Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and the measured data for this specific configuration—the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090—shows an extraordinary level of performance that far exceeds the demands of the title. The benchmark results indicate that this combo delivers frame rates well beyond the refresh rates of most displays, positioning it as a top-tier performer for this game, ranking 8th out of 2887 tested combos. While the game's visual style is minimalistic, the hardware muscle here ensures that no frame is ever wasted, making this a definitive overkill scenario for smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a stark and predictable pattern of performance scaling as resolution increases, with the most significant bottleneck emerging at the highest settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves a staggering 456 FPS average. Moving to 1440p at the same Low preset, this drops to 409 FPS, and further to 300 FPS at 4K. This indicates that even at lower graphical presets, the GPU is beginning to feel the strain of higher pixel counts, though the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

The most telling data point for resolution scaling is found in the High preset. At 1080p, the average frame rate is 333 FPS. This falls to 239 FPS at 1440p, a 28% reduction, and then to 150 FPS at 4K, a 55% reduction from the 1080p figure. This progressive decline with each resolution step shows that the rendering load is scaling almost linearly with the pixel count, which is typical for a game like Inside that does not have complex CPU-bound simulation logic. The GPU is unquestionably the limiting component at higher resolutions, as the workload shifts entirely to pixel throughput.

At the Medium preset, the frame rate scaling is more aggressive. The 1080p result of 421 FPS drops to 377 FPS at 1440p, and then dramatically to 240 FPS at 4K. The 4K Medium result also provides the only min and max FPS data points in the entire set, with a minimum of 204 FPS and a maximum of 276 FPS. This suggests that even with the massive power of the RTX 5090, the jump to 4K introduces enough variance to cause a noticeable spread between the minimum and maximum frame times, although the average remains incredibly high.

The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory to High, with averages of 317 FPS at 1080p, 228 FPS at 1440p, and 143 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 143 FPS is the lowest average recorded in the entire benchmark suite. This confirms that while the CPU is more than capable at lower resolutions, the GPU's rendering pipeline becomes the definitive constraint at 4K, especially when the highest fidelity settings are enabled. The data shows that the transition from 1440p to 4K is the most punishing, halving the frame rate in the High and Ultra presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Its benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44253 and a single-core score of 2439, demonstrate immense processing power. However, the data from Inside suggests that this game does not leverage the full might of this CPU. The game is a 2D side-scroller, and its engine is not designed to utilize the parallel processing capabilities of a 24-core chip.

The CPU's role in this specific game is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's logic, which is minimal. The high boost clock of 5.50 GHz is likely more relevant to this game's performance than the core count. The single-thread performance, as indicated by the Cinebench R15 single-core score of 354, is robust, but the game's frame rates are not limited by this at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 456 FPS, which is a clear sign that the CPU is not the bottleneck; the rendering engine is simply not demanding enough to stress the 24 cores.

The data indicates that the CPU's performance headroom is so vast that it becomes irrelevant to the final frame rate in this title. The benchmark results show a 24-core processor that is barely utilized, as the game's workload is lightweight and sequential in nature. The L3 cache of 36 MB is more than sufficient for the game's data, and the memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s is unlikely to be a limiting factor. In this context, the CPU acts as a stable foundation, ensuring that the GPU is never starved of data, but it is not the component driving the performance deltas we see between resolutions.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the Core Ultra 7 270K Plus has an average benchmark score of 93785, placing it 96th percentile among all CPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Xeon 6520P, scores a nearly identical 93786, with a delta of 0%. The AMD EPYC 4564P is 1.5% ahead, and the EPYC 9175F is 1.9% ahead. In the context of Inside, these differences are academic; any of these processors would deliver identical frame rates because the game is not CPU-bound to any meaningful degree.

Settings Recommendations

For a game like Inside, the primary goal is to maintain a rock-solid frame rate, and the data shows that this combo achieves that at every setting. The lowest average FPS recorded is 143 at 4K Ultra, which is still well above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay. However, the data allows for a more nuanced recommendation based on the principle of diminishing returns.

