Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that remains a demanding showcase for modern hardware, and the pairing of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 produces a fascinating set of results. The data reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at high resolutions, yet capable of exploiting the CPU's strength at lower settings, creating a performance curve that rewards careful configuration. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, interprets the component roles, and provides actionable settings recommendations based solely on the provided benchmark data.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the system pushes 337 FPS; at 4K Low, that figure falls to 196 FPS, a reduction of 141 FPS (or roughly 42%). This scaling indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU and GPU are working in a balanced state, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Moving to Medium settings, the pattern continues but with different magnitudes. At 1080p Medium, the average is 311 FPS, which drops to 249 FPS at 1440p and then to 157 FPS at 4K. The step from 1080p to 1440p costs 62 FPS, while the step from 1440p to 4K costs 92 FPS. This non-linear decline suggests that the RX 9070's raw fillrate and memory bandwidth are being taxed heavily at 4K, where the 16 GB frame buffer and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth are pushed to their limits.

The High preset shows an even more pronounced scaling issue. From 1080p (217 FPS) to 1440p (156 FPS), the drop is 61 FPS, and then to 4K (98 FPS), another 58 FPS is lost. The 4K High result is only 45% of the 1080p High result, indicating that the game's higher-quality textures and effects at this preset are particularly punishing at 4K. The data implies that the RX 9070, while a strong 1440p performer, cannot maintain the same headroom at 4K when visual fidelity is prioritized.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with 4K Ultra yielding just 93 FPS. This is only 45% of the 1080p Ultra result (206 FPS). The gap between 1440p Ultra (148 FPS) and 4K Ultra (93 FPS) is 55 FPS, showing that even with the top-tier GPU, the pixel count at 4K overwhelms the shading units and ROPs. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users must accept either Low settings (196 FPS) or Medium settings (157 FPS) to stay above the 144 Hz threshold, while High and Ultra presets are better suited for 1440p displays.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F features 6 cores and 12 threads, based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. In Inside, which is not a heavily multithreaded title, the CPU's single-thread performance is critical, and the benchmark scores reflect a capable part. The Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3072 and multi-core score of 21765 place it in the 83rd percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms the majority of processors on the market.

Looking at the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most visible at 1080p with Low settings, where the system achieves 337 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the Ryzen 5 7400F is able to feed the GPU efficiently without becoming a bottleneck. However, the gap between 1080p Low (337 FPS) and 1080p Medium (311 FPS) is only 26 FPS, indicating that the GPU is already starting to take over the workload as settings increase.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 5 7400F include the Intel Core i5-14600T (0.1% faster in average benchmark score) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (0.2% slower). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming, and the data confirms that the CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient for a game like Inside, which does not rely on massive data streaming. The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on DDR5 further supports smooth frame pacing, as seen in the consistent min FPS numbers at Medium settings (133 FPS at 4K, 212 FPS at 1440p, 264 FPS at 1080p).

Interestingly, the CPU's PassMark multithread score of 25645 and data compression score of 289999 indicate strong general-purpose performance, but Inside does not utilize such features. Instead, the game's physics and logic benefit from the 4.70 GHz boost clock, allowing the system to maintain high average FPS even when the GPU is not saturated. The data suggests that upgrading from this CPU would yield minimal gains in Inside, as the RX 9070 becomes the primary limiter at all but the lowest settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 200+ FPS?

A: According to the measured data, 1080p with Low settings achieves 337 FPS, and 1080p Medium achieves 311 FPS. At 1440p, only Low settings (302 FPS) and Medium settings (249 FPS) break the 200 FPS barrier. 4K cannot reach 200 FPS at any preset, with the highest being 196 FPS at Low.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7400F has an average benchmark score of 32750, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i5-14600T (32707) and 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H (32812 is 0.2% higher, making the 7400F slightly slower). These differences are within noise and should not affect gaming performance.

Q: Is the GPU strong enough for 4K Ultra settings in Inside?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 93 FPS, which is playable but not high-refresh. For comparison, 4K High yields 98 FPS, and 4K Medium yields 157 FPS. If targeting 60 FPS, 4K Ultra is sufficient, but for 144 Hz, Medium is required.

Q: What are the minimum FPS figures at Medium settings across resolutions?

A: The data provides min FPS only for Medium settings. At 4K, the min is 133 FPS; at 1440p, it is 212 FPS; and at 1080p, it is 264 FPS. These figures indicate good frame pacing without major stutters.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 720th out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the top 25% of all systems. This indicates that the Ryzen 5 7400F and RX 9070 provide above-average performance for this specific game.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity affect performance at 4K?

