Inside

Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer, presents a fascinating case study in hardware scaling because its minimalist visuals place a relatively light load on modern components, allowing the interaction between the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and the AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT to be observed with unusual clarity. The measured data reveals a system where the GPU is the primary performance arbiter, with the CPU’s substantial core and thread resources remaining largely untapped by the game’s demands, leading to predictable performance shifts based on resolution and preset. This analysis will break down the measured FPS figures to understand the bottlenecks, recommend optimal settings, and contextualize the combo’s standing within the broader benchmark database.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and clearly illustrates the GPU-bound nature of Inside. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the system delivers an average of 146 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High, that average falls to 105 FPS, a reduction of 41 FPS. The jump to 3840x2160 High yields an average of 66 FPS, which is a 44% decrease from the 1080p High figure. This pattern of significant frame rate reductions with each step up in resolution is the classic signature of a graphics card operating at its limits; the rendering workload is doubling in pixel count, and the RX 6650 XT simply cannot maintain its lower-resolution throughput.

The scaling becomes even more telling when examining the Low preset. At 1080p Low, the system reaches an average of 292 FPS, a high watermark that suggests the CPU is not a limiting factor, as even a modest GPU could likely produce a high frame rate in this scene. At 1440p Low, the average drops to 210 FPS, and at 4K Low, it falls to 132 FPS. The fact that the 4K Low average of 132 FPS is still lower than the 1080p High average of 146 FPS is particularly insightful. It suggests that even when the visual load is minimized, the sheer pixel count at 4K poses a substantial challenge to the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth, preventing it from realizing the same frame rates it achieves at lower resolutions with more complex settings. The 280.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth and the 168.6 GPixel/s pixel rate of the RX 6650 XT are the determining factors here.

The data implies that the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and 24 threads, is not a bottleneck at any resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see a plateau in FPS at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. However, the FPS continues to climb as resolution drops, reaching 292 FPS at 1080p Low. This indicates a clear GPU limitation, as the CPU has ample headroom to process the game’s logic and draw calls, which are minimal for a puzzle platformer of this era. The performance scaling is almost entirely dictated by the GPU’s ability to fill pixels, making the 4K Ultra setting of 63 FPS the lowest measured point and 1080p Low the highest, with everything else falling in a predictable, resolution-driven pattern.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for settings, with the most significant performance trade-offs occurring between the Medium and High presets. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset is the most demanding, yielding the lowest average frame rates: 63 FPS at 4K, 100 FPS at 1440p, and 139 FPS at 1080p. While 139 FPS at 1080p is excellent, the drop to 63 FPS at 4K makes Ultra a questionable choice for that resolution. The High preset is notably less demanding, offering a substantial performance boost over Ultra: 66 FPS at 4K, 105 FPS at 1440p, and 146 FPS at 1080p. The difference between High and Ultra is particularly stark at 4K, with only a 3 FPS difference between 63 and 66 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset’s added visual effects come at a high cost for little measurable gain in this scenario.

The Medium preset presents the most balanced experience. At 1440p, it averages 168 FPS, which is a 60% improvement over the High preset’s 105 FPS at the same resolution. This makes Medium the clear choice for players with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, as it likely provides a smooth, responsive experience while still maintaining a reasonable level of visual fidelity. At 4K, Medium averages 106 FPS, which is a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold than High’s 66 FPS, making it the optimal preset for 4K gaming with this hardware. The lowest measured frame rate on Medium is 90 FPS at 4K, which is still perfectly playable.

For players prioritizing frame rate above all else, the Low preset is available, doubling performance at 1080p to 292 FPS and at 1440p to 210 FPS. However, given the game’s atmospheric and detailed art style, the visual compromise of Low may be significant. The data indicates that the Medium preset is the sweet spot, offering a substantial leap over Low in terms of visual quality (with the 4K average dropping from 132 to 106 FPS, a 20% performance cost) while providing a massive 60% improvement over High at 1440p. The recommendation is to use Medium for most scenarios, especially at 1440p and 4K, to achieve a high, fluid frame rate without sacrificing the game’s intended presentation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a high-end desktop processor with 24 cores and 24 threads, based on the Arrow Lake Refresh architecture. Its benchmark scores are formidable, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. Its average benchmark score of 84003 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a top-tier performer. However, the measured FPS data for Inside suggests that this immense processing power is largely irrelevant to the game’s performance. The game, being a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, is not designed to utilize many cores, and its single-threaded performance is likely what matters most.

The CPU’s single-core performance, as measured by the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303, is excellent, but even this does not seem to be a limiting factor. The fact that the system can reach 292 FPS at 1080p Low while the GPU is still the bottleneck indicates that the CPU is more than capable of feeding the graphics card with data. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.80 GHz and base clock of 3.70 GHz are high, and its 36 MB of shared L3 cache provides a large pool for frequently accessed data. Yet, the game’s performance scales so directly with resolution and settings that it points to the GPU as the sole determinant.

