Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on paper, should be trivial for modern hardware, yet the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 8060S combo reveals a more nuanced story about scaling and frame pacing. The results show that this integrated graphics solution is surprisingly potent, but the relationship between resolution, settings, and frame rate is not always linear. The benchmark data indicates a system capable of high refresh rate gameplay at 1080p, with enough headroom to push into 4K, provided the user is willing to adjust quality presets.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions for this combo is exceptionally steep, signaling that the AMD Radeon 8060S is the dominant bottleneck in most configurations. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 155 FPS at 1920x1080 to 111 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of roughly 28%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields an average of just 70 FPS, which is a 55% decrease from the 1080p result. This dramatic falloff is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload where the pixel throughput demand outpaces the shading and ROP capabilities of the integrated graphics.

The scaling pattern changes significantly when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system produces an average of 309 FPS, which drops to 222 FPS at 1440p and 140 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K here is approximately 55%, nearly identical to the High preset. This consistency suggests that even at the lowest settings, the game's rendering pipeline is still heavily taxing the GPU's fill rate. The CPU, an Intel Core Ultra 7 165H with 16 cores and 22 threads, is clearly not the limiting factor, as even the most extreme frame rates at 1080p Low (309 FPS average) do not show signs of a CPU ceiling.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data set, including minimum and maximum frame rates. At 1080p Medium, the average is 247 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 178 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. The minimum frame rates at 4K Medium (95 FPS) are still above the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the combo can sustain smooth gameplay even at the highest resolution when settings are moderated. The scaling from 1440p to 4K Medium (178 to 112 FPS) is a 37% drop, which is less severe than the High preset's drop of 37% from 111 to 70 FPS, suggesting that the Medium preset is better balanced for this hardware's memory bandwidth constraints.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured performance for this specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 8060S places it at rank 1600 out of 2887 tested combos in this game. This percentile placement, roughly the 55th percentile, is interesting given the hardware's specifications. The GPU alone, based on its average benchmark score of 55757, sits at the 87th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 84th percentile of all CPUs. However, the in-game rank suggests that the synergy between these two components is not perfectly optimized for Inside, or that other combos with discrete graphics cards simply have more headroom.

The rank of 1600 indicates that while this combo is capable of high frame rates, there are 1286 other combinations of CPUs and GPUs that deliver higher average FPS in this specific title. This is likely because Inside, being a 2.5D puzzle platformer with a fixed camera, often relies on raw single-thread performance and fill rate. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (0.3% faster average score) and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.4% slower), which suggests the processor's compute performance is well within a competitive band. However, the GPU's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (0.1% faster) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 (2.8% slower), show that the 8060S is competing with some formidable discrete parts in synthetic benchmarks, yet the in-game rank does not fully reflect that dominance. The data suggests that the system's performance is respectable but not class-leading for this specific game, settling into a mid-pack position among all tested configurations.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 8060S is the pivotal component in this combo, and its specifications explain the scaling behavior observed in the measured FPS. The GPU is based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture and features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs. It also includes 40 ray tracing cores. The boost clock is rated at 2900 MHz, with a base clock of 1295 MHz. The memory configuration is unique: it uses "System Shared" memory, meaning the GPU relies on the system's DDR5 RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which is a critical factor for a game like Inside that has a relatively simple visual style but can still be sensitive to memory latency and bandwidth.

The GPU's pixel rate is 185.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 464.0 GTexel/s. These figures are relevant when analyzing the 4K Ultra preset, which yields an average of 67 FPS. At 4K, the number of pixels to be shaded and filled is substantial, and the 64 ROPs are likely the limiting factor. The FP32 performance is 14.85 TFLOPS, which is respectable for an integrated GPU, but the shared memory architecture introduces potential bottlenecks. The data shows that the jump from Medium to High at 4K causes a significant drop (112 to 70 FPS), indicating that the higher settings increase the memory traffic or shading complexity beyond what the shared memory bandwidth can efficiently handle. The GPU's percentile ranking of 87th places it above the majority of other GPUs, but the lack of dedicated VRAM means its performance is inherently tied to the CPU's memory controller and the speed of the DDR5 modules installed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo's capabilities across all three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 309 FPS on Low, 247 FPS on Medium, 155 FPS on High, and 147 FPS on Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra is surprisingly small (only 8 FPS), suggesting that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are not heavily taxing on the GPU, or that High is already utilizing most of the GPU's resources. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 210 FPS and a maximum of 284 FPS, indicating a stable frame delivery with only a 74 FPS variance between the min and max.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 222 FPS on Low, 178 FPS on Medium, 111 FPS on High, and 106 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset here shows a minimum of 151 FPS and a maximum of 205 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p on the Low preset is a 28% drop, while the High preset drops by 28% as well. This consistency across presets reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the workload. The Ultra preset at 1440p (106 FPS) is only slightly faster than the High preset at 4K (70 FPS), which confirms the exponential cost of resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 140 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium, 70 FPS on High, and 67 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one at 4K with recorded minimum and maximum values, showing a 95 FPS minimum and 128 FPS maximum. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 3 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional visual features are almost entirely free at this resolution. The data clearly shows that 4K High and Ultra are the only configurations that dip below the 70 FPS average mark, while all other settings at all resolutions maintain averages above 100 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target display. For 1080p users, the High preset (155 FPS average) offers a massive performance buffer over the 60 FPS standard, and the Ultra preset (147 FPS) costs only 8 FPS while likely providing superior visual fidelity. The Medium preset (247 FPS) is the choice for users with 240Hz displays, as it provides a high enough frame rate to take advantage of such panels without sacrificing too much visual quality. The Low preset (309 FPS) is only necessary for competitive play at extremely high refresh rates, where the visual downgrade is acceptable for the frame rate gain.

For 1440p, the High preset (111 FPS) is the sweet spot, delivering smooth gameplay that exceeds 100 FPS. The Ultra preset (106 FPS) is nearly identical in performance and could be enabled if the user prefers the extra visual effects. The Medium preset (178 FPS) is ideal for 144Hz displays, while the Low preset (222 FPS) is overkill for most monitors but shows the headroom available. The data indicates that the GPU is well-suited for 1440p gaming, with all presets providing playable frame rates.

At 4K, the Medium preset (112 FPS) is the clear recommendation. It offers a 95 FPS minimum, which ensures no noticeable stutters, and is 60% faster than the High preset (70 FPS). The High and Ultra presets (70 and 67 FPS) are technically playable but sit close to the 60 FPS threshold, leaving little headroom for demanding scenes. The Low preset (140 FPS) is viable for users who prioritize frame rate over visuals, but the Medium preset provides a better balance of quality and performance. For the best experience on this combo, users should target 1080p Ultra or 1440p High for a mix of visual quality and high frame rates, or 4K Medium for a resolution-focused experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The measured average frame rate for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 8060S combo at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 147 FPS.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo delivers an average of 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this game?

A: The benchmark data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor, as frame rates scale dramatically with resolution. The CPU, with a high Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14551, does not show signs of being a bottleneck even at the highest frame rates measured.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 111 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 106 FPS. The difference is only 5 FPS, making the Ultra preset an almost free upgrade in visual quality.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested configurations?

A: This specific combo ranks 1600 out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the middle of the pack despite the hardware's high individual percentiles.

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 309 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.