Inside

This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 in the puzzle platformer Inside. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet shows surprising CPU limitations at the lowest settings. The following sections break down the specific numbers to explain how this combination performs, where its strengths lie, and what settings deliver the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 319 FPS at 1920x1080 to 148 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 54% reduction in performance, which is a massive hit. At Medium settings, the drop is from 262 FPS to 118 FPS, a 55% decrease. The scaling is nearly identical in percentage terms, suggesting the workload is scaling consistently with the pixel count.

However, the story changes at High and Ultra settings. At High, the average drops from 164 FPS at 1080p to 74 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction. At Ultra, it goes from 156 FPS to 71 FPS, a 54% drop. While the percentage is similar, the absolute values are much closer together. This indicates that at these higher quality presets, the rendering load increases significantly, but the GPU is still the primary bottleneck.

The data shows that the scaling between 1080p and 1440p is less punishing. At Low, the frame rate goes from 319 FPS to 236 FPS, a 26% drop. At Ultra, it goes from 156 FPS to 112 FPS, a 28% drop. This is a more moderate reduction, indicating that the RTX 5070 has enough headroom at 1440p to maintain high performance before the 4K resolution pushes it to its limits.

The most telling detail is the Medium preset, which is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum frame times. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 223 FPS and the maximum is 302 FPS, giving a 79 FPS variance. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 160 FPS and the maximum is 217 FPS, a 57 FPS variance. At 3840x2160, the minimum is 101 FPS and the maximum is 136 FPS, a 35 FPS variance. The decreasing variance at higher resolutions suggests that as the GPU becomes more saturated, the frame pacing becomes more consistent, and the CPU has less influence on frame time spikes.

This scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the system is almost certainly CPU-bound at lower settings, given the extremely high frame rates. At 4K, the RTX 5070 is clearly the limiting factor, as the frame rates drop to a range that is more typical for a demanding GPU workload.

How This Combo Ranks

In the game Inside, this specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 1962 out of 3716 tested combos. This places it in the 53rd percentile of all tested configurations. This is a middling rank, which is surprising given the high-performance components involved.

The rank suggests that while the hardware is capable, Inside is not a demanding title that showcases the full potential of this combo. Many other combinations, likely with more powerful desktop CPUs or GPUs, outperform it. The data indicates that the RTX 5070's high frame rates are often capped or limited by other factors, such as the mobile CPU's power constraints.

When looking at the GPU's overall benchmark percentile, it sits at 82, meaning it is better than 82% of all GPUs in the database. The CPU's percentile is 84, better than 84% of all CPUs. However, their combined rank in this specific game is lower than either individual percentile would suggest. This discrepancy implies that the game's engine is not able to fully utilize the parallel processing power of both components simultaneously.

The rank of 1962 also reflects the fact that the RTX 5070 is a mobile-focused GPU, and the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a mobile processor. The combo is designed for laptops, and its performance in a lightweight game like Inside may not be representative of its capabilities in more GPU-intensive titles. The data shows a capable pairing, but not one that dominates the charts for this particular game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Inside, a game that does not require massive texture loads. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, with an effective speed of 28 Gbps. The GPU's base clock is 2325 MHz, with a boost clock of 2512 MHz.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 40377, placing it in the 82nd percentile. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% higher score), the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% higher), and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (1.2% lower). These are professional workstation cards, not gaming-focused hardware, which highlights the RTX 5070's strong compute performance relative to its gaming capabilities.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role becomes clear at 4K resolution. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate is 71 FPS, and at High it is 74 FPS. The difference between these two presets is minimal, only 3 FPS. This suggests that the GPU is hitting a performance ceiling at this resolution, and the additional graphical features in the Ultra preset do not cost much performance because the GPU is already saturated.

The GPU's raw compute power, listed as 30.87 TFLOPS for FP32, is the main driver of these results. The 6144 shading units and 192 texture mapping units are fully engaged at 4K. The data shows that the GPU is the definitive bottleneck at 3840x2160, as the frame rate stays relatively flat across Low (148 FPS) and Ultra (71 FPS), a 77 FPS difference that is entirely due to the increased pixel shading and texture work.

