Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that places almost no strain on modern hardware, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 confirm this. The data shows a system that can comfortably handle the game at high frame rates in most scenarios, though the GPU becomes a clear limiting factor at the highest resolution. This combination ranks near the bottom of the database, sitting at 2780 out of 2887 tested combos, which is expected given the GTX 1650's age and entry-level positioning.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo delivers 134 FPS average, which is exceptionally smooth for a puzzle platformer. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 97 FPS, a reduction of 37 FPS or roughly 28%. The jump to 3840x2160 at Low settings yields 61 FPS average, which is 73 FPS lower than the 1080p result, representing a 54% performance loss from the starting point.

This scaling pattern indicates that the GTX 1650 is the primary constraint, as the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves more than double the frame rate of the 4K Low result, which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. The Core Ultra 5 235, with its 14 cores and 14 threads running at a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.00 GHz, is more than capable of feeding frames to this modest GPU at lower resolutions.

When examining the Medium settings across resolutions, the pattern continues. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 107, dropping to 77 at 1440p, and further to 49 at 4K. The minimum FPS values follow a similar trajectory, with 91 at 1080p, 66 at 1440p, and 41 at 4K. This represents a 58 FPS gap between the lowest and highest resolution averages at Medium settings, reinforcing that the GPU's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128-bit memory bus are being saturated as pixel count increases.

The High and Ultra presets show even more pronounced degradation at 4K. High settings produce 67 FPS at 1080p, 48 FPS at 1440p, and only 30 FPS at 4K. Ultra settings yield 64 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. The fact that High and Ultra both fall below 30 FPS at 4K indicates that the GTX 1650 simply cannot handle the pixel throughput required at that resolution, regardless of the modest graphical demands of this genre.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the deciding factor in this configuration, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features a TU117 chip built on a 12 nm process at TSMC, with 4,700 million transistors on a 200 mm² die. It operates at a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, which is modest by modern standards but sufficient for a game like Inside that was released in 2016.

The GTX 1650's 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 render output units deliver a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS places it in the entry-level segment, and the benchmark data confirms this positioning. The GPU scores 7880 in Passmark G3D and 3048 in Passmark GPU Compute, with a percentile ranking of 40 among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 8850M, which is 0.3% behind, and the Intel Arc A310, which is 1% ahead, showing that this is a very tight performance cluster.

The GPU's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it a low-power solution, but this also limits its performance ceiling. The measured FPS data shows that the GTX 1650 hits its limits at 4K, where even Low settings only produce 61 FPS average. At 1080p, the GPU provides 134 FPS on Low, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold, but the scaling to 1440p and 4K reveals the memory bandwidth constraint. The 128.1 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for high-resolution textures and effects, causing the frame rate to drop by roughly half when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a modern desktop processor that far exceeds the requirements of Inside, making it a non-factor in most scenarios. This CPU features 14 cores and 14 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC with 17,800 million transistors. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, providing ample fast storage for game data.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its strength relative to its peers. In Cinebench R23, it scores 14769 in multicore and 2085 in single-core tests. Passmark results show 37816 in multithread and 4516 in single-thread tests. The average benchmark score of 46062 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 at 0.1% ahead and the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 0.1% behind. This puts the Core Ultra 5 235 in the upper echelon of desktop processors, far more powerful than needed for a puzzle platformer.

Given the measured FPS data, the CPU is never the bottleneck in this combination. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 134 FPS, and even the most demanding 4K Ultra scenario produces 29 FPS, which is clearly GPU-limited. The CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads can easily handle the game's physics and logic, and the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures single-threaded performance is not a concern. The DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth and dual-channel configuration further ensures that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor.

