Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. The measured data shows this combination producing very high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, placing it in the upper half of all tested system combinations. With a combo rank of 1775 out of 3716 tested configurations, this pairing demonstrates strong capability, though the specific bottleneck characteristics shift noticeably depending on the resolution and graphical preset selected.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this system reveals that the Ultra preset provides the most balanced experience in Inside, despite not being the highest-performing option. At 1080p, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 177 FPS, which is only 3 FPS lower than the High preset’s 180 FPS average. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is similarly small, with Ultra averaging 148 FPS versus High’s 156 FPS. At 4K, the Ultra preset still maintains a playable 93 FPS average, which is only 5 FPS below the High preset’s 98 FPS average.

The Medium preset offers the most significant performance uplift, with averages of 216 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 157 FPS at 4K. However, the Medium preset does not provide the same visual fidelity gains as Ultra, and the measured minimum FPS values for Medium (184 at 1080p, 165 at 1440p, and 133 at 4K) indicate that while the average is high, there is more frame-time variance compared to the consistency implied by the High and Ultra presets. The Low preset produces the highest raw frame rates, with a 234 FPS average at 1080p, 210 FPS at 1440p, and 180 FPS at 4K, but this setting compromises visual quality unnecessarily given the system’s headroom.

For players with high refresh rate displays at 1080p or 1440p, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice. The data shows that the performance cost of moving from High to Ultra is minimal, often within 2-3%, while providing the best visual experience the game offers. At 4K, the Ultra preset’s 93 FPS average remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the optimal choice for maximum image quality without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset is only recommended for players targeting extremely high refresh rates above 200 FPS at 1080p, where the 216 FPS average provides additional headroom, though the visual trade-off is substantial relative to the modest FPS gain.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside, particularly at higher resolutions and quality settings. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s, which provides ample memory capacity and throughput for this game’s rendering demands. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz, combined with its 3584 shading units, deliver the raw compute power necessary to maintain the high frame rates observed in the measured data.

The GPU’s RDNA 4.0 architecture and 56 ray tracing cores contribute to its overall capability, though Inside is not a ray tracing-heavy title. The GPU’s 128 ROPs and 224 TMUs ensure efficient pixel and texture processing, which is reflected in the consistent frame rates across different presets. The measured FPS data shows that the RX 9070 is capable of pushing well beyond 200 FPS at 1080p with lower settings, indicating that the GPU is not a limiting factor at this resolution. However, the performance scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates that the GPU becomes progressively more important as resolution increases.

The GPU’s benchmark scores, including a PassMark G3D score of 25381 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6290, position it competitively against its nearest rivals. The data shows the RX 9070 is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z and 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile, while trailing the AMD Radeon RX 6800S by 0.8% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER by 1.2%. These small deltas indicate that the GPU’s performance is well-balanced within its class, making it a capable partner for the Ryzen 5 3600 in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, which indicates the growing importance of the GPU at higher pixel counts. At the High preset, the system achieves 180 FPS at 1080p, 156 FPS at 1440p, and 98 FPS at 4K. This represents a 13.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45.6% drop from 1440p to 4K, demonstrating that the GPU’s rendering workload scales significantly with resolution.

The scaling pattern is similar across other presets. At the Low preset, the system delivers 234 FPS at 1080p, 210 FPS at 1440p, and 180 FPS at 4K, showing a 10.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 14.3% drop from 1440p to 4K. The smaller percentage drop at lower settings suggests that the CPU becomes relatively more involved at these lower graphical loads, though the GPU still handles the bulk of the work. At the Ultra preset, the system produces 177 FPS at 1080p, 148 FPS at 1440p, and 93 FPS at 4K, showing a 16.4% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 37.2% drop from 1440p to 4K.

These scaling characteristics indicate that the system is GPU-limited at 4K across all settings, with the CPU having sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions. The fact that the 4K-to-1080p ratio is roughly 1.9x for the High preset (180 vs 98 FPS) and 1.8x for the Ultra preset (177 vs 93 FPS) confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. Conversely, the relatively small differences between 1080p and 1440p results (ranging from 10-16% depending on preset) suggest that the CPU is still able to keep up with the GPU’s demands at these resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this system in Inside shows consistent performance across all tested configurations. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves the highest average at 234 FPS. The Medium preset follows at 216 FPS with a minimum of 184 FPS and maximum of 249 FPS. The High preset delivers 180 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 177 FPS. The narrow spread between High and Ultra at 1080p, just 3 FPS, suggests that the Ultra preset’s additional visual features have minimal performance impact at this resolution.

At 1440p, the Low preset maintains a strong 210 FPS average. The Medium preset delivers 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and maximum of 223 FPS. The High preset achieves 156 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 148 FPS. The performance delta between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 62 FPS, indicating that the more demanding settings begin to have a more pronounced effect on the GPU at this resolution.

