Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT combination delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer where frame pacing is more critical than raw pixel-pushing. The measured data shows this pairing is capable of high refresh rates even at 4K, with the GPU acting as the primary scaling factor as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

Frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a clear pattern: the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck as pixel count rises, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance keeps 1080p throughput exceptionally high. At 1080p High, the combo achieves 167.1 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops performance to 122.8 FPS, a 26.5% reduction. The jump to 4K High yields 78.3 FPS, which is 36.2% below the 1440p result and 53.1% below the 1080p figure. This scaling curve is typical for a game where the visual complexity of Inside's monochromatic, atmospheric scenes still demands substantial GPU fill rate.

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly linear with pixel count, indicating the RX 6700 XT is fully engaged at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 281.6 FPS, which is likely approaching the CPU's practical limit for this game engine. The gap between 1080p Low and 1440p Low is 41.1 FPS (240.5 vs 281.6), while the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low is 85.4 FPS (155.1 vs 240.5). This widening delta confirms that resolution scaling becomes more punishing as settings drop, because the GPU is less burdened by effects and more limited by raw pixel throughput.

At Ultra settings, the pattern shifts. The difference between 1080p Ultra (162.4 FPS) and 1440p Ultra (117.8 FPS) is 44.6 FPS, while 4K Ultra (73.3 FPS) is 44.5 FPS below 1440p. This consistent ~45 FPS drop per resolution step suggests the game's Ultra preset adds a fixed cost that scales with resolution, likely from shadow and post-processing effects that tax the GPU's compute units. The data indicates the RX 6700 XT is the limiting component at 4K, while at 1080p the CPU's 6-core architecture keeps pace with the GPU's output.

GPU Role

The RX 6700 XT's 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Inside's art style. The game's 2D-rendered 3D environments and limited texture variety do not stress the memory subsystem; even at 4K Ultra, the card sustains 73.3 FPS without dipping below playable thresholds. The GPU's boost clock of 2581 MHz and game clock of 2424 MHz indicate a high sustained frequency design, which directly contributes to the consistent frame delivery seen in the measurements.

The card's 2560 shading units and 160 texture mapping units process the game's lighting and particle effects efficiently. At 4K High, the 78.3 FPS result shows the GPU handling 8.3 million pixels per frame at a rate that exceeds typical 60 Hz displays. The 64 ROPs (render output units) deliver a pixel rate of 165.2 GPixel/s, which explains why the card manages 155.1 FPS at 4K Low—the reduced shader work allows the ROPs to keep pace with pixel throughput.

The GPU's 13.21 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the key metric for Inside's physics-based puzzles and fluid simulations. The game's interactive water and cloth physics scale with compute throughput, and the RX 6700 XT's RDNA 2.0 architecture provides enough processing power to maintain 117.8 FPS at 1440p Ultra, where these effects are most demanding. The card's 40 ray accelerators are not utilized by this title, but the raw compute headroom ensures no frame time spikes occur during complex scenes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points to Medium as the optimal preset for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the system produces 256.4 FPS, which is 5.5 FPS higher than 1440p Low (240.5 FPS) and only 25.2 FPS below the 1080p Low maximum of 281.6 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 89.3 FPS (256.4 to 167.1), a 34.8% reduction for what is typically a subtle visual improvement in Inside's dark, silhouette-heavy scenes.

At 1440p, Medium delivers 196.1 FPS, which exceeds the 165 Hz refresh rate common on high-end monitors. The difference between Medium and High at this resolution is 73.3 FPS (196.1 to 122.8), making Medium the clear choice for players who prioritize frame consistency. At 4K, Medium produces 123.2 FPS, which is still above 120 FPS and provides a smooth experience on high-refresh 4K panels. The Ultra preset at any resolution offers no meaningful advantage over High; the gap between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 4.7 FPS (167.1 to 162.4), and at 4K it is 5.0 FPS (78.3 to 73.3).

Players targeting 240 Hz displays should select Low at 1080p, which achieves 281.6 FPS. However, Medium at 256.4 FPS is nearly as fast and likely provides better visual quality for the game's atmospheric fog and lighting. For 1440p 144 Hz monitors, Medium at 196.1 FPS offers the best balance, while High at 122.8 FPS is acceptable for 120 Hz displays. At 4K, Medium at 123.2 FPS is the recommended choice, as High drops to 78.3 FPS and Ultra to 73.3 FPS, both of which are unnecessary sacrifices for this title's visual style.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full settings range shows a narrow performance envelope between Medium and Ultra. Low settings produce 281.6 FPS, Medium 256.4 FPS, High 167.1 FPS, and Ultra 162.4 FPS. The 94.5 FPS gap between Medium and High is the largest single-step drop in the entire dataset, indicating that the High preset enables a significant increase in post-processing effects that disproportionately impact the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the results are 240.5 FPS (Low), 196.1 FPS (Medium), 122.8 FPS (High), and 117.8 FPS (Ultra). The Medium to High drop here is 73.3 FPS, slightly less severe than at 1080p due to the higher pixel count already taxing the GPU. The Low to Medium difference is 44.4 FPS, showing that the Medium preset adds moderate shader work that scales with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the measurements are 155.1 FPS (Low), 123.2 FPS (Medium), 78.3 FPS (High), and 73.3 FPS (Ultra). The Low to Medium gap is 31.9 FPS, and the Medium to High gap is 44.9 FPS. The High to Ultra difference is only 5.0 FPS, which is within the margin of run-to-run variance and suggests the Ultra preset adds minimal extra GPU load beyond High at 4K. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset consistently underperforms High by only 2.8% to 6.4%, making it a poor choice for this hardware.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K 120 FPS?*

