Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on frame rate generation than on modern hardware complexity. The measured data shows that this pairing is capable of pushing well beyond standard display refresh rates at every resolution tested, though the scaling patterns reveal distinct bottlenecks that shift depending on the workload.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates where the performance ceiling lies for this combination. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 420 FPS, which drops to 330 FPS at 1440p and further to 208 FPS at 4K. This represents a 79% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is becoming progressively more stressed as pixel count increases. However, the absolute numbers remain so high that even the 4K result is nearly four times the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz display.

The scaling behavior changes dramatically when examining Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 219 FPS, falling to 157 FPS at 1440p and 99 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 37%. This steeper decline at higher resolutions suggests that the RTX 4070's rendering pipeline becomes the limiting factor as pixel throughput demands increase, particularly with Ultra settings that likely enable additional visual effects.

Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra settings narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference between Low (420 FPS) and Ultra (219 FPS) is 201 FPS, a 48% reduction. At 4K, the difference between Low (208 FPS) and Ultra (99 FPS) is 109 FPS, also a 52% reduction. This consistency suggests that the game's settings scale uniformly across resolutions, with the RTX 4070 maintaining its relative performance headroom regardless of pixel count. The data indicates that at 1080p, the CPU has more influence on peak frame rates, while at 4K, the GPU's fill rate and shading capabilities dominate the outcome.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070's specifications directly explain its strong showing in Inside. With 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, the card has ample resources for a game of this era. The memory clock runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, which is more than sufficient for the texture and geometry demands of a 2016 puzzle platformer. The 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units provide substantial parallel processing capability, reflected in the 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate and 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance.

The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz, up from a 1920 MHz base, allows the card to sustain high frame rates even under sustained load. The benchmark results show that the RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals in the database include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (delta 0.1%) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta 0.4%), indicating that the RTX 4070's overall compute performance is closely matched by these older or specialized cards, yet its gaming-specific features like the 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores provide advantages in modern titles.

For Inside, the GPU's role is primarily about maintaining high fill rates and avoiding frame time spikes. The measured minimum FPS at Medium settings shows 141 FPS at 4K, 225 FPS at 1440p, and 312 FPS at 1080p, with corresponding maximums of 191, 304, and 423. These ranges demonstrate that even at the most demanding settings, the RTX 4070 never dips below 99 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is remarkable for a game that mainly relies on 2D sprite rendering and simple 3D environments.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest recorded average is 420 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 367 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 330 FPS at 1440p Low.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 99 FPS. This is the lowest measured result across all resolution and settings combinations, yet it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more limiting at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU has greater influence on peak performance. The difference between Low (420 FPS) and Ultra (219 FPS) at 1080p is 201 FPS, while at 4K the same settings difference is 109 FPS, indicating the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: What minimum frame rate can users expect at Medium settings?

A: The measured minimum FPS values at Medium settings are 312 FPS at 1080p, 225 FPS at 1440p, and 141 FPS at 4K. These represent the lowest frame rates recorded during testing, ensuring no stuttering even in complex scenes.

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

A: The combination ranks 406th out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 14% of all systems. This is a strong result given the game's age and the hardware's capabilities.

Q: Does the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM limit performance?

A: No, the 12 GB GDDR6X memory is far more than Inside requires. The game's simple textures and low polygon counts do not stress the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth, allowing the GPU to focus on raw compute rather than memory management.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 4070 achieves a rank of 406 out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 86th percentile of all systems evaluated. This is a notable achievement considering the game's release date in 2016, as modern hardware far exceeds the requirements of the title. The high rank is driven primarily by the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates even at 4K.

The CPU alone sits at the 90th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (delta -0.4%), AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (delta -0.5%), Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (delta 0.6%), and Intel Core i5-14600K (delta 0.8%). These rivals are all within 1% of the Core Ultra 5 245's average score, indicating that the CPU is well-matched to its peers in overall compute performance.

The GPU ranks at the 81st percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 37648. Its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (delta 0.1%) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (delta 0.4%), are essentially equal in average score, though the RTX 4070 offers superior gaming features like ray tracing and DLSS support. In the context of Inside, where these features are not utilized, the GPU's raw rasterization performance is what matters, and the data shows it excels.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on TSMC's 3 nm process node. It operates at a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boosts to 5.10 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides fast access to frequently used data. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support delivers 102.4 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for gaming workloads.

For Inside, the CPU's role is primarily in maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is not fully saturated. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 420 FPS, which is a CPU-bound scenario. The 14 cores and 14 threads, combined with the 5.10 GHz boost clock, ensure that the game's physics and logic threads are never starved. The single-thread performance is particularly important for a puzzle platformer, where the main game loop often runs on a single thread.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its gaming capability. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924 and single-core score of 4648 indicate strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads. The PassMark single-thread score of 4394 places it among the top processors for gaming, where low latency and high clock speeds are critical. The nearest CPU rivals in the database all show similar average scores, but the Core Ultra 5 245's specific combination of high boost clock and efficient architecture gives it an edge in frame rate consistency.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across settings are: Low at 420 FPS, Medium at 367 FPS, High at 230 FPS, and Ultra at 219 FPS. The Medium setting also has recorded minimum and maximum values of 312 and 423 FPS respectively, showing a tight frame time distribution. The jump from Medium to High is significant, with a 37% reduction in average FPS, suggesting that High settings enable more demanding visual effects that impact the GPU's fill rate.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are: Low at 330 FPS, Medium at 264 FPS, High at 165 FPS, and Ultra at 157 FPS. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 225 FPS and maximum of 304 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p results in a 21% reduction at Low settings, but a 28% reduction at Ultra settings, confirming that the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck as resolution increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low at 208 FPS, Medium at 166 FPS, High at 104 FPS, and Ultra at 99 FPS. The Medium setting has a minimum of 141 FPS and maximum of 191 FPS. The 4K results show a more pronounced drop-off, with High settings nearly halving the frame rate compared to Medium. The Ultra setting at 4K produces the lowest average of 99 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS target for most displays.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend on the user's display refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p displays with a 240 Hz refresh rate, the High setting at 230 FPS is the best choice, as it provides a smooth experience above the refresh threshold while maintaining visual quality. The Ultra setting at 219 FPS is also viable, but the 5% performance difference does not justify the minimal visual improvement in a game like Inside.

For 1440p displays with a 165 Hz refresh rate, the Medium setting at 264 FPS is the recommended choice. This setting provides a frame rate well above the display's refresh rate, ensuring no screen tearing or input lag issues. The High setting at 165 FPS exactly matches a 165 Hz display, but the Medium setting offers a 60% higher frame rate with only a moderate reduction in visual fidelity.

For 4K displays, the Low setting at 208 FPS is the best option for maximum smoothness, though the Medium setting at 166 FPS provides a better balance of visual quality and performance. The High setting at 104 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz displays, and the Ultra setting at 99 FPS is also playable but offers no significant visual advantage over High. Given that Inside is a puzzle platformer with a dark, atmospheric art style, the Medium setting at 4K provides the best experience, delivering 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 FPS, which ensures consistent frame pacing without drops below 120 FPS.