Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 produces a peculiar set of results in Inside, a game that is far more forgiving than the hardware suggests. The data reveals a configuration that is heavily CPU-limited at lower resolutions, yet still manages to deliver playable framerates at 4K. The combination ranks in the 21st percentile among all tested combos, placing it at 2290 out of 2887, which indicates that while this pairing is functional, it is far from optimal for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions is the most revealing aspect of this dataset. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 245 FPS, but this number is a clear indicator of a CPU bottleneck. The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is capable of immense throughput, yet the RTX 5050 is not being fully utilized at this point. When moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 176 FPS, a reduction of 28.2%. This is a significant decline, but the relationship between resolution and FPS is not linear.

The most dramatic scaling occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K. At 4K Low, the combo produces 111 FPS, which is 63.1% of the 1440p Low result. This steep drop suggests that the GPU is finally becoming the limiting factor. The RTX 5050, with its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus, starts to struggle with the pixel throughput required at 2160p. The data shows a clear transition: at 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck; at 4K, the GPU takes over.

Looking at the High preset, the scaling is more predictable. The 1080p High result is 122 FPS, which drops to 88 FPS at 1440p (a 27.9% reduction) and then to 55 FPS at 4K (a 37.5% reduction from 1440p). This pattern indicates that the gap between 1440p and 4K is more punishing than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is typical for a GPU that has a limited memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The 4K High result of 55 FPS is borderline for a smooth experience, but it is playable.

The Medium preset offers the most complete data, with min and max FPS values available. At 1080p Medium, the average is 196 FPS with a min of 166 and max of 225. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 141 FPS (a 28.1% reduction), with a min of 120 and max of 162. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 88 FPS (a 37.6% reduction from 1440p), with a min of 75 and max of 102. The consistency of these percentage drops across all presets suggests that the game's engine scales resolution in a very predictable manner. The fact that the 4K Ultra preset yields only 53 FPS, while 4K High yields 55 FPS, shows that the Ultra preset is not a viable option at this resolution.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this hardware?*

A: The data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the combo achieves an average of 88 FPS, which is smooth and visually detailed. 4K is playable at Medium (88 FPS) and High (55 FPS), but the margins are tighter. 1080p offers very high framerates, but the CPU bottleneck prevents the GPU from working efficiently.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 perform at 4K in this game?

A: The RTX 5050 can handle 4K in Inside, but only at lower presets. The data shows 111 FPS at 4K Low, 88 FPS at 4K Medium, and 55 FPS at 4K High. The Ultra preset drops to 53 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game, but the 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth limits the pixel fill rate at 2160p.

Q: Is this combo CPU-bound or GPU-bound?

A: It depends on the resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is clearly the limiting factor, as evidenced by the 245 FPS Low result. The Core Ultra 9 275HX is far more powerful than needed for this game at this resolution. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as the framerate drops significantly across all presets.

Q: What is the difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: The difference is minimal in terms of performance. At 1080p, High yields 122 FPS while Ultra yields 117 FPS, a difference of only 4.1%. At 1440p, High yields 88 FPS and Ultra yields 84 FPS, a 4.5% drop. At 4K, High yields 55 FPS and Ultra yields 53 FPS, a 3.6% drop. The visual gains from Ultra are not worth the framerate cost.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL, scores 21153, which is 0.6% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 8970M scores 21237, which is 1.0% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 20713, which is 1.6% lower. The NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 21379, which is 1.6% higher. This places the RTX 5050 in a tight competitive cluster.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking?

A: The combo ranks 2290 out of 2887 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the lower 20.7% of all results. This low ranking is surprising given the high-end CPU, but the mid-range GPU holds the combo back.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is the primary factor limiting performance at higher resolutions. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. The base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz. These specifications are modest for a GeForce 50-series card, and the data reflects this in the 4K results.

The GPU's synthetic benchmark scores are underwhelming for its generation. It scores 2502 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, and 90334 in Geekbench OpenCL and 89381 in Geekbench Vulkan. The Passmark G3D score is 17326, with a G2D score of 1113. These numbers place the GPU in the 66th percentile among all GPUs, which is decidedly mid-range. The FPS data in Inside confirms this classification.

The most telling aspect of the GPU's role is the scaling from 1440p to 4K. The RTX 5050's fillrate is 82.30 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s. These are not high enough to maintain framerates at 4K. The transition from 1440p Medium (141 FPS) to 4K Medium (88 FPS) represents a 37.6% drop, which is a substantial performance penalty. The 8 GB VRAM is not a concern for Inside, as the game is not VRAM-intensive, but the memory bandwidth is a limiting factor at high pixel densities.

The GPU's performance at 1080p is also telling. Even at 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 117 FPS, which is high, but the CPU is not being stressed. The RTX 5050's FP32 performance is 13.17 TFLOPS, which is adequate for this game, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K overwhelms the 32 ROPs. The data shows that the GPU is the component that determines the ceiling for performance at 4K, while the CPU determines the ceiling at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2290 out of 2887 tested combinations in Inside is a stark indicator of its overall positioning. This places it in the 79th percentile, meaning 79% of tested combos perform better. This is a surprising result for a pairing that includes the flagship Core Ultra 9 275HX, but it highlights the importance of GPU selection for this game.

