Inside

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT paired with the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 delivers a profoundly CPU-limited experience in Inside, a game whose modest graphical demands are utterly overwhelmed by the processor's immense single-thread throughput. Benchmark data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the combo maintains a playable 60 FPS average, while dropping to 1080p Low unlocks a staggering 281 FPS average, indicating that the GPU is rarely the bottleneck and the frame ceiling is dictated almost entirely by the CPU's capability to feed the render pipeline.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions in Inside reveals a classic sign of a system that is bound by the processor rather than the graphics card. Moving from 1080p High (140 FPS average) to 1440p High (101 FPS average) results in a 39 FPS drop, a 27.9% reduction. Scaling further to 4K High (63 FPS average) from 1440p High introduces another 38 FPS drop, a 37.6% reduction. This steep decline with increasing pixel count indicates that while the CPU sets a high ceiling, the GPU does eventually become a limiting factor at higher resolutions, particularly as the pixel fill rate demands escalate.

However, the picture changes dramatically when examining the Low settings preset. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 281 FPS average, but at 1440p Low, it still manages 202 FPS average, and at 4K Low, it holds onto 127 FPS average. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28.1%, and from 1440p to 4K is 37.1%, which is proportionally similar to the High preset. This consistency suggests that the GPU's workload scaling is the primary driver of these resolution-based performance changes, yet the absolute numbers remain exceptionally high, reinforcing that the CPU is providing an enormous performance headroom that the GPU cannot fully saturate even at 4K.

The most telling data point comes from the Ultra preset. At 1440p Ultra, the combo renders 96 FPS average, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 60 FPS average. This 37.5% performance hit from a single resolution step is the largest observed across all presets, indicating that the Ultra settings, which likely include more demanding shading and effects, push the RX 6600 XT to its limits. Meanwhile, the CPU continues to deliver far more frames than the GPU can process, meaning the frame rate at 4K Ultra is a pure reflection of GPU rasterization capability rather than CPU throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 1998th out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the 30.8th percentile of all combos, meaning roughly 69% of tested systems perform better in this title. While this rank might seem modest, it is crucial to contextualize it with the actual frame rates achieved. The rank is likely dragged down by the fact that many competing combos feature more powerful GPUs that can better exploit the high CPU headroom, while the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus become increasingly limiting at higher resolutions.

The data indicates a significant imbalance: the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a top-tier processor, evidenced by its 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs and an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P (avg score 64823, 0.3% faster), the AMD EPYC 9124 (avg score 65104, 0.7% faster), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (avg score 64438, 0.3% slower). In contrast, the RX 6600 XT sits in the 70th percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 24442, placing it in a lower tier. The frame rates in Inside reflect this mismatch: the CPU is capable of far more than the GPU can deliver, yet the combo still achieves excellent playability.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes, the data shows a 60 FPS average at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is exactly at the threshold for smooth gameplay, though it leaves no headroom for frame-time spikes.

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this combo?*

A: For the highest fidelity, 1440p Ultra at 96 FPS average offers a strong balance. For maximum smoothness, 1080p Medium at 225 FPS average provides an exceptionally fluid experience, while 1080p Low reaches 281 FPS average.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this configuration?

A: The GPU is the bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. Evidence shows 4K Ultra drops to 60 FPS average, while 4K Low achieves 127 FPS average, indicating the CPU can support far higher frame rates than the GPU can render.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in raw processing power?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265's average benchmark score of 64640 is nearly identical to the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823, 0.3% slower) and the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104, 0.7% slower), while being slightly faster than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438, 0.3% faster).

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The frame rate drops from 281 FPS average at Low to 134 FPS average at Ultra, a 52.3% reduction. This shows the Ultra preset imposes a significant graphical load on the GPU.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM of the RX 6600 XT a concern for this game?

A: The measured data does not indicate a VRAM capacity issue, as the game achieves playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra. The bottleneck at that setting appears to be raw GPU compute and memory bandwidth rather than capacity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 281 FPS, Medium yields 225 FPS average with a minimum of 191 and maximum of 258, High achieves 140 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 134 FPS average. The gap between Medium and High is substantial (85 FPS), while the difference between High and Ultra is minimal (6 FPS), suggesting that the High preset is a performance sweet spot for this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain elevated. Low settings deliver 202 FPS average, Medium produces 161 FPS average (min 137, max 186), High achieves 101 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 96 FPS average. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with an approximate 30% reduction in frame rate across all presets, which aligns with the increase in pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings still deliver a respectable 127 FPS average, Medium produces 101 FPS average (min 86, max 117), High drops to 63 FPS average, and Ultra settles at 60 FPS average. The most significant drop occurs between Low and Medium (26 FPS), followed by a 38 FPS drop between Medium and High. The final step to Ultra is relatively small (3 FPS), indicating that the GPU is fully saturated at this resolution and the settings changes have diminishing returns.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with the Navi 23 chip, plays a defining role in the higher-resolution performance of this combo. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus and a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s, the card provides sufficient memory throughput for Inside's visual assets. The GPU's boost clock of 2589 MHz and game clock of 2359 MHz allow for substantial compute throughput, evidenced by its 10.60 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 165.7 GPixel/s pixel rate.

The data shows that the GPU's capabilities are the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the combo achieves 60 FPS average. This is despite the GPU's 70th percentile ranking among all GPUs, which places it above average but not in the top tier. The card's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs are adequate for the game's puzzle-platformer visuals, but the 128-bit memory interface becomes a constraint when rendering at high pixel counts. The transition from 1440p Ultra (96 FPS) to 4K Ultra (60 FPS) demonstrates this limitation, as the 37.5% performance drop directly correlates with the 2.25x increase in pixel count.

Interestingly, the GPU's performance in standard benchmarks shows it is closely matched with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1630 (avg score 24277, 0.7% slower) and the Intel Arc A350M (avg score 24647, 0.8% faster). Yet in Inside, the RX 6600 XT's actual frame rates are significantly higher than what those rival scores might suggest, indicating that the game's workload is well-suited to the RDNA 2.0 architecture's strengths.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its influence is unmistakable in the benchmark results. With 20 cores and 20 threads, a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, this Arrow Lake-S processor provides exceptional single-thread performance, which is critical for Inside's game logic and physics calculations. The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core ensure that data is readily available for processing, minimizing latency and maximizing throughput.

The processor's benchmark scores are remarkable: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960. These figures place it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 64640 is nearly identical to its closest rivals, including the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823, 0.3% higher) and the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104, 0.7% higher). In the context of Inside, this CPU power translates directly to the ability to maintain extremely high frame rates, as evidenced by the 281 FPS average at 1080p Low.

The data strongly suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution or setting. Even at 4K Ultra, where the GPU is clearly saturated at 60 FPS average, the CPU has ample headroom to process the game's logic. This is further confirmed by the fact that the frame rate scales almost linearly with resolution and settings changes, which is a hallmark of GPU-bound scenarios. The CPU's 20 threads are more than sufficient for Inside's workload, and the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is never a limiting factor. The fact that this combo ranks 1998th out of 2887 demonstrates the GPU's relative weakness compared to the CPU's strength, rather than any deficiency in the processor itself.