At 4K, the Low preset still delivers an impressive 180 FPS average. The Medium preset produces 157 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS and maximum of 180 FPS. The High preset achieves 98 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 93 FPS. The 4K results show a substantial 87 FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings, demonstrating that the GPU’s workload becomes significantly more intensive at this resolution with higher quality presets. The minimum FPS values recorded for the Medium preset at each resolution (184 at 1080p, 165 at 1440p, and 133 at 4K) provide insight into the system’s frame-time consistency at this setting, with the 4K minimum remaining above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 1775 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 52nd percentile of all tested systems. This mid-pack ranking is somewhat surprising given the system’s strong absolute performance, but it reflects the fact that Inside is not an extremely demanding title and many other CPU-GPU combinations can achieve similarly high frame rates.

The ranking position suggests that while this system delivers excellent frame rates, there are many other tested combinations that perform comparably or better. The GPU’s percentile ranking of 69 out of 100 across all GPUs indicates that the RX 9070 is a solid performer, but the CPU’s percentile ranking of 71 out of 100 across all CPUs is similarly mid-range. The combined ranking of 1775 out of 3716 suggests that this pairing is neither a standout performer nor a weak configuration, but rather a well-balanced system that delivers consistent results across the board.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark scores include the Intel Core i7-1260P, which is 0.2% higher, the AMD EPYC 7573X, which is 0.2% lower, and the AMD EPYC 7742, which is 0.2% higher. The GPU’s nearest rivals show similar small deltas, with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z being 0.6% lower, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile being 1.1% lower, and the AMD Radeon RX 6800S being 0.8% higher. These tight performance margins indicate that the system’s individual components are well-matched to their peers, resulting in a cohesive overall experience.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 234, achieved at 1080p resolution with the Low preset. The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 216 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets at 1080p produce 180 and 177 FPS respectively.

*Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes, the data shows that all tested presets at 4K resolution produce playable frame rates. The Low preset averages 180 FPS, Medium averages 157 FPS, High averages 98 FPS, and Ultra averages 93 FPS at 3840x2160 resolution.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9070 is 0.6% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z and 1.1% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Mobile. It trails the AMD Radeon RX 6800S by 0.8% and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER by 1.2% in average benchmark scores.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: The difference is minimal. At 1080p, High averages 180 FPS while Ultra averages 177 FPS, a 3 FPS difference. At 1440p, High averages 156 FPS versus Ultra’s 148 FPS, an 8 FPS difference. At 4K, High averages 98 FPS versus Ultra’s 93 FPS, a 5 FPS difference.

Q: What are the key specifications of the Ryzen 5 3600?

A: The CPU has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It features 32 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with dual-channel configuration.

Q: Does the system show signs of CPU bottlenecking?

A: The data suggests the system remains GPU-limited at higher resolutions, but at 1080p with Low settings, the 234 FPS average indicates that the CPU is capable of driving high frame rates. The Ryzen 5 3600’s single-thread score of 696 in 3DMark and multi-thread score of 4605 in 3DMark with 16 threads indicate sufficient processing power for this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 plays a supporting but crucial role in this system’s Inside performance. With 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture, the CPU provides the processing foundation that allows the RX 9070 to operate at its full potential. The CPU’s base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache, deliver the single-thread performance that puzzle platformers like Inside typically rely upon for game logic and physics calculations.

The CPU’s benchmark results demonstrate its capability. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15045 and single-core score of 2124 indicate solid processing throughput, while the Geekbench multi-core score of 7372 and single-core score of 1536 confirm balanced performance across different workloads. The PassMark multi-thread score of 17700 and single-thread score of 2562 further validate the CPU’s ability to handle both the game’s main thread and background tasks simultaneously.

The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is notably tight. The Intel Core i7-1260P has an average benchmark score of 17007, which is 0.2% below the Ryzen 5 3600’s 17035 average. The Intel Core i5-11400 scores 17067, which is 0.2% above. The AMD EPYC 7573X and AMD EPYC 7742 score 17070 and 16998 respectively, both within 0.2% of the Ryzen 5 3600’s score. This clustering indicates that the CPU is well-positioned among its peers for this type of workload.

In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain consistent frame delivery, and the measured data suggests it does so effectively. The fact that frame rates remain high even at 1080p with Low settings, where GPU load is reduced, indicates that the CPU is not a bottleneck in this scenario. The 234 FPS average at 1080p Low demonstrates that the Ryzen 5 3600 can feed the RX 9070 with sufficient data to achieve frame rates that far exceed typical display refresh rates, making this CPU-GPU pairing a well-balanced configuration for this game.