Inside

Inside, the 2016 puzzle platformer from Playdead, presents an interesting benchmark scenario for the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combo. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions but exhibits a significant shift in performance characteristics as the resolution climbs to 4K. This analysis breaks down how this specific pairing handles the game's atmospheric 2.5D environments, focusing on the measured FPS data.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the combo delivers an average of 231 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, the average drops to 166 FPS, and at 4K High, it falls further to 104 FPS. This represents a 55% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K at High settings. The scaling is more severe when examining the jump from 1440p to 4K, which sees a 37% drop in performance, indicating that the GPU is being tasked more heavily as pixel count increases.

The Medium preset provides the most complete dataset, including min and max FPS figures. At 1080p Medium, the average is 294 FPS with a minimum of 250 FPS and a maximum of 338 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average decreases to 264 FPS, with a tighter range of 224 FPS minimum and 303 FPS maximum. The 4K Medium result shows an average of 167 FPS, a 43% drop from the 1080p Medium score. The min FPS at 4K Medium is 142 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, suggesting the system maintains playability even at the highest resolution.

The scaling pattern strongly indicates that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 220 to 319 FPS depending on settings. These high frame rates suggest the CPU is the primary bottleneck, as the RTX 4090 is capable of far higher output. However, at 4K, the average FPS drops to between 99 and 209 FPS, revealing that the GPU is now the limiting factor. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is substantial, with Low hitting 209 FPS and Ultra dropping to 99 FPS, showing that the GPU's workload increases dramatically with visual fidelity at this resolution. The data indicates that the RTX 4090, while powerful, is the component that determines the ceiling at 4K, while at 1080p, the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H's performance caps the frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this system, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus with a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its clock speeds are listed with a base of 2235 MHz and a boost of 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The GPU is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, containing 76,300 million transistors on a 609 mm² die. These specifications contribute to its raw compute capabilities, including 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Inside, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions and settings. The 4K Ultra preset yields 99 FPS, while the 4K High preset yields 104 FPS, showing only a 5% difference between these two demanding configurations. This suggests that the Ultra preset adds minimal visual overhead over High in this game, or that the GPU is hitting a performance wall. In contrast, the 4K Low preset achieves 209 FPS, which is more than double the Ultra result. This 110% performance increase from Low to Ultra at 4K highlights how the GPU's workload scales with settings.

The VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in this scenario, as Inside is a game with relatively modest texture requirements. The 24 GB pool is excessive for this title, and the benchmark results do not indicate any memory-related performance dips. The GPU's percentile rank is 88 among all tested GPUs, and its average benchmark score is 60347. The nearest rival data shows it is closely matched with the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% delta), but these rivals are in a different performance class for gaming. The RTX 4090's high boost clock of 2520 MHz is sustained in this game, as evidenced by the high FPS at 1440p and 1080p, where the GPU is not the bottleneck. At 4K, the boost clock is likely still maintained, but the sheer pixel throughput demands of the resolution reduce the average FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a mobile processor with 16 cores and 22 threads, based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The cache configuration includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and a shared 24 MB of L3 cache. Its benchmark scores show a multi-core Cinebench R23 score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759, placing it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs.

In Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are highest. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 319 FPS, and at 1080p Medium, it reaches 294 FPS. These numbers indicate that the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output, but the scaling between resolutions at the same settings reveals the CPU's limits. For instance, at Low settings, the FPS goes from 319 at 1080p to 286 at 1440p and 209 at 4K. This consistent drop suggests that while the CPU can drive high frame rates, it cannot maintain them as the GPU's workload increases.

The CPU's single-thread performance is crucial for a game like Inside, which relies on a single main thread for game logic and physics. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1759 indicates solid performance, but the data shows that at 1080p High, the system only achieves 231 FPS, which is lower than the 4K Low result of 209 FPS. This is a narrow margin, suggesting that at 1080p High, the CPU is nearing its limit. The PassMark single-thread score of 3509 corroborates this, showing that while the CPU is capable, it is not a top-tier desktop part. The nearest rival data shows the Core Ultra 7 165H is within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X in average score, which is a desktop CPU from a previous generation. This indicates that the mobile chip's performance is competitive but not exceptional for high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 104 FPS, which is playable but not as high as lower resolutions.

Q: How does the performance at 1440p Medium compare to 4K Medium?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 264, while at 4K Medium, it drops to 167 FPS. This represents a 36.7% decrease in performance when moving from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the data indicates the CPU is the limiting component. The average FPS at 1080p High is 231, while at 1440p High it is 166, showing a drop that is primarily due to increased GPU load. The high frame rates at 1080p, reaching up to 319 FPS at Low settings, suggest the GPU could output more if the CPU allowed it.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 142 FPS, observed at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This indicates that even at the most demanding resolution tested, the system does not drop below a smooth frame rate.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: This specific combo (Intel Core Ultra 7 165H + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090) ranks 896th out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the top 24% of all systems tested.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM matter for this game?

A: The 24 GB of VRAM is not a limiting factor for Inside, as the game's requirements are modest. The benchmark data shows no performance anomalies that would suggest VRAM capacity is a concern at any tested resolution or setting.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 896 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places the system in the top 24.1% of all configurations tested, which is a solid result. However, the ranking is not as high as the individual components' percentiles might suggest. The GPU sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 84th percentile among all CPUs. The combo's rank of 896 suggests that other systems with more balanced or higher-end CPU pairings achieve better results in this game.

The disparity between the component percentiles and the combo rank is likely due to the CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions. Since Inside is not a graphically intensive game, many high-end desktop CPUs paired with the RTX 4090 can achieve higher frame rates at 1080p and 1440p. The mobile Core Ultra 7 165H, while capable, does not provide the same headroom as a flagship desktop processor. At 4K, the combo performs closer to its potential, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor, but the overall ranking is dragged down by the 1080p results. The data shows that this is a capable system for Inside, delivering well over 100 FPS at 4K High, but it is not the top-tier performer that the RTX 4090 alone might suggest.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the settings should be chosen based on the target resolution and desired frame rate. The data shows that the system can handle 4K with High settings, achieving an average of 104 FPS. This is a smooth experience for a puzzle platformer, where precise timing is not as critical as in action games. However, for players who prefer higher frame rates, dropping to Medium at 4K yields an average of 167 FPS with a minimum of 142 FPS, which is a substantial improvement with likely minor visual differences.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, delivering 264 FPS average with a minimum of 224 FPS. This ensures a very smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 1440p drops to 166 FPS, which is still excellent, but the Medium preset offers a significant FPS boost for what is likely a negligible visual change in this art style. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 158 FPS, showing that it provides minimal benefit over High while costing performance. For 1080p, the High preset at 231 FPS is recommended, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that exceeds most monitors' refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 1080p only drops to 220 FPS, so it is also a viable option. The Low presets are not recommended, as they offer no clear advantage given the high frame rates already achievable at higher settings. Ultimately, the measured data suggests that Medium at 4K or High at 1440p provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, ensuring a fluid experience without unnecessary compromises.