Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that places minimal stress on modern hardware, and the measured results for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 confirm this. The combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with the data showing a clear pattern where the system is rarely pushed to its limits. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance, settings recommendations, and the respective roles of the CPU and GPU in this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for this hardware combination, as it provides the highest visual fidelity without sacrificing playability at any resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 309 FPS, which is only 16 FPS lower than the High preset’s 325 FPS, yet it offers superior graphical quality. Similarly, at 2560x1440, Ultra yields 222 FPS average, and even at the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, it maintains a robust 140 FPS average. These figures indicate that the system has ample headroom to run the game at its maximum settings without encountering performance dips.

The data suggests that choosing a lower preset is unnecessary for performance gains, as the differences between Medium and Ultra are relatively small in terms of average FPS. For instance, at 1080p, Medium produces 397 FPS and Ultra produces 309 FPS; while Medium is faster, the 88 FPS difference is unlikely to be perceptible on most displays, which typically refresh at 144Hz or lower. At 4K, the gap narrows further, with Medium averaging 235 FPS and Ultra at 140 FPS, both of which are far above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Consequently, the Ultra preset offers the best balance of visual polish and performance, with no measurable downside in this context.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (430 FPS at 1080p, 385 FPS at 1440p, and 293 FPS at 4K), sacrifices significant visual detail for numbers that exceed the refresh rate of virtually all consumer monitors. Given that the Ultra preset already achieves frame rates well above 140 FPS at 4K, the additional performance from Low is superfluous. Therefore, the recommendation is to use Ultra settings for the best experience, as the hardware clearly has the capability to handle it without compromise.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 37th out of 2887 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 1.3% of all configurations. This high ranking is consistent with the exceptional raw performance of both components, though the data shows that the game itself is not particularly demanding. The combo’s percentile position indicates that while there are 36 other combinations that perform better, the vast majority of systems tested will deliver significantly lower frame rates in Inside.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 64640 places it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD EPYC 4464P (scoring 64823, a delta of -0.3%) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (scoring 64438, a delta of 0.3%). These rivals are extremely close in performance, with deltas under 1%, suggesting that the CPU’s computational power is not a limiting factor in this game. Similarly, the GPU’s average benchmark score of 60347 places it in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals like the Intel Arc Pro A60 (scoring 60326, a delta of 0%) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (scoring 61896, a delta of -2.5%). The tight clustering of these scores indicates that the RTX 4090 is near the top of the performance hierarchy, though its rank in this specific game is more influenced by the game’s low system requirements than by raw component strength.

The combo rank of 37 suggests that in Inside, the bottleneck is not the hardware but rather the game’s engine, which capably utilizes the available resources. The data implies that users with this specific configuration are unlikely to experience any performance-related issues, as the system operates far above the thresholds where frame rate drops would become noticeable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a high-end graphics card with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, a 384-bit memory bus, and a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 16384 shading units, provide substantial compute capability, with an FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS. In Inside, these specifications translate to exceptionally high frame rates, even at the most demanding settings. The GPU’s memory capacity is far more than sufficient for this title, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple textures and geometry; the 24 GB VRAM is unlikely to be fully utilized, but it ensures no memory-related stuttering occurs.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling with resolution. When moving from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160, the average FPS at Ultra settings drops from 309 to 140, a reduction of 54.7%. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where increasing pixel count directly impacts the rendering load. The RTX 4090’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present, but Inside is not a ray-traced or DLSS-enabled title, so these features are not leveraged in the benchmark results. Instead, the GPU’s raw rasterization power, reflected in its 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,290.2 GTexel/s texture rate, is what drives the high frame rates.

The GPU’s average benchmark score of 60347, which ranks in the 88th percentile, indicates that it is a top-tier card, but its nearest rivals in synthetic tests show minimal performance gaps (e.g., a 0% delta with the Intel Arc Pro A60). This suggests that in a lightweight game like Inside, the RTX 4090’s performance is not fully exercised; the card operates well below its compute ceiling, as evidenced by the 430 FPS at 1080p Low settings. Consequently, the GPU role here is to provide a vast performance buffer, ensuring that the game runs flawlessly at any resolution and settings combination.

FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 140, with no reported minimum or maximum values.

Q: How does the combo rank compare to other tested systems in Inside?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination ranks 37th out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the top 1.3% of all configurations.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves an average of 385 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 222 FPS, representing a 163 FPS difference in favor of Low.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU limit performance in Inside?

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor, as frame rates drop significantly with resolution increases (e.g., from 309 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 140 FPS at 4K Ultra), while the CPU’s performance is ample for this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the Medium preset at 1080p?

