Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that places almost no sustained burden on modern hardware, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER confirm this. The data shows a system that delivers triple-digit frame rates at every tested resolution and settings combination, with the lowest average being 126 FPS at 4K Ultra. This places the combo at rank 100 out of 2887 tested combinations, indicating that it sits comfortably in the top tier of configurations for this title, even if the game’s modest demands mean that the absolute ceiling is rarely approached.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread desktop processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, drawing a 65 W TDP. For a game like Inside, which is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain a stable frame pacing rather than to push high thread counts. The benchmark results indicate that this processor is more than sufficient for the task; its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and single-core score of 2085 suggest strong per-thread performance that directly benefits the game’s primary game thread.

The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 413 FPS, which is likely near the engine’s or display’s practical limit. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 278 FPS, a 135 FPS reduction that is still far above any standard refresh rate. This pattern suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions; even at the highest settings, the frame rate remains extraordinarily high. The CPU’s Passmark single-thread score of 4516 and its percentile rank of 89 versus all CPUs further underline that it has ample headroom for this workload. Compared to its nearest rivals, the Ultra 5 235 is essentially tied with the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Core i9-13900HX (0.1% lower), indicating that its compute capabilities are competitive across the board, though such differences are irrelevant at the frame rates Inside produces.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings preset for the best experience is largely dependent on the target refresh rate and resolution. At 4K, the High preset delivers 132 FPS, while Ultra drops to 126 FPS. The difference between these two is only 6 FPS, which is within the margin of a single frame pacing hiccup. However, the Medium preset at 4K yields 211 FPS, which is a significant jump from High. This suggests that the step from Medium to High incurs a substantial performance cost relative to the visual gain, making Medium the most efficient choice for 4K displays with high refresh rates. The Low preset at 4K achieves 264 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss in a game with a distinct atmospheric art style is likely too severe for most users.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 210 FPS, while Medium reaches 336 FPS. The jump from Medium to High costs 126 FPS, which is a 37.5% reduction. For a game that is not graphically intensive, the visual difference between Medium and High may be subtle, making Medium the recommended preset for 1440p to ensure maximum smoothness. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 292 FPS, which is already far above the refresh rate of any common monitor. The Ultra preset drops to 278 FPS, but the difference is negligible in practice. For 1080p, the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, as the extra frames from Medium (381 FPS) are unlikely to be perceptible on most displays. The data strongly indicates that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions, as it provides a massive performance headroom over High and Ultra while maintaining acceptable visual quality for a game of this style.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a clear scaling pattern as resolution increases. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 292 FPS at 1080p to 210 FPS at 1440p, a 28.1% reduction, and then to 132 FPS at 4K, a 54.8% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This scaling is not linear, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor as resolution increases, but the CPU is still holding up well. At Low settings, the drop is from 413 FPS at 1080p to 370 FPS at 1440p (10.4% reduction) and then to 264 FPS at 4K (36.1% reduction from 1080p). The smaller percentage drop at Low settings suggests that the CPU is more involved in maintaining high frame rates when the GPU load is low.

The data implies that at 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU is nowhere near its capacity. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the primary constraint, with the frame rate dropping to 126 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings shows a drop from 336 FPS to 211 FPS, a 37.2% reduction, which is less than the pixel count increase (2.25x), indicating that the game’s rendering is not purely pixel-bound. This suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER’s 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth are more than adequate, and the limiting factor is likely the fill rate and shader throughput at higher resolutions. Overall, the resolution scaling demonstrates a system that is well-balanced, with the CPU providing a solid foundation and the GPU scaling predictably as resolution increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination ranks 100th out of 2887 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 3.5% of all configurations, which is an exceptional result for a game that is not demanding. The rank reflects the raw performance of both components, as the game’s low requirements mean that even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates. However, the ranking is likely influenced by the combination’s ability to maintain high averages across all settings and resolutions, rather than just peak performance.

The RTX 4080 SUPER’s average benchmark score is 54209, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the SUPER is essentially identical in performance. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 46062 places it in the 89th percentile, with the nearest rival being the Intel Core i9-13900HX at 46098, a delta of -0.1%. The fact that both components are in the high 80s percentile suggests that this combo is built from top-tier hardware. The rank of 100 confirms the synergy between the two, as the CPU’s strong single-thread performance ensures that the GPU is never starved for data, even at high frame rates. For a game like Inside, this combo is overkill, but it guarantees a flawless experience with no frame drops, as evidenced by the minimum FPS values recorded at Medium settings (e.g., 180 FPS at 4K, 286 FPS at 1440p, 324 FPS at 1080p).

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS achievable with this combo in Inside?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 413, achieved at 1080p resolution with Low settings. This is the peak measured value across all configurations.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system achieves an average of 126 FPS. This is the lowest average recorded, but it remains well above standard 60 Hz refresh rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: The data suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the frame rate of 413 FPS is likely constrained by the processor’s ability to issue draw calls, rather than the GPU’s rendering capacity.

Q: What is the performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset achieves 336 FPS, while High drops to 210 FPS. This represents a 126 FPS reduction, or 37.5%, when moving from Medium to High.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 100th out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the top 3.5% of all systems tested for Inside.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 3840x2160 with Medium settings is 180 FPS, with a maximum of 243 FPS. This shows a very stable frame delivery at high resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 413 FPS, Medium reaches 381 FPS with a minimum of 324 and a maximum of 439, High delivers 292 FPS, and Ultra yields 278 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 32.7% reduction in average FPS, which is modest and indicates that the game is well-optimized for high refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 370 FPS, Medium achieves 336 FPS with a minimum of 286 and a maximum of 387, High reaches 210 FPS, and Ultra produces 200 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 45.9%, which is more pronounced than at 1080p, reflecting the increased GPU load. At 3840x2160, the Low preset hits 264 FPS, Medium delivers 211 FPS with a minimum of 180 and a maximum of 243, High achieves 132 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 126 FPS. The reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K is 52.3%, showing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at this resolution.

Notably, the data shows that the gap between High and Ultra is consistently small: 14 FPS at 1080p, 10 FPS at 1440p, and 6 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the Ultra preset offers marginal visual improvements over High for a small performance cost. Conversely, the gap between Medium and High is substantial: 89 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 79 FPS at 4K. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant rendering load that is not justified by the frame rate impact, making Medium the most balanced choice for players seeking high frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD103 chip on a 5 nm process. It features 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs, with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2550 MHz, with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. For Inside, the GPU’s role is primarily to render the game’s 2D visuals at high resolutions with minimal latency. The benchmark results show that the GPU is never stressed, even at 4K Ultra, where it maintains an average of 126 FPS.

The Passmark G3D score of 34245 places the RTX 4080 SUPER in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scoring 54247 in the average benchmark, a delta of -0.1%. This indicates that the SUPER is a marginal improvement over the non-SUPER variant. The GPU’s 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are far in excess of what Inside requires, as evidenced by the fact that the game never drops below 126 FPS. The 16 GB of VRAM is also overkill for this title, as the game’s textures and assets are unlikely to exceed a few gigabytes. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor only at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to 126 FPS, but this is still a high value that speaks to the GPU’s efficiency in a non-demanding workload.