Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer where frame rate consistency directly impacts the feel of precise, timed movements. The data shows this pairing is capable of pushing well beyond standard display refresh rates at every resolution tested, making it a strong candidate for high-refresh-rate monitors without requiring significant settings compromises. The measured results indicate that this game is far more demanding on the GPU than the CPU, though the six-core processor still has a clear role in maintaining the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck in this pairing. At 1080p with Medium settings, the combo averages 259 FPS, which drops to 203 FPS at 1440p and further to 128 FPS at 4K. This represents a 50.6% reduction in average frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K, a significant drop that is characteristic of GPU-bound workloads. The pattern is consistent across all settings: the gap between 1080p and 1440p is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K, confirming that pixel throughput becomes increasingly demanding at higher resolutions.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU is providing enough headroom to keep the GPU saturated. The jump from 259 FPS at 1080p Medium to 203 FPS at 1440p Medium is a 21.6% decrease, while the jump from 203 FPS to 128 FPS at 4K is a 36.9% decrease. This nonlinear scaling indicates that the GPU's raw fill rate and memory bandwidth begin to limit performance more severely as resolution increases. The RX 7700's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth is ample for this game, but the sheer number of pixels at 4K still takes its toll.

For players targeting 4K, the data shows that dropping from Ultra to Medium settings yields a significant performance gain. At 4K Ultra, the average is 76 FPS, while Medium produces 128 FPS, a 68.4% improvement. This suggests that Medium settings at 4K are the sweet spot for maintaining high refresh rates, as the jump to Low at 160 FPS is even more substantial but may come with visual compromises. At 1440p, even Ultra settings clear 120 FPS, making this resolution the most balanced for high-refresh-rate gaming with maximum visual fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with High settings?

A: The data shows an average of 127 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings. This comfortably exceeds 120 FPS, making it suitable for 120Hz or 144Hz displays without needing to lower quality settings.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its direct rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 19593, which places it 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (19617) and 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-12500 (19668). It outperforms the Intel Core i7-10700F by 0.5% (19499) and trails the Intel Core i5-11600KF by 0.7% (19723). These are marginal differences, indicating the CPU is competitive within its segment.

Q: Is the RX 7700's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for this game at 4K?

A: Yes, the 16 GB of GDDR6 memory is more than adequate for Inside. The measured results show playable frame rates at 4K across all settings, with even Ultra settings averaging 76 FPS. The memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s ensures that texture streaming and asset loading do not become limiting factors at any resolution tested.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K gaming on this combo?

A: Based on the data, Medium settings at 4K provide the best balance, yielding 128 FPS average with a minimum of 108 FPS. This is a 68.4% improvement over Ultra settings (76 FPS) while maintaining a higher visual quality than Low settings (160 FPS).

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

A: The combination ranks 1801 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the upper half of all systems tested. This indicates that while it is not a top-tier enthusiast setup, it is a solidly capable configuration for this specific game.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance affect the results?

A: The Ryzen 5 5500's single-thread score in Cinebench R23 is 2319, and its 3DMark single-thread score is 836. These scores suggest adequate single-thread performance for Inside, which is not a heavily threaded title. The high frame rates at 1080p (280 FPS on Low) indicate that CPU single-thread performance is not a limiting factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside, as evidenced by the resolution scaling patterns. The GPU's 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units provide substantial raw compute power. The boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz ensure that this hardware is utilized effectively, with the FP32 throughput of 25.18 TFLOPS handling the game's lighting and shadow calculations efficiently.

The 16 GB of VRAM on a 256-bit bus with 624.1 GB/s bandwidth is a key asset at 4K resolutions. The data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the average frame rate of 76 FPS is playable, which would not be possible with a memory-constrained card. The memory clock of 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) contributes to the high bandwidth, allowing the GPU to fetch textures and geometry without stalling. This is particularly important for a platformer where consistent frame pacing is crucial for precise jumps and timing.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its performance. Its Passmark G3D score of 20974 places it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15852. Its nearest rival in terms of average score is the AMD Radeon R9 370X at 15862 (0.1% difference), while it trails the AMD Radeon RX 9060 by 1% (16014) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti by 1.7% (16129). This indicates that the RX 7700 is positioned competitively, though not at the top of the stack.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure that it can handle modern rendering APIs, though Inside is not a particularly demanding title in terms of API features. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the primary factor in determining performance, with the CPU playing a supporting role only at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 280 FPS, Medium produces 259 FPS with a minimum of 220 and maximum of 298, High produces 177 FPS, and Ultra produces 168 FPS. The difference between Medium and Low is only 7.5%, suggesting that even at 1080p, the game is not fully CPU-bound, as the GPU still has headroom to scale with settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong. Low settings yield 251 FPS, Medium yields 203 FPS with a minimum of 173 and maximum of 234, High yields 127 FPS, and Ultra yields 121 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is 37.4%, which is more pronounced than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is beginning to feel the pressure of higher resolutions. Ultra at 1440p still maintains a 121 FPS average, which is suitable for 120Hz displays.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales more predictably. Low settings produce 160 FPS, Medium produces 128 FPS with a minimum of 108 and maximum of 147, High produces 80 FPS, and Ultra produces 76 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 5.3%, suggesting that these two presets are very similar in terms of GPU load. The minimum FPS of 108 at 4K Medium ensures that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 100 FPS, providing a smooth experience.

The data reveals that the transition from Medium to High settings has the largest impact on performance at every resolution. At 1080p, the drop is 31.7% (259 to 177), at 1440p it is 37.4% (203 to 127), and at 4K it is 37.5% (128 to 80). This suggests that High settings introduce a significant increase in rendering complexity, likely related to shadow quality and post-processing effects.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1801 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 51.5th percentile of all systems tested. This is a solid mid-pack position, indicating that while there are faster configurations, this pairing is not a weak performer. The rank suggests that the combo is more capable than the average system, but there is room for improvement at the top end.

This ranking is consistent with the individual components' positions. The CPU is in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile of all GPUs. The combination of a slightly above-average CPU with a slightly above-average GPU results in a system that performs well above the median for this game. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the GPU's individual percentile suggests that the CPU is not holding the GPU back, allowing the system to punch slightly above its weight.

The nearest rivals for the CPU in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (0.1% higher) and the Intel Core i5-12500 (0.4% higher). The nearest GPU rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (0.1% higher) and the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (1.1% lower). These marginal differences indicate that the combo is well-matched with its peers, and any performance differences in Inside are more likely attributable to the game's specific engine characteristics than to raw component capability.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 plays a supporting role in Inside, as the game is not heavily threaded. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for this title, with the data showing that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution tested. The base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz provide adequate single-thread performance, which is the primary requirement for a platformer that relies on consistent physics and input response.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319 indicate strong performance for its class. Its 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern from 1645 in the 2-thread test to 5411 in the max-thread test, demonstrating that multi-threading is handled efficiently. However, Inside does not stress all 12 threads, so the single-thread performance is what matters most for maintaining high frame rates.

The CPU's 16 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core provide sufficient memory hierarchy for the game's data access patterns. The dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that the CPU can feed the GPU without creating a data bottleneck. The PCIe Gen 3 interface, while not the latest standard, is adequate for the RX 7700, as the GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface can run at Gen 3 speeds without significant performance loss in this game.

At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 280 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game. The fact that Medium settings only drop the frame rate to 259 FPS (a 7.5% reduction) suggests that the CPU has some headroom left, but the GPU is still the primary driver of performance even at this low resolution. The CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is a capable processor for this workload, and its nearest rivals show that it is not leaving performance on the table.