maximum of 398 FPS, showing a 104 FPS variance, which indicates that the CPU is causing frame time spikes. The High and Ultra presets are nearly identical in performance, with only an 11 FPS difference, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional effects are negligible at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the measured average FPS is 311 on Low, 249 on Medium, 156 on High, and 148 on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 287 FPS, a 75 FPS variance. The drop from Medium to High is 93 FPS, which is a 37% reduction, indicating a significant increase in GPU load. The difference between High and Ultra is only 8 FPS, continuing the trend seen at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the measured average FPS is 196 on Low, 157 on Medium, 98 on High, and 93 on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 133 FPS and a maximum of 180 FPS, a 47 FPS variance. The drop from Low to Medium is 39 FPS, and from Medium to High is 59 FPS, showing that the GPU is heavily taxed by the High preset at 4K. The Ultra preset is only 5 FPS lower than High, suggesting that the GPU's shading units are fully saturated, and the additional Ultra effects are not further impacting performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component at each resolution. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 404 at 1080p to 311 at 1440p (a 23% decrease) and then to 196 at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, as the pixel count increases by 1.78x from 1080p to 1440p and 2.25x from 1440p to 4K. The frame rate does not drop proportionally, indicating that the GPU has headroom at lower resolutions, and the CPU is the primary limiter at 1080p.

At High settings, the FPS drops from 217 at 1080p to 156 at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 98 at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced, showing that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck as the settings increase. At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 206 at 1080p to 148 at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 93 at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). The consistency of the 28% drop from 1080p to 1440p across High and Ultra suggests that the CPU is still a factor at 1440p, but the 37% drop from 1440p to 4K confirms the GPU is the limiting component at 4K.

The data indicates that the crossover point is between 1440p and 4K. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU's single-thread performance (boost clock of 4.90 GHz) is the primary constraint, as the GPU is capable of rendering frames faster than the CPU can feed it. At 4K, the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput become the limiting factor, as evidenced by the significant drop in FPS. This analysis shows that the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 are best paired for 1440p gaming, where they achieve a balanced workload, with 4K being a GPU-dominated scenario and 1080p being CPU-limited.