Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016 that places minimal stress on modern hardware, and the measured data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 reflects this. The benchmark results show a combination capable of delivering extremely high frame rates across all tested settings and resolutions, with the primary challenge being the selection of a preset that balances visual fidelity against the display's refresh rate. This analysis walks through the measured FPS data to determine the optimal configuration, the roles of the GPU and CPU, and how this specific combo ranks against other tested pairings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience for this hardware combination. Across all three tested resolutions, the Medium preset provides a compelling balance, offering a significant jump in frame rate over High and Ultra settings while maintaining a smooth experience. At 1920x1080, Medium produces an average of 282 FPS, which is 105 FPS higher than High (177 FPS) and 114 FPS higher than Ultra (168 FPS). The Medium preset also reports a minimum frame rate of 240 FPS, ensuring that even the most demanding scenes stay well above the refresh rate of common high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset continues to excel, delivering an average of 203 FPS with a minimum of 173 FPS. This is a substantial improvement over High (127 FPS) and Ultra (121 FPS), offering a 60% performance uplift over the High preset. The data suggests that for users with 144Hz or 165Hz displays, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, as it guarantees frame rates that fully utilize such panels without any perceptible dips. The 4K resolution (3840x2160) further solidifies the Medium preset's position, with an average of 128 FPS and a minimum of 108 FPS. This is the only resolution where the minimum frame rate dips below the 144 FPS threshold, but it remains comfortably above 100 FPS, making it an excellent choice for 120Hz displays.

For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the Ultra preset remains viable but with diminishing returns. At 1080p, Ultra averages 168 FPS, and at 1440p it averages 121 FPS. These are still playable numbers, but the data shows that the visual upgrade from Medium to Ultra is not justified by the significant frame rate cost. The Low preset is the outlier, producing exceptionally high frame rates—353 FPS at 1080p, 254 FPS at 1440p, and 160 FPS at 4K—but it likely sacrifices too much in visual fidelity for a game that relies heavily on atmosphere and lighting. The benchmark results indicate that the Medium preset is the optimal choice for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination across all resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700's specifications play a crucial role in the measured performance. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. This substantial memory allocation is more than sufficient for a game like Inside, which has modest texture and geometry requirements. The large frame buffer ensures that there are no memory-related bottlenecks, even at the highest 4K resolution tested, where the GPU maintains an average of 80 FPS on High settings. The high memory bandwidth also contributes to the GPU's ability to process frames quickly, as evidenced by the strong performance scaling from 1080p to 4K.

The GPU's clock speeds are another factor in its performance. With a base clock of 1900 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz, the RX 7700 can dynamically adjust its frequency to meet the demands of the game. The game clock of 2041 MHz represents the typical sustained frequency during gaming workloads. The data shows that the GPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios, as the frame rates at 1080p and 1440p are exceptionally high. The GPU's compute capabilities, including 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs, are more than adequate for the 2D side-scrolling perspective and limited particle effects of Inside.

The GPU's generation and architecture also inform its performance. Built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a 5 nm process, the RX 7700 is a modern design that efficiently handles the game's rendering demands. The benchmark results show that the GPU's strengths are fully utilized in this title, as it scales well with resolution increases. The transition from 1080p to 1440p only reduces the average frame rate by approximately 28% on Medium settings (from 282 FPS to 203 FPS), and the transition from 1440p to 4K reduces it by another 37% (from 203 FPS to 128 FPS). This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is well-suited to the game's workload, with a slight shift toward CPU dependence at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern in how performance scales with resolution. At 1920x1080, the combination achieves an average of 282 FPS on Medium settings. Moving to 2560x1440 reduces this to 203 FPS, a 28% drop. At 3840x2160, the average further drops to 128 FPS, a 37% reduction from 1440p. This scaling is consistent across all settings presets. For instance, on High settings, the frame rates are 177 FPS at 1080p, 127 FPS at 1440p, and 80 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28% and 37% respectively, showing a remarkably consistent scaling pattern regardless of the graphics preset.

This consistency indicates that the limiting component shifts subtly as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (over 280 FPS on Medium) that the CPU's processing capabilities likely begin to impose an upper bound. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265, with its 20 cores and 20 threads, is a powerful processor, but even it cannot feed the GPU with enough data to exceed 353 FPS at Low settings. As resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload becomes more significant, and the frame rates drop proportionally, suggesting that the RX 7700 becomes the primary limiting factor at 4K.

The data also shows that the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets grows with resolution. At 1080p, Low (353 FPS) is 2.1 times faster than Ultra (168 FPS). At 1440p, Low (254 FPS) is also 2.1 times faster than Ultra (121 FPS). At 4K, Low (160 FPS) is 2.1 times faster than Ultra (76 FPS). This consistent ratio indicates that the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity are being scaled uniformly by the resolution and settings changes, with no unexpected bottlenecks. The minimum frame rates, available only for the Medium preset, show that performance is stable, with the 4K minimum of 108 FPS being 84% of the average, indicating a well-optimized game engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate is 353 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset. The lowest average is 76 FPS, recorded at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to High in terms of performance at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 203 FPS, which is 76 FPS higher than the High preset's 127 FPS. The Medium preset also provides a minimum frame rate of 173 FPS, while the High preset's minimum is not reported.

Q: Is the combo capable of 4K gaming at playable frame rates?

