Inside

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Low, with an average of 70 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 56 FPS average, which sits below the 60 FPS playability threshold, while High and Ultra average 35 FPS and 34 FPS respectively. For 4K displays, Low is the only playable option.

At 2560x1440, the best playable preset is Medium, delivering 90 FPS average. Low runs at 112 FPS, but Medium offers substantially better visual quality while still maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. High averages 56 FPS, just under the threshold, and Ultra averages 53 FPS. Both High and Ultra are technically unplayable by the 60 FPS standard.

At 1920x1080, the situation is much more favorable. All four presets clear the 60 FPS mark, so the best settings are Ultra at 74 FPS average. If you prefer maximum smoothness, Low runs at 156 FPS, Medium at 125 FPS, and High at 78 FPS. Ultra remains the recommended choice for 1080p because it provides the richest visual experience while still delivering 74 FPS, a comfortable margin above the playability threshold.

The pattern is clear: this combo scales predictably with resolution. At 1080p you can max everything out, at 1440p you need to step down to Medium, and at 4K you are limited to Low. The 60 FPS threshold is the deciding factor at each step.

CPU and GPU Roles

The recorded data shows a strong GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra is 82 FPS (156 versus 74). At 2560x1440, the same preset gap is 59 FPS (112 versus 53). At 3840x2160, the gap narrows to 36 FPS (70 versus 34). This compression of the preset gap as resolution increases indicates that the Intel Arc B390 becomes the limiting factor, as pixel throughput demands grow faster than the CPU can feed the GPU.

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, with 8 cores and 16 threads, has ample headroom for a puzzle platformer like Inside. Its PassMark multithread score of 22458 and single-thread score of 2656 place it in the 84th percentile among all CPUs. The CPU is not the constraint here. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 156 FPS, which suggests the CPU can push well beyond what the GPU can render at higher settings. The single-core performance is sufficient for the game's logic and physics, and the 16 threads are far more than this genre requires.

The GPU tells a different story. The Intel Arc B390 has a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, placing it in the 9th percentile among all GPUs. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 compute of 7.680 TFLOPS. These figures are modest by modern standards. The 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs are the likely reason the Ultra preset at 1440p and 4K falls below 60 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 34 FPS, a 51% reduction from 4K Low, which points squarely at the GPU's fill rate and shading capacity.

Resolution scaling confirms this. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 125 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it drops to 90 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K Medium, it drops to 56 FPS, another 38% reduction. These are classic GPU-bound scaling patterns. The CPU's role is mostly irrelevant at 4K, where the GPU is saturated. At 1080p, the CPU still has headroom, as evidenced by the 156 FPS Low result, but the GPU quickly becomes the ceiling once settings rise.

For players aiming for high refresh rates at 1080p, the CPU is sufficient. For 1440p or 4K, the GPU dictates what is playable. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield larger gains than upgrading the CPU for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

This CPU and GPU combination ranks 3296 out of 3716 tested combos in the database for Inside. That places it in the lower portion of the ranking, roughly in the bottom 11% of tested configurations. The rank reflects the GPU's limited performance profile more than the CPU's, given that the Ryzen 7 3700X is a capable processor in general benchmarks.

The combo's position is consistent with the measured FPS data. At 1080p Ultra, it manages 74 FPS, which is playable but not exceptional. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 53 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, only 34 FPS. The rank of 3296 indicates that most other tested combos achieve higher frame rates in this game, likely because they pair stronger GPUs with similar or better CPUs. The 3716 total combos mean there is a wide field, and this pairing sits near the bottom quarter.

