Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER delivers a profoundly capable experience in Inside, a game whose minimalist visuals belie a demanding rendering engine. The data shows this combination is far from a bottleneck, offering frame rates that range from comfortably playable at 4K to exceptionally high at 1080p. This analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, explaining the roles the CPU and GPU play in achieving these results.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear and significant shift in performance, indicating a move from a CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound scenario at higher ones. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 310 FPS. This high frame rate suggests the graphics card is not being fully utilized, and the CPU's capabilities are the primary driver of performance. As resolution increases, the GPU's workload grows, and the frame rate drops accordingly.

Moving to 2560x1440 with Low settings, the average FPS falls to 223, a 28% reduction from the 1080p figure. This substantial drop is a direct consequence of the increased pixel count, which places a heavier load on the RTX 2070 SUPER's shading units and memory bandwidth. The trend continues at 3840x2160, where the average FPS at Low settings is 140. This represents a 55% decrease from the 1080p result, demonstrating that the GPU is now the dominant limiting factor.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 155 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p, and finally to 70 at 4K. This consistent decline highlights that while the CPU is strong enough to push high frame rates at lower resolutions, the RTX 2070 SUPER's performance ceiling is reached as the resolution scales. The data indicates that for players targeting 4K, the GPU will be the definitive constraint, whereas at 1080p, the system's overall potential is limited by the CPU's ability to feed frames.

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, such as a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769, place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, indicating strong multi-threaded performance. This processing power is critical for ensuring that the game logic, physics, and draw calls are processed quickly, preventing the CPU from becoming a bottleneck at high frame rates.

In Inside, where the action is presented in a continuous, detailed side-scrolling world, the CPU's single-thread performance is particularly relevant. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085 and a Passmark single-thread score of 4516 show that the Ultra 5 235 excels in tasks that rely on a single core, which is common for game engine main threads. The data suggests that this CPU has enough headroom to handle the game's processing demands, as evidenced by the very high frame rates achieved at 1080p.

Comparing the Ultra 5 235 to its nearest rivals, its average benchmark score of 46062 is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (46030, +0.1%) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (46098, -0.1%). This means that in terms of raw processing power, the Ultra 5 235 is on par with these high-end mobile and desktop parts. For a game like Inside, the data suggests that the CPU will rarely be the limiting factor, even at high frame rates, allowing the GPU to work as hard as it can. The 65W TDP and 24 MB of shared L3 cache are sufficient for this workload, ensuring consistent performance without thermal throttling being a primary concern.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its boost clock is rated at 1770 MHz, and it features 2560 shading units. The GPU's benchmark scores, including a Passmark G3D score of 18169, place it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. This indicates a solid mid-to-high-range performer that is well-suited for 1440p gaming and capable of handling 4K in less demanding titles.

In Inside, the GPU's role becomes increasingly dominant as the resolution and settings increase. The game's visual style, which relies on dynamic lighting, shadows, and atmospheric effects, is taxing on the GPU's compute and memory subsystems. The 8 GB VRAM is adequate for the game's needs, as the data does not show any signs of memory-related performance drops. The GPU's 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is what drives the frame rate when the resolution is high.

The RTX 2070 SUPER's performance is comparable to other GPUs in its class. Its average benchmark score of 20282 is only 1% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (20480) and 1.2% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534). This suggests that in this game, the RTX 2070 SUPER performs as expected for its tier, with the data showing that it can deliver a 4K experience, though not at the highest refresh rates. The GPU's 215W TDP is a factor to consider for system power requirements, but its performance in the measured data is consistent with its architectural capabilities.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are exceptionally high, with the Low preset achieving an average of 310 FPS. The Medium preset delivers an average of 248 FPS, with a minimum of 210 and a maximum of 285. High settings reach an average of 155 FPS, while the Ultra preset, which likely enables the most demanding visual effects, still produces a very smooth 147 FPS average. These numbers show that at 1080p, the system is almost certainly CPU-bound, as the frame rates are far beyond what most displays can show.

At 2560x1440, performance remains very strong. The Low preset averages 223 FPS, Medium averages 178 FPS (min 151, max 205), High averages 111 FPS, and Ultra averages 106 FPS. This indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is still providing a high-refresh-rate experience at 1440p, with even the Ultra preset maintaining an average above 100 FPS. The data shows a clear step-down from Low to Medium, and then a more gradual decline from High to Ultra, reflecting the increasing cost of the higher-fidelity settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits, but the results are still playable. The Low preset achieves an average of 140 FPS, which is an excellent result for 4K. The Medium preset delivers 112 FPS on average (min 95, max 129), which is still very smooth. However, the High and Ultra presets drop to 70 FPS and 67 FPS respectively. These numbers show a significant performance cliff when moving from Medium to High at 4K, suggesting that the higher settings introduce effects that are particularly demanding on the GPU's resources. For a game like Inside, the measured data suggests that a 4K/60Hz display is a viable target, but a 4K/120Hz+ display would require dropping to lower settings.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER holds a rank of 2087 out of 3716 total combos. This places it in the 43rd percentile of all tested systems, meaning that a significant number of other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher average frame rates. This ranking is a holistic measure of the combo's performance across all tested scenarios.

The ranking reflects the RTX 2070 SUPER's position as a mid-range GPU in the current landscape. While the CPU is a top-tier part, the GPU is the limiting factor in this pairing. The comboRankInGame data indicates that while this system is far from the bottom of the list, it is not in the upper echelon of performers for this title. Users looking for the highest possible frame rates would need a more powerful GPU, but for the majority of players, this ranking signifies a very capable system that can handle the game well at most settings.

The data shows that the CPU's high performance does not fully compensate for the GPU's lower relative standing. The 2087th rank out of 3716 combos suggests that this specific configuration is a balanced but not extreme performer. It is more than adequate for a smooth gameplay experience, but it does not represent the top tier of performance for Inside.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend entirely on the target resolution and refresh rate. For players with a 1080p display, the Ultra preset is the clear choice, as it achieves an average of 147 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz refresh rate that is common on high-end monitors. The data shows no reason to compromise on visual fidelity at this resolution, as the system has ample performance headroom.

For 1440p, the Ultra preset is also the best choice for a premium experience, delivering an average of 106 FPS. This is sufficient for a 100Hz or 120Hz display, and the visual upgrade from High settings is worth the minor performance cost. If a player has a 144Hz or higher refresh rate display, dropping to High settings (111 FPS average) would be a good trade-off, but the data suggests that the game is smooth enough at Ultra for most users.

At 4K, the decision is more nuanced. The data shows a significant performance drop at High settings (70 FPS average) compared to Medium (112 FPS average). For a 60Hz display, the Medium preset is the recommended sweet spot, as it provides a high average frame rate with good visual quality. The High preset is also viable for 60Hz, but the 70 FPS average leaves less headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset is not recommended for 4K, as the 67 FPS average is only marginally lower than High but may introduce more visual noise for the same performance. The data clearly indicates that for the best balanced experience at 4K, the Medium preset offers the highest frame rate with a substantial quality improvement over Low.