Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The measured data shows frame rates that remain well above display refresh rates even at maximum settings, indicating a system with substantial headroom. This analysis walks through the resolution scaling, settings impact, and component roles based exclusively on the measured FPS and benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how this combo behaves under increasing pixel load. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 430 FPS at 1920x1080 to 385 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 321 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 25% reduction from 1080p to 4K, a relatively modest decline that suggests the CPU remains a significant contributor even at higher resolutions.

The Medium settings row shows a similar pattern with slightly more pronounced scaling. The average goes from 397 FPS at 1080p to 355 FPS at 1440p, down to 256 FPS at 4K. The jump from 1440p to 4K costs 99 FPS, which is the largest single-step drop in the entire dataset. This indicates that at Medium quality, the GPU begins to feel the pixel-count pressure more acutely, though the absolute numbers remain extremely high.

High settings produce the most interesting scaling behavior. The average frame rate at 1080p is 331 FPS, dropping to 255 FPS at 1440p and further to 160 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is less than half of the 1080p figure, showing that High settings amplify the resolution penalty. The delta from 1440p to 4K is 95 FPS, nearly identical to the Medium delta, which suggests the GPU workload scales similarly regardless of preset once the resolution climbs past 1440p.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling. The average starts at 325 FPS at 1080p, falls to 243 FPS at 1440p, and bottoms out at 153 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is 47% of the 1080p Ultra figure, making this the most demanding configuration in the test matrix. Still, 153 FPS at 4K Ultra is far beyond what most displays can refresh, so the limiting component is rarely the bottleneck in practical use.

The data indicates that Inside is not a particularly demanding title for this hardware. Even at 4K Ultra, the system delivers 153 FPS average, which exceeds the refresh rate of most high-end monitors. The scaling pattern shows that the GPU becomes progressively more limiting as resolution increases, but the CPU still plays a substantial role at 1080p where frame rates approach 430 FPS. The game appears to be well-optimized for modern hardware, with no single component creating a hard ceiling until the highest resolution and settings combination.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend entirely on the display refresh rate the user targets. For a standard 60 Hz display, every configuration in the dataset delivers more than double the necessary frame rate. Even the most demanding row—4K Ultra at 153 FPS—exceeds 60 Hz by a factor of 2.5.

For 120 Hz displays, the 4K Ultra setting at 153 FPS remains sufficient, as does 4K High at 160 FPS. The 4K Medium setting at 256 FPS provides substantial headroom, and the 1440p rows all exceed 240 FPS except for Ultra at 243 FPS, which barely misses the 240 Hz threshold. The 1080p rows all exceed 320 FPS, comfortably driving even 300 Hz panels.

For 240 Hz displays, the options narrow. At 4K, only the Low setting at 321 FPS exceeds 240 Hz. At 1440p, Low (385 FPS) and Medium (355 FPS) both qualify, while High at 255 FPS also clears the bar. At 1080p, all four settings exceed 240 FPS, with Low reaching 430 FPS and Ultra at 325 FPS.

The measured data suggests that High settings at the user's native resolution provide the best balance for most scenarios. At 4K, High delivers 160 FPS, which is 7 FPS more than Ultra at identical resolution. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal in this title, with only 7 FPS separating them at 4K (160 vs 153) and 12 FPS at 1440p (255 vs 243). The visual quality improvement from Ultra over High is unlikely to be perceptible in a puzzle platformer, yet the performance cost is measurable.

For users with 1440p displays, Medium settings at 355 FPS offer a compelling option, as the jump from Medium to High costs 100 FPS (355 to 255) while the visual difference in a game like Inside is likely subtle. The Medium row also provides the only min/max FPS data in the dataset, with a minimum of 302 FPS and maximum of 409 FPS at 1440p, indicating stable frame pacing with no significant dips.

The 1080p Medium setting at 397 FPS (min 337, max 456) shows similar stability. The recommendation is to prioritize High settings for visual fidelity if the display refresh rate is 160 Hz or lower, and to drop to Medium if targeting 240 Hz or above at 1440p or 4K. Ultra settings provide no meaningful benefit over High in this title, making them the least efficient choice.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 9th out of 2,887 tested combos in Inside. This top-0.3% placement reflects the exceptional capability of both components, though it is notable that the combo does not rank first overall. The data indicates that other combinations—likely those with even higher-end CPUs or more specialized configurations—achieve higher frame rates in this specific title.

The CPU alone sits at the 93rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823, delta -0.3%), the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438, delta +0.3%), the AMD EPYC 7343 (64,202, delta +0.7%), and the AMD EPYC 9124 (65,104, delta -0.7%). These deltas are all within 1% of each other, showing that the Ultra 7 265 is tightly clustered with several server-class parts in synthetic benchmarks.

The GPU holds the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (76,904, delta +1.1%), the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940, delta -1.6%), the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396, delta -2.1%), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605, delta -2.4%). The negative deltas for the Tesla parts indicate they outperform the RTX 5090 D in the aggregate benchmark, which is surprising given the 5090 D's newer architecture and higher memory bandwidth.

