Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and this particular pairing of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 produces frame rates that are almost absurdly high. The data here is less about whether the game is playable and more about how this specific hardware combination behaves under conditions where the GPU is often barely breaking a sweat. The measured results show a system that is entirely overqualified for the title, but the scaling patterns reveal a lot about where the bottlenecks actually lie.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking observation is how the frame rate scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 452.4 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low drops that to 406.1 FPS, and at 3840x2160 Low, it falls to 291.5 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is a 35.6% reduction in average frame rate. This is a massive decrease, but the absolute numbers are so high that it remains far beyond any display's refresh rate capability.

The pattern changes dramatically when you look at the High and Ultra presets. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 325.9 FPS at 1080p to 233.5 FPS at 1440p, and then to 144.9 FPS at 4K. That is a 55.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K on High. The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: 309.3 FPS at 1080p, 225.2 FPS at 1440p, and 140.8 FPS at 4K. The scaling here is steeper than at Low, which suggests that the added pixel workload of 4K is starting to engage the RTX 4090 more meaningfully, though the CPU is still delivering a very high baseline.

What this scaling tells us is that at 1080p and 1440p, the game is heavily CPU-limited. The RTX 4090 is capable of far more than the game can throw at it, so the 20-core processor becomes the limiting factor. The fact that 1080p Medium (416.1 FPS) is actually faster than 1440p Low (406.1 FPS) reinforces this, as the resolution change has a smaller impact than the settings change at these lower resolutions. The 4K results, particularly at Low and Medium, show the GPU finally becoming a more significant contributor, but even then, the lowest 4K result (140.8 FPS at Ultra) is still exceptionally smooth.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Inside, this specific pairing of the Core Ultra 7 265K and the RTX 4090 holds the rank of 3 out of 1671 tested combos. This places it in the top 0.2% of all configurations tested for this game. The data indicates that this is one of the fastest possible setups for this title, which is expected given the hardware involved.

The CPU itself sits at the 97th percentile when compared against all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the Intel Core Ultra 7 265KF, which is only 0.2% behind, and the Intel Core i9-14900KF, also 0.2% behind. The Intel Core i9-14900K trails by 0.9%, and the AMD EPYC 7413 is 1.2% behind. These deltas are tiny, meaning the Core Ultra 7 265K is essentially performing at the same level as these other top-tier chips in general compute, though the game-specific ranking is what matters here.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090 sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are somewhat unusual, including the NVIDIA Tesla T4, which is 0.4% behind, and the NVIDIA Tesla P40, which is 0.5% ahead. These are not gaming cards, so the comparison is mostly academic. The RTX 4090's average benchmark score places it in a class of its own for gaming, and the measured FPS in Inside confirms that no other consumer GPU would likely come close to these numbers.

FAQ

Q: Is this game CPU-bound or GPU-bound with this hardware?

A: The data shows a mixed picture. At 1080p and 1440p, the frame rates are so high that the game is clearly CPU-bound, as the RTX 4090 is not being fully utilized. At 4K, the GPU becomes more of a factor, but the Ultra preset still yields 140.8 FPS, indicating that even at the highest resolution, the CPU is providing a strong enough foundation to keep the GPU fed.

Q: Can this combination hit 240 FPS at 4K?

A: No. The highest 4K result is 291.5 FPS at Low settings. At Medium, it drops to 232.9 FPS, and at High it is 144.9 FPS. For a consistent 240 FPS experience at 4K, you would need to use Low or potentially Medium settings, but not High or Ultra.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz 4K monitor?

A: The High preset at 4K delivers an average of 144.9 FPS, which is just above 144Hz. The Ultra preset drops to 140.8 FPS, slightly below that threshold. For a 144Hz display, High settings at 4K is the safest choice, as it stays above the refresh rate in the average.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival, the 265KF?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265K has an average benchmark score that is 0.2% lower than the Core Ultra 7 265KF. This difference is negligible in real-world terms, and the game-specific performance of the combo is what ultimately matters, which is ranked 3rd overall.