A: Yes, but only on Medium settings. The measured 4K Medium result is 123.2 FPS, which exceeds 120 FPS. High settings at 4K drop to 78.3 FPS, which is not sufficient for 120 Hz displays.

Q: What is the best preset for a 144 Hz 1440p monitor?

A: Medium is the recommended choice, delivering 196.1 FPS at 1440p. This provides a 52.1 FPS headroom above 144 Hz, ensuring consistent frame delivery. High settings at 122.8 FPS would fall below the 144 Hz threshold.

Q: Does the Ultra preset offer any benefit over High?

A: The data shows negligible differences. At 1080p, Ultra is 162.4 FPS versus 167.1 FPS for High (a 4.7 FPS deficit). At 1440p, Ultra is 117.8 FPS versus 122.8 FPS for High. At 4K, the gap narrows to 5.0 FPS (73.3 vs 78.3). The visual differences are not measurable in this dataset.

Q: How does the CPU perform in this game compared to its peers?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's average benchmark score is 20875, placing it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-12500, scores 20897, a 0.1% delta, indicating they perform virtually identically in general compute workloads.

Q: Is the GPU's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes. Inside's art style uses limited high-resolution textures. The 12 GB GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 384.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is not a limiting factor in any of the measured settings or resolutions.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1080p Ultra?

A: The measured 1080p Ultra result is 162.4 FPS. This is 5.0 FPS higher than the 4K High result of 78.3 FPS, showing that Ultra settings at 1080p are less demanding than High settings at 4K.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 5500's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than adequate for Inside, which is primarily a GPU-bound title at higher resolutions. The CPU's base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz provide sufficient single-thread throughput for the game's physics calculations and AI routines. The Zen 3 architecture (Cezanne) on a 7 nm process delivers strong per-core performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 836 and Cinebench R20 single-core score of 973.

The CPU's cache hierarchy—64 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 16 MB L3—ensures that game logic and asset streaming do not bottleneck the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 281.6 FPS, which is likely approaching the engine's frame-rate ceiling given the CPU's measured performance. The 3DMark 4-thread score of 3151 and 8-thread score of 4593 indicate that the CPU scales well with thread count, but Inside likely uses only 2-4 threads for its core simulation, making the single-thread score of 836 the most relevant metric.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR4 is sufficient for this title, as the game's asset streaming is not bandwidth-intensive. The 65 W TDP and 7 nm process allow sustained boost clocks without thermal throttling, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame times in a game with variable scene complexity. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3058 places it in the 79th percentile overall, confirming that it is not a limiting factor in this combination, particularly at 4K where the GPU is clearly the bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The Ryzen 5 5500 + RX 6700 XT combination ranks 907th out of 1671 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 54.3rd percentile. This mid-pack ranking reflects that while the hardware is capable, many other combinations with higher-tier CPUs and GPUs achieve better absolute performance. The rank is influenced by the fact that Inside is not a demanding title, so even mid-range hardware from the past decade can achieve playable frame rates, compressing the performance spread.

The GPU's percentile ranking (77th among all GPUs) is higher than the CPU's (79th among all CPUs), suggesting the graphics card is the stronger component in this pairing. The RX 6700 XT's nearest rival, the RX 6800, scores 33493 versus 33721 for the 6700 XT, a 0.7% delta that places the 6700 XT slightly ahead in the database's aggregate metrics. This is surprising given the RX 6800's higher tier, but the benchmark scores indicate the 6700 XT is well-optimized.

The combo's rank of 907 suggests that players seeking maximum frame rates in Inside should consider higher-tier GPUs, as the CPU is not the limiting factor at 4K. The measured data shows the GPU is fully saturated at 4K Ultra (73.3 FPS), so upgrading to a faster graphics card would yield immediate improvements. Conversely, upgrading the CPU alone would provide minimal gains, as the 1080p Low result of 281.6 FPS is already above the refresh rate of most displays. This combination is best suited for 1440p Medium gaming, where it achieves 196.1 FPS and ranks competitively against other mid-range pairings.