Inside

# Inside Performance Analysis: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers extraordinary performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that clearly does not stress modern high-end hardware. Measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings remain massively above the 60 FPS playability threshold, with even the most demanding preset at 4K producing an average of 126 FPS. This combination ranks 110th out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 3% of all configurations in the database for this title. The data reveals a system that is fundamentally overqualified for Inside, yet the benchmark results still offer useful insights into how CPU and GPU scaling behave in this specific game engine.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 280 FPS, which is the highest quality setting that remains above the 60 FPS threshold. The data shows no reason to compromise on visual fidelity at this resolution: even Ultra delivers more than 4.6 times the playability threshold. The Medium preset reaches 393 FPS average, while High sits at 294 FPS, but Ultra remains the optimal choice for maximum quality without any performance concern.

Moving to 2560x1440, Ultra again is the best setting, delivering an average of 201 FPS. This is comfortably above 60 FPS, with the margin still exceeding 3.3 times the threshold. The Medium preset averages 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS and maximum of 389 FPS, but Ultra's 201 FPS average leaves no reason to drop below maximum quality. High at this resolution produces 211 FPS, yet Ultra's superiority in visual quality with only a 5% performance penalty makes it the clear recommendation.

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 126 FPS. This is the first resolution where the system's headroom begins to narrow, though 126 FPS still represents a 110% margin above the playability threshold. The High preset at 133 FPS and Medium at 212 FPS (with min/max of 181/244) both exceed 60 FPS as well, but Ultra's 126 FPS average means players can enjoy maximum settings even at 4K. The Low preset reaches 265 FPS, but no one would choose it when Ultra remains fully playable.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a fascinating dynamic between the AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 across resolutions. At 1080p, the system produces 426 FPS on Low settings, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates. When moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 381 FPS, a 10.6% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 265 FPS, another 30.4% decrease from 1440p. This scaling pattern indicates that GPU load becomes progressively more significant as resolution increases, even in a game as lightweight as Inside.

The settings scaling provides additional evidence of where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p, going from Low to Ultra reduces performance from 426 FPS to 280 FPS, a 34.3% drop. At 1440p, the same settings change yields a 47.2% reduction (381 to 201 FPS). At 4K, Low to Ultra drops from 265 to 126 FPS, a 52.5% reduction. This widening gap between Low and Ultra at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint as pixel count grows.

The CPU's role is most visible at 1080p Low, where the 426 FPS figure approaches what the Ryzen 7 9700X can sustain in this engine. The 9700X's 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and PassMark single-thread score of 4654 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for a puzzle platformer that likely relies on a primary game thread. However, the 8-core, 16-thread design with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20485 ensures that any background tasks or physics calculations never become a limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the RTX 4080's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 716.8 GB/s memory bandwidth are clearly the deciding factors, as the 126 FPS result reflects GPU-bound rendering.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The Low preset produces an average of 426 FPS. Medium averages 393 FPS with a minimum of 334 FPS and maximum of 452 FPS. High averages 294 FPS. Ultra averages 280 FPS. All settings at this resolution exceed 280 FPS on average, with even the minimum observed on Medium (334 FPS) far above the 60 FPS threshold.

2560x1440: Low averages 381 FPS. Medium averages 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS and maximum of 389 FPS. High averages 211 FPS. Ultra averages 201 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs between 10.6% (Low) and 28.2% (Ultra) of average frame rate, showing that resolution scaling is not uniform across presets.