The CPU itself is a powerhouse. It has an average benchmark score of 67469, placing it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (67673, -0.3%), the AMD EPYC 4484PX (67822, -0.5%), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (67868, -0.6%). The Core Ultra 9 275HX is essentially on par with these workstation-class chips. In Cinebench R23, it scores 35589 multi-core and 2204 single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 20795 multi-core and 2458 single-core.

However, the CPU's power is wasted in this pairing. The RTX 5050's average benchmark score is 21035, placing it in the 66th percentile. Its nearest rivals are all within a 1.6% margin, showing that it is a mid-range part. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 17326 is not competitive with high-end cards. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a mid-tier GPU creates an imbalance that is reflected in the low combo rank.

The data suggests that this combo would be much better suited to a game that is more CPU-intensive. In Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple graphics, the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The low combo rank is not due to a performance deficiency in either component individually, but rather a mismatch in their capabilities for this specific workload. The 2290 rank is a clear signal that this pairing is not optimized for the game's rendering demands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo's performance across all three resolutions and four presets. All data is measured, not estimated.

At 1080p, the results are as follows:

• Low: 245 FPS average
• Medium: 196 FPS average (min 166, max 225)
• High: 122 FPS average
• Ultra: 117 FPS average

The gap between Medium and High is substantial (74 FPS), while the gap between High and Ultra is small (5 FPS). This indicates that the High preset offers a significant visual step up from Medium with a manageable performance cost, but Ultra offers little benefit for a 4% drop.

At 1440p, the results are:

• Low: 176 FPS average
• Medium: 141 FPS average (min 120, max 162)
• High: 88 FPS average
• Ultra: 84 FPS average

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets, with a roughly 28% reduction in average FPS. The High preset at 88 FPS is the most balanced option at this resolution.

At 4K, the results are:

• Low: 111 FPS average
• Medium: 88 FPS average (min 75, max 102)
• High: 55 FPS average
• Ultra: 53 FPS average

The 4K results show a more dramatic performance cliff. The transition from Low to Medium is a 23 FPS drop, while the transition from Medium to High is a 33 FPS drop. This indicates that the GPU is struggling to maintain pixel throughput at 2160p. The High preset at 55 FPS is just barely playable, while the Ultra preset at 53 FPS is pushing the hardware to its limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired framerate.

For a 4K display, the Medium preset is the clear winner. The data shows 88 FPS average with a minimum of 75 FPS, which is smooth and consistent. The High preset at 55 FPS is playable but may exhibit noticeable frame pacing issues in fast-moving scenes. The Ultra preset at 53 FPS is not recommended, as the 3.6% performance difference from High does not justify the potential visual improvements.

For a 1440p display, the High preset is the best choice. The 88 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the visual quality is significantly better than Medium. The Ultra preset at 84 FPS is also viable, but the 4.5% performance drop is not worth the marginal visual upgrade. The Medium preset at 141 FPS is overkill for a game like Inside, as the extra framerate offers no tangible benefit.

For a 1080p display, the High preset is recommended. The 122 FPS average is more than sufficient for a smooth experience, and the visual quality is excellent. The Ultra preset at 117 FPS is nearly identical in performance, so users can choose either. The Low and Medium presets are unnecessary, as the CPU bottleneck prevents the GPU from being fully utilized, and the visual quality at High is far superior.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the best balance of performance and quality across all resolutions. It provides a minimum of 75 FPS at 4K, which is the minimum for a consistently smooth experience. For users who prioritize framerate over visual fidelity, the Low preset can push to 245 FPS at 1080p, but this is not recommended for a game like Inside.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 275HX is a flagship mobile processor with 24 cores and 24 threads, based on the Arrow Lake-HX architecture. It has a base clock of 2.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The CPU features a large 36 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Its synthetic benchmark scores are exceptional, placing it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In Cinebench R23, it scores 35589 multi-core and 2204 single-core. The Geekbench scores are 20795 multi-core and 2458 single-core. The Passmark multithread score is 55759, with a single-thread score of 4713. These numbers indicate that the CPU is more than capable of handling any game, including Inside. The 24 cores and 24 threads provide massive parallel processing power, but Inside is not a multithreaded game.

The data shows that the CPU is underutilized in this title. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 245 FPS, but this is likely a CPU limit, not a GPU limit. The CPU's single-core performance is strong, but the game engine likely cannot saturate the processor's capabilities. The CPU's role in Inside is to provide a stable foundation for the GPU, which it does admirably. However, the CPU's immense power is wasted, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Xeon w5-3525 (-0.3%), AMD EPYC 4484PX (-0.5%), and AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5955WX (-0.6%). These are all workstation-class processors, highlighting the Core Ultra 9 275HX's position as a top-tier mobile CPU. In the context of Inside, this CPU is overkill. The combo rank of 2290 is dragged down by the GPU, not the CPU. The CPU is capable of delivering far higher framerates, but the RTX 5050 cannot keep up at higher resolutions. The 3 nm process node and 17,800 million transistors provide a strong foundation, but the game's simple rendering pipeline does not benefit from the CPU's advanced features.