Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that remains remarkably light on modern hardware, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 confirm this. The data shows a combination that is thoroughly overqualified for the task, delivering frame rates that range from highly playable at 4K to absurdly fast at 1080p, with the CPU rarely acting as a bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals a system that is primarily GPU-bound at higher settings, but the sheer headroom available means the experience is fluid at every tested configuration. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the average sits at 134 FPS. Moving to 1440p drops that to 97 FPS, a reduction of approximately 27.6%. Pushing further to 4K yields 61 FPS, which is another 37.1% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline as pixel count increases is classic behavior for a GPU-limited scenario, where the RX 7600’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus are being fed progressively heavier workloads.

However, the scaling pattern changes dramatically when lowering the preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate at 1080p is 282 FPS. At 1440p, it only falls to 203 FPS, a 28% drop, but at 4K, it lands at 127 FPS. The fact that 4K Low produces a higher frame rate than 1080p Ultra (127 FPS versus 134 FPS) is telling. It indicates that the CPU, the Ryzen 5 7500X3D with its 6 cores and 12 threads, is capable of feeding frames far faster than the GPU can render at higher presets. The 4K Low result is still limited by the GPU, but the 1080p Low result is likely approaching a CPU-bound ceiling, given the massive frame rates involved.

The Medium preset shows the most balanced scaling. From 226 FPS at 1080p, it drops to 162 FPS at 1440p (a 28.3% decrease) and then to 102 FPS at 4K (a 37% decrease). This consistent scaling suggests that the workload is being distributed more evenly, but the GPU is still the primary limiter. The fact that the 4K Medium average of 102 FPS is nearly double the 4K Ultra average of 61 FPS highlights how much of a performance tax the highest preset imposes on the RX 7600. Ultimately, the data suggests that for a game like Inside, the limiting component is almost always the GPU, but only because the CPU has so much headroom that it never becomes a factor until frame rates exceed 200 FPS.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K smoothly?

A: Yes. The measured data shows an average of 64 FPS at 4K High settings and 61 FPS at 4K Ultra. While not as high as lower resolutions, these averages are above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating a playable experience at the highest resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at for the highest frame rates?

A: The data clearly shows 1920x1080 as the resolution for maximum performance. At Low settings, the average FPS is 282, and even at Ultra settings, it maintains an average of 134 FPS, making it the best choice for users with high-refresh-rate displays.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the performance cost is notable. At 1080p, High averages 141 FPS while Ultra averages 134 FPS, a difference of 7 FPS. The gap widens at higher resolutions; at 4K, High averages 64 FPS, whereas Ultra drops to 61 FPS. The visual difference may be subtle, but the performance hit is measurable.

Q: How does the CPU perform in this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is not a bottleneck. With a PassMark single-thread score of 3494 and a multithread score of 25047, it has ample power. The evidence is that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 282 FPS, a rate that is likely near the CPU’s maximum frame output for this title, but still far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher settings.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this configuration?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the primary limiting component. The frame rate scales inversely with resolution and preset quality, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation. The CPU has enough headroom to push well over 200 FPS, but the GPU cannot keep pace at higher visual loads.

Q: What is the performance ranking of this combo for Inside?

A: The data places this combination at rank 1930 out of 2887 tested combos for this game. While this rank might seem low, it is important to note that Inside is an older title and many higher-ranked combos likely feature more powerful GPUs. The absolute frame rates show that this is still a very capable setup for a smooth experience.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal balance of visual quality and performance is achieved with the Medium preset. At 1080p, Medium delivers an average of 226 FPS, which is significantly higher than the 134 FPS from Ultra and the 141 FPS from High. This frame rate is so high that it will easily saturate any 144Hz or even 240Hz monitor, providing a buttery-smooth experience without the minor performance penalty of High or Ultra.

For users with a 1440p display, Medium is also the clear winner. The average of 162 FPS is well above the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors and maintains a substantial margin over the 97 FPS and 101 FPS averages of the Ultra and High presets, respectively. The Medium preset at 1440p also has a measured minimum FPS of 138, ensuring that frame times stay consistently high without noticeable stutters.

