Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is an extreme combination of a high-end mobile CPU and the fastest laptop GPU available. In Inside, this pairing produces a significant bottleneck at the CPU level, but the sheer horsepower of both components ensures that the game runs flawlessly at every setting and resolution tested. This analysis interprets the measured data to show exactly where the limits lie and what the numbers mean for your experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile achieves a combo rank of 938 out of 3716 total tested combos. This places it in the top 25% of all systems tested, which is a strong showing for a mobile platform. However, it is crucial to note that this rank is heavily influenced by the CPU's performance ceiling in this particular game, not the GPU's raw power. The CPU's overall percentile is 83, meaning it outperforms 83% of all tested CPUs, but the GPU sits at an 84th percentile. The rank of 938 out of 3716 reflects that while this is a high-performing system, it is not the absolute top-tier combination, largely because the CPU is not the fastest available despite being a capable 16-core part. The data suggests that in a game like Inside, which is not graphically demanding, the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the primary arbiter of the final frame rate, preventing the system from climbing higher in the ranks.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile is the undisputed star of this show, and its specifications are immense. It is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process and packs 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The GPU features 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output pipelines, which allow it to process geometry and pixels at an incredible rate. The memory subsystem is equally formidable, with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a massive 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This is far more than Inside requires, ensuring that texture streaming and memory allocation are never a bottleneck.

In this game, the GPU's role is almost entirely about ensuring a high frame rate ceiling. Its pixel rate of 189.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 515.3 GTexel/s are more than sufficient to handle the game's 2D side-scrolling visuals with ease. The data confirms this: at 4K with Ultra settings, the GPU still delivers an average of 99 FPS, a frame rate that is typically considered excellent for a desktop-class GPU, let alone a mobile one. The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a Passmark G3D score of 27212 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 180831, place it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs. The data indicates that the RTX 4090 Mobile is never the limiting factor in this configuration, even at the highest resolution and settings. The only time the GPU's capabilities are pushed is when the CPU allows it to stretch its legs, and even then, the frame rates are astronomically high.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is a 16-core, 22-thread mobile processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. While its multi-threaded performance is strong, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15028, its single-core performance is more modest, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1743. This is the key constraint in Inside. The game's logic and physics are largely serial, meaning they rely heavily on a single thread. The CPU's Passmark single-thread score of 3468 places it in a position where it can drive high frame rates, but it is not the ultimate limit.

The data shows that the CPU is the definitive bottleneck in this pairing. When the GPU is capable of producing well over 300 FPS, the CPU's ability to feed it with draw calls and game state updates becomes the limiting factor. The CPU's percentile of 83 and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-14600T with a deltaPct of 0, show that it is a mid-to-high-tier performer, but it is not at the absolute top of the charts. In Inside, the combination of a 3.80 GHz base clock and a 4.80 GHz boost clock is sufficient to deliver excellent performance, but the gap between the CPU's potential and the GPU's potential is enormous. This results in the system hitting a "CPU wall" at high frame rates, where the GPU is left waiting for the CPU to send instructions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo are consistently high, with the only exceptions being at the highest settings and resolution. Here is the full breakdown of the average FPS for each tested configuration:

• 1080p Low: 314 FPS
• 1080p Medium: 290 FPS (minimum 246, maximum 333)
• 1080p High: 231 FPS
• 1080p Ultra: 220 FPS
• 1440p Low: 281 FPS
• 1440p Medium: 259 FPS (minimum 221, maximum 298)
• 1440p High: 166 FPS
• 1440p Ultra: 158 FPS
• 4K Low: 209 FPS
• 4K Medium: 167 FPS (minimum 142, maximum 192)
• 4K High: 104 FPS
• 4K Ultra: 99 FPS

