Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT delivers a remarkably fluid experience in Inside, a game whose minimalist aesthetic belies its demanding rendering techniques. The measured data shows this combination is not merely playable but overwhelmingly fast, with 1080p and 1440p results that suggest a significant amount of headroom for high-refresh-rate displays. The benchmark results reveal a clear hierarchy where the GPU is the primary bottleneck only at the most demanding settings, while the CPU’s capabilities become increasingly relevant at lower resolutions and higher frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Inside indicates that the "High" preset offers the most balanced experience across all tested resolutions, providing a substantial visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates that far exceed typical display refresh rates. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 168 FPS, which is a modest 1.1% reduction from the 160 FPS seen at Ultra, yet High is likely to carry a fraction of the rendering overhead, making it the optimal choice for most users. The data shows a similar pattern at 1440p, where High delivers 121 FPS compared to Ultra's 115 FPS, a 5.2% improvement that is worth the minor visual trade-off.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 269 FPS with a recorded minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS. This consistency ensures that even the most frantic scenes remain well above the 144Hz threshold, and the jump from High to Medium is substantial—a 60.1% increase in average FPS. At 1440p, Medium achieves 194 FPS, which still offers a comfortable margin over 165Hz displays, with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 223 FPS. The Low preset is unnecessary for typical use, as it pushes frame rates to 337 FPS at 1080p and 242 FPS at 1440p, but these numbers suggest that the combination is CPU-limited at this point, meaning the GPU is not being fully utilized.

At 4K, the High preset remains the recommended choice, achieving 76 FPS with no min or max data recorded. This is the only resolution where the frame rate dips below the 100 FPS mark on High, but it still provides a smooth experience on 60Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 72 FPS, which is a marginal 5.3% decrease from High, but the Medium preset at 122 FPS is the better option for 4K users with 120Hz panels, as it offers a 60.5% improvement over High. The Low preset at 4K reaches 152 FPS, which is notably capable but sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that thrives on atmospheric detail.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with a 7 nm process, is the driving force behind Inside's visual output. Its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer of this scope. The GPU's clock speeds are high, with a base of 2321 MHz and a boost of 2581 MHz, and the game clock is rated at 2424 MHz. These figures, combined with 2560 shading units and 64 ROPs, explain why the card can push such high frame rates at 4K.

The data suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor only at 4K with High and Ultra settings. At 4K High, the average FPS is 76, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 72, indicating that the card is nearing its rendering ceiling. The 4K Medium result of 122 FPS, however, shows that the GPU has significant headroom when the settings are lowered. The pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 413.0 GTexel/s are the key specifications that determine how quickly the card can fill the screen, and the 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power ensures that shader-heavy effects are handled with ease. The GPU's percentile rank of 72 indicates it sits above average compared to all GPUs, and its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, has an identical average benchmark score with a 0% delta, suggesting comparable raw performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT holds a combo rank of 1367 out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the upper half of all tested systems, specifically at the 52.7th percentile, meaning it outperforms the majority of hardware pairings. The rank is a direct reflection of the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo is not at the very top of the charts but is certainly well above the median. The CPU's percentile rank of 90 against all CPUs indicates that the processor is a high-tier component, while the GPU's 72nd percentile rank is slightly lower, suggesting that the graphics card is the component that pulls the overall combo rank down.

