Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on this particular hardware pairing, reveals a clear GPU-bound profile at higher resolutions, with the AMD Radeon RX 570 acting as the primary performance limiter. The data, measured across 12 configurations, shows that the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 provides ample headroom, allowing the RX 570 to dictate frame rates, which range from a playable 31 FPS at 4K High to a fluid 135 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination sits at rank 2749 out of 2887 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower 5% of all pairings, yet the benchmark results indicate that the experience is highly scalable and can be tuned to meet different performance targets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best performance the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 570 combo can achieve in Inside?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded in the measured data is 135 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset that breaks the 130 FPS barrier, indicating that the hardware is capable of high-refresh-rate gaming at 1080p when graphical fidelity is minimized.

Q: Is this system more limited by the CPU or the GPU when playing Inside at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the GPU is the dominant limiting factor. The average frame rates drop significantly across all settings at this resolution, with the Ultra preset yielding just 29 FPS and the High preset at 31 FPS. The CPU's performance metrics, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769, suggest it is not the bottleneck in this scenario, as the frame rate scales directly with the GPU's workload.

Q: How does the RX 570's performance in Inside compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RX 570 has an average benchmark score of 28766. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon R9 M295X, scores 28580, which is 0.7% slower. The NVIDIA Quadro RTX 8000 is 1.2% faster with a score of 28421, while the AMD Radeon RX 470 is 0.8% faster with a score of 28996. The RX 6800M leads the group with a score of 28874, putting it 0.4% ahead of the RX 570.

Q: What is the most significant performance jump when changing settings at 1440p?

A: The most significant jump occurs when moving from High to Low settings at 2560x1440. The average frame rate increases from 49 FPS to 97 FPS, a substantial 48 FPS difference. This suggests that the High preset is particularly demanding on the GPU, while the Low preset dramatically reduces the load.

Q: Does the Core Ultra 5 235's multi-threading capability matter for Inside?

A: While the Core Ultra 5 235 has 14 cores and 14 threads, the frame rate data indicates that Inside is not heavily CPU-bound. The CPU's high single-thread score of 2085 in Cinebench R23 ensures it can feed the GPU adequately, but the consistent drop in FPS as resolution increases points to the GPU as the primary constraint, making the CPU's multi-core performance less relevant for this specific game.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum frame rates recorded at 1080p Medium settings?

A: For the 1920x1080 Medium preset, the measured data shows an average frame rate of 108 FPS, with a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS. This indicates a relatively stable performance window, with the minimum still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 570 is the central figure in determining Inside's performance, particularly as resolution scales. The GPU's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, which is sufficient for the game's art style but becomes a constraint at higher resolutions. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: at 1080p, the GPU can maintain high frame rates, but at 4K, its limits are exposed. The GPU's boost clock of 1244 MHz and base clock of 1168 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 5.095 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is the ceiling for this Polaris 20 chip.

The data supports the notion that Inside's visual effects, such as lighting and shadows, place a significant load on the GPU's shading units and ROPs. The RX 570 has 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs, and the pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s is a key metric. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset drops to 29 FPS, which is below the playable threshold for most users. This is a direct consequence of the GPU's inability to process the increased pixel count and the associated effects. The GPU's percentile rank of 74 indicates it performs better than most GPUs in the database, but it is still an older architecture that struggles with the demands of 4K gaming.

In contrast, the GPU shows its strength at 1080p. The Low preset achieves 135 FPS, and the Medium preset hits 108 FPS, demonstrating that the RX 570 is well-suited for lower-resolution gaming. The performance scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p is steep, with the Ultra preset dropping to 64 FPS, a 71 FPS difference from Low. This indicates that the game's Ultra settings introduce effects that heavily tax the GPU's texture units and memory bandwidth. The 128 TMUs and 224 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for 1080p but are pushed to their limits as the resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable but pronounced scaling pattern across resolutions. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average frame rate for the High preset drops from 68 FPS to 49 FPS, a 28% decrease. This is a significant reduction, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck as the pixel count increases by roughly 78%. The same trend is visible for the Medium preset, which falls from 108 FPS at 1080p to 78 FPS at 1440p, a 30 FPS drop. This scaling is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the RX 570's fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient to maintain the same level of performance.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is even more dramatic. At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 49 FPS, but at 3840x2160, it drops to 31 FPS, a 37% reduction. The Low preset, which achieves 97 FPS at 1440p, falls to 61 FPS at 4K, a 36 FPS decrease. This steep decline underscores the GPU's limitations at 4K resolutions, where the pixel count is over 8.3 million. The Ultra preset at 4K is the worst performer, with an average of 29 FPS, which is only 2 FPS lower than the High preset, suggesting that the game's Ultra settings are not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution.

