Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a game whose minimalist aesthetic belies its technical demands. The measured data shows a system that scales predictably across resolutions, offering headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p and maintaining playability at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS curve from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the CPU demonstrating ample headroom. At 1080p High settings, the combo produces 189 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the frame rate drops to 136 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 85 FPS, which is a 55% decrease from the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is typical for a game where pixel throughput becomes the limiting factor.

The data becomes more telling when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system outputs 378 FPS, which is an exceptional number that suggests the CPU and GPU are both operating well within their limits. At 1440p Low, the average is 272 FPS, and at 4K Low, it remains at a very high 171 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 54.7%, which is nearly identical to the percentage drop seen at High settings. This consistency indicates that the rendering pipeline is scaling linearly with pixel count, a sign of efficient GPU utilization.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data, including minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the average is 302 FPS with a minimum of 257 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 217 FPS with a minimum of 185 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS. The minimum frame rates at 4K remain well above 60 FPS, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the system does not stutter or drop below smooth playability thresholds.

The gap between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution is substantial. At 1080p, the difference is 198 FPS (378 vs 180). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 143 FPS (272 vs 129). At 4K, the difference is 90 FPS (171 vs 81). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases, while at 1080p, the settings have a more pronounced effect on the frame rate.

The scaling behavior suggests that the RTX 3070's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this title at all tested resolutions. The game's art style, which often features dark, monochromatic environments, may not stress memory capacity as heavily as other modern titles, but the data shows no signs of memory-related performance cliffs.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 302 FPS, which is far beyond what any display can show, and the minimum frame rate of 257 FPS ensures no perceptible hitches. This preset provides a significant improvement over Low settings without the performance penalty associated with High or Ultra.

At 1440p, the Medium preset produces 217 FPS with a minimum of 185 FPS. This is an ideal range for high-refresh-rate monitors in the 144Hz to 240Hz class. The High preset at 1440p still delivers 136 FPS, which is playable on 144Hz displays, but the Medium preset offers a 59.5% higher average frame rate. For competitive play or for users who prioritize smoothness above all, Medium is the clear choice.

The 4K resolution presents a more nuanced decision. The Medium preset yields 136 FPS, which is exceptional for 4K gaming and would fully utilize a 120Hz or 144Hz 4K display. The High preset at 4K drops to 85 FPS, which is still highly playable on a 60Hz display or with VRR enabled. The Ultra preset at 4K produces 81 FPS, which is only marginally lower than High. Given the small difference between High and Ultra at 4K (4 FPS), users with 4K displays could opt for Ultra to extract maximum visual quality without a significant performance hit.

The Low preset, while producing the highest frame rates (378 FPS at 1080p, 272 FPS at 1440p, 171 FPS at 4K), is likely unnecessary for this game. The visual style of Inside relies heavily on atmosphere and lighting, and the Low preset may compromise these elements. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot, offering frame rates that are 60% to 80% higher than High while presumably retaining most of the visual impact.

For users with standard 60Hz displays, even the Ultra preset at 4K (81 FPS) exceeds the refresh rate, meaning that any preset will provide a smooth experience. The recommendation shifts to High or Ultra for maximum image quality, as the performance headroom is substantial.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 986th out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 65.9th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning it outperforms roughly two-thirds of the systems in the database for this specific title.

The ranking is somewhat surprising given the strong absolute performance numbers. The 986th position suggests that many other combinations, likely featuring higher-end GPUs or newer CPUs, achieve higher frame rates in this game. However, the context of the ranking is important. The database includes many configurations with top-tier hardware, and Inside is a game that can push frame rates into the hundreds, allowing more powerful systems to distinguish themselves.

The CPU's performance relative to its peers is noteworthy. The Core Ultra 5 225 has an average benchmark score of 36938, which places it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with a score of 36945 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D with 37018 (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 with 37093 (-0.4% delta). This cluster of CPUs within a 0.4% performance band indicates that the Core Ultra 5 225 is positioned at the top of its competitive segment, and its performance in Inside is likely not the limiting factor.

The GPU's benchmark standing is different. The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, placing it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT with a score of 17083 (0.7% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 with 17037 (1% delta), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M with 17019 (1.1% delta). The RTX 3070 is slightly ahead of these rivals, but the deltaPct values are small, indicating that the GPU is in a competitive mid-range tier.