The delta between the CPU's strong performance and the GPU's slightly more modest standing creates an interesting dynamic. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, has an average score that is 0.4% lower, while the GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile, has a 0% delta, meaning they are effectively tied. This suggests that the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU's capabilities, and users looking to improve their standing in Inside would benefit more from a GPU upgrade than a CPU upgrade.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a clear progression of performance across settings. Low settings produce an average of 337 FPS, which is the highest recorded result for this resolution. Medium settings achieve 269 FPS, with a minimum of 229 and a maximum of 310 FPS, while High settings drop to 168 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, yielding 160 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium is a 20.2% decrease in performance, while the jump from Medium to High is a 37.5% decrease. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4.8%, indicating that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. Low settings average 242 FPS, Medium achieves 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 and a maximum of 223 FPS, High delivers 121 FPS, and Ultra produces 115 FPS. The percentage drops are more pronounced at this resolution: Low to Medium is a 19.8% decrease, Medium to High is a 37.6% decrease, and High to Ultra is a 5.0% decrease. The 1440p results are consistently about 71% of the 1080p results, which is expected given the higher pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance gap widens. Low settings average 152 FPS, Medium achieves 122 FPS with a minimum of 103 and a maximum of 140 FPS, High delivers 76 FPS, and Ultra produces 72 FPS. The Low to Medium transition is a 19.7% decrease, Medium to High is a 37.7% decrease, and High to Ultra is a 5.3% decrease. The 4K results are approximately 45% of the 1080p results, demonstrating the significant impact of the higher resolution on the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the nature of the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 337, while at 4K Low, it is 152, representing a 54.9% reduction in performance. This is a substantial drop that indicates the GPU is being pushed much harder at higher resolutions. However, the fact that the 4K Low result is still above 150 FPS suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at this setting; the GPU is doing the heavy lifting.

When comparing the High preset across resolutions, the 1080p result of 168 FPS drops to 121 FPS at 1440p (a 28.0% decrease) and then to 76 FPS at 4K (a 54.8% decrease from 1080p). The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe than from 1080p to 1440p, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with 160 FPS at 1080p, 115 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. The data implies that at lower resolutions, the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU, but as resolution increases, the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth become the limiting factors. The 4K Medium result of 122 FPS, which is close to the 1440p High result of 121 FPS, further confirms that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the setting reduction offsets the resolution increase.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for a 1440p 144Hz monitor?

A: The Medium preset is the recommended choice, as it delivers an average of 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS, ensuring that frame times stay above the 144Hz refresh rate even during demanding scenes. The High preset at 121 FPS would also work but leaves less headroom for dips.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a bottleneck for the RX 6700 XT in this game?

A: The data indicates that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck at 4K, where the GPU is the limiting factor. However, at 1080p Low, the average FPS of 337 suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance is sufficient to drive high frame rates, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648 supports this capability.

Q: How does the RX 6700 XT compare to its nearest rival in terms of raw performance?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 27425, which is identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile's score of 27435, resulting in a 0% delta. This indicates that the two GPUs are effectively tied in synthetic performance.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming comfortably?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Medium, the combo achieves 122 FPS, which is excellent for 120Hz displays. At 4K High, it drops to 76 FPS, which is still smooth for 60Hz monitors, but the Ultra preset at 72 FPS is the minimum viable option.

Q: What is the frame consistency like for this combination?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum of 229 FPS and a maximum of 310 FPS, showing a tight frame time distribution. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 165 FPS and the maximum is 223 FPS, while at 4K Medium, the minimum is 103 FPS and the maximum is 140 FPS, indicating consistent performance across all resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU's multi-threaded performance relevant for this game?

A: Inside is not a heavily multi-threaded title, so the CPU's 14 cores and 14 threads are more than adequate. The Passmark multi-thread score of 38706 is impressive, but the single-thread score of 4394 is the more relevant metric for gaming, and it is strong enough to avoid bottlenecking the GPU.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245, part of the Core Ultra Series 2, features 14 cores and 14 threads based on the Arrow Lake architecture. Its base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz provide the single-thread performance necessary for high-FPS gaming. The processor has 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core, which helps reduce memory latency. Its memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 support is ample for feeding the GPU.

In Inside, the CPU's role is less critical than in CPU-bound simulators, but the data still shows its impact. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 337 is likely approaching the CPU's limit, as the GPU is not fully taxed at this setting. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate a balanced processor that can handle both productivity and gaming workloads. Its Passmark single-thread score of 4394 is notably high, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600K, has an average benchmark score that is 0.8% higher, showing that the Ultra 5 245 is competitive with previous generation mainstream parts. The CPU's 14 threads are more than sufficient for Inside, which likely uses only a few cores, but the high boost clock ensures that frame pacing remains consistent even when the GPU is pushing high frame rates at lower resolutions.