FAQ

Q: Does this system achieve a playable frame rate at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, the data shows playable performance. At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average frame rate is 74 FPS. With Ultra settings, it drops slightly to 71 FPS. Both are comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for the highest frame rates?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates. At Low settings, the average is 319 FPS. Even at Ultra settings, the average is 156 FPS. This resolution is best for maximum performance.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals based on benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070 has an average benchmark score of 40377. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, has a score that is 0.1% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro 5300 has a score that is 1.2% lower. The performance is very close among these cards.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The extremely high frame rate of 319 FPS at 1920x1080 Low settings indicates the CPU is the primary limiting factor. The GPU has enough power to render frames much faster, but the CPU cannot issue draw calls quickly enough to keep up.

Q: What is the total performance rank of this combo in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1962 out of 3716 tested combinations. This puts it in the middle of the pack, indicating that while it is fast, it is not the fastest pairing for this specific game.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 5070 have?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory. For a game like Inside, this is an ample amount, and the data shows no evidence of memory capacity being a bottleneck at any resolution or settings level.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data throughput. Its average benchmark score is 34083, placing it in the 84th percentile. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (0.3% higher score), the AMD EPYC 4244P (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (0.5% lower).

The CPU's role in Inside is most apparent at the lowest settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average frame rate is 319 FPS. This is a very high number, but it is not as high as one might expect from a GPU as powerful as the RTX 5070. The data suggests that the CPU's single-thread performance is the limiting factor here. The Cinebench R23 single-core score is 1759, which is respectable but not top-tier.

As the resolution increases, the CPU's influence wanes. At 4K Low settings, the frame rate is 148 FPS, which is still high. The CPU is no longer the bottleneck because the GPU is working much harder. The 16 cores and 22 threads are more than sufficient for this game, which is not heavily multithreaded. The CPU's multi-core performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551, is not fully utilized in this title.

The data indicates that in Inside, the CPU is only a limiting factor in the most CPU-light scenarios (1080p, Low). In all other configurations, the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's high boost clock of 5.00 GHz helps maintain high frame rates in these scenarios, but its overall architecture is not the primary driver of the gaming experience here.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings to use. At 3840x2160, the High preset is the best choice. It delivers an average of 74 FPS, which is a smooth experience. The Ultra preset only offers 71 FPS, a 3 FPS difference that is likely imperceptible. The Medium preset offers 118 FPS, which is much higher, but the visual fidelity is lower. For a puzzle platformer, the visual improvements from High to Ultra are not worth the 3 FPS loss, making High the optimal balance.

At 2560x1440, players have more options. The Medium preset delivers 189 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. The High preset drops to 118 FPS, which is still very smooth. The Ultra preset offers 112 FPS. For the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness, High is the recommended setting. It provides a 6 FPS improvement over Ultra with a minor visual downgrade.

At 1920x1080, the system is capable of extremely high frame rates. The Medium preset provides 262 FPS, which is ideal for competitive play or esports titles. The High preset offers 164 FPS, and the Ultra preset offers 156 FPS. For the best visual experience, Ultra is viable, but High is the sweet spot, offering a 8 FPS advantage over Ultra with minimal visual difference.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data. At 1920x1080, it ranges from 223 to 302 FPS. At 2560x1440, it ranges from 160 to 217 FPS. At 3840x2160, it ranges from 101 to 136 FPS. This consistency suggests that Medium is the most stable preset in terms of frame pacing. For the overall best experience, the High preset at 1080p or 1440p is recommended, as it offers high visual quality with frame rates well above 100 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is a detailed breakdown of the measured average frame rates across all tested configurations.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 319 FPS average.
• Medium: 262 FPS average, with a minimum of 223 FPS and a maximum of 302 FPS.
• High: 164 FPS average.
• Ultra: 156 FPS average.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 236 FPS average.
• Medium: 189 FPS average, with a minimum of 160 FPS and a maximum of 217 FPS.
• High: 118 FPS average.
• Ultra: 112 FPS average.

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 148 FPS average.
• Medium: 118 FPS average, with a minimum of 101 FPS and a maximum of 136 FPS.
• High: 74 FPS average.
• Ultra: 71 FPS average.

The data shows a clear hierarchy. At 1080p, the system is capable of over 300 FPS on the lowest settings. As settings increase, the frame rate drops, but even at the highest settings, it remains above 150 FPS. At 1440p, the frame rates are still high, with all presets except Ultra staying above 100 FPS. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, but the Medium and Low presets remain playable, while High and Ultra are just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset consistently provides the most stable frame times, as evidenced by the min/max data, making it a reliable choice across all resolutions.