Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that places minimal stress on modern hardware. This combination ranks 1298th out of 3716 tested combos for this specific game, placing it in the upper third of all systems benchmarked. The data shows this is a pairing where the GPU's raw power and the CPU's efficient Zen 3 architecture combine to produce frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playability threshold at every resolution tested, from 1080p all the way up to 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1298 out of 3716 tested systems positions it firmly in the top 35% of all hardware combinations evaluated for Inside. This percentile placement is notable because Inside is not a demanding title by modern standards, meaning even mid-range hardware from recent generations tends to perform well. The fact that this particular pairing still ranks in the upper third indicates that both components are delivering near their full potential without any significant bottleneck.

The CPU alone achieves an 85th percentile ranking among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 37018. The GPU sits at an 81st percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 37648. When combined, these percentile scores suggest that the system is well-balanced for this game, with neither component dramatically outperforming the other in a way that would create a bottleneck.

What makes this ranking particularly interesting is the consistency across resolutions. While many high-end systems show performance degradation at 4K, this combo maintains playable frame rates at every setting at 3840x2160 resolution. The rank of 1298 reflects this versatility, as the system does not merely excel at one resolution but sustains high performance across the entire spectrum of display configurations tested.

CPU and GPU Roles

Examining the performance scaling between resolutions reveals that the GPU becomes progressively more important as resolution increases, while the CPU maintains a relatively constant workload. At 1080p High settings, the system produces 206 FPS, while at 1440p High it drops to 165 FPS, and at 4K High it reaches 104 FPS. This scaling pattern shows a roughly 20% performance decrease when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 37% decrease when moving from 1440p to 4K.

The CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU has less work to do. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 268 FPS, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding frames to the GPU faster than the GPU can render them at this modest resolution. The Ryzen 5 5500X3D's 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.00 GHz, provide sufficient single-thread performance for Inside's physics and logic calculations.

As resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The RTX 4070's 5888 shading units and 12 GB of GDDR6X memory are tasked with rendering more pixels, and the frame rate drops accordingly. However, the GPU's Ada Lovelace architecture with 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power ensures that even at 4K Ultra settings, the system maintains 99 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold.

The settings scaling provides additional insight into component roles. At 4K, moving from Low to Ultra settings reduces performance from 206 FPS to 99 FPS, a 52% decrease. This dramatic drop indicates that the GPU is heavily impacted by the increased shading and post-processing work at higher presets. In contrast, the CPU's workload remains relatively stable across settings, as evidenced by the consistent performance at lower resolutions where the GPU is not the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160 resolution, the system demonstrates remarkable capability across all four settings presets. Low settings produce an average of 206 FPS, while Medium settings achieve 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 FPS and a maximum of 191 FPS. High settings deliver 104 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 99 FPS. The gap between Medium and High settings is substantial, with a 37% performance penalty, while the difference between High and Ultra is a more modest 5%.

Moving to 2560x1440 resolution, the performance envelope expands significantly. Low settings reach 240 FPS, Medium settings achieve 222 FPS with a minimum of 188 FPS and maximum of 255 FPS, High settings produce 165 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 157 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 188 FPS indicates that even in the most demanding scenes, the system maintains nearly triple the playability threshold.

At 1920x1080 resolution, the system approaches the limits of what the display pipeline can deliver. Low settings produce 268 FPS, Medium settings achieve 247 FPS with a minimum of 210 FPS and maximum of 285 FPS, High settings reach 206 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 203 FPS. The relatively small gap between High and Ultra settings at 1080p, just 1.5%, suggests that the game's Ultra preset does not add significant GPU workload compared to High at this resolution.

The pattern across all resolutions shows that Medium settings provide the best balance between visual quality and performance, with frame rates well above 100 FPS even at 4K. The minimum frame rates recorded for Medium settings at each resolution consistently stay above 140 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay without noticeable stuttering or frame pacing issues.

