Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 delivers an extraordinary performance profile for Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. Measured data shows this combination achieves frame rates that far exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold at every resolution and preset tested, with average FPS values ranging from a low of 147.9 at 4K Ultra to a high of 435.1 at 1080p Low. The results place this combo at rank 17 out of 3,716 tested combinations, indicating that while it is not the absolute top performer, it sits comfortably within the elite tier of systems capable of running this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo covers three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a complete picture of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system produces staggering results. The Low preset yields an average of 435.1 FPS, while Medium reaches 403 FPS and High delivers 335.2 FPS. The most demanding 1080p configuration, Ultra, still manages an average of 318.5 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the RTX 5090 is rarely the limiting factor; the frame rates are so high that they approach the practical limits of display refresh rates rather than any computational bottleneck.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains exceptional but shows the expected scaling from the higher pixel count. Low settings produce an average of 386.6 FPS, Medium hits 359.4 FPS, and High maintains 241.1 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 227.4 FPS, which is still nearly four times the playable threshold. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at the High preset, where the frame rate falls from 335.2 to 241.1 FPS, a reduction of approximately 28%. This suggests that the more complex shading and texture work at High settings interacts with the increased resolution to create a steeper performance curve.

At 3840x2160, the system continues to deliver well above the 60 FPS threshold across all settings. Low averages 305.6 FPS, Medium drops to 246.1 FPS, and High settles at 154.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K produces an average of 147.9 FPS, which remains more than double the playable threshold. Interestingly, the gap between Medium and High at 4K is substantial, with a 37% reduction in frame rate, while the gap between High and Ultra is relatively modest at only 4.3%. This indicates that the High preset introduces some particularly demanding effects, but the Ultra preset adds comparatively little additional overhead on top of that baseline.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K follows a clear pattern: at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 386.6 to 305.6 FPS, a 21% reduction; at Medium, it falls from 359.4 to 246.1 FPS, a 31.5% reduction; at High, it declines from 241.1 to 154.6 FPS, a 35.9% reduction; and at Ultra, it decreases from 227.4 to 147.9 FPS, a 35% reduction. The larger percentage drops at higher presets suggest that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily as both resolution and graphical complexity increase simultaneously.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Inside?

A: The highest average FPS is 435.1, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K with the Ultra preset?

A: Yes, the average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 147.9, which is more than double the 60 FPS playable threshold.

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

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 435.1 to 305.6 FPS, a reduction of approximately 30%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 318.5 to 147.9 FPS, a reduction of approximately 54%.

Q: Which preset shows the smallest performance gap between 1440p and 4K?

A: The Low preset shows the smallest relative drop, falling from 386.6 to 305.6 FPS, which is a 21% reduction. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets all show reductions between 31% and 36%.

Q: Does the combo rank in the top 1% of tested systems for this game?

A: The combo ranks 17th out of 3,716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 0.5% of all tested systems for Inside.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS recorded across all tested configurations?

A: The lowest average FPS is 147.9, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is still well above the 60 FPS playable threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 17 out of 3,716 tested combinations places it in the 99.5th percentile of all systems tested for Inside. This ranking reflects the combined strength of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090. The CPU alone sits at the 95th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 75,779. The GPU holds the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 79,842. Both components are near the top of their respective categories, and their pairing results in a system that outperforms the vast majority of alternatives.

The ranking becomes more meaningful when considering the margins involved. The top 16 combos ahead of this one represent a very narrow band of hardware configurations, likely featuring either more specialized workstation cards or slightly more favorable CPU-GPU pairings. For a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer rather than a demanding AAA title, this level of performance is far beyond what the game requires. The rank of 17 indicates that there are diminishing returns to be found in the few systems that score higher, as the frame rates at 4K Ultra are already more than double the playable threshold.

The data shows that the combo's ranking is driven primarily by the GPU's raw throughput. The RTX 5090's passmark G3D score of 39,650 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 18,355 are both exceptional, and these contribute directly to the high frame rates observed in Inside. The CPU's contribution is less critical for this particular title, as the game's 2D side-scrolling perspective and relatively simple physics do not place heavy demands on processor threads.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D provide context for how the CPU portion of this combo compares to other processors. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 has an average benchmark score of 75,738, which is just 0.1% lower than the 9950X3D's 75,779. Similarly, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D scores 75,716, also 0.1% behind. The AMD EPYC 8224P trails by 0.3% with a score of 75,582, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 is 0.4% behind at 75,488. These deltas are negligible in real-world terms, meaning that swapping the 9950X3D for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside, which is not a CPU-bound title at these performance levels.