The jump from Low to Medium settings provides a significant visual improvement in most games, and the performance cost is notable. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 300 on Low to 240 on Medium, a 20% reduction. At 1080p, the drop is from 456 to 421 FPS, an 8% reduction. This suggests that at lower resolutions, the performance headroom is so large that the visual upgrade to Medium is essentially free. At 4K, the cost is higher, but the resulting 240 FPS average is still an exceptional experience.

The Ultra preset, however, shows a clear performance cliff. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 240 on Medium to 143 on Ultra, a 40% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 377 to 228, a 40% reduction as well. This indicates that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding than Medium, likely due to enhanced post-processing effects or higher-quality shadows that are not visible in a game with such a stark art style. Given the visual simplicity of Inside, the incremental visual gains from Ultra are often imperceptible to the player.

Therefore, the data strongly suggests that the Medium preset offers the best experience. It provides the highest frame rate without the excessive performance hit of Ultra, while still delivering a more polished visual presentation than Low. The 4K Medium result, with its min FPS of 204 and average of 240, shows a perfectly stable experience. The 1440p Medium result, with an average of 377 FPS and a min of 321, is even more fluid. For players with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 1440p is the sweet spot, providing a huge margin above the 240Hz mark.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination holds the 8th position out of 2887 tested combos for Inside. This is an exceptional ranking, placing it in the top 0.3% of all systems tested. The data indicates that this combo is one of the fastest configurations possible for this game, outperforming the vast majority of other hardware pairings.

This high ranking is a direct result of the incredible raw performance of the RTX 5090. The GPU's measured data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18355 and a Passmark G3D score of 39650, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs. While its nearest rivals in the general benchmark database are data center cards like the Tesla P100, the RTX 5090's architectural advantages for gaming are clear. The combo's rank of 8th suggests that only a handful of other CPU and GPU pairings can exceed its frame rates in this specific title.

The ranking is even more impressive when considering the CPU's position. The Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, but its nearest rivals are all server-grade AMD EPYC processors. This indicates that for gaming, the CPU is not the differentiator; the GPU is the key component driving the combo's high rank. The data shows that the combination of a top-tier consumer GPU with a high-end consumer CPU is the optimal strategy for maximizing performance in this game, as the server CPUs offer no gaming advantage.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a monster of a graphics card, and its role in this game is to provide an overwhelming amount of rendering power. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, it has a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. This is more than enough to handle the textures and frame buffers required by Inside at any resolution. The GPU's 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs are the key to its high pixel throughput.

The data shows that the RTX 5090's performance is the primary driver of the frame rates in this game. The transition from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows a clear reduction in performance, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario. The GPU's boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with its massive core count, allows it to process the game's simple geometry and effects at an incredible speed. The FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS reflects its raw compute power, but the game's requirements are so low that it is never fully taxed.

The GPU's massive memory pool is largely irrelevant for this game. Inside is not a VRAM-heavy title, and the 32 GB of memory will sit mostly unused. However, the sheer speed of the memory and the width of the bus ensure that there are never any bandwidth bottlenecks, even at 4K. The GPU's role is not to struggle, but to deliver a frame rate that is so high that the game's engine is the only limiting factor, and even that limit is far away. The data shows that this GPU is the sole reason for the combo's top-tier ranking, as it provides a level of performance that is unmatched by most other hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 456 FPS, achieved at 1080p resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: At 4K resolution, what is the difference in average FPS between Low and Ultra settings?

A: At 4K, the Low preset delivers an average of 300 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers an average of 143 FPS, a difference of 157 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 1440p High settings?

A: The data shows a 239 FPS average at 1440p High, which is a significant drop from the 333 FPS at 1080p High. This indicates the GPU is the limiting component, as the resolution increase heavily impacts the rendering workload.

Q: Does the Medium preset at 1440p provide a stable frame rate?

A: Yes, the Medium preset at 1440p has an average FPS of 377, with a minimum of 321 FPS and a maximum of 434 FPS, indicating a very stable and high-performance experience.

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

A: This combo ranks 8th out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the top percentile of all systems benchmarked for this game.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded across all tests?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 143 FPS, which occurs at 4K resolution with the Ultra settings preset.