The Verdict

The data unequivocally shows that this system can run Inside at maximum settings across all tested resolutions. At 3840x2160, the verdict indicates that Ultra settings are playable with an average of 99 FPS, comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. The 2560x1440 resolution delivers 157 FPS at Ultra settings, while 1920x1080 reaches 203 FPS at the same preset.

Every resolution and settings combination tested produces frame rates well above the 60 FPS playability threshold. Even the most demanding configuration tested, 4K Ultra, maintains nearly 100 FPS, leaving significant headroom for any potential frame rate drops in complex scenes. The minimum frame rates recorded at Medium settings across all resolutions never fall below 141 FPS, suggesting that the system maintains consistent performance without dipping into problematic territory.

For players using high refresh rate displays, the system offers substantial benefits. At 1440p, the Medium preset's 222 FPS average and 188 FPS minimum would fully utilize a 165 Hz monitor, while the 1080p Low preset's 268 FPS would satisfy even the most demanding 240 Hz displays. The 4K performance, while not suitable for ultra-high refresh rates, is more than adequate for standard 60 Hz 4K monitors.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with all settings maxed out?

A: Yes, the data shows the system achieves 99 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings, which is well above the 60 FPS playability threshold.

Q: What is the best resolution to use for competitive or high-refresh-rate play?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces 268 FPS, which would fully utilize a 240 Hz monitor. At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the 222 FPS average and 188 FPS minimum would support a 165 Hz display.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At Ultra settings, performance drops from 203 FPS at 1080p to 99 FPS at 4K, representing a 51% decrease in frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game?

A: The GPU becomes more critical at higher resolutions, as evidenced by the 52% performance drop from Low to Ultra settings at 4K. The CPU maintains consistent performance across all resolutions, with the system reaching 268 FPS at 1080p Low settings.

Q: What is the minimum frame rate recorded in any test?

A: The lowest minimum frame rate recorded was 141 FPS, which occurred at 4K Medium settings. This still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by a significant margin.

Q: Does the system maintain smooth gameplay during complex scenes?

A: Yes, the minimum frame rates recorded for Medium settings at all resolutions never drop below 141 FPS, indicating consistent performance without major frame time spikes.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that maintains at least 60 FPS is Ultra, achieving an average of 99 FPS. This provides the maximum visual quality while still delivering frame rates that are 65% above the playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings are also the best choice, producing an average of 157 FPS. This represents a 162% margin over the 60 FPS minimum, allowing for smooth gameplay on high refresh rate monitors.

At 1920x1080, the system achieves 203 FPS at Ultra settings, the highest average frame rate among all maximum-quality configurations tested. This makes the system suitable for competitive play on 240 Hz displays while maintaining full visual fidelity.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The CPU's nearest rivals, based on average benchmark scores, include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F with a score of 36945 (0.2% lower), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 with a score of 37093 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 with a score of 36938 (0.2% lower), and the Intel Core i9-12900T with a score of 37112 (0.3% higher). These processors would deliver nearly identical performance in Inside, as the game's CPU requirements are modest enough that even small differences in benchmark scores would not translate to noticeable frame rate variations.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 with an average score of 37628 (0.1% lower), the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 with a score of 37507 (0.4% lower), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile with a score of 38135 (1.3% higher), and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 with a score of 37157 (1.3% lower). These graphics cards would produce similar frame rates in Inside, with the RTX 4080 Mobile potentially offering a slight edge and the Radeon PRO W6400 showing marginally lower performance.

Systems built with these alternative components would likely achieve frame rates within a few percentage points of the tested configuration. The RTX 4080 Mobile's 1.3% higher benchmark score suggests it might deliver approximately 2-3 additional FPS at 4K Ultra settings, while the Radeon PRO W6400's 1.3% lower score could result in a similar decrease. However, given that even the lowest-performing rival configuration would still exceed 95 FPS at 4K Ultra, all of these alternatives would provide an equally playable experience in Inside.