Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 paired with the Intel Arc B390 integrated graphics presents a unique case study in CPU-bound versus GPU-bound performance within the puzzle platformer Inside. The measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets reveal a system where the integrated graphics solution is the definitive performance ceiling, while the capable 14-core processor ensures that frame pacing remains consistent even when the renderer is saturated. This analysis breaks down the measured data to show exactly where the bottleneck lies and what users can expect from this specific hardware combination.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K shows a textbook case of GPU-bound scaling, where the workload on the integrated graphics increases quadratically with pixel count. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (156 FPS) to 2560x1440 (112 FPS) represents a 28% drop, and moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 (70 FPS) results in another 38% reduction. This scaling pattern indicates that the Intel Arc B390 is the limiting component, as the frame rate roughly halves when the pixel count doubles, which is characteristic of a fill-rate-limited scenario.

Looking at the Medium preset, the same scaling trend continues but with a steeper curve. The 1080p Medium result of 125 FPS drops to 90 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease), then falls to 56 FPS at 4K (a 38% drop from 1440p). The High preset shows even more dramatic degradation: 78 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The fact that High at 1440p produces the same average FPS as Medium at 4K (56 FPS) suggests that the GPU is hitting a compute or memory bandwidth wall that cannot be overcome by simply lowering resolution beyond a certain point.

The most telling evidence of GPU limitation comes from the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 74 FPS, which is only 5% lower than High at the same resolution. However, at 1440p Ultra, the score drops to 53 FPS, and at 4K Ultra it falls to 34 FPS. This is a particularly shallow scaling curve compared to the other presets, indicating that the Ultra settings are pushing the shader and texture units to their absolute limit regardless of resolution. The data strongly suggests that any resolution above 1080p with High or Ultra settings will struggle to maintain smooth gameplay, while Low and Medium presets offer playable performance up to 1440p.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 brings 14 cores and 14 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In the context of Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, the CPU workload is relatively light compared to modern 3D titles. The benchmark results for this processor show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648, placing it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs tested. This means the processor is far more capable than what this game requires.

The game's engine relies on a single main thread for physics and logic, which means the 5.10 GHz boost clock is more relevant than the core count. The single-core performance metrics are strong, with the Cinebench R20 single-core score reaching 1952, which is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (deltaPct -0.5) and 0.8% of the Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.8). Given these results, the CPU is unlikely to be the bottleneck at any resolution or settings level tested.

Evidence for this comes from the frame rate behavior at Low settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 156 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate of most displays. If the CPU were struggling, we would expect to see frame rate plateaus or inconsistent minimum frame times across different resolutions. Instead, the measured data shows a smooth degradation pattern from 1080p to 4K, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for the game's data streaming requirements, though the shared memory architecture with the GPU could introduce latency in data-heavy scenes.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Inside?*

A: The data shows that 1080p with Medium settings (125 FPS) or High settings (78 FPS) provides the smoothest experience. At 1440p, only Low (112 FPS) and Medium (90 FPS) presets maintain playable frame rates above 60 FPS.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: At 4K, the system can achieve 70 FPS on Low settings and 56 FPS on Medium. High (35 FPS) and Ultra (34 FPS) presets fall below playable thresholds, with the average frame rate dipping into the low 30s.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to discrete graphics options?

A: The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (deltaPct 1.3) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (deltaPct 2.7). This is an integrated solution with performance in the entry-level discrete GPU range.

Q: Is the CPU holding back performance in any scenario?

A: No. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 shows a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648, ranking in the 90th percentile. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern, indicating the CPU is not the limiting component.

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

A: At 1080p, Low settings produce 156 FPS while Ultra produces 74 FPS, a 53% reduction. The Medium preset (125 FPS) and High preset (78 FPS) fall between these extremes, with the step from Medium to High being the largest performance hit.

Q: Does the shared system memory affect performance?

