Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a dramatic performance envelope for Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far from demanding by modern standards. Measured data across three resolutions and four quality presets shows this combination producing frame rates that are almost absurdly high, with every single tested configuration clearing the 60 FPS playable threshold by a wide margin. The benchmark results indicate a system with massive headroom, making it suitable for high-refresh-rate displays at any resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers 1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160, each with Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings. The results reveal an interesting pattern: this game is so lightweight that the RTX 4080 is never stressed, and even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains well above the playable threshold.

At 1920x1080, the lowest measured average is 280 FPS on Ultra settings. The High preset averages 294 FPS, while Medium jumps to 353 FPS with a minimum of 300 FPS and a maximum of 406 FPS. The Low preset produces the highest average of the entire test suite at 383 FPS. Notably, these numbers suggest that the CPU, not the GPU, is the limiting factor at 1080p, as even the most demanding preset stays above 280 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain exceptionally high. Ultra settings deliver 201 FPS on average, while High produces 211 FPS. Medium shows a substantial jump to 317 FPS, with a minimum of 269 FPS and a maximum of 364 FPS. The Low preset reaches 343 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is modest, with the Ultra preset dropping from 280 to 201 FPS, a reduction of roughly 28 percent.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080 finally begins to show some workload, though the results are still staggering. Ultra settings average 126 FPS, while High averages 133 FPS. Medium produces 212 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 244 FPS. The Low preset reaches 265 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High at 4K is small, only 7 FPS, which indicates that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not particularly taxing on this hardware. The Medium preset, however, is significantly faster than both High and Ultra, suggesting a non-linear scaling in the game’s settings hierarchy.

The complete dataset shows that min and max FPS values are only recorded for Medium settings at each resolution. At 4K Medium, the range is 181 to 244 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 269 to 364 FPS; and at 1080p Medium, it is 300 to 406 FPS. These ranges are narrow, indicating consistent frame pacing without major spikes or drops, even under load.

Best Settings per Resolution

Since every preset at every resolution exceeds 60 FPS, the best settings are simply the highest quality preset available. The verdict data confirms that Ultra is the optimal choice across all three resolutions.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset runs at an average of 280 FPS. This is the most demanding setting available, and it still provides over four times the playable threshold. For users with a 144Hz or 240Hz monitor, this level of performance ensures that the display’s refresh rate is fully utilized without any compromise in visual quality.

At 2560x1440, Ultra settings average 201 FPS. This is a modest drop from 1080p but still leaves enormous headroom. The 1440p Ultra preset is the recommended configuration for this resolution, as it provides the full visual experience while maintaining frame rates that are well above what any current display can refresh.

At 3840x2160, Ultra settings average 126 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration in the entire test suite, yet it still doubles the 60 FPS threshold. For 4K gaming, this is the best choice, as it delivers the highest fidelity without dipping below playable levels. The data shows that this combo can handle 4K Ultra with ease, making it a viable option for high-refresh-rate 4K monitors as well.

In all cases, the recommendation is straightforward: use Ultra. The measured FPS at Ultra is always at least 126 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay. There is no reason to select a lower preset unless a user specifically wants to maximize frame rates for competitive play or to reduce GPU load for other tasks.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance data reveals an unusual dynamic for a modern game. Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer with relatively simple rendering requirements, so the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution. Instead, the CPU, specifically the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X, appears to be the limiting factor, particularly at lower resolutions.

The evidence for this lies in the scaling between resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 280. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 201, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 126. The decline from 1080p to 1440p is 79 FPS, while the decline from 1440p to 4K is 75 FPS. This roughly linear scaling suggests that the GPU is becoming more involved as resolution increases, but the absolute frame rates are so high that the CPU is likely still the primary constraint.

Comparing presets at the same resolution reinforces this. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 139 FPS (265 vs 126). At 1440p, the difference is 142 FPS (343 vs 201). At 1080p, the difference is 103 FPS (383 vs 280). The larger gap at 1440p and 4K indicates that the GPU has more headroom to flex when settings are lowered, but the CPU still limits the maximum achievable frame rate.

The Ryzen 7 7700X has a strong single-thread performance profile, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1090 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1987. The game’s engine likely relies on a few main threads, and the CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample parallelism. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not a bottleneck in the traditional sense, as frame rates remain extremely high, but it does cap the upper bound of performance.

