Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a highly capable 1080p experience in Inside, but the GPU becomes the definitive limiting factor as resolution climbs to 4K. The combination ranks in the 27th percentile of all tested configurations, indicating that while the CPU is top-tier, the overall system is held back by the graphics card in this specific title.

FAQ

*Q: What is the overall performance ranking of this CPU and GPU combination in Inside?*

A: The combo ranks 2117 out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus has an average benchmark score of 84003, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K and 1.1% higher than the AMD EPYC 4584PX.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT sits at the 59th percentile, meaning it outperforms a majority of GPUs in the database but is not a high-end part.

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved at 1080p with this setup?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 275 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Does the GPU support modern graphics APIs?

A: Yes, the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking compared to all other processors?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is in the 96th percentile, placing it among the top 4% of all CPUs in the database.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is built on the RDNA 1.0 architecture with a Navi 10 chip manufactured on a 7 nm process. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1605 MHz, a game clock of 1755 MHz, and a boost clock of 1905 MHz. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, the card delivers a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s.

The data shows that the GPU's performance ceiling is tested severely at 4K. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 59, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold. In contrast, dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 124 FPS, demonstrating that the card has inherent capability but is constrained by memory bandwidth and raw compute at higher detail levels. The GPU's FP32 performance is 9.754 TFLOPS, which explains its ability to handle the game's physics and particle effects at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain high frame rates when pixel count quadruples from 1080p.

Interestingly, the GPU's nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks is the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M, which scores 0.1% higher. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 6000 Blackwell and AMD Radeon PRO W7500 both score 0.3% higher, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 leads by 0.9%. This tight clustering indicates that the RX 5700 XT's raw compute is competitive with much newer parts, but its older architecture lacks the efficiency of newer designs.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Inside at all tested settings, as the game is not particularly memory-hungry. However, the card's end-of-life production status and 225 W TDP suggest that it is a mature design that has been superseded. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed and 1750 MHz memory clock provide adequate bandwidth for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the data indicates that 4K Ultra settings push the card to its limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a flagship desktop processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename and manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It houses 24 cores and 24 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz. The CPU features a substantial cache hierarchy with 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration results in a 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs.

Synthetic benchmarks reveal the CPU's immense multi-threaded power. In Cinebench R23, it scores 51731 in multi-core and 7303 in single-core tests. The PassMark multi-thread score is 60860, with a single-thread score of 4823. Data compression and encryption workloads score 698346 and 52563 respectively, indicating strong performance in tasks that leverage the 24-core design. The CPU's memory bandwidth is rated at 115.2 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface, which is more than sufficient for gaming workloads.

The nearest rival to the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, which trails by 0.2% in average score. The AMD EPYC 4584PX and EPYC 9135 are 1.1% and 1.2% behind respectively, while the AMD EPYC 7F72 leads by 1.3%. This puts the 290K Plus in a tightly contested group of high-end processors, but its gaming performance is not the primary bottleneck in this combination.

In Inside, a puzzle platformer that is not heavily threaded, the CPU's advantage is less pronounced. The game's physics and logic can be handled easily by a single core, and the data confirms this: at 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 275 FPS, which is far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. The CPU's 5.80 GHz boost clock ensures that frame times remain consistent even when the GPU is delivering hundreds of frames per second. The 125 W TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest headroom for overclocking, though the data does not include overclocked results.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks 2117 out of 2887 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the 27th percentile, meaning roughly 73% of all tested combos perform better in this game. This ranking is primarily a reflection of the GPU's mid-range status rather than the CPU's capability.

The CPU's 96th percentile ranking contrasts sharply with the GPU's 59th percentile, creating a significant imbalance. This is a classic scenario where a high-end processor is paired with a mid-range graphics card, resulting in a system that is CPU-overkill for most gaming scenarios. The data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution above 1080p Low.

When compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits in a region where users have likely prioritized CPU performance for non-gaming tasks. The synthetic benchmarks for the CPU show exceptional multi-threaded capabilities, which would benefit productivity workloads, but in Inside, these advantages do not translate to higher frame rates. The combo's rank suggests that for pure gaming, a more balanced pairing would yield better results.

The GPU's performance relative to its rivals is telling. While it is only 0.9% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D V2 in synthetic tests, real-world gaming performance in Inside shows the RX 5700 XT struggling at 4K Ultra. This indicates that synthetic benchmarks do not fully capture the GPU's limitations in specific game workloads, particularly those that stress fill rate and memory bandwidth.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p High settings, the system averages 137 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 99 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K High, the average falls to 62 FPS, which is a 55% reduction from 1080p and a 37% reduction from 1440p. This steep decline is characteristic of a GPU that is saturated at higher pixel counts.

The Low settings show a similar trend but from a higher baseline. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 275 FPS. This drops to 198 FPS at 1440p Low and 124 FPS at 4K Low. The percentage drops are 28% from 1080p to 1440p and 37% from 1440p to 4K, mirroring the High settings pattern. This consistency indicates that the GPU's scaling is linear with pixel count, which is expected for a rasterization-bound workload.

The Medium settings provide additional insight with minimum and maximum FPS data. At 1080p Medium, the average is 220 FPS with a minimum of 187 FPS and a maximum of 253 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 158 FPS with a range of 134 to 182 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average falls to 99 FPS with a range of 84 to 114 FPS. The minimum FPS values indicate that frame pacing remains stable, with no severe drops below the average.

The Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 131 FPS, which is only slightly lower than High settings. At 1440p Ultra, the average drops to 94 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 59 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. The difference between High and Ultra at each resolution is relatively small, suggesting that Ultra settings add minimal visual fidelity while incurring a measurable performance cost.

The scaling data strongly indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution. The consistent percentage drops across settings align with GPU-bound behavior, and the high frame rates at 1080p Low (275 FPS) show that the CPU can feed the GPU far more frames than it can render. The limiting component is unequivocally the GPU, particularly at 4K where the 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient to maintain high frame rates at maximum detail.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 275 FPS, Medium yields 220 FPS (minimum 187, maximum 253), High reaches 137 FPS, and Ultra achieves 131 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 6 FPS, suggesting that the visual differences between these settings are not performance-intensive. All settings at 1080p are well above the 60 FPS threshold, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but begins to show the GPU's limits. Low settings average 198 FPS, Medium drops to 158 FPS (minimum 134, maximum 182), High falls to 99 FPS, and Ultra reaches 94 FPS. The 1440p results show a clearer separation between settings, with Low being 2x faster than Ultra. The minimum FPS at Medium (134) indicates that even the lowest frame dips remain above 60 FPS, providing a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low settings average 124 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 99 FPS (minimum 84, maximum 114). High settings fall to 62 FPS, and Ultra barely reaches 59 FPS. The Ultra setting at 4K is the only configuration that fails to maintain 60 FPS on average, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay. The minimum FPS at Medium (84) shows that even the lowest frame rates are playable, but the average is getting close to the boundary.

The data reveals that the optimal experience for this combo is at 1440p with Medium or High settings, where the balance between visual quality and frame rate is ideal. At 1080p, all settings are viable, with Low and Medium offering headroom for high refresh rates. At 4K, users must compromise with Low or Medium settings to maintain playable frame rates, as Ultra and High push the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range. The 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K data shows that the GPU's memory subsystem is a limiting factor at higher resolutions.