A: The minimum FPS for the Medium preset at 1920x1080 is 337, with a maximum of 456 and an average of 397.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 4090 compared to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score is 60347, which is 0% different from the Intel Arc Pro A60 (scoring 60326) and 2.5% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (scoring 61896, indicating the rival is faster).

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance scaling across resolutions. At the High settings preset, the average frame rate drops from 325 FPS at 1920x1080 to 234 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 147 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 54.8% reduction in FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is consistent with the increase in pixel count (from 2.07 million to 8.29 million pixels). Similarly, at the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 430 at 1080p to 385 at 1440p (a 10.5% decrease) and then to 293 at 4K (a 23.9% decrease from 1440p). The scaling is not linear, indicating that other factors, such as memory bandwidth and fill rate, come into play at higher resolutions.

The fact that the FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is proportionally larger at higher settings (High: 54.8% drop, Low: 31.9% drop) suggests that the GPU is the limiting component. At Low settings, the rendering load is reduced, allowing the CPU to keep up more easily, but at Ultra settings, the GPU’s pixel processing capabilities are taxed more heavily. The RTX 4090’s 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth and 443.5 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient to handle 4K, as evidenced by the 140 FPS average at Ultra, but the data shows a clear trend where resolution increases directly impact frame rates. This is a classic GPU-bound scenario, where the CPU’s role is secondary.

The Medium preset provides the most detailed data, with minimum and maximum FPS values recorded. At 1080p, the Medium preset averages 397 FPS with a range of 337 to 456; at 1440p, it averages 355 FPS with a range of 302 to 409; and at 4K, it averages 235 FPS with a range of 200 to 270. The narrowing of the FPS range at higher resolutions (e.g., a 119 FPS spread at 1080p versus a 70 FPS spread at 4K) indicates that the system becomes more consistent as the GPU load increases, further supporting the conclusion that the GPU is the bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. It features 30 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. In Inside, a game that is not CPU-intensive, the processor’s capabilities are more than adequate, as evidenced by the high frame rates achieved even at low resolutions where CPU load is typically higher. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42216 and single-core score of 5960 place it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, indicating strong overall performance.

The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a limiting factor in this game. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 430 FPS, which is near the theoretical maximum for the GPU, suggesting that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to prevent any bottleneck. The CPU’s performance in synthetic tests, such as a Passmark single-thread score of 4689 and a multithread score of 49682, further underscores its capability. The nearest CPU rivals, such as the AMD EPYC 4464P (scoring 64823, a delta of -0.3%) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (scoring 64438, a delta of 0.3%), show that the 265 is well-matched with other high-end processors, but these differences are irrelevant for Inside’s workload.

The CPU’s 20 cores and 20 threads are designed for heavily threaded workloads, but Inside is a puzzle platformer that likely uses only a few cores. This means that the CPU’s high single-core performance, as reflected in its Cinebench R15 single-core score of 600 and Passmark single-thread score of 4689, is what matters most for this game. The data confirms that the CPU’s role is to provide a stable foundation for the GPU, and it does so effectively, with no signs of CPU-induced frame rate drops even at the highest settings and resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS values are as follows: Low preset averages 430 FPS, Medium averages 397 FPS (with a range of 337 to 456), High averages 325 FPS, and Ultra averages 309 FPS. These numbers show that even at the lowest resolution, the system delivers frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most gaming monitors, making the experience exceptionally smooth.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops but remains high: Low averages 385 FPS, Medium averages 355 FPS (with a range of 302 to 409), High averages 234 FPS, and Ultra averages 222 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at High settings (a 28% drop from 325 to 234 FPS) and least at Low settings (a 10.5% drop from 430 to 385 FPS), indicating that higher settings amplify the impact of resolution scaling.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values are: Low averages 293 FPS, Medium averages 235 FPS (with a range of 200 to 270), High averages 147 FPS, and Ultra averages 140 FPS. The 4K resolution significantly reduces frame rates, particularly at High and Ultra settings, where the drop from 1440p is 37.2% (from 234 to 147 FPS) and 36.9% (from 222 to 140 FPS), respectively. Even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains an average of 140 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard, ensuring a fluid experience.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the FPS ranges from 337 to 456; at 1440p, from 302 to 409; and at 4K, from 200 to 270. This data shows that the system’s frame time consistency improves at higher resolutions, with the spread between minimum and maximum FPS narrowing from 119 FPS at 1080p to 70 FPS at 4K. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that this hardware combination is overkill for Inside, providing maximum performance at all settings and resolutions.