On the GPU side, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB, which scores 79,605, just 0.3% lower than the RTX 5090's 79,842. The Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB is 0.6% behind at 79,396, and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1% behind at 78,940. Interestingly, the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X scores 80,959, which is 1.4% higher than the RTX 5090. These rivals are a mix of professional workstation and mobile graphics solutions, which highlights that the RTX 5090's benchmark position is not unique among high-end compute-oriented cards. For Inside specifically, any of these GPUs would deliver frame rates well above 60 FPS at all tested resolutions, though the exact numbers would vary slightly based on the 1-2% benchmark score differences.

When considering a full system alternative, pairing the 9950X3D with any of the GPU rivals listed would yield performance within a few percentage points of the measured results. The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 as a CPU substitute would similarly produce no perceptible difference in this game, given that the frame rates are already capped by the GPU's rendering speed rather than any CPU limitation.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 318.5 FPS. This is the most demanding configuration available, and it still produces frame rates that are over five times the playable threshold. There is no reason to lower settings at this resolution, as even the most intensive preset leaves substantial headroom.

At 2560x1440, Ultra again emerges as the best setting, with an average of 227.4 FPS. The gap between Ultra and High at this resolution is only 6%, from 227.4 to 241.1 FPS, but the visual improvements from the Ultra preset are worth the minor performance cost. The system maintains over 200 FPS even at the highest quality, so there is no compromise required.

At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset provides an average of 147.9 FPS, which is the best balance of quality and performance. The High preset runs at 154.6 FPS, only 4.5% faster, but Ultra offers the full graphical feature set with minimal frame rate impact. The data indicates that the RTX 5090 has enough bandwidth and shading power to handle 4K Ultra without dropping below 145 FPS, making this the recommended configuration for the highest visual fidelity.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset is the recommended setting because the system never comes close to the 60 FPS threshold. The lowest recorded average FPS across any resolution and preset combination is 147.9 at 4K Ultra, which is still more than double the playable threshold.

The Verdict

This PC can run Inside with exceptional headroom at every resolution and preset combination tested. The verdict by resolution is unambiguous: all three resolutions — 3840x2160, 2560x1440, and 1920x1080 — list High, Low, Medium, and Ultra as playable settings. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra, with average FPS values of 147.9 at 4K, 227.4 at 1440p, and 318.5 at 1080p.

The system clears the 60 FPS playable threshold by a massive margin in every scenario. Even the most demanding configuration, 4K Ultra, runs at an average of 147.9 FPS, which is 146% above the threshold. This means the combo not only runs the game smoothly but does so with enough spare performance to handle any potential frame time spikes or background system activity without dropping below playable levels. For a game like Inside, which features a dark, atmospheric art style and smooth animation, this level of performance ensures that the experience is entirely fluid.

The data shows no configuration where the system fails to meet the playable threshold. The lowest-performing preset, 4K Ultra, is still more than double the threshold, and the highest-performing preset, 1080p Low, reaches 435.1 FPS. This is a system that will never struggle with this title, regardless of how the user configures the graphics settings.

CPU and GPU Roles

The performance scaling across resolutions and presets reveals which component matters more for Inside. At 1080p, the frame rates are extraordinarily high, reaching 435.1 FPS at Low settings. This suggests that the GPU is still the primary driver of performance, as even the RTX 5090's massive shading throughput is being utilized to generate these numbers. The CPU's role at 1080p is minimal; the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's 16 cores and 32 threads are far more than this puzzle platformer requires, and the game's single-threaded physics and logic are easily handled by the processor's 4.30 GHz base clock and 5.70 GHz boost clock.

As resolution increases to 1440p and then 4K, the GPU's role becomes even more dominant. The frame rate drops from 318.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra to 147.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 54% reduction that is entirely attributable to the increased pixel count and the corresponding rise in GPU workload. The CPU's performance remains constant across these resolutions, as the processor's workload does not change with pixel count. The data shows that the scaling between 1080p and 4K is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario: the reductions in frame rate align with the increased number of pixels rendered.

The scaling between presets further illustrates the GPU's dominance. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 157.7 FPS (from 305.6 to 147.9), while at 1080p the difference is 116.6 FPS (from 435.1 to 318.5). This larger absolute drop at 4K indicates that the more demanding presets at higher resolutions place additional strain on the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading units. The RTX 5090's 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is clearly sufficient for these demands, but the scaling pattern shows that the GPU is the limiting factor when pushing both resolution and quality.

The CPU's role becomes more apparent when examining the absolute frame rate ceiling. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 435.1 FPS, which is close to the practical limit of how fast the game engine can render frames. This suggests that the CPU, while not the primary bottleneck, does impose an upper bound on frame rates. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1,292 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,259, is sufficient to feed the GPU at these extreme frame rates, but it does set a ceiling that prevents even higher numbers. At 4K, this CPU ceiling is irrelevant, as the GPU's rendering workload dominates the frame time budget.