The 1080p results demonstrate the CPU bottleneck clearly. The jump from Low (314 FPS) to Medium (290 FPS) is only 24 FPS, and the drop from High (231 FPS) to Ultra (220 FPS) is a mere 11 FPS. This indicates that the CPU is already at its limit at 1080p, and the GPU can handle the increased graphical load without a significant impact on the frame rate. The 1440p results show a similar pattern, with a 22 FPS drop from Low to Medium, but a massive 93 FPS drop from Medium to High. This suggests that at High settings, the GPU is finally starting to work harder, but the CPU is still holding it back. The 4K results are where the GPU begins to take a more prominent role. The drop from Low (209 FPS) to Medium (167 FPS) is 42 FPS, and the drop from High (104 FPS) to Ultra (99 FPS) is only 5 FPS. The High and Ultra settings at 4K are the only points where the GPU is fully engaged, and the frame rates are still well above 60 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 314 at 1080p to 209 at 4K, a reduction of 105 FPS (33%). At Medium settings, the FPS drops from 290 at 1080p to 167 at 4K, a reduction of 123 FPS (42%). At High settings, the FPS drops from 231 at 1080p to 104 at 4K, a reduction of 127 FPS (55%). At Ultra settings, the FPS drops from 220 at 1080p to 99 at 4K, a reduction of 121 FPS (55%).

This pattern is telling. At Low and Medium settings, the resolution scaling is less severe, which indicates that the CPU is the primary limiter. The GPU has enough headroom to handle the extra pixels at 4K without a proportional drop in performance, but the CPU's frame rate ceiling is what keeps the numbers from being higher at 1080p. At High and Ultra settings, the scaling is more aggressive, showing that the GPU is now becoming the limiting factor. The 55% drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count directly impacts the rendering load. The data shows a clear transition: below 1440p High, the system is CPU-bound; at 4K High and Ultra, it becomes GPU-bound. This is important for tuning, as it means the CPU is leaving performance on the table at lower settings, but the GPU is fully utilized at the highest settings.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate not increase much when I lower settings from High to Low at 1080p?

A: The data shows a 1080p Low average of 314 FPS and a 1080p High average of 231 FPS. The relatively small difference of 83 FPS indicates that the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H is the limiting factor at this resolution. The CPU's single-thread performance cannot generate enough frames to fully saturate the RTX 4090 Mobile, so reducing the graphical load has a limited impact on the final frame rate.

Q: Is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile the bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The 4K Ultra average is 99 FPS, while the 4K Low average is 209 FPS. The significant drop of 110 FPS when increasing settings to Ultra shows that the GPU is now the primary constraint. The GPU's raw compute power is being fully utilized to render the higher resolution and more detailed effects, and the CPU has enough headroom to feed it.

Q: How does this combo compare to systems with a similar CPU?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 155H has an average benchmark score of 32697, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The Intel Core i5-14600T scores 32707 (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 scores 32662 (0.1% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F scores 32750 (-0.2% delta). This means the CPU's overall performance is on par with these parts, so the combo's rank in Inside is representative of what you would get with these other CPUs as well.

*Q: What is the highest frame rate this system can achieve in Inside?*

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 314 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the peak observed in the data. The 1080p Medium setting also reaches an average of 290 FPS, with a maximum of 333 FPS. The CPU's limit appears to be around the 310-330 FPS range in this game.

*Q: Is the RTX 4090 Mobile's 16 GB of VRAM necessary for Inside?*

A: No. Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, and its graphical requirements are modest. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 576.0 GB/s of bandwidth are vastly more than the game requires. The data shows that the GPU is never limited by memory bandwidth or capacity in this title, as frame rates remain high even at 4K.

*Q: Should I play Inside at 4K High or 1440p Ultra on this system?*

A: The data shows 4K High at 104 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 158 FPS. If you prefer higher frame rates for smoother motion, 1440p Ultra offers a 54 FPS advantage. If you prioritize maximum resolution and detail, 4K High still delivers a very playable 104 FPS. Both options are well above the standard 60 FPS target, so the choice depends on your personal preference for resolution versus refresh rate.