The data also shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rates to remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU's workload is primarily tied to game logic and physics. Instead, the frame rates scale linearly with the resolution, confirming that the RX 570's rendering capabilities are the determining factor. The Core Ultra 5 235, with its high single-thread score of 2085 in Cinebench R23, is more than capable of handling the game's CPU demands, even at 1080p where frame rates are highest.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RX 570 delivers its best results. The Low preset achieves an average of 135 FPS, which is the highest score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset follows with 108 FPS, showing a 27 FPS drop, but it still provides a smooth experience. The High preset averages 68 FPS, which is playable but a significant step down from Medium. The Ultra preset is the least performant at this resolution, with an average of 64 FPS. This 71 FPS spread between Low and Ultra highlights the GPU's sensitivity to the game's graphical settings. The Medium preset's minimum of 92 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS show a stable performance window, which is ideal for maintaining consistent frame times.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are consistent. The Low preset averages 97 FPS, which is still excellent for a 1440p experience. The Medium preset averages 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 89 FPS, indicating that it can hold above 60 FPS most of the time. The High preset drops to 49 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for fast-paced action but might be acceptable for a puzzle platformer. The Ultra preset averages 46 FPS, making it the weakest performance at this resolution. The 51 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is substantial, reinforcing the GPU's role as the primary limiting component.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly overburdened. The Low preset is the only one that reaches a playable average, hitting 61 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 49 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 56 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering. The High preset averages 31 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 29 FPS. These low frame rates make 4K gaming with this GPU challenging. The data shows that the RX 570 is not designed for 4K gaming with this title, as even the Low preset is barely able to maintain 60 FPS. The 32 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is smaller than at lower resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is reaching its absolute limits regardless of settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. Its benchmark scores, particularly the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085, indicate a powerful processor that is well above the requirements for Inside. The CPU's percentile rank of 89 places it in the top 11% of all CPUs in the database, and its average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly identical to that of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, which scores 46030, a 0.1% difference.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and draw call management. Given the game's release date of 2016, it is unlikely to utilize all 14 cores effectively, but the high single-thread performance of 2085 in Cinebench R23 ensures that the game's primary thread runs efficiently. The data confirms that the CPU is not a bottleneck, as the frame rates are consistently limited by the GPU. For example, at 1080p Low, the CPU can deliver 135 FPS, which is a high frame rate that requires significant CPU processing. The fact that the frame rate drops to 31 FPS at 4K High, while the CPU remains the same, proves that the GPU is the limiting factor.

The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s also contribute to its ability to feed the GPU with data. The PassMark multi-thread score of 37816 and the data compression score of 390711 suggest that the CPU has ample processing power for any background tasks, but these are not directly relevant to Inside's performance. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and its close performance to the Intel Core i9-13900HX, which has a deltaPct of -0.1%, indicate that it is a top-tier processor that will not hold back the RX 570 in this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this hardware combination depend on the target resolution and the user's preference for frame rate versus visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset is the best balance of performance and quality, offering an average of 108 FPS with a minimum of 92 FPS. This provides a smooth, stutter-free experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset, at 68 FPS, is also acceptable, but the 40 FPS drop from Medium suggests that the visual improvements are not worth the performance cost. The Ultra preset, at 64 FPS, is nearly identical to High and does not justify its additional GPU load.

For users with 2560x1440 monitors, the Low preset is the only option that guarantees a high frame rate, averaging 97 FPS. The Medium preset is still playable at 78 FPS, but the minimum of 66 FPS indicates that there may be occasional dips below the ideal 70 FPS mark. The High and Ultra presets, at 49 FPS and 46 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a smooth experience, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold. In this case, the Low preset offers the best experience, allowing the GPU to render the game at a higher resolution without sacrificing frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more challenging. The Low preset is the only configuration that achieves a playable average of 61 FPS, but it is right at the edge of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset drops to 49 FPS, which may cause noticeable judder. The High and Ultra presets, at 31 FPS and 29 FPS, are not suitable for gameplay. Therefore, for 4K, the Low preset is the only recommendation. Overall, the data suggests that the RX 570 is best paired with 1080p or 1440p displays, with 1080p Medium being the sweet spot for a high-refresh-rate experience. Users seeking higher resolutions should be prepared to use Low settings to maintain acceptable frame rates.