The combination of an 85th percentile CPU with a 61st percentile GPU results in a system where the GPU is more likely to be the performance ceiling. The ranking of 986th out of 2887 reflects this balance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities.

At 1920x1080, the system produces its highest frame rates. The Low preset yields an average of 378 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 302 FPS, with a minimum of 257 FPS and a maximum of 347 FPS. The High preset produces 189 FPS. The Ultra preset yields 180 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 198 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptionally high. The Low preset averages 272 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 217 FPS, with a minimum of 185 FPS and a maximum of 250 FPS. The High preset produces 136 FPS. The Ultra preset yields 129 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 143 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system still delivers playable frame rates across all presets. The Low preset averages 171 FPS. The Medium preset delivers 136 FPS, with a minimum of 116 FPS and a maximum of 157 FPS. The High preset produces 85 FPS. The Ultra preset yields 81 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 90 FPS.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. The minimum frame rates scale consistently: 257 FPS at 1080p, 185 FPS at 1440p, and 116 FPS at 4K. The maximum frame rates also scale: 347 FPS at 1080p, 250 FPS at 1440p, and 157 FPS at 4K. This consistency suggests stable frame pacing and no thermal or power throttling issues.

The data shows that the system can comfortably drive high-refresh-rate displays at 1080p and 1440p, and it can handle 4K at frame rates suitable for 60Hz to 120Hz displays, depending on the preset selection.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 plays the central role in determining the system's performance ceiling in Inside. The GPU's specifications show it is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. The chip contains 17,400 million transistors on a 392 mm² die.

The GPU operates with a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz. The memory runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective on the 8 GB GDDR6 memory. The 256-bit memory bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is likely sufficient for this game's data requirements.

The RTX 3070 features 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output units. It also includes 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 20.31 TFLOPS.

In Inside, the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. The benchmark data shows that at 4K High, the system achieves 85 FPS, which is roughly 45% of the 1080p High result of 189 FPS. This scaling aligns with the increase in pixel count, indicating that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 17208. Its nearest rivals are extremely close in performance, with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT just 0.7% behind and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 1% behind. This positioning suggests that the RTX 3070 is a solid mid-range performer, though it is not a top-tier card.

The 8 GB of VRAM does not appear to be a limiting factor in this game. The measured frame rates show no signs of memory-related stuttering or texture thrashing, even at 4K Ultra settings. The game's visual style likely does not require large texture sets or high-resolution assets that would stress the memory capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 provides the computational foundation for this system, and the data indicates that it is more than capable of feeding the RTX 3070 in Inside. The CPU is built on the Arrow Lake architecture using TSMC's 3 nm process, a significant advancement over the GPU's 8 nm node.

The CPU features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. The 65 W TDP suggests efficient power delivery, and the processor supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per core L2 cache provide ample storage for game data.

The CPU's benchmark performance is strong. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 25891, and the single-core score is 3655. The PassMark multi-thread score is 30459, and the single-thread score is 4412. These scores place the CPU in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938.

The performance headroom of the CPU is evident in the frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system produces 378 FPS, a number that would stress most CPUs. The fact that the CPU can sustain this frame rate without the GPU becoming idle suggests that the 10 cores are sufficient for the game's logic and physics calculations.

In Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple gameplay mechanics, the CPU demand is likely low compared to other genres. The 10 cores at 10 threads provide ample parallel processing capability, and the high boost clock of 4.90 GHz ensures strong single-threaded performance for game logic.

The CPU's nearest rivals in benchmark scores are extremely close. The AMD Ryzen 5 5600F has an identical average score with a 0% delta, while the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is 0.2% behind. This tight grouping indicates that the Core Ultra 5 225 is at the top of its performance tier, and in this game, any of these CPUs would likely produce similar frame rates.

The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. Even at 4K Low, where the system achieves 171 FPS, the frame rate is likely limited by the GPU's pixel throughput rather than the CPU's processing capacity. The CPU's role is to handle the game's simulation and to prepare draw calls for the GPU, and the high frame rates across all resolutions indicate that it performs this role without issue.