At 1080p, the GPU is barely utilized, as evidenced by the fact that Low and Medium presets both exceed 350 FPS. The RTX 4080’s raw compute power, with an FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS, is vastly overqualified for this game. The situation reverses slightly at 4K, where the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth become more relevant, but even then, the card operates far below its maximum capacity.

In summary, the CPU is the more important component at 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU is idle most of the time. At 4K, the GPU begins to matter more, but the overall system is so powerful that neither component ever approaches a critical limit.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Inside at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 126 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 383, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

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

A: The average FPS drops from 280 at 1920x1080 to 126 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 154 FPS or approximately 55 percent.

Q: Does the RTX 4080 bottleneck the Ryzen 7 7700X in this game?

A: No. The data indicates the opposite: the CPU is the limiting factor at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is only 103 FPS, while at 4K it is 139 FPS, showing that the GPU has more influence at higher resolutions but never becomes a bottleneck.

Q: Are the frame rates consistent, or are there large drops?

A: The only presets with recorded minimum and maximum values are Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the range is 300 to 406 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 269 to 364 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 181 to 244 FPS. These narrow ranges indicate stable performance without significant frame-time spikes.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144Hz monitor at 1440p?

A: Ultra settings at 2560x1440 produce an average of 201 FPS, which exceeds 144 FPS. This preset provides the highest visual quality while still comfortably driving a 144Hz display.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X are all processors with average benchmark scores within a narrow band. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 has an average score of 35802, which is 0.3 percent lower than the 7700X’s 35909. The Intel Core 7 250H scores 35728, a 0.5 percent deficit. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 also scores 35728, matching the Core 7 250H. Finally, the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H scores 35670, a 0.7 percent deficit. All four of these CPUs would likely produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside, as the game is not heavily multi-threaded and single-thread performance is similar across this group.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080’s nearest rival is the RTX 4080 SUPER, with an average score of 54209, just 0.1 percent lower than the 4080’s 54247. This means the SUPER variant would perform essentially the same in this game. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1 percent higher, while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, a 2.6 percent advantage. The AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7 percent higher. These differences are negligible in absolute terms for a game like Inside, which runs at hundreds of frames per second. Any of these GPUs, paired with a similarly performing CPU, would deliver comparable results, with all configurations staying far above the 60 FPS threshold.

For users considering a similar build, the data suggests that the CPU choice matters more than the GPU for this specific title, since the GPU is underutilized. A processor from the same performance tier as the 7700X, such as the Core Ultra 9 185H, would pair well with any of these GPUs without changing the gameplay experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 186 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the top 5 percent of all configurations tested. The high rank is expected, given the extreme performance of both components, but it is notable that 185 other combinations score higher. These would likely involve even newer or more expensive hardware, such as the RTX 4090 or top-tier X3D processors.

The percentile data supports this positioning. The Ryzen 7 7700X sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, and the RTX 4080 sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs. The combination of two above-average parts produces a system that is near the top of the rankings for this game. The rank of 186 out of 3716 means that roughly 5 percent of tested setups outperform this combo, but those setups are likely overkill for a game of this simplicity.

The data indicates that this combo is more than sufficient for Inside, and the ranking reflects that. Users with this hardware will not experience any performance limitations, and the only reason to upgrade would be for other, more demanding titles.

The Verdict

The verdict is unambiguous: this PC can run Inside at maximum settings and high frame rates at every tested resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 280 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 201 FPS. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 126 FPS. All of these values exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold by a factor of at least two.

The playable settings list confirms that all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at all three resolutions. There is no configuration in the measured data that falls below 60 FPS. The minimum recorded frame rate across the entire dataset is 181 FPS, which occurs at 4K Medium. This means that even the most demanding moment in the game would still be smooth.

For users with high-refresh-rate monitors, this combo delivers. At 1080p, the average FPS is above 280 on Ultra, which can drive a 240Hz panel. At 1440p, the 201 FPS average on Ultra supports a 165Hz or 240Hz display. At 4K, the 126 FPS average on Ultra is sufficient for a 120Hz or 144Hz monitor, though not for higher refresh rates.

Ultimately, the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 are vastly overqualified for Inside, but that is not a criticism. The hardware provides a flawless experience with massive headroom, ensuring that the game runs perfectly under any conditions a user might choose. The data shows no weaknesses, no bottlenecks, and no reason to compromise on settings.