Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle-platformer that, by modern hardware standards, is not a demanding title, yet the measured data reveals distinct scaling patterns that highlight the strengths and limits of the Intel Core Ultra X7 368H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070. This combination ranks 1943rd out of 3716 tested configurations for this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which suggests that while the hardware is more than capable of running the game, the specific performance characteristics are worth examining for those seeking maximum frame rates or visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The data shows a classic pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, but with some surprising efficiency at the high end. At 1080p with Low settings, the system achieves 328 FPS, which drops to 236 FPS at 1440p and further to 148 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 55% decrease from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is still the primary scaling factor even at lower settings where CPU overhead might be expected to dominate.

Moving to High settings, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The 1080p result of 164 FPS drops to 118 FPS at 1440p (a 28% reduction) and then to 74 FPS at 4K (a 55% reduction from 1080p). The consistency of these percentage drops across Low and High settings suggests that the RTX 5070 is handling the resolution scaling uniformly, with no sudden bottleneck appearing at any specific resolution. This is typical for a game like Inside, where the visual complexity is moderate and the rendering pipeline scales predictably with pixel count.

The most interesting data point comes from the Medium settings, where the 4K result of 118 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 136 FPS shows remarkable stability. The 1440p Medium result of 189 FPS (min 160, max 217) and 1080p Medium result of 262 FPS (min 223, max 302) all maintain healthy frame times. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 44 FPS (118 vs 74), which is a substantial jump worth considering for those who want higher fidelity without sacrificing too much performance.

At Ultra settings, the scaling continues but with lower absolute numbers. The 4K Ultra result of 71 FPS is barely above the 60 FPS threshold, while 1440p Ultra hits 112 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 156 FPS. The 4K Ultra result being only 3 FPS lower than 4K High (71 vs 74) suggests that the Ultra preset adds minimal visual benefit at that resolution while consuming nearly the same performance headroom. This is a case where the resolution scaling data reveals that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at 4K with higher presets, but the CPU still has enough headroom to prevent any severe frame time spikes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 31,100 million transistors on a 263 mm² die. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory runs at 1750 MHz with 28 Gbps effective speed across a 192-bit bus, providing 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Inside, a game that does not require massive texture streaming or high VRAM allocation, which explains why the performance scales so predictably across resolutions.

The GPU's clock speeds are 2325 MHz base and 2512 MHz boost, with a TDP of 250 W. The 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s. These specifications translate to 30.87 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is ample for a puzzle-platformer from 2016. The benchmark data supports this: the GPU scores 29137 in Passmark G3D and 5077 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs.

The RTX 5070's nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (0.1% faster), AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 (0.8% faster), and NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile (2% faster), with the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 being 1.2% slower. These margins are negligible, indicating that the RTX 5070 sits in a crowded performance tier. For Inside specifically, the GPU's capabilities far exceed what the game requires, as evidenced by the 328 FPS at 1080p Low. The data suggests that the GPU is never the bottleneck until 4K Ultra, where it drops to 71 FPS, still comfortably playable.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility mean it can handle any modern rendering technique, though Inside's older engine likely uses simpler API calls. The Passmark DirectX 12 score of 108 and DirectX 11 score of 277 show that the GPU performs better under older APIs, which aligns with the game's 2016 release date. The 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are irrelevant for this title but indicate future-proofing for more demanding games.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, the data shows 71 FPS average at 4K Ultra settings. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, though the lack of a reported minimum FPS suggests that frame pacing could vary. For a more stable experience, the 4K High preset at 74 FPS offers similar performance with potentially better consistency.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate monitors?

A: If you have a 144Hz or higher monitor, the 1080p Medium preset at 262 FPS (min 223, max 302) is the sweet spot. This provides well over 200 FPS consistently, ensuring you can fully utilize a high refresh rate display. The 1440p Medium at 189 FPS is also viable for 165Hz monitors, though the 1080p result has more headroom.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 compare to its nearest rivals for this game?

A: The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40377 is within 2% of its nearest rivals. The AMD Radeon Pro 580 is 0.1% faster, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100 is 0.8% faster, and the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is 2% faster, while the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is 1.2% slower. These differences are imperceptible in real-world gameplay for Inside.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The performance scales consistently with resolution across all settings, which is a sign that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H's cinebench R23 multicore score of 28221 and single-core score of 3984 place it in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, so it has ample processing power for this game.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings?

A: The difference varies by resolution. At 1080p, Low hits 328 FPS while Ultra hits 156 FPS, a 172 FPS difference (52% reduction). At 1440p, Low is 236 FPS and Ultra is 112 FPS (52% reduction). At 4K, Low is 148 FPS and Ultra is 71 FPS (52% reduction). The consistent 52% reduction across resolutions indicates that the settings scale uniformly without introducing additional bottlenecks.

Q: Does the 12 GB VRAM matter for Inside?

