Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on paper, should not stress modern hardware. Yet the measured frame rates for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination reveal a title that scales aggressively with both resolution and quality presets. The data shows a system capable of extreme performance, with average frame rates ranging from a low of 110 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 404 FPS at 1080p Low. These results place this combo at rank 233 out of 2887 tested combinations, putting it in the top 8% of all systems in the database. The following analysis breaks down exactly how this CPU-GPU pairing behaves across the measured spectrum, what bottlenecks emerge, and which settings deliver the most balanced experience.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior of Inside is unusual for a puzzle platformer, as the frame rate drops are steep and consistent when moving from 1080p to 4K. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 256 FPS at 1920x1080 to 184 FPS at 2560x1440, a decline of 72 FPS or roughly 28%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average drops to 116 FPS, which is another 68 FPS reduction, or about 37% lower than the 1440p result. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling component, as the frame rate nearly halves from 1080p to 4K at High settings, going from 256 FPS down to 116 FPS.

The Low preset shows an even more dramatic scaling curve. At 1080p Low, the system produces 404 FPS, which drops to 362 FPS at 1440p and then to 231 FPS at 4K. The step from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep, representing a 36% reduction, while the step from 1080p to 1440p is only a 10% drop. This non-linear behavior suggests that at lower settings, the CPU has headroom to maintain high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K resolution finally saturates the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities. The RTX 4070 SUPER has a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s, which are the metrics that come into play at higher resolutions.

Medium settings exhibit a similar pattern, with 373 FPS at 1080p, 294 FPS at 1440p, and 185 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 21% from 1080p to 1440p and 37% from 1440p to 4K. Ultra settings show the smallest absolute differences but the largest proportional scaling: 244 FPS at 1080p, 175 FPS at 1440p, and 110 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset, confirming that the combination of maximum quality and maximum resolution pushes the GPU to its limit.

The limiting component analysis points clearly to the GPU as the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The RTX 4070 SUPER, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth, is being tasked with rendering increasingly complex frames. The fact that the CPU maintains high performance at 1080p Low (404 FPS) but the GPU cannot sustain that at 4K Low (231 FPS) confirms this. The data shows that resolution scaling is nearly linear for this game, with each step up in resolution costing roughly a third of the remaining frame rate at most settings. This is characteristic of a game where the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth of the GPU are the determining factors, not the CPU's processing power.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER plays the dominant role in Inside's performance, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. This GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process node from TSMC, containing 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its base clock is 1980 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and it has 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. These specifications directly influence the measured results, particularly the 80 ROPs which handle pixel output, and the 224 TMUs which handle texture filtering.

The memory subsystem is critical for this game's resolution scaling. The RTX 4070 SUPER has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth. At 4K resolution, the game requires significantly more texture data and frame buffer memory, and the measured frame rate drops from 231 FPS at Low to 110 FPS at Ultra suggest that memory bandwidth is a limiting factor. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, which is modest by 40-series standards but sufficient to maintain playable frame rates even at maximum settings.

The GPU's compute capabilities also come into play. With 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 224 tensor cores, the RTX 4070 SUPER has ample compute headroom for a puzzle platformer. The measured frame rates at 1080p, which exceed 400 FPS at Low settings, indicate that the GPU is not being fully utilized at lower resolutions. Instead, the CPU becomes the limiting factor at higher frame rates, as the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 cannot produce frames fast enough to keep the GPU fully occupied.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4627 and Passmark G3D score of 29995 place it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB with a score of 43262 (0.1% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 43268 (0.1% lower), and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 at 43301 (0.2% lower). These scores indicate that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a high-end performer that should handle most titles at high settings, and the Inside results confirm this. The GPU's 12 GB VRAM is not a constraint in this game, as even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains above 100 FPS, suggesting the game's memory footprint is well within the available capacity.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 404 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This represents the peak performance of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and RTX 4070 SUPER combination in this title.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to the 1080p Low preset?

A: The 4K Ultra preset produces an average of 110 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset produces 404 FPS. This represents a 73% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest quality at 1080p to the highest quality at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1440p High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average frame rate is 184 FPS. Given that the 1080p High preset yields 256 FPS and the 4K High preset yields 116 FPS, the scaling pattern suggests the GPU is the primary limiter at 1440p, with the CPU still having headroom to feed frames.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in the measured data?

A: The only minimum frame rates recorded are for Medium settings: 317 FPS at 1080p, 250 FPS at 1440p, and 157 FPS at 4K. All other presets do not have minimum frame rate data in the fact pack.

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

A: The combo ranks 233 out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the top 8% of all systems tested for this game. This rank reflects the high performance of both components working together.

Q: Does the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB VRAM limit performance at 4K?

A: The measured data does not indicate a VRAM limitation. At 4K Ultra, the average frame rate is 110 FPS, which is well above playable thresholds, and the game does not appear to exceed the 12 GB GDDR6X memory capacity based on the performance results.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER in Inside is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 404 FPS at Low settings, 373 FPS at Medium settings (with a minimum of 317 FPS and maximum of 429 FPS), 256 FPS at High settings, and 244 FPS at Ultra settings. The difference between Low and Medium is only 31 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High costs 117 FPS, and High to Ultra costs only 12 FPS. This suggests that the Low to Medium transition is relatively easy for the GPU, while the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost.

