Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination delivers a playable but resolution-limited experience in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. Benchmark data shows the pairing is capable of high frame rates at 1080p, with performance scaling predictably as resolution increases, ultimately revealing the GPU as the primary bottleneck at 4K.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this hardware?*

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution. At this setting, the average frame rate remains above 71 FPS even on the Ultra preset, and reaches 150 FPS on Low, ensuring smooth gameplay across all settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score of 17035 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. It is 0.2% faster than the Intel Core i7-1260P (17007) and AMD EPYC 7742 (16998), and 0.2% slower than the Intel Core i5-11400 (17067) and AMD EPYC 7573X (17070).

Q: What is the performance gap between the RX 580 and the GTX 1660 SUPER in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score is 12928, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER's score of 12986. This indicates near-parity in general compute performance, though real-world gaming results may vary.

Q: How much performance is gained by lowering settings from Ultra to Low at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, lowering the preset from Ultra (32 FPS average) to Low (68 FPS average) more than doubles the frame rate, representing a 112.5% increase in average FPS. This is the largest relative gain from settings changes across all tested resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the data suggests the GPU begins to become the primary constraint. While the Low preset achieves 108 FPS, the Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS, a 52.8% reduction, indicating that the RX 580's fill rate and shading power are being taxed heavily at higher settings.

*Q: Does the combo's rank in Inside indicate good performance?*

A: The combo ranks 3386 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the lower 9th percentile of all systems. This ranking reflects the age of the components, but the measured FPS shows it is still sufficient for this specific title.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the most balanced performance. The measured data shows an average of 120 FPS with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above standard refresh rates while maintaining visual quality. The High preset at 1080p also works well, averaging 75 FPS, but the Medium setting provides a more substantial buffer against frame drops in busier scenes.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, yielding an average of 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS. The High preset at this resolution drops to 54 FPS average, which is still smooth but less ideal for fast-paced segments. The Ultra preset at 1440p, averaging 51 FPS, is borderline and should only be used if visual fidelity is prioritized over frame rate consistency.

For 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only setting that provides a consistently smooth experience, with an average of 68 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 54 FPS, which is playable but may exhibit occasional stutter, as indicated by the 46 FPS minimum. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, averaging 34 FPS and 32 FPS respectively, are not recommended for regular gameplay.

The data strongly suggests that Medium at 1080p is the sweet spot. It offers a 60% increase in average FPS over High while maintaining a minimum frame rate that is 35.3% higher than the High preset's minimum. The jump from Medium to Low at 1080p yields an additional 30 FPS, but the visual degradation is typically not worth the gain in a puzzle platformer where art direction matters.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly illustrates the GPU's dominance as the limiting component. At 1080p with Medium settings, the system produces 120 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops this to 86 FPS, a 28.3% reduction, and then to 54 FPS at 4K, a further 37.2% reduction from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 55% of the original frame rate.

This scaling pattern aligns with the classic behavior of a GPU-bound scenario. The RX 580's 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are insufficient to maintain frame rates as pixel count quadruples. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is not the bottleneck here, as evidenced by the high 1080p frame rates.

The Low preset shows similar scaling behavior, with 150 FPS at 1080p dropping to 108 FPS at 1440p and then to 68 FPS at 4K. The relative drops are 28% and 37% respectively, confirming that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the constraint regardless of settings. The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling, with 71 FPS at 1080p falling to 51 FPS at 1440p and 32 FPS at 4K, a cumulative drop of 54.9%.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 has ample headroom at all tested resolutions. The CPU's single-thread score of 2124 in Cinebench R23 and multithread score of 15045 suggest it can feed the GPU adequately. The consistent frame rate behavior across resolutions points to the RX 580's 32 ROPs and 144 TMUs being the limiting factors, particularly at higher pixel densities.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware, this combination of Ryzen 5 3600 and RX 580 ranks 3386 out of 3716 combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 9% of all systems tested. This low ranking is primarily due to the age of the components, as the CPU and GPU were released in 2019 and 2017 respectively.

