Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. Measured data shows this combination produces frame rates far exceeding the 60 FPS playability threshold across every tested resolution and preset, with the strongest results appearing at 1080p where even the most demanding settings maintain a significant margin of headroom.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy of performance across resolutions and settings, with the RTX 3070 demonstrating substantial capability even at 4K. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 80.5 FPS on Ultra to 173.8 FPS on Low, with High settings producing 84.2 FPS and Medium reaching 138.1 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High at this resolution is relatively small at 3.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance scales impressively. The Ultra preset delivers 129.7 FPS, while High reaches 133.9 FPS, Medium hits 217.1 FPS, and Low peaks at 272.9 FPS. The jump from 4K to 1440p represents roughly a 61% improvement in Ultra settings, from 80.5 to 129.7 FPS, which aligns with the pixel count reduction of approximately 56%.

At 1920x1080, the combination becomes almost absurdly powerful for this title. Ultra settings produce 183.1 FPS, High achieves 189.8 FPS, Medium reaches 301.7 FPS, and Low hits 379.1 FPS. The delta between 1440p and 1080p at Ultra is 53.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU still has headroom to spare even at the highest preset. Notably, the difference between High and Ultra at every resolution is minimal—only 3.7 FPS at 4K, 4.2 FPS at 1440p, and 6.7 FPS at 1080p—suggesting that Ultra's additional visual features cost relatively little performance in this game.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling patterns across resolutions indicate that the GPU becomes progressively more influential as resolution increases, while the CPU's role remains consistent but secondary. At 1080p, the difference between Low (379.1 FPS) and Ultra (183.1 FPS) is a 196 FPS spread, which represents a 51.7% reduction in frame rate. At 1440p, the same comparison shows a 143.2 FPS spread (272.9 to 129.7), a 52.5% reduction. At 4K, the spread narrows to 93.3 FPS (173.8 to 80.5), a 53.7% reduction. This consistency suggests that preset changes affect GPU workload proportionally across resolutions, with the CPU maintaining sufficient headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, shows strong single-thread performance in synthetic benchmarks—scoring 2211 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 3023 in Geekbench single-core. This matters because Inside is a puzzle platformer that likely relies on single-threaded game logic. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and 2-thread score of 2525 indicate robust per-core performance that can feed the GPU efficiently even at high frame rates. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU workload is lightest, the system still achieves 379.1 FPS, suggesting the CPU can sustain frame generation far beyond typical display refresh rates.

The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s for the CPU and 448.0 GB/s for the GPU provide ample data throughput for a game of this era. The RTX 3070's 8 GB GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers the bandwidth necessary to handle 4K textures without stuttering, evidenced by the solid 80.5 FPS minimum at 4K Ultra. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant factor—the 53.7% reduction from Low to Ultra at 4K versus 51.7% at 1080p shows a slight shift toward GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, all four presets clear the 60 FPS threshold. The most demanding preset that maintains playable performance is Ultra, with an average of 80.5 FPS. This leaves 20.5 FPS of headroom above the playable threshold, making 4K Ultra a viable configuration for this hardware in Inside. The High preset at 84.2 FPS offers only marginal improvement, reinforcing that Ultra is the recommended choice at this resolution.

For 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, delivering 129.7 FPS. This more than doubles the 60 FPS threshold, providing substantial headroom for potential frame drops or background tasks. The Ultra preset at 1440p is 49.2 FPS faster than at 4K, showing how resolution scaling benefits this combination.

At 1920x1080, Ultra again emerges as the best setting, achieving 183.1 FPS. This is more than triple the playable threshold, making this configuration ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The 183.1 FPS at 1080p Ultra is 102.6 FPS higher than at 4K Ultra, demonstrating that players prioritizing maximum smoothness should consider 1080p. Across all three resolutions, the verdict data confirms that every preset—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—remains playable, with Ultra always being the best choice for visual quality without compromising performance.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Ryzen 7 9700X sits at the 86th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14901E, which scores 37911 (0.1% lower), and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370, also at 37904 (0.1% lower). The Intel Core 5 211E trails by 0.3% with a score of 37829, while the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 is 0.4% behind at 37804. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these CPUs would deliver virtually identical frame rates in Inside, where the workload is likely single-threaded and the 9700X's 5.50 GHz boost clock provides ample performance.