The rank of 9 out of 2,887 in Inside suggests that the game is particularly responsive to the combination's strengths. The measured FPS figures are exceptionally high, with no configuration dropping below 153 FPS average. The combo's ranking is likely driven by the CPU's strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960) and the GPU's raw throughput (104.8 TFLOPS FP32), both of which contribute to the high frame rates observed.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset provides a clear picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 325 to 430 depending on settings. Low leads at 430 FPS, followed by Medium at 397 FPS (min 337, max 456), High at 331 FPS, and Ultra at 325 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 105 FPS, representing a 24% performance penalty for maximum quality.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 385 FPS (Low), 355 FPS (Medium, min 302, max 409), 255 FPS (High), and 243 FPS (Ultra). The spread from Low to Ultra is 142 FPS, a 37% reduction. The Medium setting's minimum of 302 FPS shows that even the lowest frame in this configuration stays well above 300 FPS, indicating consistent performance.

At 3840x2160, the averages drop to 321 FPS (Low), 256 FPS (Medium, min 218, max 295), 160 FPS (High), and 153 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Low and Ultra widens to 168 FPS, a 52% reduction. The Medium setting's minimum of 218 FPS is the lowest measured frame in the entire dataset, but it still represents a comfortable experience for most displays.

The Medium settings row is the only one with complete min/max data across all resolutions. At 1080p, the min/max is 337/456; at 1440p, it is 302/409; and at 4K, it is 218/295. These ranges show that frame pacing remains stable, with the minimum never falling more than 15% below the average at any resolution. The High and Ultra rows lack min/max data, but the averages suggest similar stability.

The data reveals that the transition from Low to Medium costs relatively little performance at 1080p (33 FPS) and 1440p (30 FPS), but the cost grows to 65 FPS at 4K. Moving from Medium to High costs 66 FPS at 1080p, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 96 FPS at 4K. The High to Ultra transition is the smallest, costing only 6 FPS at 1080p, 12 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Ultra offers marginal gains over High, making High the more sensible choice.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC. It features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU contains 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores. Its boost clock reaches 2,407 MHz, and it delivers 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance.

In Inside, the GPU's role is substantial but not always the primary constraint. At 4K Ultra, the 153 FPS average suggests the GPU is being pushed, but the fact that 4K Low achieves 321 FPS indicates the GPU has enormous headroom when settings are reduced. The game's simple visuals—characteristic of a puzzle platformer—do not heavily tax the GPU's pixel throughput or texture units.

The GPU's 32 GB of VRAM is far beyond what Inside requires, given the game's 2016 release date. The 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and frame buffer operations never become a bottleneck, even at 4K with High settings. The measured FPS at 4K High (160) versus 4K Medium (256) shows a 96 FPS gap, which is more attributable to shading complexity than memory pressure.

The RTX 5090 D's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, RX 6850M XT, and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants—show delta percentages of roughly 1-2%, indicating the 5090 D sits in a competitive range despite its newer architecture. In Inside, the GPU's high FP32 throughput (104.8 TFLOPS) likely contributes to the strong 4K performance, as the game's shader work appears to scale well with compute capacity.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77,712, confirms its position near the top of the performance hierarchy. However, the game's relatively low graphical demands mean that even a mid-range GPU could likely achieve playable frame rates. The 5090 D's contribution is to push frame rates into the 300-430 FPS range at lower resolutions, far beyond what any display can currently show.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo in Inside?

A: The highest average FPS is 430, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the combo maintain playable frame rates at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the 4K Ultra configuration delivers an average of 153 FPS, which is well above standard display refresh rates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 has an average benchmark score of 64,640, which is 0.3% lower than the AMD EPYC 4464P (64,823) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438).

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

A: At 2560x1440, High settings produce 255 FPS average while Ultra produces 243 FPS, a difference of 12 FPS.

Q: Which resolution shows the largest FPS drop when moving from Low to Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160, the drop from Low (321 FPS) to Ultra (153 FPS) is 168 FPS, the largest absolute difference in the dataset.

Q: Does the Medium settings row show stable frame pacing across resolutions?

A: Yes, at 1080p the min/max is 337/456 FPS, at 1440p it is 302/409 FPS, and at 4K it is 218/295 FPS, indicating consistent performance.

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 by TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU includes 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core, with 192 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus, providing 102.4 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42,216 and a single-core score of 5,960. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 49,682, with a single-thread score of 4,689. The CPU sits at the 93rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 64,640. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.7% in either direction, showing tight competition.

In Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 430 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game. The fact that 1080p Ultra still achieves 325 FPS suggests the CPU can sustain high frame rates even when the GPU is doing more work, but the scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p (105 FPS drop) indicates the GPU becomes a factor even at this resolution.

The CPU's 20 cores and 20 threads are overkill for a puzzle platformer, which likely uses only a few threads. However, the high boost clock of 5.30 GHz and strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5,960) are more relevant for this game's workload. The Passmark single-thread score of 4,689 confirms the CPU's ability to handle the game's primary thread efficiently.

The CPU's 93rd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 64,640 place it in the top tier of processors, though its nearest rivals in the data include server-class EPYC parts with higher average scores. The 0.3% delta to the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64,438) shows that the non-F variant is essentially identical in performance, with the F version likely differing only in integrated graphics. The CPU's contribution to the combo's 9th place ranking out of 2,887 is significant, as the high frame rates at 1080p would not be possible without strong single-thread capability.