Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on paper, should not stress modern hardware. Yet, the benchmark data for the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile reveals a fascinating case of scaling, where the game's simple visuals interact with a high-end mobile platform in unexpected ways. The measured frames per second (FPS) across resolutions and settings provide a clear picture of where the bottleneck lies, how the CPU and GPU each contribute, and what settings offer the most efficient path to a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data shows a dramatic and non-linear drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which is the primary indicator of the system's performance ceiling under different loads. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves a staggering 421 FPS average. This number is so high that it clearly exceeds the refresh rate of any standard gaming display, indicating that the system is heavily CPU-bound at this point. The GPU is essentially idle, waiting for the CPU to feed it frames. This is the classic signature of a CPU bottleneck, where the processor's single-thread performance, not the graphics card, dictates the frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low settings average drops to 303 FPS, a reduction of 28% from the 1080p figure. While still incredibly high, this scaling suggests the load is beginning to shift. The GPU is starting to do more work, but the CPU is still likely the limiting factor at this setting, as the frame rate remains far above what is visually necessary. The trend becomes more pronounced at 3840x2160, where the Low setting average falls to 191 FPS. This is a 37% drop from 1440p, showing that the GPU is now taking on a more significant role. However, even at 4K Low, the frame rate is above 144 Hz, meaning the experience would be exceptionally smooth on most high-refresh-rate monitors.

The scaling pattern changes drastically when moving to higher graphical presets. At High settings, the averages are 211 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 28%, and from 1440p to 4K is 37.5%. This is a more consistent scaling curve, indicating that the GPU is now the primary bottleneck, especially at 4K. The game's pixel shaders and fill-rate requirements are finally becoming demanding enough to engage the RTX 4080 Mobile fully. The data indicates that the limiting component transitions from the CPU at 1080p Low to the GPU at 4K High, with the crossover point occurring somewhere in the 1440p to 4K range depending on the preset.

The most telling data point is the comparison between Low and High settings at the same resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 421 FPS versus 211 FPS, a 50% reduction. At 1440p, it is 303 FPS versus 152 FPS, again a 50% reduction. However, at 4K, the difference narrows to 191 FPS versus 95 FPS, still a 50% reduction. This consistent 50% delta between presets suggests that the graphical settings have a predictable impact on the render load, and the system scales accordingly, with the GPU becoming the clear limiting factor at the highest resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Inside?

A: The highest measured average is 421 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates a massive performance headroom for high-refresh-rate displays at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the frame rate at 4K Ultra compare to 4K Low?

A: The 4K Ultra preset yields an average of 91 FPS, while the 4K Low preset yields 191 FPS. This shows that the Ultra preset, while still playable, demands more than double the GPU resources, cutting the frame rate by more than half.

Q: Is the system more likely to be CPU-bound or GPU-bound at 1080p?

A: The data strongly suggests a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. The frame rates at Low (421 FPS) and High (211 FPS) are exceptionally high, far beyond what the GPU should be limited to for a game of this era, indicating the CPU's single-thread performance is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in the benchmark data?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for the Medium preset. The lowest of these is 130 FPS at 3840x2160, with a maximum of 175 FPS. For other presets, only average FPS is reported.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 Mobile's performance in Inside compare to its overall benchmark percentile?

A: The GPU holds an 81st percentile rank across all GPUs based on its average benchmark score. In this specific game, it delivers frame rates that are sufficient for smooth gameplay even at 4K Ultra, showing it is not overtaxed by this title.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: At Medium settings, the average frame rate at 1080p is 337 FPS, while at 4K it is 152 FPS. This represents a 55% reduction in performance, clearly illustrating the impact of resolution on the GPU load.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H is a 16-core, 16-thread processor based on the Panther Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.10 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. In a game like Inside, which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer, the workload is typically not heavily multi-threaded. The game's logic, physics, and rendering commands are often delegated to a single or a few threads. Therefore, the CPU's high boost clock of 5.10 GHz is likely more critical than its 16-core count for achieving the extreme frame rates seen at lower resolutions.

The benchmark data supports this theory. At 1080p Low, the system hits 421 FPS, a figure that is almost certainly limited by the CPU's ability to process and submit draw calls to the GPU. This is a classic scenario in less demanding titles where the CPU becomes the bottleneck because the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue the instructions. The fact that the frame rate drops by exactly 50% when moving from Low to High at 1080p (421 to 211 FPS) suggests that the graphical preset is not just adding effects but is also increasing the per-frame CPU cost, possibly through more complex scene management or draw calls.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is noteworthy. The data shows it is essentially neck-and-neck with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D, with a delta of -0.2%, and the Intel Core i9-13950HX, with a delta of 0.3%. This places it in the upper echelon of processors, with an 88th percentile rank across all CPUs. In the context of Inside, this high single-thread and multi-thread performance means the CPU will rarely be a limiting factor at higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K, where the GPU takes over the primary workload. The 16 threads ensure that any background tasks or game engine overhead are handled without introducing stutter, but the sheer clock speed is what pushes the frame rate over 400 FPS at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile achieves a rank of 871 out of 3716 total combos for Inside. This places it in the top 23.4% of all tested systems for this specific game. While this is a strong showing, it is not at the very top, which is interesting given the high-end nature of both components. This rank is likely influenced by the fact that the game is not particularly demanding on the GPU, so systems with slightly faster CPUs or more optimized memory configurations might edge it out in the 1080p and 1440p categories.

