Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a game whose demands are modest enough that this combination often shifts the bottleneck away from the processor entirely. The data shows a puzzle platformer that is surprisingly scalable, with frame rates ranging from a highly playable 47 FPS at 4K Ultra to a blistering 216 FPS at 1080p Low.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread desktop processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, which provides substantial headroom for single-threaded performance that older titles like Inside often rely upon. The processor’s L3 cache is 30 MB shared, with a per-core L2 cache of 3 MB and 192 KB of L1 per core, alongside support for DDR5 memory across a dual-channel interface.

In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is largely secondary. The game is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and logic, meaning the massive multi-threaded capability of the Ultra 7 265—which scores 42,216 points in Cinebench R23 multicore—is not stressed. The processor’s single-core performance, which is often more relevant for game logic, is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960 points. This places the Ultra 7 265 in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is far more powerful than what Inside requires.

Benchmark results show the Ultra 7 265 sits very close to its nearest rivals in raw compute, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. It trails the AMD EPYC 4464P by just 0.3% and the AMD EPYC 9124 by 0.7%, while leading the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F by 0.3% and the AMD EPYC 7343 by 0.7%. These are server-class processors, which underscores that the Ultra 7 265 is operating in rarefied air for a desktop chip. For Inside, the processor is effectively never the limiting factor; its clock speeds and cache architecture ensure that frame pacing is consistent, allowing the GPU to dictate the final output. The data suggests that even at the lowest resolution tested, 1080p, the CPU can feed frames fast enough to hit 216 FPS, demonstrating that its 5.30 GHz boost clock is sufficient to avoid any bottleneck in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the true workhorse in this pairing for Inside. Built on the Turing architecture with the TU116 chip on a 12 nm process, this GPU features 1,408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. Its memory configuration is a 6 GB GDDR6 buffer on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The card’s base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz, and its memory runs at an effective speed of 14 Gbps.

Given that the GTX 1660 SUPER is in the 53rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12,986, it is a mid-range part that is well-suited for a game like Inside, which does not demand heavy geometry or complex shaders. The GPU’s performance in the game is highly variable based on settings, which points to the graphics card being the primary determinant of frame rate. The 6 GB of VRAM is more than ample for Inside’s art style, which uses a stark silhouette aesthetic with limited textures.

The GTX 1660 SUPER’s closest rivals according to the data include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, the AMD Radeon RX 580, and the AMD Radeon 740M. It is 0.4% ahead of the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and the RX 580, and 0.9% ahead of the Radeon 740M, while trailing the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 by 0.7%. This indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is a consistent performer in its class. For Inside, the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are the key metrics. The card’s pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are sufficient to handle the game’s 2D sprites and lighting effects at high resolutions, though the frame rate drops as resolution and settings increase, showing the GPU is being pushed harder.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions, which reveals the nature of the bottleneck. At 1080p High, the average frame rate is 108 FPS. Moving to 1440p High, it drops to 78 FPS, a reduction of 30 FPS (or roughly 28%). At 4K High, the average is 49 FPS, which is a further drop of 29 FPS (or roughly 37%) from 1440p. This pattern indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the limiting component, as the load on the GPU increases with pixel count.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution further confirms this. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 216 FPS, which drops to 173 FPS at Medium, 108 FPS at High, and 103 FPS at Ultra. This shows a wide performance envelope, with the GPU having to work progressively harder as image quality improves. At 4K, the spread is even more dramatic: 98 FPS at Low, 78 FPS at Medium, 49 FPS at High, and 47 FPS at Ultra.

The fact that the 4K Low score of 98 FPS is nearly double the 4K High score of 49 FPS suggests that the game’s higher presets introduce effects like advanced lighting or post-processing that heavily tax the GPU’s shading units. The CPU’s role in this scaling is minimal; the processor’s performance is consistent across all resolutions, meaning the frame rate differences are almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. There is no data to suggest a CPU bottleneck, as even the most demanding CPU scenario at 1080p Low yields the highest frame rates, implying that the processor can keep up with the GPU’s output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides exact average frame rates for twelve distinct configurations, spanning three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. The Low preset yields an average of 216 FPS, while Medium produces 173 FPS, with a minimum of 147 FPS and a maximum of 199 FPS. High settings reduce the average to 108 FPS, and Ultra brings it down to 103 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows a clear step down. Low settings achieve 156 FPS on average. Medium settings are close behind at 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS. High settings drop to 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 74 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1440p is still very playable, even at the highest quality preset.

The 4K resolution, 3840x2160, is where the GTX 1660 SUPER starts to struggle. Low settings produce an average of 98 FPS, which is acceptable. Medium settings yield 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS. High settings drop to 49 FPS, and Ultra is nearly identical at 47 FPS. The minimal difference between High and Ultra at 4K suggests that the Ultra preset adds little visual benefit for the performance cost, or that the GPU is hitting a hard limit. The lack of minimum FPS data for most rows except Medium implies that the game’s performance is generally stable, with the Medium preset showing the frame dips that are typical of more demanding scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Inside, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 2,464 out of 2,887 total combinations. This places it in the lower half of all tested systems, which is an expected result given the age and tier of the GPU. The rank is a reflection of the overall performance across all tested resolutions and settings, and it is heavily influenced by the GPU’s mid-range standing.

The combo’s rank is not a commentary on its playability, however. The data shows that it achieves playable frame rates (above 60 FPS) in most configurations, with the exception being 4K High and 4K Ultra. The rank of 2,464 is more indicative of the fact that many other combos feature higher-end GPUs that can maintain higher frame rates at 4K. The CPU’s high percentile ranking (93rd) does not significantly improve the combo’s position because the game is not CPU-bound. Instead, the GTX 1660 SUPER’s 53rd percentile ranking drags the overall combo down relative to systems with faster graphics cards. The distance between the combo’s rank and the top of the list is primarily a GPU gap, not a CPU deficiency. This suggests that for a game like Inside, the choice of GPU is far more critical than the CPU for achieving top-tier frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p displays, the data strongly supports using the Ultra preset, which delivers an average of 103 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, and it provides the best visual quality without sacrificing performance. The High preset is also viable at 108 FPS, but Ultra offers more graphical features for a negligible frame rate cost.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is the recommended choice. It delivers an average of 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 FPS, ensuring smooth playback even in demanding scenes. The High preset at 78 FPS is playable, but the Medium preset offers a significant frame rate advantage (47 FPS higher average) while still looking good. The Ultra preset at 74 FPS is also an option, but it does not provide a meaningful visual upgrade over High to justify the lower frame rate.

At 4K, the choices are more constrained. The Low preset is the only option that consistently delivers a high frame rate, with an average of 98 FPS. The Medium preset is still playable at 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 FPS, which is close to the 60 FPS baseline. This makes Medium the best balance for 4K, as it provides a better visual experience than Low while remaining smooth. The High and Ultra presets, at 49 FPS and 47 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a consistent experience, as they fall below the 60 FPS threshold. For players prioritizing a locked 60 FPS, 4K Medium is the highest quality setting that meets that goal; for those who prefer higher fidelity, 1440p High or Ultra provides a superior image with a much higher frame rate.