The CPU alone, in the 84th percentile, would rank much higher if paired with a stronger GPU. The GPU alone, in the 9th percentile, drags the combo down. The combined rank is a direct reflection of the GPU's relative weakness in the database's tested pool. Players using this combo should expect performance similar to other entries near the 3296 rank, which are typically older or lower-end GPUs paired with mid-range CPUs.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X are all within 0.5% of its average benchmark score. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 scores 34222, a 0.1% delta. The AMD EPYC 4244P scores 34220, also a 0.1% delta. The Intel Core i5-13450HX scores 34333, a -0.2% delta, meaning it is slightly faster. The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083, a 0.5% delta, meaning it is slightly slower. Any of these CPUs would behave nearly identically to the Ryzen 7 3700X in Inside, since the game is not CPU-bound at the tested settings.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals are all NVIDIA parts with scores within 2.7% of the Intel Arc B390's 1482. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX scores 1463, a 1.3% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce 800M scores 1460, a 1.5% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM scores 1446, a 2.5% delta. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 scores 1443, a 2.7% delta. These GPUs would produce nearly the same frame rates in Inside, meaning the same playability limits: 1080p Ultra at about 74 FPS, 1440p Medium at about 90 FPS, and 4K Low at about 70 FPS.

The delta values are small enough that swapping to any of these alternatives would not meaningfully change the experience. The CPU alternatives are all modern parts, while the GPU alternatives are older, low-end NVIDIA chips. This highlights the Arc B390's positioning: it performs in the same tier as decade-old entry-level discrete GPUs, at least in this game's workload. The practical takeaway is that the GPU is the weak link, and any of the listed alternatives would behave similarly.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the measured results are as follows. Low averages 70 FPS, with no min or max recorded. Medium averages 56 FPS, with a min of 48 and a max of 65. High averages 35 FPS, with no min or max recorded. Ultra averages 34 FPS, with no min or max recorded. The Medium preset shows a frame time variance of 17 FPS between min and max, which indicates some stutter potential, but the average is still below the playability threshold.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 112 FPS. Medium averages 90 FPS, with a min of 76 and a max of 103, a 27 FPS spread. High averages 56 FPS. Ultra averages 53 FPS. The Medium preset is the sweet spot here, and the min of 76 FPS ensures it never dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, Low averages 156 FPS. Medium averages 125 FPS, with a min of 106 and a max of 144, a 38 FPS spread. High averages 78 FPS. Ultra averages 74 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 106 FPS is well above the threshold, and even Ultra, with no recorded min, is expected to stay above 60 FPS based on the average.

The data shows only the Medium preset has min and max values recorded across all resolutions. This suggests the database measured frame time variance primarily for that preset. The other presets only have averages, so the user must rely on the average as the representative figure. The Medium preset's min values are all above 60 FPS at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K the min of 48 FPS confirms the average of 56 FPS is not a fluke.

The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at Medium settings is a drop from 125 to 90 FPS, a 28% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at Medium, the drop is from 90 to 56 FPS, a 38% reduction. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 156 to 112 FPS, a 28% reduction, and from 1440p to 4K is 112 to 70 FPS, a 37.5% reduction. These consistent percentage drops reinforce the GPU-bound nature of the title.

FAQ

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1080p with this combo?

A: Ultra is the best playable preset at 1920x1080, averaging 74 FPS. All presets at this resolution exceed the 60 FPS threshold, so you can safely use the highest quality settings.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is playable, averaging 70 FPS. Medium drops to 56 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 34 FPS. If you want 4K, you must use Low settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor. The Ryzen 7 3700X ranks in the 84th percentile among CPUs, while the Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile among GPUs. Frame rates drop consistently as resolution increases, which indicates a GPU bottleneck.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: It ranks 3296 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the lower portion of the database's tested field.

Q: What happens if I use the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 averages 90 FPS, with a recorded min of 76 FPS and max of 103 FPS. It is fully playable and is the best settings choice for that resolution.

Q: Are there other CPUs or GPUs that would perform similarly?

A: The AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, AMD EPYC 4244P, Intel Core i5-13450HX, and Intel Core Ultra 7 165H are all within 0.5% of the Ryzen 7 3700X's average score. The NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GeForce GT 625 OEM, and GeForce GT 710 are all within 2.7% of the Intel Arc B390's score. Any of these would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside.