Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination delivers a robust experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. With the game’s release date predating this hardware by several years, the pairing produces high frame rates across all tested configurations. The data indicates that the primary performance ceiling shifts from the GPU at higher resolutions to the CPU at lower ones, though the overall experience remains fluid.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the measured FPS across resolutions reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 139.2 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops the frame rate to 101.1 FPS, a 27.4% reduction. Pushing to 4K High further reduces performance to 61.2 FPS, a 39.5% drop from the 1440p figure and a 56.0% drop from the 1080p result. This steep decline as pixel count increases clearly indicates that the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at lower settings. At Low settings, the frame rate climbs from 128 FPS at 4K to 200.4 FPS at 1440p and then to 277.4 FPS at 1080p. The jump between 1440p and 1080p is 38.4%, while the jump from 4K to 1440p is 56.6%. This non-linear improvement suggests that at 4K Low, the GPU is still working hard, but at 1080p Low, the workload becomes light enough that other factors, such as CPU overhead, begin to influence the final frame rate. The fact that 1080p Low (277.4 FPS) is more than double the 4K Low (128 FPS) reinforces the GPU-heavy nature of the title.

The Ultra preset shows a similar trend to High, with 132.3 FPS at 1080p, 94.9 FPS at 1440p, and 60.2 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 1440p Ultra is 28.3%, and the gap between 1440p and 4K Ultra is 36.6%. Interestingly, the 4K Ultra result of 60.2 FPS is nearly identical to the 4K High result of 61.2 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset at this resolution is hitting a hard performance wall, likely related to the GPU’s raw throughput. The data shows that for a smooth 60 FPS experience at 4K, High or Ultra settings are right on the edge, while Medium settings provide a comfortable buffer at 101.8 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware configurations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 1215th out of 1671 total combinations for Inside. This places it in the 72.7th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms a significant majority of systems. However, the rank also indicates that there is a large population of more powerful configurations, likely involving higher-tier CPUs and GPUs, that achieve higher frame rates in this title.

The rank is a composite measure of the entire system's capability. The CPU itself is a solid performer, sitting at the 79th percentile when compared to all other CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score of 20875 is nearly identical to its closest rivals, the Intel Core i5-12500 and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, with a negligible deltaPct of -0.1%. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 5500 is very well matched against these competitors in general processing power. However, the GPU sits at the 69th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25120. The combination of a high-percentile CPU with a slightly lower-percentile GPU results in the overall combo ranking being pulled down, indicating that the GPU is the more limiting factor in this pairing for most workloads.

The fact that the combo ranks in the lower third of the top 73% of all systems suggests that while it is a capable machine, it is not at the forefront of performance. In a game like Inside, which is not particularly demanding by modern standards, this rank still translates to a very playable experience, as evidenced by the measured FPS. The data implies that users with this combo should not expect to top leaderboards for raw frame rates, but they will certainly have a smooth and responsive experience.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average FPS at 4K with Ultra settings is 60.2 FPS. At 4K with High settings, it is 61.2 FPS. This puts the system right at the threshold of a standard 60 Hz display.

Q: What is the best resolution for a very high refresh rate monitor?

A: The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 277.4 FPS, and at Medium settings, it achieves 223.5 FPS. Even at High settings, it maintains 139.2 FPS at 1080p. This makes 1080p the clear choice for high-refresh-rate gaming, as it is the only resolution where the frame rate consistently exceeds 120 FPS across all settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1440p?

A: The performance scaling suggests the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1440p, the frame rates drop significantly from 1080p (e.g., from 139.2 to 101.1 FPS on High settings), a clear sign of GPU dependency. The CPU is capable of higher frame rates, as seen at 1080p Low, but the GPU’s rendering workload at 1440p prevents it from reaching those levels.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 5500 compare to its direct rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 has an average benchmark score of 20875. This is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-12500, which has an average score of 20897, a deltaPct of -0.1%. It is also on par with the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE, which scores 20900, also a -0.1% deltaPct. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 5500 is a very strong performer in its class, with performance essentially matching its closest competitors.

Q: What kind of performance difference is there between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: The difference is substantial. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 277.4 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 132.3 FPS. This represents a 52.3% decrease in performance when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset, showing that the Ultra preset is significantly more demanding on the GPU.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti a bottleneck for the Ryzen 5 5500 in this game?

A: The data strongly suggests yes. At 1080p Low, the frame rate is 277.4 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar frame rates at higher resolutions, but instead, we see a sharp decline (e.g., 128 FPS at 4K Low). This significant drop as resolution increases indicates that the GPU’s rendering capabilities are what is holding the system back from achieving even higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following data provides a complete breakdown of the average frame rates achieved by the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination in Inside.

1920x1080:

• Low: 277.4 FPS
• Medium: 223.5 FPS
• High: 139.2 FPS
• Ultra: 132.3 FPS

2560x1440:

• Low: 200.4 FPS
• Medium: 162.9 FPS
• High: 101.1 FPS
• Ultra: 94.9 FPS

3840x2160:

• Low: 128 FPS
• Medium: 101.8 FPS
• High: 61.2 FPS
• Ultra: 60.2 FPS

The data reveals a consistent hierarchy. The 1080p Low result of 277.4 FPS is the highest recorded, while the 4K Ultra result of 60.2 FPS is the lowest. The gap between Medium and High settings is consistently larger than the gap between High and Ultra at all resolutions, suggesting that the High preset offers a significant visual upgrade for a relatively small performance cost compared to Medium, while Ultra provides diminishing returns. For users targeting a locked 60 FPS, 4K is viable with High or Ultra settings, but Medium provides a much safer margin. For 1440p, all settings deliver well over 90 FPS, making it a high-refresh-rate sweet spot.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture, built on a 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. In synthetic benchmarks, its multi-threaded performance is strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319. This level of processing power is more than sufficient for a game like Inside, which is not known for complex AI or physics simulations.

The CPU’s role in this specific game becomes apparent when looking at the 1080p Low settings result. At 277.4 FPS, the frame rate is exceptionally high, which requires the CPU to submit a massive number of draw calls and process game logic quickly. The fact that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to sustain this frame rate shows that it is not a bottleneck at this level. However, the game's performance scales so heavily with resolution that the GPU quickly takes over as the limiting factor.

The Ryzen 5 5500's performance is validated by its position among its nearest rivals. With an average benchmark score of 20875, it is statistically tied with the Intel Core i5-12500 (20897) and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (20900), with deltas of -0.1%. This means that in a CPU-bound scenario, the Ryzen 5 5500 would deliver a nearly identical experience to these other processors. The CPU's 79th percentile ranking against all CPUs further confirms that it is a high-performing part. In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is to provide a stable and high ceiling, allowing the GPU to be the primary determinant of visual quality and resolution-based performance. The data confirms that the CPU is fully capable of extracting maximum performance from the RTX 3060 Ti at lower resolutions, but it is the GPU that dictates the frame rate at higher resolutions like 1440p and 4K.