Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The data shows that even the most demanding preset at 4K remains comfortably playable, making this pairing far more capable than the game's requirements demand.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this combination indicates a clear hierarchy of performance across the four available presets. At each resolution, the Low preset delivers the highest average frame rate, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the most demanding. The differences between presets are substantial, suggesting that users have significant headroom to prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing playability.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 296 FPS, which drops to 237 FPS on Medium, 148 FPS on High, and 141 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Medium and High is particularly large at 89 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is a mere 7 FPS. This suggests that the High preset offers a far better performance-to-visual trade-off than Ultra, as the latter provides only marginal improvements in fidelity for a noticeable frame rate cost.

The 2560x1440 results follow a similar pattern, with Low hitting 213 FPS, Medium at 170 FPS, High at 106 FPS, and Ultra at 101 FPS. Here, the gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 5 FPS, reinforcing that Ultra's additional strain yields minimal returns. At 3840x2160, the spread is more compressed: Low produces 134 FPS, Medium 107 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 3 FPS, again indicating that Ultra is not worth the performance penalty.

Given these measurements, the High preset provides the best overall experience. It maintains frame rates well above 60 FPS at every resolution, including 4K, while offering substantially better visuals than Low or Medium. The Ultra preset's marginal gains over High, combined with the consistent drop in average FPS, make it the least efficient choice. For users with high refresh rate displays at 1080p or 1440p, the Medium preset offers an excellent middle ground, delivering 237 FPS and 170 FPS respectively, which are more than sufficient for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1719 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places the pairing in the lower half of all configurations tested, which is surprising given the high absolute frame rates achieved. The rank reflects the entire population of tested combinations, many of which feature significantly more powerful components that push frame rates even higher in this lightweight title.

The CPU's benchmark percentile provides context for this ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, which scores 36945 (a 0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D at 37018 (a -0.2% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 at 37093 (a -0.4% delta), and the Intel Core i9-12900T at 37112 (a -0.5% delta). These deltas are negligible, indicating that the Core Ultra 5 225 performs essentially on par with these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU's standing is less impressive. The RTX 5050 ranks in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL at 21153 (a -0.6% delta), the AMD Radeon HD 8970M at 21237 (a -1% delta), the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT at 20713 (a 1.6% delta), and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile at 21379 (a -1.6% delta). The RTX 5050 sits slightly below the RX 5600 XT in average score, though the differences are small.

The combination's rank of 1719 out of 2887 suggests that while this pairing is far from the top of the leaderboard, it comfortably handles Inside with substantial headroom. The game's low system requirements mean that even mid-range hardware achieves high frame rates, and the ranking likely reflects the presence of many high-end configurations that produce triple-digit 4K performance. For the target audience of this hardware, the rank is less meaningful than the absolute performance numbers, which are excellent.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 149 mm² containing 16,900 million transistors. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory clocked at 2500 MHz (20 Gbps effective). Its 2560 shading units, 80 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output pipelines provide a pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s. The card's FP32 performance is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS.

For Inside, the GPU's memory configuration is more than adequate. The game's art style, characterized by dark, atmospheric environments and simple geometry, does not demand large texture pools or high VRAM usage. The 8 GB frame buffer is unlikely to be a bottleneck at any of the tested settings or resolutions. The measured frame rates confirm this, as even the Ultra preset at 4K maintains an average of 64 FPS, suggesting the GPU is not running out of memory.

The boost clock of 2572 MHz is the primary driver of the high frame rates observed. The RTX 5050's raw compute throughput, combined with the game's modest graphical requirements, allows it to achieve 296 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is notable: it scores slightly lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT in average benchmark score, yet the in-game results show that this is not a limiting factor for Inside.

The GPU's 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but Inside does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, so these features have no bearing on the measured results. The card's TDP of 130 W and dual-slot design are typical for its class, and the PCIe 5.0 x8 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for this workload.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 5050 and Core Ultra 5 225 produce outstanding results across all presets. The Low preset averages 296 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high figure that would satisfy even the most demanding high-refresh-rate displays. Medium reduces this to 237 FPS, with a minimum of 201 FPS and a maximum of 272 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High drops to 148 FPS, while Ultra is nearly identical at 141 FPS. The minimal difference between High and Ultra at this resolution suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects do not meaningfully stress the hardware.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low achieves 213 FPS, a 28% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium delivers 170 FPS, with a minimum of 145 FPS and a maximum of 196 FPS. High falls to 106 FPS, and Ultra to 101 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra remains small at 5 FPS, reinforcing the pattern seen at 1080p. All presets at 1440p stay well above 100 FPS, making this resolution an excellent choice for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are still playable but show a more pronounced drop. Low averages 134 FPS, Medium 107 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K provides a balanced experience with a minimum of 91 FPS and a maximum of 123 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay. High and Ultra both hover around 65 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold for standard displays. The data shows that 4K gaming is viable with this pairing, particularly on the Medium preset where the frame rate is well above 60 FPS with good consistency.

The Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 201 to 272 FPS; at 1440p, it is 145 to 196 FPS; and at 4K, it is 91 to 123 FPS. These ranges indicate that the Medium preset maintains stable performance without significant dips, making it a reliable choice for consistent gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component in this pairing. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 296 at 1080p to 213 at 1440p and 134 at 4K. This represents a 28% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, with the drop from 1440p to 4K (37%) being larger than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (28%).

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 237 FPS at 1080p, 170 FPS at 1440p, and 107 FPS at 4K. The reductions are 28% and 55% respectively, matching the Low preset's scaling almost exactly. This consistency suggests that the GPU is the primary factor in performance scaling, as the CPU's workload remains relatively constant across resolutions.

For the High preset, the numbers are 148 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 67 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28% from 1080p to 1440p and 55% from 1080p to 4K, again aligning with the other presets. The Ultra preset follows the same trend: 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 28% and 55%.

The consistent scaling across all presets indicates that the RTX 5050's rendering load scales predictably with resolution. As pixel count increases from 2.07 million at 1080p to 3.69 million at 1440p and 8.29 million at 4K, the GPU must process proportionally more fragments. The 55% drop from 1080p to 4K aligns with the 4x increase in pixel count, suggesting that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The CPU's role is minimal, as evidenced by the fact that even at 1080p Low, where the GPU is least stressed, the frame rate does not exceed 296 FPS, indicating a ceiling that may be influenced by the CPU's single-thread performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset to use for a balanced experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 delivers an average of 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 FPS and a maximum of 196 FPS. This provides a substantial frame rate buffer above 60 FPS while offering improved visuals over Low.

Q: Can this combination handle 4K gaming?

A: Yes, all presets at 3840x2160 produce playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 134 FPS, Medium 107 FPS, High 67 FPS, and Ultra 64 FPS. The Medium preset is recommended for 4K as it maintains a minimum of 91 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035, which is 1.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT's score of 20713. It performs slightly better than the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, which scores 21153, a -0.6% delta.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this game?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as FPS drops consistently across all presets from 1080p to 4K. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it has ample headroom for this workload.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra presets?

A: The difference is minimal across all resolutions. At 1080p, High averages 148 FPS versus 141 FPS for Ultra, a 7 FPS gap. At 1440p, the gap is 5 FPS (106 vs 101), and at 4K it is 3 FPS (67 vs 64). This makes High the more efficient choice.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance in this game?

A: No, Inside's graphical demands are modest, and the 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 320.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient. The measured frame rates show no signs of memory-related stuttering or performance degradation.