The fact that the frame rate drops consistently across all settings when resolution increases points to the GPU as the sole constraint. If the CPU were limiting, we would expect to see similar frame rates regardless of resolution, but the data shows a clear inverse relationship between pixel count and performance. The CPU's Passmark physics score of 2570 and data compression score of 390711 indicate strong computational capabilities that are simply not taxed by this game.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for the optimal settings on this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, the system delivers playable frame rates across all presets, with Low at 134 FPS, Medium at 107 FPS, High at 67 FPS, and Ultra at 64 FPS. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, where precise timing is not critical, the High preset at 1080p offers a good balance, maintaining an average of 67 FPS while providing better visual quality than Low or Medium.

However, the 4K results show that this combo struggles at the highest resolution. Ultra settings at 3840x2160 produce only 29 FPS average, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings fare only slightly better at 30 FPS, while Medium achieves 49 FPS and Low reaches 61 FPS. The data suggests that 4K gaming is only viable with Low settings on this GPU, and even then, the 61 FPS average is not ideal for a smooth experience.

The 1440p results offer a more balanced compromise. At 2560x1440, High settings produce 48 FPS, Medium delivers 77 FPS, and Low reaches 97 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p appears to be the sweet spot for this game, offering a 77 FPS average with minimums of 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. This combination provides better visual fidelity than 1080p while maintaining acceptable performance.

For players prioritizing frame rate over visual quality, 1080p Low at 134 FPS is the clear choice, providing a buttery-smooth experience that takes full advantage of any high-refresh-rate display. The 1440p Medium setting at 77 FPS is recommended for those who want a visual upgrade without sacrificing smoothness. Avoid 4K Ultra entirely, as the 29 FPS average would result in a stuttering, unresponsive experience that detracts from the game's atmospheric puzzle-solving.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 2780 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 4% of all systems in the database. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU, which is an entry-level part from 2019 that has been superseded by multiple generations. The CPU, by contrast, is a modern high-performance processor that ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, showing that the pairing is heavily imbalanced.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 40 among all GPUs puts it in the lower half of the performance distribution, and its nearest rivals include integrated graphics solutions like the Intel UHD Graphics 750, which is only 0.4% behind. This proximity to integrated graphics underscores the GTX 1650's modest capabilities in 2025. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 and Intel Core i9-13900HX, are all high-end processors with similar average benchmark scores, demonstrating that the Core Ultra 5 235 is not the limiting factor in this system.

In the context of Inside specifically, the combo's 2780th place ranking reflects the game's low system requirements. Most modern gaming PCs, even those with older or lower-end components, can run this game at high frame rates. The fact that this combo achieves 134 FPS at 1080p Low but ranks so poorly indicates that many other tested combinations achieve even higher frame rates, likely due to more capable GPUs that can push past 200 FPS at lower resolutions. The GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are the primary constraints preventing this combo from climbing higher in the rankings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive picture of this combo's performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves an average of 134 FPS on Low settings, 107 FPS on Medium settings with a minimum of 91 FPS and maximum of 124 FPS, 67 FPS on High settings, and 64 FPS on Ultra settings. These results show that 1080p is well within the capabilities of this hardware, with even the most demanding preset staying above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. Low settings produce 97 FPS average, Medium settings deliver 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and maximum of 89 FPS, High settings yield 48 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 46 FPS. The 1440p results show that Medium is the highest preset that maintains a consistently smooth experience, as both High and Ultra drop below 50 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become fully apparent. Low settings achieve 61 FPS average, Medium settings produce 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS and maximum of 56 FPS, High settings drop to 30 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 29 FPS. The 4K results show that this combo can only handle Low settings at a playable frame rate, with Medium barely crossing the 30 FPS threshold and both High and Ultra falling below it.

The pattern across all resolutions is consistent: Low settings provide roughly double the frame rate of Ultra settings, and the gap between Medium and High is relatively small. This suggests that the game's visual presets have diminishing returns, where High and Ultra offer marginal improvements over Medium at a significant performance cost. For this hardware, Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p provide the best balance of visual quality and performance, while 4K gaming should be reserved for Low settings only.