The CPU's percentile of 71 among all CPUs indicates that the Ryzen 5 3600 is still a respectable processor, outperforming 71% of tested units. Its average benchmark score of 17035 is competitive with modern mid-range chips like the Intel Core i5-11400 and i7-1260P. However, the GPU's percentile of 53 places it almost exactly in the middle of all GPUs, with its score of 12928 trailing the GTX 1660 SUPER and RTX 3050 Ti Mobile by a small margin.

The combination of a strong CPU and a mid-tier GPU results in a system that is well-balanced for 1080p gaming but falls behind in higher resolution scenarios. The rank of 3386 suggests that while this combo is far from the top, it is not at the very bottom either, leaving roughly 330 other tested combinations performing worse.

Comparatively, the CPU's nearest rivals show a tight cluster of performance. The EPYC 7573X and EPYC 7742, despite being server processors, score within 0.2% of the Ryzen 5 3600 in average benchmarks. This indicates that for synthetic workloads, the Ryzen 5 3600 holds its own against much more expensive enterprise parts, proof of its efficiency on the 7 nm Zen 2 architecture.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip using the GCN 4.0 architecture, fabricated on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR5 memory operates at an effective speed of 8 Gbps across a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

In Inside, the GPU's role is critical at higher resolutions. The measured FPS data shows that the RX 580 can handle the game's demands at 1080p, but struggles at 4K. The 32 ROPs are likely the primary bottleneck for pixel fill rate at 4K, as the pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s is insufficient for 8.3 million pixels per frame at high settings.

The memory configuration also plays a significant role. The 8 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Inside, as the game is not particularly memory-hungry. However, the 256-bit bus and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are moderate by modern standards, and the data suggests they contribute to the frame rate drops at higher resolutions. The texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s is adequate for the game's art style, but the FP32 compute of 6.175 TFLOPS limits the GPU's ability to handle advanced shading effects at 4K.

The GPU's benchmark scores reveal its position. The Passmark G3D score of 8813 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1005 align with its mid-tier status. The Vulkan score of 45173 and OpenCL score of 37453 indicate competent compute performance, but the DirectX 11 score of 60 and DirectX 12 score of 43 show that the GCN architecture is aging in modern APIs. The GPU's launch MSRP of 229 USD positioned it as a mainstream card, and its performance in Inside reflects that positioning.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080 (Full HD):

At 1080p, the system performs exceptionally well across all presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 150 FPS, providing a highly responsive experience. Medium settings average 120 FPS, with a minimum of 102 FPS and a maximum of 138 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 71 FPS average. All presets at 1080p are playable, with even the most demanding Ultra setting maintaining a frame rate above 60 FPS.

2560x1440 (Quad HD):

Moving to 1440p introduces more significant performance separation. The Low preset averages 108 FPS, which is still very smooth. Medium settings average 86 FPS, with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS. The High preset averages 54 FPS, which is playable but notably less smooth than 1080p. The Ultra preset averages 51 FPS, falling below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider ideal.

3840x2160 (4K Ultra HD):

At 4K, the RX 580 is clearly overburdened. The Low preset averages 68 FPS, making it the only playable option at this resolution. Medium settings average 54 FPS, with a minimum of 46 FPS and a maximum of 62 FPS, indicating inconsistent frame times. The High preset averages 34 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 32 FPS, both of which are too low for a smooth experience. The data shows a clear cliff between Medium and High at 4K, suggesting that the GPU's resources are exhausted beyond the Medium preset.

The frame time data available for Medium settings shows consistent scaling: 102 FPS minimum at 1080p, 73 FPS at 1440p, and 46 FPS at 4K. This represents a 54.9% reduction in minimum FPS from 1080p to 4K, matching the average FPS reduction pattern. The maximum FPS also scales similarly, from 138 at 1080p to 99 at 1440p and 62 at 4K, a 55.1% drop. This consistency indicates the performance profile is stable, with predictable degradation as resolution increases.