Inside

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination produces remarkably high frame rates in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The data shows this pairing is capable of delivering a fluid experience at every resolution tested, though the choice of settings dramatically alters the performance headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Benchmark results indicate that the Ultra preset is the most demanding configuration tested, yielding an average of 234 FPS at 1080p, 168 FPS at 1440p, and 106 FPS at 4K. These figures are all comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making Ultra a viable option for users who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rates. The High preset offers a meaningful performance uplift while presumably retaining most visual quality, with averages of 245 FPS at 1080p, 176 FPS at 1440p, and 111 FPS at 4K. The delta between High and Ultra is modest at 1080p (245 vs. 234 FPS) but becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions.

For users with high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset is the standout choice. It delivers 392 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p, and 177 FPS at 4K, with measured minimums of 334 FPS at 1080p, 240 FPS at 1440p, and 151 FPS at 4K. The consistency of the Medium preset—its minimums never drop below 151 FPS even at 4K—makes it the most balanced option for maintaining a locked frame rate on panels with refresh rates up to 360Hz. The Low preset pushes performance to the extreme, hitting 442 FPS at 1080p and 353 FPS at 1440p, but this comes at the cost of visual quality that is unlikely to be necessary given the already exceptional performance of Medium.

The data suggests that Medium is the optimal preset for this combination, as it provides a 67% performance increase over High at 1080p (392 vs. 245 FPS) while likely retaining enough graphical detail for a game with Inside's minimalist art direction. At 4K, Medium achieves 177 FPS, which is 59% faster than High's 111 FPS, demonstrating that the preset scaling is substantial across all resolutions. For competitive or esports-adjacent play where maximum frame rates are paramount, Low is the only choice, but the practical benefit over Medium is questionable given the game's genre.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB205 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. The GPU's clocks are specified at a base of 2325 MHz and a boost of 2512 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These specifications place the RTX 5070 in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs according to the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 40377.

In Inside, the GPU's role is significant but not limiting, even at 4K. The measured frame rates show that the RTX 5070 can handle the game's rendering demands with substantial headroom. At 4K Ultra, the average of 106 FPS indicates that the GPU is being pushed harder than at lower resolutions, but it still maintains a playable frame rate. The GPU's 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores are present but their specific impact on Inside is not directly measured; the game's release in 2016 predates widespread ray tracing adoption, so these features likely have minimal influence on the results.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is more than sufficient for Inside, a game with a modest visual footprint. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and frame buffer operations do not become bottlenecks. The GPU's pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s provide ample fill rate for the game's simple geometry and lighting effects. The data shows that the RTX 5070's performance scales predictably with resolution, with the 4K to 1080p ratio suggesting that the GPU is the primary driver of frame rate differences across resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling that highlights the GPU's capabilities. Moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces the average FPS from 245 to 176, a 28% drop. From 1440p to 4K, the average falls from 176 to 111, a further 37% reduction. This progressive decline is typical of GPU-bound scenarios, where the rendering load increases with pixel count. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at High is 55%, from 245 to 111 FPS, which indicates that the RTX 5070 is well-suited to 4K gaming in this title.

At Medium settings, the scaling is similar but with higher absolute numbers: 392 FPS at 1080p, 282 FPS at 1440p, and 177 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 28% and 37% respectively, mirroring the High preset's pattern. This consistency suggests that the game's performance scaling is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. At Low settings, the 4K average of 222 FPS is 50% lower than the 1080p figure of 442 FPS, a slightly smaller relative drop than at higher settings, implying that the CPU begins to play a larger role when the GPU is less burdened.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts as resolution changes. At 1080p Low, the 442 FPS average is so high that the CPU's ability to feed the GPU becomes a factor. The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus, with its 24 cores and boost clock of 5.80 GHz, is a formidable processor, but even it has limits. The fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop at Low (442 to 353 FPS, a 20% decline) is smaller than at High (245 to 176 FPS, a 28% decline) suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is more involved in determining the frame rate. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, as evidenced by the larger performance gaps between settings: Ultra at 106 FPS versus Low at 222 FPS, a 109% difference.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combination?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 442 at 1080p with Low settings. At 4K, the maximum average is 222 FPS with Low settings, while Ultra settings at 4K yield 106 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 is 0.1% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580's 40318, 0.8% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100's 40063, and 2% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile's 39568. It trails the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 by 1.2%, which scores 40870.