A: The Intel Arc B390 uses System Shared memory with System Dependent bandwidth, meaning performance can vary based on the system's RAM configuration. The measured data shows significant frame rate drops at 4K, which is consistent with shared memory bandwidth limitations.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest results across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 156 FPS, while Medium reaches 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS. High settings produce 78 FPS, and Ultra drops to 74 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (47 FPS) is the largest single-step reduction at this resolution, suggesting that the High preset introduces significantly more complex shading or post-processing effects.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance hierarchy remains consistent but compressed. Low settings yield 112 FPS, Medium drops to 90 FPS (with a range of 76 to 103 FPS), High falls to 56 FPS, and Ultra manages 53 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional features have diminishing returns at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 76 FPS remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings produce 70 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that maintains a playable average. Medium falls to 56 FPS with a minimum of 48 FPS and a maximum of 65 FPS, placing it in a borderline zone where frame drops may be noticeable. High and Ultra presets drop to 35 FPS and 34 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS target and would likely result in a stuttery experience for fast-paced platforming sections. The overall pattern shows that the Arc B390 can handle 1080p gaming with most presets, 1440p with Low or Medium, and only 4K with Low settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, manufactured on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz and a base clock of 300 MHz. The GPU's raw compute capability is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS for FP32 operations, which is modest by discrete GPU standards but respectable for an integrated solution.

The GPU's benchmark performance in 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12) yields a score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (score 1463, deltaPct 1.3), NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, deltaPct 1.5), NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, deltaPct 2.5), and NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, deltaPct 2.7). This places the Arc B390 slightly ahead of these legacy discrete solutions but far behind modern graphics cards.

In the context of Inside, the GPU's 12 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are largely irrelevant, as the game is a 2D side-scroller with minimal 3D geometry. Instead, the key factors are the pixel fill rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. The 4K results show that the GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates due to fill rate limitations, particularly at High and Ultra settings where more pixels are shaded per frame. The System Shared memory architecture means the GPU relies on the same DDR5 memory as the CPU, with bandwidth being System Dependent, which creates a potential bottleneck when the game needs to stream large textures at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, delivering 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining a reasonable level of graphical fidelity. For players prioritizing maximum visual quality, the High preset at 78 FPS is still playable, but the Ultra preset's 74 FPS offers minimal visual benefit over High for a 5% performance cost.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation, with 90 FPS average and 76 FPS minimum. This maintains smooth gameplay while offering better image sharpness than 1080p. The Low preset at 112 FPS provides additional headroom but sacrifices visual effects. The High and Ultra presets at 56 FPS and 53 FPS respectively fall below the 60 FPS threshold, which may result in noticeable frame drops during fast-moving scenes, making these presets less suitable for the game's precise platforming mechanics.

For 4K gaming, the Low preset at 70 FPS is the only viable option for a consistent experience. The Medium preset's 56 FPS average with a 48 FPS minimum dips below the target, which could cause judder. High and Ultra at 35 FPS and 34 FPS are not recommended for gameplay. Users who own 4K displays should either set the game to Low or consider running the game at a lower resolution with higher settings, as the 1080p Medium preset at 125 FPS provides a significantly smoother experience than 4K Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2547 out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 12th percentile of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the fact that while the CPU is in the 90th percentile of all processors, the GPU is in the 9th percentile of all graphics solutions. The pairing's overall rank is dragged down significantly by the integrated GPU's performance, which is a common outcome for systems without a discrete graphics card.

The CPU's benchmark data shows it competing closely with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (deltaPct -0.5) and the Intel Core i5-14600K (deltaPct 0.8), indicating that the processor itself is not the limiting factor in this system. The GPU's nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores are all legacy NVIDIA discrete cards from over a decade ago, which underscores the performance gap between this integrated solution and modern entry-level discrete GPUs.

Given that the combo ranks in the bottom 12% of all tested configurations, users should temper their expectations for high-end gaming. The system is more than capable for 1080p gaming in Inside with Medium settings, and can handle 1440p with reduced settings. However, for 4K gaming or higher presets, this combo will struggle. The data indicates that any upgrade path would need to focus on adding a discrete GPU, as the CPU has substantial headroom for more demanding graphics hardware. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245's processing power is effectively wasted in this configuration for gaming purposes, as the GPU cannot leverage the CPU's full potential in frame rate generation.