Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX lands at rank 167 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations. That ranking reflects a system capable of extreme frame rates even at 4K, with the measured data showing the combo never dipping below 115 FPS at any preset. The combo’s position is notable because it outperforms the vast majority of tested systems, yet the data also reveals that this pairing is heavily GPU-limited at lower resolutions, where the CPU becomes the bottleneck. The overall result is a machine that turns a sidescrolling puzzle game into a showcase for high-refresh-rate displays, though the headroom is asymmetric: the GPU carries the load at 4K, while the CPU constrains potential at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 167 out of 2887 tested combos places this system in the 94th percentile of all configurations tested for Inside. That is a strong result, but the context matters. The top 166 combos are all faster, and given the game’s age and simplicity, the ranking is less about raw capability and more about how this specific CPU-GPU pairing interacts with a title that is not particularly demanding. The data shows that the RX 7900 XTX is the dominant component in this pairing, but the Core Ultra 5 245 is not a weak link either, as its 14 cores and 5.10 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom for a game that rarely stresses modern processors.

Compared to the nearest rival CPUs, the Core Ultra 5 245 sits in a tight cluster. Its average benchmark score of 48995 is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, deltaPct -0.4%) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, deltaPct -0.5%), while it edges out the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, deltaPct 0.6%) and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, deltaPct 0.8%). In gaming terms, these differences are negligible, and the combo’s rank is more attributable to the GPU’s massive compute advantage. The RX 7900 XTX, however, has a more interesting rival situation: its average benchmark score of 19410 places it just 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (19334) and 1.2% ahead of the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19177), but it trails the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 (19602, deltaPct -1%) and AMD FirePro D300 (19637, deltaPct -1.2%). This is misleading because those rival scores come from different benchmark suites; in Inside, the RX 7900 XTX’s 24 GB of VRAM and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth are what matter.

The rank of 167 also means that 2,720 combos are slower, which is expected for a GPU that was released in 2022 with a 24 GB frame buffer. For a game like Inside, which has modest geometry and lighting, the combo is effectively overkill. The measured FPS data supports this: at 1080p High, the combo hits 268 FPS, and at 4K High, it still manages 121 FPS. The rank would likely be higher if the game were more GPU-intensive, but as it stands, the combo is in the top tier of tested systems, with only a small fraction of exotic multi-GPU or newer-gen setups ahead of it.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the clear performance driver in this combo, and its specifications explain why. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Inside is not a memory-heavy game, but such bandwidth ensures that even at 4K with Ultra settings, the GPU never stalls on texture fetches. The GPU’s boost clock is 2498 MHz, with a game clock of 2365 MHz, and it has 6144 shading units, 384 TMUs, and 192 ROPs. These figures translate to a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s, which are far beyond what Inside requires.

Looking at the measured FPS, the GPU’s role is most evident at 4K. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields 121 FPS, while Low jumps to 242 FPS. The gap between Low and High at 4K is 121 FPS, which is a 2x difference, indicating that the GPU is scaling with settings as expected. At Ultra, the FPS drops to 115, which is only 5% lower than High, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds effects that are not particularly taxing on the RX 7900 XTX. The GPU’s 24 GB VRAM is also a factor, as it prevents any memory spillover even at 4K Ultra, though Inside’s textures are unlikely to exceed 4 GB.

The GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus of 64 is low for such a powerful card, but that percentile is based on all GPUs, including workstation and entry-level parts. In the context of Inside, the RX 7900 XTX’s compute capabilities are overkill. Its FP32 performance of 61.39 TFLOPS and FP16 of 122.8 TFLOPS (2:1) are irrelevant for a puzzle platformer, but they do ensure that the GPU is never the bottleneck until 4K Ultra, where the FPS still stays above 115. The GPU’s 96 ray accelerators (listed as rtCores: 96) are also unused in Inside, which has no ray-traced effects. The result is that the GPU operates well below its limits at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the FPS scaling: at 1440p High, the combo hits 193 FPS, only 28% lower than 1080p High (268 FPS), which is a modest drop for a 2.25x pixel increase.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on Arrow Lake-S architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process. Its base clock is 3.50 GHz, boosting to 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. For Inside, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations, and the data shows it does so effectively but not without limiting performance at lower resolutions. The CPU’s L3 cache is 24 MB shared, with 192 KB L1 and 3 MB L2 per core, which is ample for a game that does not have complex simulation.

The CPU’s benchmark scores provide context. In Cinebench R23, it scores 32924 multi-core and 4648 single-core. The single-core score is particularly relevant for Inside, which is not heavily multithreaded. The CPU’s Passmark single-thread score is 4394, and its multithread score is 38706. These numbers place the Core Ultra 5 245 at the 90th percentile among all CPUs, meaning it is faster than the majority of processors. However, its nearest rivals show that it is not a leader: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and Ryzen 9 7900 (49228) are 0.4% and 0.5% faster on average, respectively, while the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) and Core i5-14600K (48618) are 0.6% and 0.8% slower.

In Inside, the CPU’s impact is visible when comparing resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 420 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it drops to 376 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 242 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p Low is 44 FPS (10.5%), which is smaller than the pixel increase (2.25x) would suggest, indicating that the CPU is starting to limit at 1080p. At 1080p High, the FPS is 268, which is lower than 1080p Low (420), showing that the GPU is also contributing to the limit. The CPU’s 14 threads are not fully utilized by Inside, but the high single-core boost of 5.10 GHz ensures that the main game thread runs fast enough to keep the GPU busy until 4K.