Q: Is the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus capable of keeping up with the RTX 5070 in this game?

A: Yes. The CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, scores 83807, a 0.2% difference, indicating that the 290K Plus is at the top of the desktop CPU hierarchy. The measured frame rates, particularly the 442 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrate that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in Inside.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The measured minimums at Medium settings are 334 FPS at 1080p, 240 FPS at 1440p, and 151 FPS at 4K. These figures show that even the lowest frame rates remain exceptionally high.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 252nd out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 8.7% of all configurations.

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

A: At 4K, High settings produce an average of 111 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 106 FPS. The difference is 5 FPS, or approximately 4.5%, suggesting that Ultra offers minimal additional visual benefit for the performance cost.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 achieves a rank of 252 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places the configuration in the top 8.7% of all systems tested, a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end pairing. The rank reflects the combined capabilities of both components, with the CPU's 96th percentile standing and the GPU's 82nd percentile standing contributing to the overall performance.

The rank is particularly impressive given that Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer with relatively modest system requirements. The fact that this combo still ranks 252nd indicates that many higher-tier GPUs and CPUs are being used in this game, but the 290K Plus and RTX 5070 hold their own. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, is only 0.2% behind in average score, suggesting that the 290K Plus is not the sole reason for the high rank; the GPU's contribution is equally important. The RTX 5070's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 580, is 0.1% behind in average score, which shows that the GPU is competitive with other options in its class.

The rank of 252 means that there are 251 other combinations that perform better, likely featuring higher-end GPUs like the RTX 5080 or RTX 5090, or possibly CPUs with higher benchmark scores. However, for a game like Inside, the practical difference between rank 252 and rank 1 is negligible, as all configurations are likely capable of exceeding 100 FPS at 4K. The data shows that this combo delivers exceptional performance, with the lowest measured average FPS across all settings and resolutions being 106 FPS at 4K Ultra.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 290K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake Refresh codename, part of the Core Ultra Series 2. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.80 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The CPU is built on a 3 nm process at TSMC, containing 17,800 million transistors on a 243 mm² die. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 36 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 with dual-channel bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s.

In Inside, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic updates. The game's 2016 release means it was designed for CPUs of that era, so the 290K Plus is massively overqualified. The benchmark results confirm this, as the CPU's average benchmark score of 84003 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with a multicore Cinebench R23 score of 51731 and a single-core score of 7303. The CPU's nearest rival, the Intel Core Ultra 9 285K, achieves an average score of 83807, a 0.2% difference, indicating that the 290K Plus is marginally faster but effectively equivalent in real-world terms.

The CPU's 24 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for Inside, which is unlikely to use more than a handful of threads. The high boost clock of 5.80 GHz ensures that single-threaded performance is excellent, which is what matters most for a game like this. The PassMark single-thread score of 4823 and the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 7303 both indicate strong per-core performance. The data shows that the CPU does not bottleneck the GPU in this title, as evidenced by the frame rates scaling consistently with resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the 442 FPS average suggests that the CPU is capable of generating a high number of frames per second, but the GPU is still the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 115.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support ensure that memory bandwidth is not a constraint. The 36 MB of L3 cache is ample for the game's data footprint. The CPU also includes integrated graphics in the form of Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 64EU, but these are not used in this configuration. Overall, the Core Ultra 9 290K Plus provides a robust foundation for the RTX 5070, ensuring that the GPU can operate at its full potential without being held back by processor limitations.