A: Yes, the data shows the combo can average 80 FPS at 3840x2160 on High settings and 76 FPS on Ultra. On Medium settings, it averages 128 FPS with a minimum of 108 FPS, making 4K gaming a viable option.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on Medium settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 282 FPS at 1920x1080 to 128 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a reduction of 154 FPS, or approximately 55% of the 1080p performance.

Q: Does the GPU or CPU appear to be the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the exceptionally high frame rates (over 280 FPS on Medium) suggest the CPU is nearing its limit in feeding the GPU. The GPU is so fast that the processor's single-threaded performance becomes a potential constraint, though the exact bottleneck is not quantified in the data.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like for the Medium preset?

A: The data provides minimum and maximum FPS for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 240 to 325 FPS; at 1440p, it is 173 to 234 FPS; and at 4K, it is 108 to 147 FPS. The minimum values are consistently above 70% of the average, indicating stable performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination is ranked 1161 out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 60th percentile of all tested pairings. While this rank might seem modest, it is important to consider the context of the game's age and the performance levels achieved. The combo is clearly not among the top performers, which would be dominated by more powerful GPUs, but it is also not in the lower tier. The rank reflects a mid-to-high-tier position, where the combination of a high-end CPU and a mid-range GPU delivers strong results.

The CPU's own benchmark data provides context for its contribution. The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 sits in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 64640. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P (with a 0.3% lower score) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (with a 0.3% higher score). This indicates that the CPU is performing at a high level, but the overall combo rank is constrained by the GPU's capabilities. The GPU, in contrast, is in the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 15852. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% lower) and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (1% higher), showing that the RX 7700 is a solid mid-range performer.

The disparity between the CPU's high percentile (93rd) and the GPU's lower percentile (58th) explains why the combo ranks in the middle of the pack. In a game like Inside, which is not graphically demanding, the GPU's performance is sufficient to achieve high frame rates, but it does not boost the combo to the top tier. The data suggests that pairing a more powerful GPU with the Core Ultra 7 265 would result in a higher rank, but the current combination represents a balanced system for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high refresh rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process. Its base clock of 2.40 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz provide substantial single-threaded performance, which is crucial for a game like Inside that likely relies on a single primary game logic thread. The CPU's benchmark scores confirm its strength: a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960 and a multi-core score of 42216. In the Passmark suite, it achieves a single-thread score of 4689 and a multithread score of 49682.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where frame rates are exceptionally high. At 1920x1080 on Low settings, the average FPS reaches 353, which is likely approaching the limit of what the CPU can feed to the GPU for this game. The fact that the frame rates do not scale linearly with resolution at the lower settings suggests that the CPU is a limiting factor in these scenarios. For example, moving from 1080p to 1440p on Low settings reduces the average from 353 FPS to 254 FPS, a 28% drop, which is less than the proportional increase in pixel count, indicating that the CPU is still able to keep up.

The CPU's 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core help ensure that game data is readily accessible, reducing latency and improving frame delivery. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s provides ample data throughput for the game's assets. The CPU's 20 threads also handle background tasks efficiently, ensuring that the game's main thread is not starved of resources. Overall, the data shows that the Core Ultra 7 265 is a powerful partner for the RX 7700, ensuring that the GPU is not bottlenecked in this title, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU becomes the primary determinant of performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following is the complete set of measured frame rate data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination in Inside:

1920x1080:

• Low settings: Average 353 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Medium settings: Average 282 FPS, with a minimum of 240 FPS and a maximum of 325 FPS.
• High settings: Average 177 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Ultra settings: Average 168 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.

2560x1440:

• Low settings: Average 254 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Medium settings: Average 203 FPS, with a minimum of 173 FPS and a maximum of 234 FPS.
• High settings: Average 127 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Ultra settings: Average 121 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.

3840x2160:

• Low settings: Average 160 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Medium settings: Average 128 FPS, with a minimum of 108 FPS and a maximum of 147 FPS.
• High settings: Average 80 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.
• Ultra settings: Average 76 FPS. No minimum or maximum reported.

The data reveals a consistent hierarchy across all resolutions: Low is the fastest, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The performance gap between High and Ultra is minimal, with Ultra being only 5% slower at 1080p (168 vs 177 FPS), 5% slower at 1440p (121 vs 127 FPS), and 5% slower at 4K (76 vs 80 FPS). In contrast, the gap between Medium and High is substantial, with High being 37% slower at 1080p (177 vs 282 FPS), 37% slower at 1440p (127 vs 203 FPS), and 37% slower at 4K (80 vs 128 FPS). This suggests that the High and Ultra presets impose a similar rendering load, while Medium represents a significant step down in graphics quality but a major step up in performance.

The Medium preset is the only one with reported minimum and maximum frame rates, indicating that it was the focus of more detailed testing. The consistency of the minimum frame rates across resolutions is notable: 240 FPS at 1080p, 173 FPS at 1440p, and 108 FPS at 4K. These minimums are 85%, 85%, and 84% of their respective averages, demonstrating that the game maintains stable frame delivery without major hitches. The maximum frame rates (325, 234, and 147 FPS) show that there is headroom for even higher performance in less demanding scenes. This data provides a complete picture of the combo's capabilities, showing that it can deliver a smooth and responsive experience across all settings, with the Medium preset offering the best combination of visual quality and raw performance.