Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The benchmark data shows that this combination is far beyond what the game requires, with performance scaling that reveals a system limited primarily by the CPU at lower resolutions and by the GPU only at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data across the three tested resolutions reveals a clear pattern of CPU limitation at 1080p that gradually shifts toward GPU dependence as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 280.5 FPS, while at 1440p Low it drops to 252.5 FPS, and at 4K Low it falls to 215.6 FPS. This scaling from 1080p to 4K represents a 23% reduction in performance at Low settings, which is modest and indicates that the CPU is the primary bottleneck at lower graphical loads.

The scaling behavior changes significantly when moving to Ultra settings. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 211.9 FPS, which drops to 168.7 FPS at 1440p Ultra, and then to 103.3 FPS at 4K Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is 51%, a much steeper decline than the 23% observed at Low settings. This indicates that at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as the increased resolution demands more from the Radeon RX 7900 XT's rendering pipeline.

The Medium settings show an intermediate pattern. At 1080p Medium, the frame rate is 259.2 FPS, dropping to 234.3 FPS at 1440p Medium, and then to 177.8 FPS at 4K Medium. The 31% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium settings sits between the Low and Ultra extremes, reinforcing the interpretation that the GPU load increases with resolution but the CPU remains capable of feeding it frames until the highest settings are applied.

High settings follow a similar trend to Ultra but with a slightly smaller gap between resolutions. The system produces 217.6 FPS at 1080p High, 179.4 FPS at 1440p High, and 110.9 FPS at 4K High. The 49% drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is nearly identical to the Ultra pattern, suggesting that the GPU is heavily engaged at both High and Ultra presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT ranks 505th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 70th percentile of all tested configurations, meaning roughly 30% of combinations deliver higher average frame rates in this game. Given the extremely high absolute frame rates measured, this ranking likely reflects that many other combinations include newer or higher-end CPUs that can push even higher numbers in a game that is not particularly demanding.

The GPU itself ranks in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 38358. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0, indicating essentially identical average scores, and the NVIDIA CMP 70HX which is 0.3% ahead. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 trails by 0.4%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is 0.6% behind. This places the RX 7900 XT in a tight cluster of high-performance graphics cards.

The CPU, by contrast, ranks in the 79th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 20875. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the Intel Core i5-12500 is 0.1% behind, the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE is also 0.1% behind, the AMD EPYC 7J13 is 0.1% ahead, and the Intel Core i5-12600T is 0.2% behind. This indicates the Ryzen 5 5500 sits in a very competitive mid-range segment where performance differences between rivals are minimal.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Ultra preset at 1080p is the sweet spot for this combination, delivering 211.9 FPS while providing the highest graphical fidelity. At 1440p, Ultra still maintains 168.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and even exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates. At 4K, however, the Ultra preset drops to 103.3 FPS, which is still playable but begins to approach the lower end of high-refresh-rate territory.

For users prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p achieves 280.5 FPS, which is the highest measured value across all configurations. The Medium preset at 1440p delivers 234.3 FPS, offering a strong balance between visual quality and performance. Given that the game is a puzzle platformer where precise timing matters, the High preset at 4K with 110.9 FPS provides a comfortable margin above 100 FPS while maintaining higher visual fidelity than Medium or Low.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, all settings presets produce frame rates well above 144 FPS, so users can select Ultra without sacrificing smoothness. At 4K, the recommendation shifts to High or Medium, as Ultra dips to 103.3 FPS and Low rises to 215.6 FPS, with Medium at 177.8 FPS being the best balance for those who want both resolution and responsiveness.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 211.9 FPS at Ultra to 280.5 FPS at Low. The Medium preset achieves 259.2 FPS, while High reaches 217.6 FPS. The spread between the lowest and highest settings at 1080p is 68.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU has considerable headroom even at the most demanding preset.

At 2560x1440, the performance drops are noticeable but the system remains exceptionally fast. Low settings produce 252.5 FPS, Medium reaches 234.3 FPS, High achieves 179.4 FPS, and Ultra settles at 168.7 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 83.8 FPS, a larger gap than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is becoming more involved in the rendering process.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates show the most significant variation. Low settings deliver 215.6 FPS, Medium reaches 177.8 FPS, High achieves 110.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 103.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 112.3 FPS, the largest spread of any resolution, confirming that the GPU workload at 4K Ultra is substantially higher than at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT features 20 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 320-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 800.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1387 MHz, a game clock of 2025 MHz, and a boost clock of 2394 MHz. These specifications contribute to its strong performance in Inside, as the game's visual style relies on smooth rendering rather than intensive effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores show impressive results: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5623, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 169834, and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 160119. The Passmark G3D score of 29009 further confirms its high-end positioning. The GPU's performance percentile of 82 indicates it outperforms the majority of graphics cards, though its nearest rivals show how competitive the high-end market is.

The RX 7900 XT's role in Inside becomes more apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 103.3 FPS, which is still high but represents a significant reduction from the 211.9 FPS at 1080p Ultra. This 51% reduction suggests the GPU's rendering capabilities are being stretched by the combination of high resolution and maximum settings, despite the game's relatively simple visual style.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. It features 16 MB of L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. The CPU has a TDP of 65 watts and uses the AMD Socket AM4 platform with PCIe Gen 3 connectivity.

The CPU's benchmark results are solid for its segment: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 16429 and singlecore scores 2319, while Passmark multithread reaches 19330 and single-thread reaches 3058. The CPU's 3DMark scores range from 836 for single-thread to 5411 for max threads, showing good scaling across thread counts. The CPU's percentile of 79 places it above average, with rival processors like the Intel Core i5-12500 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE within 0.1% of its average score.

In Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p Low settings, where the system achieves 280.5 FPS. The small performance difference between 1080p Low (280.5 FPS) and 1440p Low (252.5 FPS) suggests that the CPU is keeping pace with the GPU's output at lower resolutions. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer, and the high boost clock of 4.20 GHz ensures responsive frame delivery even in scenes with complex physics interactions.