Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows an extreme level of performance that far exceeds the demands of the game’s visuals. The measurements across all resolutions and settings indicate that this combination is effectively unconstrained by the hardware, delivering frame rates that are multiples of what a standard display can refresh. The following analysis breaks down the optimal settings, the roles of the CPU and GPU, and the raw data behind this dominant showing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination of Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 shows that the Ultra preset is the only sensible choice for a fully immersive experience, as it remains exceptionally fluid at every resolution tested. At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 143.1 FPS, which is still well above the 120Hz threshold and only 7 FPS lower than the High preset’s 150.1 FPS average. The gap between Ultra and High is minimal, making the visual fidelity upgrade essentially free in performance terms. At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 231.1 FPS, while the High preset reaches 240.4 FPS, again showing a negligible difference of under 10 FPS. Even at 1920x1080, where the CPU becomes more relevant, the Ultra preset’s 318.5 FPS average is only about 19 FPS behind the High preset’s 337.9 FPS, a difference that is imperceptible on any current monitor.

The data indicates that the Low and Medium presets are largely irrelevant for this hardware configuration, as they push frame rates into the 300-450 FPS range, which exceeds the refresh rate capabilities of nearly all consumer displays. At 1920x1080, the Low preset hits 453.4 FPS, and the Medium preset reaches 417.3 FPS, but these numbers offer no practical benefit over the Ultra preset’s 318.5 FPS since the latter is already beyond the 240Hz maximum of most high-end gaming monitors. The performance scaling from Medium to Ultra is surprisingly small across all resolutions, with the largest drop occurring at 3840x2160 where Ultra (143.1 FPS) is about 100 FPS below Medium (244.1 FPS), but even that difference does not justify sacrificing the enhanced shadows and post-processing effects that Ultra provides. Consequently, the data strongly supports selecting the Ultra preset at any resolution, as the measured averages never dip below the 143 FPS mark, ensuring a consistently smooth experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265K features 20 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.90 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, making it a high-end desktop processor from the Arrow Lake architecture. In the context of Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and AI routines, the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. The benchmark results confirm this, as the frame rates at 1920x1080, where CPU load is typically highest, are still exceptionally high, with the Ultra preset averaging 318.5 FPS. The processor’s 30 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample headroom for the game’s data, while the 20 threads ensure that any background tasks or engine threads are handled without contention.

The CPU’s single-thread performance is particularly relevant for game logic in a title like Inside, and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7060 points, coupled with a Passmark single-thread score of 4904, indicates strong per-core efficiency that keeps frame pacing stable. The data shows that when moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440, the average FPS on the Ultra preset drops from 318.5 to 231.1, which is a 27% reduction, but this is primarily attributed to the GPU’s workload rather than CPU limitations. The processor’s 97th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79102, places it in the top tier, and its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900K, is only 0.9% faster on average, confirming that the 265K is not holding back the RTX 5090 in this scenario. The 125W TDP and dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth further ensure that data transfer to the GPU is not a limiting factor, as evidenced by the consistent frame times across all settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus and a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, is the dominant component in this pairing, as evidenced by the benchmark results. The GPU’s boost clock of 2407 MHz and 21760 shading units provide immense raw compute power, allowing it to render Inside’s simple 2D scenes with minimal effort. The 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are far beyond what this game requires, and the data reflects this, with the GPU maintaining an average of 150.1 FPS at 4K on High settings and 143.1 FPS on Ultra. The VRAM capacity of 32 GB is massive for a game that likely uses less than 4 GB, but this headroom means there are no texture swapping or memory bandwidth constraints, even at 3840x2160.

The GPU’s performance percentile of 94 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 84306, puts it in the upper echelon, though the nearest rival data shows a curious parity with the RTX 5090 D (0.1% faster) and RTX 5050 Mobile (0.2% faster), which is likely an artifact of the benchmark aggregation method rather than a real-world comparison. The measured FPS at 3840x2160 shows a clear scaling pattern as settings increase: Low at 305.8, Medium at 244.1, High at 150.1, and Ultra at 143.1 FPS. This steep drop from Medium to High indicates that the High and Ultra presets introduce more demanding post-processing effects, such as volumetric lighting and advanced shadows, which, while still trivial for the RTX 5090, cause a measurable reduction in frame rate. The GPU’s memory clock of 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective) and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate ensure that even the most complex 2D sprites are rendered without any stutter, and the PCIe 5.0 x16 interface with 20 lanes from the CPU provides ample bandwidth for any asset streaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks first out of 1671 tested combos for Inside, according to the comboRankInGame field. This top position is unsurprising given the individual components’ high percentiles, but it is notable that the data shows no other pairing achieves higher average FPS in this specific game. The rank of 1 out of 1671 indicates that this configuration is the definitive best for maximizing performance in Inside, surpassing all other CPU-GPU pairings in the benchmark database. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 79102 (97th percentile) and the GPU’s average score of 84306 (94th percentile) combine to produce frame rates that are unmatched, with the lowest measured average being 143.1 FPS at 4K Ultra.

The nearest rival CPUs, such as the Intel Core i9-14900K, which is only 0.9% faster in average benchmark score, do not displace this combo because the RTX 5090’s raw power is the primary driver, and the 265K’s 20 cores are more than sufficient to feed it. Similarly, the GPU’s nearest rivals, including the RTX 5090 D (0.1% faster in average score), do not appear in any other combo that outperforms this one, as the 5090’s specific driver optimizations and memory configuration yield the best results in Inside. This ranking solidifies the combo as the reference point for any future benchmarks of this game, and the data suggests that any other hardware pairing would either be CPU-limited or GPU-limited at lower frame rates, making this setup the clear choice for enthusiasts seeking maximum headroom.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160 with the Low preset, the combo achieves an average of 305.8 FPS, which is the highest measured at that resolution.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 2560x1440?

A: At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 231.1 FPS, while the High preset averages 240.4 FPS, showing a difference of 9.3 FPS in favor of High.

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 in this game?

A: No, the data indicates the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1920x1080 Ultra, the combo still achieves 318.5 FPS, and the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.50 GHz boost clock provide ample headroom.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded across all settings and resolutions?

A: The lowest average FPS is 143.1, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations in Inside?

A: It ranks first out of 1671 tested combos, making it the top-performing configuration for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between the 265K and the Intel Core i9-14900K?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K has an average benchmark score of 79824, which is 0.9% higher than the 265K’s 79102, but this does not affect the combo’s top ranking in Inside.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 in Inside is presented below, organized by resolution and settings preset. All values are average FPS, as no minimum or maximum frame rates were recorded in the dataset.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 453.4 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 417.3 FPS, the High preset achieves 337.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 318.5 FPS. This shows a 30% reduction from Low to Ultra, but all values are above 300 FPS, indicating that the CPU and GPU are both operating well within their limits at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 405.2 FPS, the Medium preset averages 373.9 FPS, the High preset averages 240.4 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 231.1 FPS. The transition from Medium to High causes a significant 36% drop in performance, which suggests that the High preset enables more GPU-intensive effects, but the Ultra preset adds only a marginal additional load over High.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 305.8 FPS, the Medium preset averages 244.1 FPS, the High preset averages 150.1 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 143.1 FPS. This resolution shows the most pronounced scaling, with Ultra being 53% slower than Low, yet still maintaining a frame rate that is perfectly smooth for any high-refresh-rate display. The data across all resolutions confirms that the combo is capable of running the game at its highest visual quality without any practical performance compromises.