The RTX 3070 holds the 61st percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT at 17083, a 0.7% difference. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 scores 17037 (1.0% lower), and the AMD Radeon HD 7970M is 1.1% behind at 17019. Interestingly, the NVIDIA Tesla K40c scores higher at 17468, representing a -1.5% delta (meaning the RTX 3070 is 1.5% slower). For Inside, these differences translate to at most a few FPS—the RX 7600 XT would produce roughly 80 FPS at 4K Ultra compared to the RTX 3070's 80.5 FPS. The GTX 690, despite its age, would still clear 60 FPS at 4K Ultra given its proximity in score.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Inside exceptionally well. The verdict data confirms that all four settings presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable at every tested resolution, with the playable threshold set at 60 FPS. At 3840x2160, the best playable settings are Ultra, achieving 80.5 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra delivers 129.7 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra reaches 183.1 FPS. There is no resolution or preset combination in the data that falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

The lowest frame rate recorded across all measurements is 80.5 FPS at 4K Ultra, which still provides a 34% margin above the playable threshold. This suggests that even in demanding scenes with complex physics or particle effects, the system would likely maintain smooth performance. For players with 4K displays, the ability to run Ultra at 80.5 FPS makes this a compelling configuration. For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, 1080p Ultra at 183.1 FPS or even 1440p Ultra at 129.7 FPS offers excellent responsiveness.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 ranks 1295th out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 65th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the fact that the RTX 3070, while capable, is not the fastest GPU available, and Inside is an older title where many modern high-end GPUs can achieve even higher frame rates. However, the ranking also shows that this combo outperforms a majority of tested configurations, and the absolute performance numbers are far above what the game requires for smooth play.

The CPU's 86th percentile ranking among all CPUs is notably higher than the GPU's 61st percentile, indicating that the processor is relatively stronger in the broader hardware landscape. This imbalance suggests that in Inside, the GPU is likely the limiting factor at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU's strong single-thread performance allows the RTX 3070 to stretch its legs. The combo's rank of 1295 likely includes many systems with faster GPUs but similar or slower CPUs, which would explain why the overall ranking is lower than the CPU's individual percentile.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average FPS this system achieves in Inside at 4K Ultra?

A: The system delivers 80.5 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is the most demanding preset at the highest resolution tested.

Q: Does this setup ever drop below 60 FPS in Inside?

A: No. The lowest average frame rate recorded across all resolutions and presets is 80.5 FPS at 4K Ultra. Every other configuration produces higher averages, with the 60 FPS playable threshold being cleared by at least 20.5 FPS.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Ultra compared to 4K Ultra?

A: At 1920x1080 Ultra, the average FPS is 183.1, which is 102.6 FPS higher than the 80.5 FPS at 3840x2160 Ultra. This represents a 127.5% improvement in frame rate.

Q: Which component is more likely to bottleneck in this game?

A: At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary factor, as evidenced by the smaller FPS gap between Low (173.8) and Ultra (80.5) at that resolution. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance (2211 in Cinebench R23 single-core) supports frame rates up to 379.1 FPS on Low, suggesting the GPU remains the limiting factor even at lower resolutions.

Q: What GPU is closest in performance to the RTX 3070 for this game?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT has an average benchmark score of 17083, just 0.7% lower than the RTX 3070's 17208. This would translate to roughly 80 FPS at 4K Ultra versus 80.5 FPS for the RTX 3070.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X significantly faster than its nearest CPU rival?

A: The closest rival, the Intel Core i9-14901E, scores 37911 versus the 9700X's 37943, a difference of only 0.1%. This negligible margin means there is no practical performance difference in Inside.