The rank suggests that while the combo is powerful, the game's CPU-bound nature at lower resolutions means that the RTX 4080 Mobile's immense graphical power is somewhat underutilized. The 871st rank indicates that there are 870 other combinations that perform better, likely due to having CPUs with even higher single-thread performance or faster memory. However, when considering the entire spectrum of 3716 combos, this pairing is clearly in the upper quartile, delivering a gameplay experience that far exceeds the requirements of a smooth 60 FPS or even 144 FPS target at any resolution. The data shows that this is a top-tier combination, but not the absolute best, for Inside, which reflects the game's low system requirements rather than a weakness of the hardware.

Settings Recommendations

Given the benchmark data, the optimal settings depend entirely on the user's display and performance target. For users with a 1080p or 1440p display running at 60 Hz or 144 Hz, the High preset is the clear recommendation. At 1080p High, the system delivers 211 FPS, and at 1440p High, it delivers 152 FPS. Both of these figures are well above 144 FPS, ensuring a perfectly smooth experience with the higher visual fidelity that the High preset offers over Low or Medium. The Ultra preset at these resolutions (201 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p) offers only a marginal visual improvement for a significant drop in frame rate, making High the sweet spot.

For 4K users, the situation is different. The High preset at 4K delivers 95 FPS, which is excellent for a 4K display, especially one with a 120 Hz refresh rate. However, the Ultra preset drops to 91 FPS, a negligible difference of only 4 FPS. In this case, the data suggests that enabling the Ultra preset is essentially free, as the performance penalty is minimal. The Medium preset at 4K offers 152 FPS, but the visual jump from Medium to High is typically more noticeable than from High to Ultra. Therefore, the best experience for a 4K display is to use the High or Ultra preset, depending on whether the user prefers the absolute maximum visual quality or wants to maintain a higher frame rate buffer for future game updates. The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it likely sacrifices too much visual quality for frame rates that are beyond the capability of most displays.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the system's performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 421 FPS for Low, 337 FPS for Medium, 211 FPS for High, and 201 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data, showing a minimum of 287 FPS and a maximum of 388 FPS, which indicates a stable frame time distribution with no major stutters. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 303 FPS for Low, 243 FPS for Medium, 152 FPS for High, and 144 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset at this resolution has a minimum of 206 FPS and a maximum of 279 FPS, again showing consistent performance.

At the demanding 3840x2160 resolution, the averages drop to 191 FPS for Low, 152 FPS for Medium, 95 FPS for High, and 91 FPS for Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum is 130 FPS and maximum is 175 FPS, meaning even the lowest frame rate in the most demanding scenario tested is well above 60 FPS. This data reveals a clear pattern: the performance headroom is enormous at 1080p, allowing for frame rates that are multiples of the display's refresh rate. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, with an approximate 55% reduction in frame rate, which is expected for a resolution quadrupling in pixel count. The system never drops below 91 FPS in any tested configuration, confirming that this combo is more than capable of handling Inside at its absolute maximum settings on any resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is a high-end mobile GPU based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. Its core clocks are 1290 MHz base and 1665 MHz boost, with a TDP of 110 W. In Inside, the GPU's role is primarily to handle the game's rendering, which includes its unique art style, lighting effects, and post-processing. The game is not known for heavy use of ray tracing or advanced physics, so the GPU's 58 RT cores are likely not heavily utilized. Instead, the workload falls on the 7424 shading units and 232 texture mapping units.

The benchmark data shows that the GPU's performance is only truly tested at 4K resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, the frame rates are so high that the GPU is likely not working at full capacity, as the CPU is the limiting factor. The GPU's true capability is revealed when comparing the FPS at 4K Low (191 FPS) to 4K Ultra (91 FPS). This 52% performance drop is a direct result of the increased pixel shading and texture sampling load, which engages the GPU's compute and memory subsystems. The GPU's 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Inside, which likely uses far less than that even at 4K Ultra, ensuring no memory-related stutters.

The GPU's overall benchmark score places it in the 81st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (with a delta of -0.6%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 (with a delta of 1.3%). This data confirms that the RTX 4080 Mobile is a top-tier mobile graphics solution. In the context of Inside, the GPU's immense power ensures that the game can be played at maximum settings on a 4K display with an average frame rate of 91 FPS, which is a remarkable result for a mobile platform. The GPU is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions, but it becomes the primary driver of performance at 4K, demonstrating its capability to handle even the most demanding visual scenarios this game can present.