At 4K Ultra, the FPS drops to 115, which is a 57% reduction from 1080p Ultra (255 FPS). This steep drop is almost entirely due to the GPU, as the CPU has more than enough headroom at 4K. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s (dual-channel DDR5) is also sufficient, as Inside does not require high memory throughput. The CPU’s integrated graphics (Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU) are not used in this combo, but they do not interfere with the discrete GPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested systems for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 167 out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the top 6% of all configurations.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Core Ultra 5 245 has an average score of 48995, which is 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196) and 0.5% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228), but 0.6% higher than the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698) and 0.8% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618).

Q: What is the GPU’s VRAM and memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

Q: What FPS does the combo achieve at 1080p High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo averages 268 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 115, which is a significant drop from 1080p Ultra (255 FPS). This indicates the GPU is the primary limiter, as the CPU’s single-thread performance is sufficient for the game’s demands.

Q: What is the GPU’s boost clock and game clock?

A: The GPU has a boost clock of 2498 MHz and a game clock of 2365 MHz.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of GPU scaling at higher resolutions, with CPU limitations emerging at 1080p. Starting at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 420 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the FPS drops to 376, a 10.5% reduction. At 4K Low, the FPS falls to 242, which is a 42.4% drop from 1080p Low. This scaling is not linear with pixel count (4K has 4x the pixels of 1080p), which suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is holding back the GPU. The Core Ultra 5 245’s single-thread score of 4648 in Cinebench R23 is high, but Inside’s engine likely has a single-thread bottleneck that prevents the GPU from reaching its full potential at low resolutions.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower overall FPS. 1080p High yields 268 FPS, 1440p High yields 193 FPS (28% lower), and 4K High yields 121 FPS (55% lower than 1080p). The larger drop from 1440p to 4K (72 FPS) compared to 1080p to 1440p (75 FPS) indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck at 4K. At Medium settings, the FPS is higher: 1080p Medium averages 388 FPS, 1440p Medium averages 308 FPS, and 4K Medium averages 194 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K (194 FPS) is actually higher than the High preset at 1440p (193 FPS), showing that settings have a larger impact than resolution scaling.

Ultra settings show the most significant drop. 1080p Ultra averages 255 FPS, 1440p Ultra averages 184 FPS (27.8% lower), and 4K Ultra averages 115 FPS (54.9% lower than 1080p). The 4K Ultra result of 115 FPS is the lowest measured, but it is still well above 60 FPS, indicating that the combo can handle the game at maximum settings even at 4K. The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 165 FPS (420 vs 255), while at 4K, the gap is 127 FPS (242 vs 115). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU’s role diminishes.

The min and max FPS data for Medium settings provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the min FPS is 329 and max is 446, giving a range of 117 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the min is 262 and max is 355, a range of 93 FPS. At 4K Medium, the min is 165 and max is 223, a range of 58 FPS. The decreasing range at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame pacing, which is typical when the GPU is fully loaded. At 1080p, the CPU’s variability in frame times causes larger swings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of which preset offers the best experience for this combo. At 1080p, the High preset averages 268 FPS, which is more than enough for any 144Hz or 240Hz monitor. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 255 FPS, only 13 FPS less than High, so the visual upgrade is nearly free. However, the Low preset at 1080p hits 420 FPS, which is only relevant for extreme 360Hz+ displays. For most users, the High preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, as it delivers a high frame rate without sacrificing visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset averages 193 FPS, which is still above 144Hz. The Ultra preset averages 184 FPS, a 9 FPS drop, which is barely noticeable. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 308 FPS, but the visual difference between Medium and High is likely more apparent than the frame rate difference. For a 144Hz monitor, High at 1440p is recommended, as it provides a comfortable margin above the refresh rate while maintaining quality. The Ultra preset is also viable, as 184 FPS is still above 144Hz, but the marginal visual gains may not justify the 9 FPS loss.

At 4K, the High preset averages 121 FPS, which is above 120Hz but not by a large margin. The Ultra preset averages 115 FPS, which is still playable but close to the 120Hz threshold. The Medium preset at 4K averages 194 FPS, but the visual downgrade from High is substantial for a game with a minimalist art style that relies on lighting and shadows. For 4K, the High preset is the best choice, as it delivers 121 FPS, which is smooth on 120Hz displays, while Ultra only offers a 5% reduction in FPS but may not provide a noticeable visual improvement. The Low preset at 4K (242 FPS) is unnecessary, as it sacrifices too much visual fidelity for frame rates that exceed most display capabilities.

Considering the entire data set, the High preset at 1440p or 4K provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 193 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz gaming, while at 4K High, it still reaches 121 FPS, which is suitable for 120Hz displays. The Ultra presets at any resolution are playable, but the FPS drops are not accompanied by proportional visual gains, given Inside’s simple geometry. The Medium presets are viable for competitive play, but they are unnecessary for a puzzle platformer where reaction time is not critical. The Low presets are only recommended if the user has a 360Hz monitor and prioritizes frame rate above all else, but the data suggests that the High preset is the most sensible default for this combo.