Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination delivers playable performance in Inside, but the data reveals a system heavily constrained by its graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions. This pairing, ranked 3575th out of 3716 tested combos for this game, offers a smooth experience at 1080p but struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at 4K Ultra settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline tells the story of where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 134 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 97 FPS, a reduction of 37 FPS. At 4K Low, the average falls further to 61 FPS. This scaling pattern—from 134 to 97 to 61 FPS—demonstrates that the GPU is doing progressively more work per frame, and its performance is degrading in near-linear fashion with the pixel count increase.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p at High settings is 19 FPS (67 vs 48), while the gap between 1440p and 4K at the same preset is 18 FPS (48 vs 30). This consistent 18-19 FPS drop per resolution tier suggests a GPU-bound scenario where the GTX 1650's 4 GB of GDDR5 memory and 128-bit bus are becoming saturated. The 4K High result of 30 FPS is exactly at the threshold of playability, but the 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS confirms that this resolution is simply too demanding for the graphics card in this title.

What is particularly revealing is the scaling from Medium to High settings. At 1080p, the drop from Medium (107 FPS) to High (67 FPS) is a steep 40 FPS. At 1440p, the same settings change costs 29 FPS (77 to 48). At 4K, it costs 19 FPS (49 to 30). This pattern indicates that the High preset introduces visual effects that disproportionately tax the GPU, while the CPU has ample headroom to handle the game's logic at all resolutions. The 4K Medium result of 49 FPS, with a minimum of 41 FPS, is the highest playable average at that resolution, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional fidelity is not worth the performance penalty.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 3575 out of 3716 tested combinations places it in the bottom 4% of all systems tested for Inside. This is a poor showing, but it must be contextualized by the game's modest graphical requirements. The Ryzen 5 5500 is a capable processor, sitting in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, but its potential is severely limited by the GTX 1650, which rests in the 40th percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals illustrate its standing. The AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 scores 19617, a mere 0.1% higher than the 5500's 19593 average. The Intel Core i5-12500 is 0.4% faster, and the Intel Core i5-11600KF is 0.7% faster. Conversely, the Intel Core i7-10700F is 0.5% slower. These sub-1% differences mean the 5500 is effectively tied with its direct competitors in synthetic benchmarks. The GPU's nearest rivals tell a similar story of mediocrity. The Intel Arc A310 is 1% faster, while the AMD Radeon HD 8850M (0.3% slower), Intel UHD Graphics 750 (0.4% slower), and AMD Radeon R7 350 (0.6% slower) are all marginally behind. This tight grouping means the GTX 1650 is not an outlier in either direction; it is simply an average performer from its era.

Given that the CPU is in the 73rd percentile and the GPU is in the 40th percentile, the system's overall rank is dragged down almost entirely by the graphics card. In a game like Inside, which is not known for heavy CPU simulation, the 5500's six cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient, leaving the GTX 1650 as the definitive limiting factor in achieving higher frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the TU117 chip using a 12 nm process from TSMC. It features 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz. Its memory configuration consists of 4 GB of GDDR5 on a 128-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s. The memory runs at 2001 MHz, or 8 Gbps effective. This hardware yields a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s, with a FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS.

These specifications explain the measured FPS data. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a critical constraint at 4K resolution, where texture data can easily exceed this limit, causing stuttering or reduced performance. However, the FPS figures show no catastrophic drops, suggesting Inside's art style is relatively memory-efficient. The 128-bit memory bus, combined with 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth, is adequate for 1080p but becomes a limiting factor as resolution increases, which is consistent with the scaling pattern observed.

The GTX 1650's API support includes DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, meaning it can run modern titles, but its raw compute power is dated. The benchmark scores reflect this: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 29629, and a Passmark G3D score of 7880. These numbers place it firmly in the entry-level segment. The GPU's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors make it a low-power solution, but that does not translate to high performance. The average benchmark score of 7472, compared to the CPU's 19593, underscores the massive gap in relative capability between the two components.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this combo?*

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets achieve playable frame rates. At 1080p, even Ultra averages 64 FPS, while Low reaches 134 FPS. At 1440p, High drops to 48 FPS, and at 4K, High falls to 30 FPS, making 1080p the clear choice for a consistent experience.

*Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes, but with significant compromises. At 4K Medium, the combo averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS, which is playable. However, 4K High (30 FPS) and 4K Ultra (29 FPS) are below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that only Medium settings are viable at this resolution.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The 5500's average benchmark score of 19593 is within 1% of its closest competitors. It is 0.1% slower than the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430, 0.4% slower than the Intel Core i5-12500, and 0.7% slower than the Intel Core i5-11600KF, but 0.5% faster than the Intel Core i7-10700F. These differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: Is the GTX 1650 a weak link in this system?

A: Yes. The GPU sits in the 40th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. The benchmark results show the GPU's average score (7472) is far lower than the CPU's (19593), confirming that the graphics card is the primary bottleneck, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 134 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 64 FPS. This represents a 70 FPS drop, or roughly 52% lower performance, when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Does the combo's rank in this game indicate poor overall performance?

A: The rank of 3575 out of 3716 combos places it in the bottom 4% of tested systems for Inside. This is a low ranking, but it reflects the GPU's limitations rather than the CPU's. The system is still capable of running the game well at 1080p, as shown by the 64+ FPS results across all settings at that resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy for optimal settings. At 1920x1080, every preset is playable, but the High preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. High averages 67 FPS, which is a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset is even faster at 107 FPS, but the jump to High provides a substantial visual upgrade for a 40 FPS cost. Ultra at 64 FPS is technically playable, but it is only 3 FPS slower than High, suggesting the extra eye candy comes at a steep performance price with minimal benefit.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the sweet spot, averaging 77 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. This provides a smooth experience while maintaining decent visual fidelity. The High preset at 48 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 46 FPS is not recommended. At 3840x2160, only the Medium preset is viable, averaging 49 FPS with a minimum of 41 FPS. The Low preset at 61 FPS is also playable, but Medium offers a significant visual improvement for only a 12 FPS loss. High and Ultra at 30 and 29 FPS respectively are below the playability threshold.

In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is:

• 1080p: High settings (67 FPS)
• 1440p: Medium settings (77 FPS)
• 4K: Medium settings (49 FPS)

This configuration prioritizes frame rate stability while avoiding the diminishing returns of the Ultra preset, which offers no meaningful advantage over High in this data.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a six-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, codenamed Cezanne. It operates with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU is manufactured on a 7 nm process from TSMC, containing 10,700 million transistors on a 180 mm² die. Its cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 per core, plus a 16 MB L3 cache. It supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU's TDP is 65 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM4 interface with PCIe Gen 3 support.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5500 demonstrates solid multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 16429, while the single-core score is 2319. Geekbench results show a multicore score of 7976 and a single-core score of 1730. Passmark tests reveal strong integer math (65001) and floating-point math (36815) scores, alongside a multithread score of 19330. These numbers place the CPU in the 73rd percentile of all processors, indicating it is well above average for general computing tasks.

However, in Inside, the CPU's role is secondary. The game is a puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and AI, meaning it does not heavily tax multi-core processors. The 5500's six cores and 12 threads are more than enough to feed the GTX 1650 at 1080p, as evidenced by the high frame rates at Low settings (134 FPS). The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes a bottleneck; the FPS scaling across resolutions follows the GPU's expected performance curve precisely.

The CPU's nearest rivals, all within 1% of its average score, confirm that it is a mid-pack performer. Its 16 MB L3 cache and Zen 3 architecture provide efficient instruction processing, but this efficiency is wasted in a game where the GPU is the limiting factor. The 5500's 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock are sufficient for maintaining frame pacing, as the measured FPS results show no signs of CPU-induced stuttering. In this pairing, the Ryzen 5 5500 is a capable but underutilized component, waiting for a more powerful GPU to unlock its full potential.