A: For this specific game, 12 GB is excessive. Inside is a 2016 puzzle-platformer with modest texture requirements, so the VRAM usage likely stays well below 12 GB even at 4K Ultra. The memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is also overkill, but it ensures that memory bandwidth never becomes a limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 328 FPS, which is the maximum measured in this dataset. Medium settings drop to 262 FPS with a minimum of 223 FPS and maximum of 302 FPS, providing excellent consistency. High settings yield 164 FPS, while Ultra settings deliver 156 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 98 FPS, suggesting that High settings introduce significant visual effects that impact performance, but the 156 FPS at Ultra is still extremely smooth.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains high but shows expected scaling. Low settings produce 236 FPS, which is still above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors. Medium settings average 189 FPS with a minimum of 160 FPS and maximum of 217 FPS, ensuring that even the lowest frame time stays above 160 FPS. High settings deliver 118 FPS, while Ultra settings hit 112 FPS. The 6 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is minimal, making Ultra a viable option for those with 120Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the system starts to show its limits. Low settings produce 148 FPS, which is still very playable on 4K displays. Medium settings average 118 FPS with a minimum of 101 FPS and maximum of 136 FPS, providing a stable experience above 100 FPS. High settings drop to 74 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 71 FPS. The 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is negligible, but the 44 FPS difference between Medium and High is substantial, making Medium the preferred choice for 4K gaming on this hardware.

The data shows that Medium settings offer the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions. The minimum FPS values for Medium are 223 FPS at 1080p, 160 FPS at 1440p, and 101 FPS at 4K, all of which are above the thresholds for smooth gameplay. The maximum FPS values of 302, 217, and 136 respectively show that the system can burst above the averages when needed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X7 368H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 3, based on the Panther Lake architecture built on Intel's 3 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 25 W. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 2.5 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration places it in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40518.

The CPU's nearest rivals are the Intel Core 7 253PE (0.1% slower), Intel Core 5 223PE (0.2% slower), AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (0.2% faster), and Intel Xeon 6507P (0.2% faster). These margins are within 0.2%, meaning the Core Ultra X7 368H is statistically tied with its competitors. For a game like Inside, which is not CPU-intensive, this processor provides more than enough single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its cinebench R23 single-core score of 3984.

The Passmark single-thread score of 4005 and multithread score of 32956 indicate strong overall performance. The Passmark physics score of 2857 and integer math score of 88083 are particularly relevant for game physics and AI calculations, though Inside's simple puzzle mechanics likely stress these components minimally. The floating point math score of 105681 and data compression score of 312927 further confirm the CPU's capabilities for general computing tasks.

The CPU's 2.00 GHz base clock is modest, but the 5.00 GHz boost clock ensures that single-threaded workloads like those in Inside can reach high frequencies. The 16 cores are largely underutilized in this game, as most puzzle-platformers rely on a few threads for game logic and rendering commands. The L3 cache of 18 MB is sufficient for the game's data footprint, and the dual-channel LPDDR5X memory with 153.6 GB/s bandwidth provides enough throughput for the game's memory access patterns.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best experience for most users across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 262 FPS with a minimum of 223 FPS, which is ideal for high refresh rate monitors up to 240Hz. The 1440p Medium result of 189 FPS (min 160) is perfect for 165Hz displays, while the 4K Medium result of 118 FPS (min 101) is suitable for 120Hz 4K monitors. The consistency of the minimum FPS values for Medium settings suggests that frame pacing is stable, avoiding stutters or hitches.

For those with 60Hz displays at 4K, the Ultra preset at 71 FPS is technically playable, but the 4K High preset at 74 FPS provides nearly identical performance with potentially better visual stability. The 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra at 4K is within the margin of error, so either preset works. However, the 44 FPS gap between Medium and High at 4K (118 vs 74) makes Medium the clear choice if you want to maintain high frame rates while enjoying improved visuals over Low.

At 1080p, the High preset at 164 FPS and Ultra at 156 FPS are both excellent choices, but they represent a significant drop from Medium's 262 FPS. The 98 FPS difference between Medium and High at 1080p suggests that High enables features that heavily impact performance without proportional visual gains. If you prioritize frame rate, Medium is the recommended preset at 1080p. If you want the best visuals and have a 144Hz monitor, Ultra at 156 FPS still exceeds the refresh rate.

For 1440p users, the Medium preset at 189 FPS is the sweet spot, as it provides a 77 FPS advantage over High (118 FPS) while maintaining a minimum of 160 FPS. This ensures that even the most demanding scenes stay above 144 FPS, making it ideal for high refresh rate gaming. The Ultra preset at 112 FPS is also viable for 120Hz displays, but the 77 FPS difference to Medium is substantial. Ultimately, the data recommends Medium as the default preset for this hardware combination, with High or Ultra reserved for those who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rates.