Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more forgiving on hardware than its grim atmosphere suggests. The benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile combination shows a system that is thoroughly overqualified for this title, delivering high frame rates even at extreme resolutions. The measured results indicate that this laptop configuration will not struggle with the game's rendering demands, instead offering headroom for high refresh rate displays or maximum detail settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this laptop combo run Inside at 4K resolution with maximum settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 64 FPS. While this is above the 60 FPS threshold, it lacks the headroom seen at lower resolutions, making High settings (67 FPS) a more stable choice for strict frame pacing.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The data shows a significant spread. At 1920x1080, Low settings produce 297 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 141 FPS. This represents a 156 FPS difference, indicating that the visual enhancements of Ultra settings cost a substantial portion of the available performance.

Q: Is there a large gap between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Yes, the measured FPS drops from 171 at Medium to 107 at High when running at 2560x1440. This 64 FPS reduction suggests that High settings introduce a significantly heavier rendering load compared to Medium.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 Mobile's performance compare to a desktop RTX 2080?

A: According to the benchmark data, the RTX 4060 Mobile has an average score of 22729, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 2080's average score of 22895. In practical terms, the two GPUs offer nearly identical raw compute performance.

Q: What is the processor's multi-threaded capability relative to a Ryzen 9 5950X?

A: The Core Ultra 5 235HX has an average benchmark score of 52073, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X's score of 51947. The data indicates the mobile chip holds a slight edge in general processing tasks.

Q: Does the game's performance scale linearly with resolution?

A: No. The data shows that dropping from 3840x2160 to 1920x1080 on High settings more than doubles the frame rate, from 67 FPS to 148 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests the GPU becomes less of a bottleneck as resolution decreases.

Settings Recommendations

For a game like Inside, the goal is to maintain a smooth, consistent frame rate that matches the display's refresh rate without sacrificing the atmospheric visual details. The benchmark rows reveal that this hardware combination has ample power, making the choice of settings primarily about balancing frame rate headroom against visual fidelity.

For players with a standard 60 Hz display, the data supports using High settings at 3840x2160 or Ultra settings at 2560x1440. At 4K High, the average of 67 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS, ensuring minimal dips are unlikely. At 1440p Ultra, the average of 102 FPS is far above the 60 FPS target, allowing for maximum visual quality without any risk of hitting a performance ceiling. Pushing to Ultra at 4K drops the average to 64 FPS, which is technically playable but leaves little room for demanding scenes to cause stutter.

For users with high refresh rate panels (144 Hz or higher), the sweet spot appears to be Medium settings at 2560x1440. This setting yields an average of 171 FPS with a measured minimum of 145 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays well above the 144 FPS threshold for the vast majority of the game. While Low settings at 1080p produce 297 FPS, the visual downgrade is unnecessary given that Medium at 1440p already achieves such high frame rates. At 1080p, Medium settings (237 FPS) are the best choice for high refresh rate gaming, as they offer a massive performance advantage over High (148 FPS) while likely retaining most of the visual polish.

The data suggests avoiding Low settings except for extreme high-refresh-rate scenarios. The performance jump from Low to Medium is substantial (e.g., from 297 to 237 FPS at 1080p), but the visual cost of Low is typically too high for a narrative-driven puzzle platformer where atmosphere is key. Therefore, the recommended presets are High at 4K, Ultra at 1440p, or Medium at 1440p/1080p depending on the target refresh rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database records this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile as achieving a rank of 2237 out of 3716 tested combinations for Inside. This places the system in the top 40% of all tested configurations, which is a respectable position for a mobile setup, though not at the very top of the leaderboard. This rank reflects the fact that while the hardware is very capable, there are many desktop and higher-end mobile configurations that outperform it.

This ranking percentile suggests that the combo is a solid mid-to-high-tier performer for this specific title. The GPU's performance, which is nearly identical to a desktop RTX 2080, is the primary driver of the game's frame rates, as Inside is not a heavily CPU-dependent title. The CPU's performance, which rivals the Ryzen 9 5950X in average benchmark scores, ensures that there is no processor bottleneck limiting the GPU's output. The combination of these two components results in a system that is well above average for gaming, even if it doesn't reach the absolute top tier occupied by flagship desktop parts.

The position of 2237 out of 3716 indicates that a significant number of combinations deliver higher frame rates, likely due to more powerful GPUs. However, considering the mobile form factor and the specific components, this rank demonstrates that users can expect a high-quality experience without needing to seek out top-of-the-line hardware.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how the system scales across different resolutions and quality presets. At 1920x1080, the baseline resolution, the frame rates are exceptionally high. Low settings produce an average of 297 FPS, while Medium settings yield 237 FPS with a minimum of 202 and a maximum of 273. High settings drop to 148 FPS, and Ultra settings settle at 141 FPS. The step from Medium to High is the most punishing, representing a 89 FPS loss.

Moving up to 2560x1440, the performance remains robust. Low settings average 213 FPS, Medium settings average 171 FPS (min 145, max 196), High settings average 107 FPS, and Ultra settings average 102 FPS. At this resolution, the gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 5 FPS, suggesting that Ultra is a viable option for those wanting maximum detail without a significant performance penalty compared to High.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to show its limits. Low settings still manage an impressive 134 FPS average. Medium settings provide 107 FPS (min 91, max 123), which is a very playable level. However, High settings drop to 67 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 64 FPS. The transition from Medium to High at 4K causes a 40 FPS reduction, making Medium the last truly comfortable preset before hitting the 60 FPS floor. The data shows that 4K gaming is possible, but only with reduced settings if a high refresh rate is desired.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside. The data shows its raw compute performance is on par with a desktop RTX 2080, with an average benchmark score of 22729 versus 22895 for the older card. This level of performance is more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer that is not known for pushing graphical boundaries.

The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The benchmark results indicate that this memory configuration is not a limiting factor for Inside, as even at 4K Ultra settings, the system maintains a playable frame rate. The boost clock of 1890 MHz helps sustain high fill rates, which is crucial for the game's 2.5D rendering style. The GPU's 3072 shading units and 48 ROPs are well-utilized, as evidenced by the strong performance scaling from Low to Ultra settings.

Given that the GPU's performance percentile is 67, it sits above the majority of other GPUs in the database. For this specific game, the RTX 4060 Mobile provides no bottleneck at 1080p and 1440p, allowing the CPU to feed it frames without issue. Only at 4K Ultra do we see the GPU's limits, where the average frame rate drops to 64 FPS, indicating that the rendering load is finally exceeding the GPU's comfortable capacity.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX plays a supporting role in this configuration for Inside. The game's engine is not heavily multithreaded, so the processor's 14 cores and 14 threads are not fully taxed. However, the benchmark data shows the CPU is highly capable, with an average benchmark score of 52073, placing it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. This performance headroom ensures that the CPU never becomes a bottleneck, even when the GPU is producing frame rates well above 200 FPS.

The processor's high boost clock of 5.10 GHz is likely more important for gaming than its core count. Inside benefits from strong single-thread performance, and the Core Ultra 5's architecture delivers this in spades. The CPU's single-thread benchmarks, such as 4903 in Cinebench R23, confirm its ability to handle the game's logic and physics calculations without slowing down the GPU.

In practical terms, the data shows that the CPU is more than capable of keeping up with the RTX 4060 Mobile. At 1080p Low settings, where the GPU is producing 297 FPS, there is no sign of a CPU-induced frame rate cap. The CPU's performance is so far beyond what this game requires that it effectively disappears as a factor, leaving the GPU as the sole determinant of frame rate. This is the ideal scenario for a gaming laptop, as it allows the system to scale performance directly with resolution and graphical settings.