At 4K, the recommendation becomes more nuanced. The Medium preset’s average of 102 FPS is excellent and provides a very smooth experience, but the High preset’s 64 FPS is also perfectly playable for a slower-paced puzzle platformer. However, given that the minimum FPS for Medium at 4K is 87, it offers a more consistent experience than High. Therefore, Medium is the recommended preset for all resolutions. It offers a massive performance headroom over High and Ultra while still providing a clear visual upgrade over Low, which, while fast at 127 FPS at 4K, likely sacrifices too much detail for a game with such a distinct art style.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a detailed picture of performance scaling.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 282 FPS. The Medium preset averages 226 FPS, with a minimum of 192 FPS and a maximum of 259 FPS. The High preset averages 141 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 134 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal, while the jump from High to Medium is substantial, indicating that the High preset is not a well-optimized step.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high. The Low preset averages 203 FPS. The Medium preset averages 162 FPS, with a minimum of 138 FPS and a maximum of 186 FPS. The High preset averages 101 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 97 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across all presets, with a roughly 28% performance drop, suggesting a uniform increase in GPU load.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is pushed harder, but the results are still playable. The Low preset averages 127 FPS. The Medium preset averages 102 FPS, with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS. The High preset averages 64 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 61 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is significant, a 38 FPS difference, which highlights the steep cost of the higher-quality textures and effects. The Low preset at 4K is faster than the Ultra preset at 1080p, further demonstrating the GPU-bound nature of the higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 is the workhorse of this configuration, and its specifications directly explain the observed performance. With a boost clock of 2655 MHz and a game clock of 2250 MHz, the GPU has a high operating frequency for its class. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s, which is adequate for a game like Inside, but the data shows that it is the primary constraint when pushing higher resolutions and presets.

The GPU’s compute capabilities, rated at 21.75 TFLOPS for FP32, are more than sufficient for this title. The benchmark scores, such as the Passmark G3D score of 16634, place it in the 57th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM, which scores 15199 (a 0.2% difference), and the AMD Radeon 680M, which scores 15270 (a -0.7% difference). This shows that the RX 7600 is a solid mid-range performer, but the frame rates in Inside are so high that its limits are only truly exposed at 4K with the Ultra preset, where it averages 61 FPS.

The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings (134 FPS to 61 FPS) is a direct consequence of the GPU’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The 169.9 GPixel/s pixel rate is the key metric here, as rendering at 4K requires four times the pixel work of 1080p. The fact that the RX 7600 can maintain a 61 FPS average at 4K Ultra confirms the efficiency of the RDNA 3.0 architecture (Navi 33 chip) and the game’s age, but it is clear that the GPU is the component that dictates the final frame rate in most scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D plays a supporting role in this benchmark, providing more than enough processing power to prevent any bottleneck. With 6 cores and 12 threads, and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, this CPU is built for high-performance gaming. Its PassMark single-thread score of 3494 and multithread score of 25047 place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, a strong showing that indicates its capability.

The most compelling evidence of the CPU’s headroom is the 1080p Low preset result of 282 FPS. This frame rate is far beyond what most games can achieve and indicates that the CPU is capable of submitting draw calls and physics calculations much faster than the GPU can render them at higher settings. The CPU’s large 96 MB shared L3 cache is a key feature for gaming, reducing memory latency and improving frame pacing in CPU-bound scenarios. Even at this massive frame rate, the CPU is not fully taxed, as evidenced by its average benchmark score of 44573, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX.

The data confirms that the Ryzen 5 7500X3D is not a limiting factor in any of the measured configurations. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions at the same settings. Instead, the frame rates scale consistently with resolution, proving that the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s role is to provide a stable foundation, and with its high single-thread performance and large cache, it does so effectively, ensuring that the user can focus on GPU-bound settings to improve visual fidelity without worrying about a CPU-related performance ceiling.