This is a case where a less powerful CPU would likely produce identical results in Inside. The data suggests that the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus’s 24 cores and threads are simply idle, waiting for work that the game never sends. The PassMark multithread score of 60860 and data compression score of 698346 are impressive, but they do not translate to higher frame rates in this title. The game is a perfect example of a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU’s role is reduced to maintaining a high single-threaded frame rate cap, which this processor does with ease, ensuring that the RX 6650 XT is always the component that determines the final FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand database of tested combinations, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT combo ranks 1826 out of 2887 total combinations for Inside. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, which is a direct reflection of the GPU’s performance class rather than the CPU’s. The CPU itself is a top performer, but the ranking is a composite score for the entire system. Given that the game is so heavily GPU-bound, this ranking is almost entirely determined by the RX 6650 XT’s capabilities.

The GPU’s average benchmark score is 19765, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals, according to the data, are professional workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla K40m and the AMD FirePro D300, which have similar average scores (19885 and 19637, respectively). This indicates that the RX 6650 XT, while capable, is positioned in the mid-range of graphics hardware. When paired with a top-1% CPU like the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, the result is a system that is significantly unbalanced for this game, with the GPU holding back the overall score.

The combo’s rank of 1826 suggests that many other systems with more balanced pairings, or those with stronger GPUs, will outperform it in Inside. For example, a system with a mid-range CPU and a higher-tier GPU would likely rank much higher, as the CPU’s performance is not a contributing factor to the frame rate. The data implies that this specific pairing is not ideal for this title; the CPU’s potential is wasted, and the user would see similar performance with a much less expensive processor. The ranking is a stark illustration of the principle that a system’s performance in a specific game is only as strong as its weakest link, and in this case, that link is clearly the RX 6650 XT.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 292 FPS, which was measured at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor for performance in Inside?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor. This is evidenced by the fact that frame rates scale directly with resolution and settings, and the CPU’s high core count and benchmark scores (e.g., 51731 in Cinebench R23 multicore) do not translate to higher FPS in this title.

Q: What is the performance difference between the High and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset averages 66 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 63 FPS. This represents a very small difference of 3 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns at this resolution.

Q: Does the combo achieve a playable frame rate at 4K with Medium settings?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the combo averages 106 FPS, with a minimum frame rate of 90 FPS, which is well above the standard 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo rank compared to other tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 1826 out of 2887 tested combinations. This places it in the lower-middle tier, which is a consequence of the GPU’s mid-range performance class, as the CPU is a top-tier performer.

Q: What is the most balanced settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset is the most balanced. It delivers an average of 168 FPS at 2560x1440, which is significantly higher than the High preset’s 105 FPS, while still providing a noticeable visual upgrade over the Low preset.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table details the exact average frame rates measured for this combo across all tested resolutions and settings.

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

| :--------- | :------- | :------ | :------ | :------ |

| 3840x2160 | High | 66 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 132 | N/A | N/A |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 106 | 90 | 121 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 63 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | High | 105 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 210 | N/A | N/A |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 168 | 143 | 193 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 100 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | High | 146 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 292 | N/A | N/A |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 234 | 199 | 269 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 139 | N/A | N/A |

The data confirms that moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings cuts the average frame rate roughly in half or more, while moving from Ultra to Low at the same resolution can more than double performance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is the definitive performance driver in this configuration for Inside. Its role is clearly defined by the data, as all measured frame rates are a direct consequence of its capabilities. The GPU, based on the RDNA 2.0 architecture, features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. This memory configuration, while sufficient for many games, is a key factor in the performance drop at 4K, where the demand for memory bandwidth and capacity increases significantly. The 4K Medium average of 106 FPS and the 4K High average of 66 FPS suggest that the GPU’s compute and memory resources are being heavily taxed at this resolution.

The GPU’s boost clock of 2635 MHz and game clock of 2410 MHz are high, and its 2048 shading units are actively engaged in rendering the game’s simple geometry and effects. Its performance in standard benchmarks, such as a PassMark G3D score of 17166, places it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. This mid-range positioning is confirmed by its nearest rivals, which include the NVIDIA Tesla K40m and AMD FirePro D300, both of which have similar average benchmark scores (19885 and 19637). The GPU’s 10.79 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is what determines the fill rate and shader processing, which in turn dictates the FPS at any given resolution and preset.

The data shows that the RX 6650 XT is the sole bottleneck in this system. The CPU is never a limiting factor, as evidenced by the FPS scaling patterns. The GPU’s role is to render each frame, and its performance ceiling is reached at 4K Ultra, where it can only manage 63 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM is not likely to be a constraint in a game like Inside, which has relatively low texture demands, but the GPU’s overall compute power is what limits the resolution scaling. The 4K Low average of 132 FPS, which is lower than the 1080p High average of 146 FPS, demonstrates that the GPU’s pixel fill rate is the ultimate constraint, not the CPU or memory capacity.