Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers an exceptional experience in Inside, a game that is fundamentally forgiving on modern hardware. The data shows that this pairing is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond the refresh rates of most displays, even at maximum settings and 4K resolution. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and settings, focusing on the balance between the CPU and GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily GPU-bound in this title, but with enough headroom in the CPU to ensure that frame rates remain staggeringly high even at the lowest resolution. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 430 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 353 FPS, a reduction of 77 FPS. The step to 4K Low yields 222 FPS, which is another 131 FPS lower. This steep decline as resolution increases is the classic signature of a GPU bottleneck; the RTX 5070 is being asked to render exponentially more pixels, while the CPU’s workload for a puzzle platformer remains relatively static.

The scaling pattern holds for the other presets. At High settings, the average frame rate goes from 245 FPS at 1080p, to 176 FPS at 1440p, and finally to 111 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset shows a similar trajectory: 234 FPS, 168 FPS, and 106 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, respectively. The differences between the High and Ultra presets at each resolution are small, which suggests that the visual uplift from Ultra comes with a marginal cost relative to the massive performance on offer. The fact that 4K Ultra still yields an average of 106 FPS indicates that the RTX 5070 has ample compute power for this game’s graphical demands, and the limiting factor is purely the fill-rate and shading requirements of the higher resolution.

Perhaps the most telling data point is the Medium preset, which is the only one with recorded min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the frame rate fluctuates between 334 FPS and 451 FPS, with an average of 392 FPS. This wide variance, even at 1080p, suggests that while the average is high, there are moments of heavier load that cause the frame time to spike. However, the minimum of 334 FPS is still so far above the threshold for smoothness that these fluctuations are unlikely to be perceptible. The same preset at 1440p shows a min of 240 FPS and a max of 325 FPS, while at 4K it drops to a min of 151 FPS and a max of 204 FPS. The narrowing of the frame rate range at 4K (a 53 FPS spread) compared to 1080p (a 117 FPS spread) further confirms that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as resolution rises, smoothing out the frame pacing by keeping the GPU consistently busy.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the primary driver of performance in Inside, as evidenced by the resolution scaling. The GPU’s specifications paint a picture of a capable mid-range part that is overkill for this title. It features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The memory clock is rated at 1750 MHz, with an effective speed of 28 Gbps. For a game like Inside, which uses a stylized monochromatic art style, VRAM capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor at any of the tested settings. The 12 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for the texture and geometry data required at 4K Ultra, and the lack of any min FPS data for the Ultra preset suggests stable performance without memory-related hitches.

The GPU’s core clocks are listed at a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz. The measured performance indicates that the card is hitting its boost clocks regularly, given the exceptional frame rates. The architecture is Blackwell 2.0, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a transistor count of 31,100 million on a 263 mm² die. The RTX 5070 also incorporates 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, though these are likely underutilized in a puzzle platformer that does not heavily rely on ray tracing or AI upscaling. The raw rasterization throughput is substantial, with an FP32 performance of 30.87 TFLOPS, which translates directly into the high pixel rates seen in the data. The pixel rate is listed at 201.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate at 482.3 GTexel/s, both of which are key metrics for a game that renders with high object density and particle effects.

The GPU’s standing among other tested parts is solid, with a percentile rank of 82 against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% slower) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (1.2% faster), which are professional workstation parts, not direct gaming competitors. This context is important: in the general benchmark database, the RTX 5070 sits in a specific tier, but for Inside, the performance is so high that the comparison is academic. The data shows that the GPU is never the bottleneck in preventing a high frame rate, even at 4K Ultra, where it still manages an average of 106 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance of visual fidelity and performance is achieved with the High preset. At 4K, High yields an average of 111 FPS, which is perfectly smooth for a game where precise timing and responsive controls matter. Moving to Ultra only costs 5 FPS at 4K (106 FPS), but the visual difference between High and Ultra in a game with such a limited color palette is likely negligible. The data suggests that the Ultra preset’s increased graphical load—likely involving more complex shadow rendering or post-processing effects—does not provide a proportional return on investment in terms of frame rate stability, though 106 FPS is still far from a compromise.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p displays (e.g., 240Hz or higher), the Low preset is the only one that can fully saturate the refresh rate, delivering an average of 353 FPS. However, the Medium preset at 282 FPS is a more balanced choice, as it will still exceed the refresh rate of most high-end monitors while providing better visual quality. The Medium preset’s min FPS of 240 at 1440p is a strong indicator that it can hold above the 240Hz threshold in most scenarios. At 1080p, the Medium preset’s average of 392 FPS is excessive for any current display, so the High or Ultra presets are recommended to prioritize image quality over raw frame rate, as they still deliver averages above 234 FPS.

