Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the average FPS never drops below 133.4, indicating that this combination is vastly overqualified for the game's demands. The data shows a clear pattern where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions, while the GPU's immense power ensures smooth performance even at 4K Ultra. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, ranking, and settings behavior of this specific hardware combo.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best average FPS recorded for this combo in Inside?*

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 234.9 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 699th out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the upper-middle portion of the performance distribution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces an average of 210.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset produces 157.4 FPS, representing a 53.4 FPS drop when moving to the highest quality settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM a limiting factor at 4K in this game?

A: No. The benchmark results show the highest resolution (3840x2160) still maintains an average FPS above 133 across all settings, and the 24 GB GDDR6X memory on the RTX 4090 is far more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer of this era.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 3600 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 3600 has an average benchmark score of 18129, which is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-11400's score of 18150, making the performance difference negligible.

Q: What is the FPS difference between 1080p and 4K on High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the average FPS is 182.1. At 3840x2160 High, the average FPS drops to 140.8, a reduction of 41.3 FPS when increasing resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a memory bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its base clock is 2235 MHz, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. The GPU's raw compute capabilities, listed as 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, are drastically underutilized when running Inside, a game released in 2016 with relatively modest visual demands.

The benchmark data confirms this overkill. Even at 4K Ultra, the most demanding configuration tested, the combo produces an average of 133.4 FPS. This is well above the standard 60 FPS target and even exceeds typical 120 Hz display refresh rates. The GPU's 24 GB VRAM capacity is completely irrelevant to performance here, as the game's textures and geometry require only a fraction of that space. The RTX 4090's role is essentially to render the game with maximum headroom, never approaching its performance limits. The measured FPS differences across settings are more indicative of CPU-side rendering overhead than any GPU constraint, as even the lowest settings at 1080p produce 234.9 FPS, suggesting the GPU is waiting on the CPU to feed it frames.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic CPU-bound scenario at lower resolutions. At Low settings, the frame rate drops from 234.9 FPS at 1920x1080 to 210.8 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 179.6 FPS at 3840x2160. This 55.3 FPS total reduction when moving from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is taking on more work as resolution increases, but the CPU is still the limiting factor at all tested points.

The pattern becomes more pronounced at higher settings. With Ultra settings, the 1080p result is 177.4 FPS, dropping to 157.4 FPS at 1440p and 133.4 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 24.8% for Ultra settings, compared to a 23.5% drop for Low settings. This similarity suggests that resolution scaling is consistent across settings, with the GPU's workload increasing proportionally. However, the absolute FPS values remain so high that the limiting component is never stressed. The Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 2 architecture, is capable of sustaining frame rates above 230 FPS in this game at low resolutions, while the RTX 4090 handles the 4K rendering without breaking a sweat.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested hardware combinations for Inside, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 holds the 699th position out of 1671 total combos. This rank places it in the 42nd percentile of all tested systems, meaning roughly 58% of configurations perform better in this specific game. This might seem counterintuitive given the absolute FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that many other CPU-GPU pairings can achieve similarly high frame rates in a game this old.

The ranking is heavily influenced by the CPU's relative position in the broader landscape. The Ryzen 5 3600 sits in the 76th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-11400, scores 18150, representing a 0.1% difference. This puts the CPU in the mid-range tier of processors, which is the primary factor dragging the combo's rank down, since the RTX 4090 is in the 91st percentile among all GPUs. The GPU's performance is effectively neutralized by the CPU's more modest capabilities, resulting in a combo rank that is lower than the GPU's individual standing but higher than the CPU's, reflecting the balanced contribution of both parts.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 234.9. Medium settings produce 217.5 FPS, High settings yield 182.1 FPS, and Ultra settings bring up the rear at 177.4 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 57.5 FPS, indicating that settings have a substantial impact on frame rate even at the lowest resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 210.8 FPS, Medium to 194.2 FPS, High to 160.1 FPS, and Ultra to 157.4 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra narrows slightly to 53.4 FPS. The performance difference between High and Ultra at this resolution is particularly small, at just 2.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns from the highest quality preset.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 179.6 FPS, Medium produces 167.3 FPS, High produces 140.8 FPS, and Ultra produces 133.4 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is 46.2 FPS. Interestingly, the gap between Low and Medium at 4K (12.3 FPS) is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (26.5 FPS), showing that the High preset introduces a more significant rendering cost than the step from Low to Medium.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal settings depend on the user's display refresh rate and preference for visual fidelity. At 1080p, even the Ultra preset produces 177.4 FPS, which exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors. Therefore, for 1080p users, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation, as it provides the best visual quality while still maintaining an average FPS well above 144.

For 1440p displays, the High preset at 160.1 FPS is the sweet spot. It delivers a 2.7 FPS improvement over Ultra while offering nearly identical visual quality, and it remains comfortably above 144 FPS. The Low preset at 210.8 FPS would only benefit users with refresh rates above 200 Hz, which is uncommon. The Medium preset at 194.2 FPS is also viable, but the incremental visual gains from High are worth the 34.1 FPS reduction.

At 4K, the High preset at 140.8 FPS is the best balance. It provides a substantial 26.5 FPS improvement over Ultra (133.4 FPS) while maintaining high visual quality. The Medium preset at 167.3 FPS offers even more headroom for 144 Hz 4K displays, but the drop to High is a reasonable trade-off for better graphics. Given that the game is a puzzle platformer, where frame rate consistency is more important than absolute speed, the High preset at 4K ensures a smooth experience without sacrificing the game's atmospheric visuals. The Low preset at 179.6 FPS is unnecessary, as the High preset already exceeds the refresh rate of most 4K monitors.