Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that places minimal demands on modern hardware, yet the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination reveal a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The data indicates that this pairing delivers exceptional frame rates, with the primary bottleneck shifting from the GPU at lower settings to a more balanced load at higher presets. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to understand resolution scaling, CPU and GPU roles, and how this specific combo ranks against the broader test pool.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 173 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 124 FPS, a 28.3% reduction, and at 4K the average falls to 78 FPS, which represents a 54.9% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling curve is steep, indicating that the workload is heavily dependent on pixel throughput rather than CPU processing power.

The Low settings preset tells a more extreme story. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 346 FPS average, which drops to 249 FPS at 1440p (a 28.0% decrease) and 156 FPS at 4K (a 54.9% decrease from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across settings — roughly 28% from 1080p to 1440p and another 38% from 1440p to 4K — strongly suggests that the RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component. The GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being taxed proportionally to the pixel count.

At Medium settings, the measured data includes minimum and maximum frame times, offering more insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 277 FPS with a minimum of 235 FPS and maximum of 318 FPS. The 14.1% gap between average and minimum indicates some frame time variance, but the absolute numbers are so high that this variance is imperceptible in actual gameplay. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and maximum of 144 FPS. The spread between min and max is larger at 4K (30.4% from min to max) compared to 1080p (35.3% from min to max), suggesting that the GPU is working harder and occasionally hitting resource limits.

The Ultra preset shows the most significant scaling penalties. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 165 FPS, only slightly lower than High at 173 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 74 FPS, which is even slightly lower than the 78 FPS at 4K High. This indicates that Ultra settings introduce additional GPU workload that becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions. The fact that 4K Ultra (74 FPS) is lower than 4K High (78 FPS) by 5.4% demonstrates that the extra visual fidelity costs real performance at the highest pixel counts.

The data suggests that for this game, resolution scaling is almost entirely GPU-limited. The CPU, with its high single-thread performance, has no trouble feeding the GPU even at 1080p Low where 346 FPS is achieved. The consistent percentage drops across resolutions point to pixel count as the dominant factor, which is typical for a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer with relatively simple geometry but potentially complex post-processing effects.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and a single-core score of 4648. These numbers place it in the 90th percentile among all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 48995. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, scores 49196, which is only 0.4% higher, while the Intel Core i5-14600K scores 48618, 0.8% lower.

For Inside, the CPU's role is minimal due to the game's age and genre. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (346 FPS average) is far beyond what any display can show, indicating that the CPU can process frames faster than the GPU can render them. The single-core performance, as evidenced by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4648, is more than sufficient for the game's physics and logic calculations. The 14 cores are largely underutilized, as puzzle platformers rarely scale beyond a few threads.

The L3 cache of 24 MB shared and L2 cache of 3 MB per core provide ample memory bandwidth for this workload. The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth ensures that data transfer to the GPU is not a bottleneck. Even at the highest settings and 4K resolution, where the GPU is fully saturated, the CPU maintains frame delivery without causing stutters or frame drops.

Comparing to the nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 5 245's performance in CPU benchmarks is within 1% of the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H, with deltas of -0.5% and +0.6% respectively. This tight grouping indicates that any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical results in Inside. The game simply does not stress modern multi-core processors, and the limiting factor is always the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1273 out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 56th percentile of all systems tested. This mid-pack ranking might seem surprising given the high absolute FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that many other combos in the database use more powerful GPUs that push even higher frame rates in this easily renderable game.

The ranking indicates that while this combo is far from the top, it is also not struggling. The 1273rd position out of 2887 means that roughly 44% of tested combinations outperform it, but these are likely to be systems with RTX 4070-class or better GPUs. The RTX 3060 Ti, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, is a capable mid-range card that sits in the 59th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 16129 is nearly identical to the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which scores 16014 (0.7% difference), and slightly below the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at 16361 (1.4% higher).

For a game like Inside, the combo's rank is more a reflection of GPU ceiling than CPU capability. The CPU's 90th percentile ranking is far higher than the combo's overall rank, proving that the processor is not the limiting factor. The GPU's 59th percentile ranking closely aligns with the combo's 56th percentile position, confirming that the graphics card determines the system's standing in this workload.

The delta between the combo rank (1273rd) and the GPU percentile (59th) is small, suggesting that the RTX 3060 Ti is the primary determinant of performance in Inside. Any CPU with sufficient single-thread speed would likely produce similar combo rankings when paired with this GPU. This makes the combo rank a useful indicator of the GPU's relative standing in the overall database.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured averages range from 165 FPS at Ultra to 346 FPS at Low. The Medium preset yields 277 FPS with a minimum of 235 and maximum of 318. High settings produce 173 FPS. The progression from Low to Medium shows a 19.9% drop in average FPS, while Medium to High drops 37.5%, and High to Ultra drops only 4.6%. This indicates that the High to Ultra transition is relatively light on GPU resources, while the Medium to High step adds significant shading or texture work.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 118 FPS for Ultra, 124 FPS for High, 199 FPS for Medium, and 249 FPS for Low. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum of 169 FPS and maximum of 229 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings: Ultra drops from 165 to 118 (28.5% decrease), High drops from 173 to 124 (28.3% decrease), Medium drops from 277 to 199 (28.2% decrease), and Low drops from 346 to 249 (28.0% decrease). This uniformity reinforces the pixel-bound nature of the workload.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 74 FPS for Ultra, 78 FPS for High, 125 FPS for Medium, and 156 FPS for Low. The Medium preset at 4K shows a minimum of 106 FPS and maximum of 144 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper: Ultra falls from 118 to 74 (37.3% decrease), High from 124 to 78 (37.1% decrease), Medium from 199 to 125 (37.2% decrease), and Low from 249 to 156 (37.3% decrease). This consistent 37% reduction across all settings at the 4K step indicates a hard GPU limit that cannot be alleviated by lowering settings.