Q: Why is the FPS so much higher at 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: The difference is 452.4 FPS versus 140.8 FPS, a 3.2x reduction. This is not just about resolution; the Low preset reduces the visual workload on the GPU significantly. At 1080p Low, the CPU is the primary limiter. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is working much harder, but the CPU is still capable of feeding it enough data to maintain 140.8 FPS.

Q: Is this hardware overkill for Inside?

A: The data strongly suggests yes. Even the most demanding preset at 4K produces an average of 140.8 FPS. This is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and this hardware is pushing frame rates that are several times higher than what is necessary for a smooth experience. The Core Ultra 7 265K is at the 97th CPU percentile, and the RTX 4090 is at the 91st GPU percentile, making this a top-tier combination for a game that does not demand such resources.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured results provide a complete matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 452.4 FPS on Low, 416.1 FPS on Medium, 325.9 FPS on High, and 309.3 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 143.1 FPS, which is significant, but even the lowest result is far beyond any standard display refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, the numbers remain exceptionally high. Low settings produce 406.1 FPS, Medium delivers 376 FPS, High hits 233.5 FPS, and Ultra reaches 225.2 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is substantial, a reduction of 142.5 FPS, which indicates a major increase in GPU workload between these two presets.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down as expected. Low settings yield 291.5 FPS, Medium produces 232.9 FPS, High averages 144.9 FPS, and Ultra settles at 140.8 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 88.1 FPS, which is the largest proportional drop in the entire dataset. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant graphical feature that heavily taxes the GPU at 4K resolution.

The data shows that the jump from Medium to High is the most costly in terms of frame rate at every resolution. At 1080p, the drop is 90.2 FPS, at 1440p it is 142.5 FPS, and at 4K it is 88.1 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra is comparatively minor, with drops of 16.6 FPS, 8.3 FPS, and 4.1 FPS at 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. This indicates that the Ultra preset adds very little visual overhead over High.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the High preset is the most balanced choice for this hardware. At 4K, it delivers an average of 144.9 FPS, which is just above the standard 144Hz refresh rate. The Ultra preset only drops to 140.8 FPS, but the 4.1 FPS difference is not worth the marginal visual improvement, if any. The data does not show what visual differences exist between High and Ultra, but the performance cost is minimal.

For users with 1440p 240Hz displays, the Medium preset is the best option. It produces 376 FPS at 1440p, which is far above the 240Hz threshold. High settings at 1440p drop to 233.5 FPS, which is slightly below 240Hz. If you have a 360Hz monitor, the Low preset at 1080p is the only way to get close to that refresh rate, with 452.4 FPS, though you would be sacrificing visual quality for a frame rate that the game does not need.

The 4K Ultra preset is technically playable at 140.8 FPS, but given that High is 144.9 FPS, there is no reason to use Ultra unless you are chasing every last bit of visual fidelity and have a 120Hz display. The most practical recommendation is to use High settings at 4K or Medium at 1440p, as these presets provide frame rates that exceed common high-refresh-rate displays without wasting performance on the negligible Ultra upgrade.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The 20 cores are arranged with a 192 KB L1 cache per core, a 3 MB L2 cache per core, and a shared 30 MB L3 cache. This is a very powerful desktop processor, evidenced by its 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is to provide a high enough frame time floor so that the RTX 4090 is never waiting on data. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (452.4 FPS) shows that the processor is capable of issuing draw calls and physics calculations at an extremely high rate. The benchmark results for the CPU, such as the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 50009 and single-core score of 7060, suggest that both multi-threaded and single-threaded performance are exceptional.

The game is not a heavy multi-threaded workload, so the single-core performance is likely the more relevant factor. The Cinebench R15 single-core score of 711 and the R20 single-core score of 2965 indicate strong per-core performance. The PassMark single-thread score of 4904 reinforces this. This combination of high single-thread speed and a large core count means the CPU is not a bottleneck in this game, even at 4K Ultra where the GPU is working hardest. The data shows that the CPU is delivering a consistent, high-level baseline that allows the RTX 4090 to operate near its potential, though the game itself is not demanding enough to fully stress either component.