A: The RX 9070 has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with a 256-bit bus and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth. The data shows a significant FPS drop from 1440p High (156 FPS) to 4K High (98 FPS), which suggests that the memory bandwidth is a limiting factor at 4K, rather than capacity, since the game is not likely to exceed 16 GB.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 337 FPS, while Medium drops to 311 FPS with a min of 264 FPS and max of 357 FPS. High settings yield 217 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 206 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 131 FPS, showing that even at the highest preset, the system remains well above 200 FPS, making 1080p a non-issue for this hardware.

At 2560x1440, the results are still strong but show the GPU's workload increasing. Low settings hit 302 FPS, Medium achieves 249 FPS (min 212, max 287), High reaches 156 FPS, and Ultra drops to 148 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 93 FPS, which is substantial and indicates that the High preset introduces effects that significantly tax the GPU. Ultra is only 8 FPS slower than High, suggesting diminishing returns at the top preset.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low settings average 196 FPS, which is still smooth for most displays. Medium settings drop to 157 FPS (min 133, max 180), providing a solid high-refresh experience. High settings fall to 98 FPS, and Ultra to 93 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 39 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 59 FPS, highlighting that High and Ultra presets are the most demanding. The min FPS at 4K Medium (133 FPS) is above the 120 Hz threshold, ensuring no major frame drops during gameplay.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070, based on the RDNA 4.0 architecture and Navi 48 chip, is the dominant component in this system for Inside. With a boost clock of 2520 MHz, 3584 shading units, and 128 ROPs, the GPU delivers a theoretical FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for high-resolution textures.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 69th percentile, with a PassMark G3D score of 25381. Its nearest rival is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 SUPER, which is 1.2% faster in average score, while the GTX TITAN Z is 0.6% slower. In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role is evident in the scaling from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p Low, the system hits 337 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit, but as resolution increases, the GPU's fillrate becomes the bottleneck.

The 4K Medium result of 157 FPS is particularly telling, as it shows the GPU can handle moderate settings at 4K without issue. However, the jump to High (98 FPS) and Ultra (93 FPS) suggests that the game's advanced lighting or shadow effects at those presets require more than the 36.13 TFLOPS can provide at 4K. The ROP count of 128 and pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the pixel throughput limits the maximum FPS.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s is also a factor. At 4K, the need to fetch larger textures and higher-resolution buffers increases memory traffic, and the data shows a 39 FPS drop from Low (196 FPS) to Medium (157 FPS) at 4K, which is a larger absolute drop than the 26 FPS drop from Low to Medium at 1080p. This indicates that the memory subsystem is more stressed at higher resolutions, despite the ample 16 GB capacity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS, the optimal preset depends on the target refresh rate and resolution. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset is recommended, as it delivers 206 FPS, which is well above any high-refresh monitor's capability. There is no reason to lower settings at this resolution, as even the most demanding preset maintains over 200 FPS.

For 1440p, the Medium preset offers the best balance, with 249 FPS average and a 212 FPS minimum. This ensures smooth gameplay on 240 Hz monitors. While High and Ultra are playable at 156 FPS and 148 FPS, respectively, the significant drop from Medium suggests that the visual improvement may not justify the ~100 FPS loss. Low settings at 302 FPS are only useful for competitive play, which is irrelevant for a puzzle platformer.

For 4K, the Medium preset is the clear winner, providing 157 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS. This allows for high-refresh 4K gaming, which is rare for many titles. Low settings at 196 FPS are also viable, but Medium adds visual fidelity without dropping below the 120 FPS threshold. High (98 FPS) and Ultra (93 FPS) are playable for 60 Hz displays, but they do not take advantage of the RX 9070's capabilities. The data suggests that 4K Medium is the sweet spot for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 5 7400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 720th out of 2887 tested configurations for Inside, placing it in the top 25% of all systems. This rank is impressive given the game's age, but it reflects the GPU's strong performance at 1080p and 1440p. The CPU's 83rd percentile ranking among all CPUs ensures that it does not hold the system back, and the GPU's 69th percentile ranking indicates it is a solid mid-to-high-end part.

Compared to other combos, this pairing excels in scenarios where the GPU is the primary limiter, such as at 4K with High or Ultra settings. The rank of 720 suggests that there are 719 combos that perform better, likely featuring more powerful GPUs like the RTX 4090 or RX 7900 XTX. However, for the price point of the components (launch MSRP of $229 for the CPU and 549 USD for the GPU), the performance is competitive, though the data does not include price-to-performance metrics.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals show that the Ryzen 5 7400F is essentially tied with the Intel Core i5-14600T and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360, meaning that swapping to these CPUs would not change the in-game ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the RTX 2080 SUPER, are also within 1.2% of the RX 9070's average score, which would likely result in similar in-game FPS. This rank of 720 is therefore a reliable indicator that this combo offers consistent, high-level performance for Inside, with the main variable being the resolution and preset chosen.