At 2560x1440, the average frame rates are 362 FPS at Low, 294 FPS at Medium (minimum 250 FPS, maximum 338 FPS), 184 FPS at High, and 175 FPS at Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is just 9 FPS, which is the smallest difference between any two adjacent presets in the entire dataset. This indicates that at 1440p, the Ultra preset's additional effects over High have minimal impact on performance.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 231 FPS at Low, 185 FPS at Medium (minimum 157 FPS, maximum 213 FPS), 116 FPS at High, and 110 FPS at Ultra. The 4K results show the largest relative differences between presets, with Low being more than double the frame rate of Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 157 FPS is the lowest minimum recorded in the entire dataset, though it remains above the 144 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for high refresh rate gaming.

The data reveals that the Medium preset is the only one with complete minimum and maximum frame rate measurements across all three resolutions. This suggests that Medium represents a stable performance point with less variance than other presets. The maximum frame rate of 429 FPS at 1080p Medium is the highest recorded value in the dataset, while the minimum of 157 FPS at 4K Medium is the lowest. This 272 FPS range between the highest and lowest measured values highlights the massive performance envelope of this system.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 plays a supporting role in Inside, as the game's performance is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. This CPU features 10 cores and 10 threads, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its architecture is Arrow Lake-S on a 3 nm process node from TSMC, with 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides ample low-latency storage for game data.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 3655 for single-core and 25891 for multi-core, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its Passmark single-thread score is 4412, and its multithread score is 30459. These scores suggest that the CPU can handle the physics and logic updates required by Inside without becoming a bottleneck at frame rates below 400 FPS.

The measured results confirm this analysis. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 404 FPS, which is close to the maximum refresh rate of most high-end monitors. At 1080p Medium and High, the frame rates are 373 FPS and 256 FPS respectively, indicating that the GPU is still the limiting factor. Only at 1080p Low does the CPU potentially approach its limit, as the frame rate of 404 FPS is likely near the maximum that this CPU can produce in this game.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with an average score of 36945 (0% difference), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 (-0.2% difference), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (-0.4% difference). These comparable scores indicate that the Ultra 5 225 is competitive with mid-range and upper-mid-range CPUs from other manufacturers. The CPU's boost clock of 4.90 GHz is particularly important for single-threaded game logic, and its 20 MB L3 cache helps maintain high hit rates for frequently accessed data.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rate data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, all presets produce frame rates above 240 FPS, so the choice between Low, Medium, High, and Ultra comes down to visual quality preferences. The Ultra preset at 244 FPS is only 12 FPS slower than High at 256 FPS, making Ultra the recommended choice for 1080p users who want maximum visual fidelity without sacrificing high frame rates.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset produces 175 FPS, which is still well above the 144 Hz refresh rate that many 1440p monitors offer. The difference between High (184 FPS) and Ultra (175 FPS) is just 9 FPS, so Ultra is clearly the best choice for 1440p users. The Medium preset at 294 FPS offers a significant frame rate advantage but at the cost of visual quality, and the data suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects are worth the small performance trade-off.

At 3840x2160, the situation is different. The Ultra preset drops to 110 FPS, which is below the 120 Hz threshold that some 4K displays support. The High preset at 116 FPS is nearly identical, so users with 120 Hz 4K displays would need to drop to Medium (185 FPS) to take full advantage of their monitor's refresh rate. The Low preset at 231 FPS offers the highest frame rate at 4K, but the visual compromise is substantial for a puzzle platformer where the atmosphere and art direction are key elements.

The best overall experience per the measured rows is the Ultra preset at 1440p, which delivers 175 FPS with maximum visual quality. This represents a balance between the high frame rates available at 1080p and the visual fidelity that the game's art style deserves. For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset at 185 FPS is the recommended compromise, as it provides frame rates well above 144 FPS while maintaining acceptable visual quality. At 1080p, the Ultra preset at 244 FPS is the clear recommendation, as the performance cost over High is negligible.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 233 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all systems. This rank reflects the high-end nature of both components, with the GPU sitting in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs and the CPU in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. The combination of a top-tier GPU and an upper-mid-range CPU produces excellent results in this game, as the data shows.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile, and the NVIDIA Quadro M6000, all of which have average scores within 1% of the RTX 4070 SUPER. This suggests that the GPU's performance is well-established and consistent with other high-end options. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F and AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D, are also closely matched, with deltas of 0% to -0.5%.

The rank of 233 out of 2887 means that only 232 tested combos outperform this system in Inside. This places the combo in the top 8% of all tested systems, which is expected given the hardware involved. The data indicates that this combo is well-suited for high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, and capable of smooth 4K gaming at medium quality settings. The measured frame rates, ranging from 110 FPS at 4K Ultra to 404 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrate a system that can handle any configuration this game offers with ease.