3840x2160: Low averages 265 FPS. Medium averages 212 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 244 FPS. High averages 133 FPS. Ultra averages 126 FPS. The 4K results show the largest relative drops: Ultra at 126 FPS is 55% slower than its 1080p counterpart, while Low at 265 FPS is 37.8% slower than 1080p Low. The Medium preset's minimum of 181 FPS indicates that even the worst-case frame time at 4K remains triple the playability threshold.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database are remarkably close in aggregate performance. The Intel Core i9-14901E scores 37911 in average benchmark score, a mere 0.1% delta from the 9700X's 37943. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 also sits at 37904, again a 0.1% difference. The Intel Core 5 211E scores 37829 (0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132 scores 37804 (0.4% delta). In practical terms for Inside, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates, as the game's demands are well within the capabilities of all four processors. The 9700X's 86th percentile ranking among all CPUs reinforces that it is positioned in the upper tier, but its rivals prove that this tier has multiple occupants.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080, the nearest GPU rivals show similarly tight clustering. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, a 0.1% delta from the 4080's 54247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828, which is 1.1% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, 2.6% higher, and the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, 2.7% higher. These deltas are small enough that in Inside, where the RTX 4080 already produces 126 FPS at 4K Ultra, all four alternatives would deliver statistically equivalent performance. The RTX 4080's 86th percentile among all GPUs places it alongside these near-identical performers.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 126 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS playability threshold. All four settings presets at 4K — Low (265 FPS), Medium (212 FPS), High (133 FPS), and Ultra (126 FPS) — exceed 60 FPS.

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

A: The scaling depends on the preset. At Low settings, 1080p averages 426 FPS while 4K averages 265 FPS, a 37.8% reduction. At Ultra, 1080p averages 280 FPS while 4K averages 126 FPS, a 55.0% reduction. The larger percentage drop at Ultra indicates the GPU is working harder at higher quality settings when resolution increases.

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

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes more influential at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 426 FPS result suggests CPU headroom, but the 52.5% performance drop from Low to Ultra at 4K demonstrates GPU dominance under maximum load. The Ryzen 7 9700X's strong single-thread score of 1280 in 3DMark ensures the CPU never bottlenecks even at 1080p.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p?

A: Ultra at 2560x1440 averages 201 FPS, making it the best quality choice while still exceeding 60 FPS by a 235% margin. The Medium preset reaches 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS, but the visual quality advantage of Ultra outweighs the 137 FPS difference.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Inside?

A: It ranks 110th out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 2.96% of all configurations. This top-tier ranking reflects the combination's ability to max out the game at every resolution.

Q: Does the Medium preset at 1080p ever drop below 60 FPS?

A: No. The Medium preset at 1920x1080 has a minimum observed frame rate of 334 FPS, which is 5.6 times the playability threshold. Even the lowest recorded frame time across all tested configurations in this data set remains far above 60 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves rank 110 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places the system in the 97th percentile of all configurations in the database, meaning only 109 other combos deliver higher measured performance in this title. The ranking reflects the raw capability of both components: the 9700X's 86th percentile among CPUs and the RTX 4080's 86th percentile among GPUs combine to produce a result that outperforms 96.9% of tested systems.

The rank is particularly notable given Inside's modest hardware requirements. A game from 2016 with simple puzzle platformer mechanics should not require top-tier hardware, yet the measured data shows this combo ranks near the very top. This suggests that the benchmark methodology captures extreme frame rates that differentiate high-end systems even in undemanding titles, or that the game's engine scales unusually well with modern hardware. The 3716-combo database provides a broad comparison pool, and sitting at 110 means this system outranks systems with newer or more expensive components in this specific workload.

The Verdict

This PC can absolutely run Inside at every resolution and every preset tested. The verdict by resolution confirms that all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — are playable at all three resolutions. At 3840x2160, the best playable settings is Ultra with an average of 126 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 201 FPS. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 280 FPS. The 60 FPS playability threshold is exceeded by margins ranging from 110% (4K Ultra) to 610% (1080p Low).

The only meaningful observation is that this hardware is dramatically overqualified for Inside. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth, combined with the Ryzen 7 9700X's 8 cores and 16 threads, produce frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of virtually all consumer displays. Players with 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitors can enjoy maximum settings at any resolution without approaching the performance ceiling. Those with 360 Hz displays at 1080p could still run High settings at 294 FPS, though Ultra at 280 FPS would also suffice. The system's 110th place ranking among 3716 combos confirms that for Inside, this is near-ultimate hardware that leaves nothing on the table.