The data clearly indicates that users should not be afraid to use the High preset at 4K. The 111 FPS average is comfortable for a game that requires quick reactions to environmental puzzles. The Low preset should be reserved for competitive play or for those who demand the absolute highest frame rates possible, but given that even the 4K Ultra preset maintains an average above 100 FPS, there is no hardware-related reason to sacrifice settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a comprehensive view of the system’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce an average of 430 FPS, Medium produces 392 FPS with a range of 334 to 451 FPS, High produces 245 FPS, and Ultra produces 234 FPS. The proximity of the High and Ultra averages (245 vs. 234 FPS) suggests that Ultra’s additional features have a minimal performance cost at this resolution, making it the best choice for 1080p users.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high: Low averages 353 FPS, Medium averages 282 FPS (spanning 240 to 325 FPS), High averages 176 FPS, and Ultra averages 168 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is again small (8 FPS), while the gap between Medium and High is substantial (106 FPS). This indicates that the High preset introduces a significant increase in shader complexity over Medium, but the GPU handles it with ease.

At 3840x2160, the performance profile is the most telling: Low averages 222 FPS, Medium averages 177 FPS (ranging from 151 to 204 FPS), High averages 111 FPS, and Ultra averages 106 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 45 FPS drop, and from Medium to High is a 66 FPS drop, which shows the increasing cost of higher-quality textures and lighting at 4K. The High to Ultra step is a mere 5 FPS, reinforcing the idea that Ultra is a minor visual upgrade over High for this game. The minimum FPS recorded for the 4K Medium preset (151 FPS) is still higher than the average FPS of many other games at 4K, underscoring the overall efficiency of this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 370 out of 3716 combos. This places it in the top 10% of all tested systems, which is a strong result, but not the absolute top tier. The percentile rank of the CPU is 93, and the GPU is 82, so the system’s overall rank is likely limited by the GPU’s position relative to other high-end cards that have been tested.

The combo rank of 370 indicates that there are 369 other combinations that perform better in this specific game. Those likely include systems with higher-tier GPUs, such as the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, or possibly configurations with more aggressive CPU overclocking. However, given that the 4K Ultra preset already achieves an average of 106 FPS, the practical improvement from a higher rank would be mostly academic, as the frame rates are already beyond the point of diminishing returns for a puzzle platformer. The data suggests that this combo is overqualified for the game, and the rank is a reflection of the sheer number of high-end parts in the database rather than any deficiency in this particular setup.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 plays a supporting role in Inside, but it is a critical one for ensuring that the GPU is never starved of data. The CPU features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This high boost clock is essential for the single-threaded performance that many game engines rely on for physics and game logic. The CPU’s architecture is Arrow Lake, built on a 3 nm process at TSMC, with a cache hierarchy that includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and a 30 MB shared L3 cache. This large cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing latency.

In the benchmark results, the CPU shows strong multi-threaded capabilities, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216 and a single-core score of 5960. The Passmark multi-thread score of 49682 and single-thread score of 4689 further confirm its strength. The data from the game itself shows that the CPU is not a limiting factor. At 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lowest, the system still manages 430 FPS, which reflects the CPU’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics updates at a rate that far exceeds what is visible on screen. The CPU’s TDP is 65 W, which is modest for a 20-core part, and it is paired with DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, offering a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s.

The nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD EPYC 4464P (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (0.3% faster), which are server and similar desktop parts, respectively. For Inside, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame pacing, and the high minimum FPS values recorded for the Medium preset (334 FPS at 1080p, 240 FPS at 1440p, 151 FPS at 4K) suggest that the CPU is handling the game’s logic without introducing stutters. The performance is sufficient to allow the GPU to be the sole determinant of frame rate scaling, which is the ideal scenario for a balanced system. The absence of any frame rate dips below the averages for the Low, High, and Ultra presets indicates that the CPU is never the bottleneck, even when the GPU is working at its hardest.