Inside

Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer, presents an interesting performance profile for the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but which also demonstrates significant headroom at lower settings, making it capable of delivering extremely high frame rates. The benchmark results show a clear hierarchy where the graphical load dictates performance, with the CPU appearing to be a non-factor in most scenarios tested.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile as the primary performance limiter in this configuration. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 166 FPS at 1920x1080 to 120 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 75 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 55% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K, a significant decline that indicates the GPU's rendering pipeline is being saturated as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes even more pronounced when examining the Low settings data. The system achieves 333 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 239 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 150 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28%, and from 1440p to 4K is 37%. This non-linear scaling suggests that while the GPU is the bottleneck, the game's engine has efficiency limits at lower resolutions that prevent the frame rate from scaling perfectly with the reduction in pixel count.

The Medium settings measurements provide additional insight into this behavior. At 1920x1080, the system posts 266 FPS, which falls to 192 FPS at 2560x1440 and 120 FPS at 3840x2160. The 4K to 1080p ratio here is 45%, meaning the system retains less than half its performance when quadrupling the resolution. This data strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 Mobile's 8 GB of VRAM and 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth become increasingly strained as resolution increases, particularly at 4K where the pixel fill rate demands are highest.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate in the measured data is 333 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates the system has substantial performance headroom in less demanding scenarios.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the system averages 72 FPS. This is the lowest measured performance point, suggesting that 4K Ultra is the most demanding configuration tested, but still remains playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck in Inside?

A: The data indicates a GPU bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions. For example, at High settings, performance drops from 166 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction that aligns with the GPU's rendering load increasing, rather than any CPU limitation.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 239 FPS while the Ultra preset averages 114 FPS. This represents a 52% performance reduction for the Ultra settings, showing a significant cost for higher visual fidelity.

Q: Does the system maintain consistent frame times at Medium settings?

A: The Medium settings measurements include min and max frame data. At 1080p, the frame rate ranges from 226 FPS to 306 FPS, at 1440p it ranges from 163 FPS to 220 FPS, and at 4K it ranges from 102 FPS to 138 FPS. These ranges suggest generally stable performance with some variance.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1889 out of 3716 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the 49th percentile, indicating it performs better than roughly half of all tested systems.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1889 out of 3716 tested combinations places it almost exactly in the middle of the performance distribution for Inside. This positioning is notable given the individual component benchmarks. The CPU, Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX, ranks in the 91st percentile against all CPUs, while the GPU, NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, ranks in the 73rd percentile against all GPUs. The fact that the combined rank is lower than either individual component percentile suggests that the game's performance is not solely dependent on raw component strength, but rather on how the specific hardware configuration interacts with the game's engine.

In terms of nearest rivals, the GPU performs nearly identically to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, with a deltaPct of 0. It is also within 1.5% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 and the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20. This clustering indicates that the RTX 4070 Mobile's performance in this game is well understood and consistent with expectations for its class. The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 8124P and the Intel Core i7-14700, both of which are within 0.4% of its average benchmark score, confirming its position as a high-performing mobile processor.

The mid-pack ranking for this combo suggests that while the hardware is capable, there are many other tested systems that deliver better performance in Inside. This could be attributed to the game's relatively low system requirements, meaning that even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates, and the differentiation between high-end components becomes less pronounced.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium settings preset appears to be the optimal choice across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium provides an average of 266 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display and offers a 60% improvement over the High preset's 166 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium delivers 192 FPS, still exceptionally high and 60% faster than High settings at that resolution. Even at 3840x2160, Medium maintains 120 FPS, which is a playable and smooth experience.

While the Low preset offers the highest frame rates, reaching 333 FPS at 1080p, the visual compromise is likely too significant for a puzzle platformer where atmospheric detail enhances the experience. The Ultra preset, conversely, provides the best visuals but at a substantial performance cost. At 4K, Ultra averages only 72 FPS, which while playable, may not be ideal for a game that benefits from smooth motion. The High preset sits between Medium and Ultra, but the data shows it provides a less favorable performance-to-quality ratio than Medium, with only a 20% frame rate increase over Ultra at 1440p but a 37% decrease from Medium.

Therefore, for most users, the Medium preset is recommended. It consistently delivers frame rates above 120 FPS at all tested resolutions, ensuring a fluid experience while maintaining a significant degree of visual fidelity. Users with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p monitors can use High settings to still achieve frame rates above 120 FPS, but Medium is the safer choice for maintaining consistently high performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance. The Low preset averages 333 FPS, Medium averages 266 FPS, High averages 166 FPS, and Ultra averages 159 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 226 FPS and a maximum of 306 FPS, indicating a 80 FPS range. This is the only resolution where the High and Ultra presets are relatively close in performance, with a difference of only 7 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but begin to show the GPU's workload. The Low preset averages 239 FPS, Medium averages 192 FPS, High averages 120 FPS, and Ultra averages 114 FPS. The Medium preset's frame range is from 163 FPS to 220 FPS, a 57 FPS spread. The performance gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 6 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High expands to 72 FPS, suggesting a significant leap in rendering complexity.

At 3840x2160, the system's performance drops considerably. The Low preset averages 150 FPS, Medium averages 120 FPS, High averages 75 FPS, and Ultra averages 72 FPS. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a minimal performance impact at this resolution, likely due to the GPU being fully saturated. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 25% drop, while from Medium to High it is a 37.5% drop, showing that the transition to higher quality settings is not linear.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The processor features a cache hierarchy of 192 KB L1 per core, 3 MB L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. Its memory support includes DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU. The benchmark results show that at 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 333 FPS, a frame rate that is likely near the game's engine limit or the display's refresh rate. The CPU's strong single-thread performance, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4903, is more than sufficient to handle the game's physics and logic calculations. The Passmark single-thread score of 4683 further confirms its capability.

The data suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this configuration. The frame rate scaling with resolution changes is consistent with GPU-bound behavior. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate drops from 166 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rates would remain more consistent across resolutions. The CPU's high percentile rank (91st) compared to all CPUs, and its performance being within 0.7% of the Intel Core i9-13900F, indicates it has ample processing power for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is based on the AD106 chip using the Ada Lovelace architecture, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, along with 36 ray tracing cores and 144 tensor cores. The GPU is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1395 MHz with a boost clock of 1695 MHz, and it has a TDP of 115 W.

The GPU's performance in Inside is the defining factor for this combo's results. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 72 FPS, which is a demanding workload for the hardware. The GPU's 73rd percentile rank against all GPUs, and its performance being nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT (deltaPct of 0), establishes its position in the market. The measured data shows that the GPU's capabilities are the primary constraint on frame rates, especially at higher resolutions and settings.

The memory configuration of 8 GB and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth appears adequate for this game, as the system does not show signs of severe stuttering or frame drops at 4K, with the Medium preset maintaining a minimum of 102 FPS. The GPU's FP32 performance of 15.62 TFLOPS is more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer, and the high pixel rate of 81.36 GPixel/s helps maintain fill rates at 4K. The data indicates that the RTX 4070 Mobile is a well-balanced mobile GPU for this title, capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and playable performance at 4K.