The only settings with measured minimum and maximum values are Medium at all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 235 FPS minimum is 15.2% below the 277 FPS average. At 1440p Medium, the 169 FPS minimum is 15.1% below the 199 FPS average. At 4K Medium, the 106 FPS minimum is 15.2% below the 125 FPS average. This consistent variance suggests a predictable frame time pattern that is likely tied to specific game events or scene complexity, rather than thermal or power throttling.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Inside?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 346, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 249 FPS at 2560x1440 and 156 FPS at 3840x2160.

Q: How does the combo's ranking compare to its individual component rankings?

A: The combo ranks 1273rd out of 2887 tested combinations, which is in the 56th percentile. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 59th percentile among all GPUs. The combo rank is much closer to the GPU percentile, indicating the graphics card is the limiting factor.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 74, which is the lowest measured value. Since the CPU is ranked in the 90th percentile and the GPU in the 59th percentile, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. The 4K Ultra result is only 5.4% lower than 4K High (78 FPS), showing that the GPU is already saturated.

Q: What is the frame time variance at Medium settings?

A: The measured minimum and maximum values at Medium settings show a consistent pattern. At 1080p, the average is 277 FPS with a minimum of 235 and maximum of 318. At 1440p, the average is 199 FPS with a minimum of 169 and maximum of 229. At 4K, the average is 125 FPS with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 144.

Q: How does this combo perform relative to the GPU's nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti has an average benchmark score of 16129. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014, which is 0.7% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M scores 16351, which is 1.4% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT scores 16361, also 1.4% higher. These small deltas suggest near-identical gaming performance.

Q: Does the CPU's 14-core configuration help in this game?

A: The data does not indicate any multi-core scaling benefit. The CPU's single-core Cinebench R23 score is 4648, and its multi-core score is 32924. In a puzzle platformer, the frame rates are so high (346 FPS at 1080p Low) that the CPU is clearly not limiting performance, regardless of core count.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the High preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 173, which is comfortably above any standard 144Hz display refresh rate. At 1440p High, the average is 124 FPS, which is suitable for 120Hz displays. Even at 4K High, the 78 FPS average is playable on most monitors, though it falls short of high-refresh-rate targets.

The Ultra preset provides minimal benefit over High in terms of measured performance. At 1080p, Ultra scores 165 FPS compared to High's 173 FPS, a difference of only 4.6%. At 4K, the gap narrows further to 74 FPS versus 78 FPS, just 5.1% lower. Given that Ultra is the highest visual quality setting, the small performance penalty makes it a viable option for users with 60Hz 4K displays, as 74 FPS still exceeds the 60 FPS target.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset delivers the highest averages across all resolutions, with 346 FPS at 1080p and 156 FPS at 4K. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity, which in a puzzle platformer with atmospheric lighting and shadow effects may impact the intended experience. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 277 FPS at 1080p and 125 FPS at 4K, along with the only measured minimum frame rates, which stay above 106 FPS even at 4K.

The data suggests that High is the recommended preset for most users. It provides a 28.3% performance headroom over Ultra at 1440p (124 vs 118 FPS) while delivering nearly the same visual quality. At 4K, High's 78 FPS is 5.4% faster than Ultra's 74 FPS, and both are above the 60 FPS threshold. For competitive play or maximum smoothness, Low at 1440p (249 FPS) is the best choice, as it exceeds 240Hz display capabilities.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is based on the GA104 chip with an Ampere architecture, manufactured on an 8 nm process. It features 4864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. The GPU has a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its FP32 performance is 16.20 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

In Inside, the GPU's role is the primary determinant of frame rates. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is fully utilized at all settings and resolutions, as evidenced by the consistent scaling percentages. The GPU's 8 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, which has relatively simple textures and no need for large texture arrays. The 448.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is also ample, as the game's 2D nature does not require massive data transfers.

The GPU's benchmark scores show it performing in the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2626 and a Passmark G3D score of 20349. The nearest rivals are all AMD cards, with the RX 9060 trailing by 0.7% and the Pro 5600M and RX 5700 XT leading by 1.4%. This tight grouping indicates that the RTX 3060 Ti is a well-balanced mid-range card that performs consistently relative to its direct competitors.

The GPU's 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores are not utilized in Inside, as the game predates widespread RT adoption. The 16.20 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is more than sufficient for the game's pixel shading requirements. The pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s provide the fill rates necessary to achieve the high frame rates observed, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is not pixel-bound.

At 4K Ultra, the GPU's limits are exposed, with an average of 74 FPS. This is the only configuration where the GPU falls below the 78 FPS achieved at 4K High, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects (likely higher quality shadows or post-processing) push the GPU past its optimal operating point. The 200 W TDP and dual-slot design suggest the card has adequate cooling headroom, but the data does not indicate thermal throttling since the min FPS at 4K Medium (106 FPS) is still proportionally consistent with lower resolutions.