Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 produces a wide spread of frame rates in Inside, indicating a system that is heavily influenced by both resolution and graphics settings. The measured data shows a clear pattern: at 1080p, the combination is capable of very high frame rates, while at 4K, performance drops to near-playable levels, suggesting the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, and the scaling pattern reveals the bottleneck dynamics of this combo. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 115 FPS at 1920x1080 to 83 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 32 FPS, and then further down to 52 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 54.8% drop in average FPS from 1080p to 4K, which is a significant performance penalty that points directly at the GPU’s pixel throughput limits.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling is even more dramatic in absolute terms. The average frame rate at 1080p is 231 FPS, which drops to 166 FPS at 1440p and then to 104 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is 55.0%, nearly identical to the High preset. This consistency across different settings is telling: the GTX 1070’s raw rendering capacity is being saturated at 4K regardless of how much the graphical load is reduced, which indicates that the resolution itself is the dominant factor, not the specific settings.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with average FPS of 184 at 1080p, 133 at 1440p, and 83 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27.7%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 37.6%. This accelerating decline as resolution increases is a classic sign of a GPU that is running out of fill rate and memory bandwidth. The GTX 1070 has a pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s, and the data suggests that at 4K, these resources are being stretched to their limits.

The fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop is smaller than the 1440p to 4K drop for both Medium and Low presets suggests that the CPU is not a limiting factor at these resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see the frame rate plateau or drop less precipitously as resolution increases, since the CPU load would remain relatively constant. Instead, the frame rates continue to fall, confirming that the GTX 1070 is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested combinations, this pairing sits in the lower tier of performance. The comboRankInGame data places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at rank 2370 out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the 82nd percentile of all tested systems. This means that approximately 82% of tested combinations perform better in Inside than this one. This ranking is unsurprising given the age of the GTX 1070, which was released in 2016 and is now classified as "End-of-life" in production status.

The GPU’s individual benchmark scores help contextualize this ranking. The GTX 1070’s PassMark G3D score is 13498, and its average benchmark score is 9780. This places the GPU in the 47th percentile of all GPUs, meaning it is roughly in the middle of the pack. However, its nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score are the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, -0.2% delta), NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, -0.5% delta), NVIDIA Tesla M10 (9724, 0.6% delta), and NVIDIA Tesla C2070 (9716, 0.7% delta), all of which are workstation or older enterprise cards, not gaming-focused hardware.

The CPU, in contrast, is a much stronger performer. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D has an average benchmark score of 44573 and ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are all higher-end or newer processors: the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466, 0.2% delta), Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342, 0.5% delta), AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309, 0.6% delta), and Intel Core i5-14600 (44889, -0.7% delta). This mismatch between a top-tier CPU and a mid-range GPU is the root cause of the combo’s relatively low ranking. The CPU is far more capable than the GPU, which means the GPU is almost certainly the limiting factor in most scenarios.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 plays a decisive role in this combo’s performance, and its specifications directly correlate with the measured FPS numbers. The GPU is built on the Pascal architecture and features 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operation units. These specifications are directly reflected in its pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s, which are the key metrics that determine how quickly the GPU can fill the screen with rendered pixels.

The GTX 1070 comes with 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.3 GB/s. In Inside, a game with a relatively simple visual style, 8 GB of VRAM is ample. The game does not appear to be memory-constrained, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates scale almost linearly with resolution rather than hitting a wall at higher settings. If VRAM were the issue, we would expect to see stuttering or severe frame drops at 4K Ultra, but instead, the performance degradation is smooth and proportional.

The GPU’s clock speeds are also a factor. The base clock is 1506 MHz, and the boost clock is 1683 MHz. These clocks are relatively modest by modern standards, but they are high enough to drive the 1080p Low preset to an average of 231 FPS. The FP32 performance of 6.463 TFLOPS is the raw compute capability, and it is this metric that likely limits the 4K Ultra setting to just 50 FPS average. The boost clock behavior is not directly measured in the FPS data, but the scaling suggests that the GPU is spending most of its time at or near boost clocks at lower resolutions, but may be throttling or running out of shader throughput at 4K.

The data shows that the GPU is the clear bottleneck at 4K. At 1080p, the frame rates are high enough to suggest that the CPU is keeping up, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s fill rate and shading capacity become the limiting factors. The measured FPS at 4K High (52 FPS) and 4K Ultra (50 FPS) are very close, indicating that the GPU is saturated and cannot deliver more than roughly 50 FPS at this resolution regardless of the settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 184 FPS with a minimum of 157 FPS and a maximum of 212 FPS. This is an excellent experience for any display, and it is the highest settings level that still maintains a frame rate well above 144 FPS. The High preset at 1080p delivers 115 FPS, which is still smooth, but the Medium preset offers a significant performance headroom without a substantial visual penalty, given that the game’s visual style is not extremely demanding.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is again the recommended choice. It provides an average of 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and a maximum of 153 FPS. This is a playable and smooth experience for most monitors, and it is the highest settings level that maintains an average above 120 FPS. The High preset at 1440p drops to 83 FPS, which is still playable but may not be ideal for high-refresh-rate displays. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 79 FPS, which is close to High but does not offer a meaningful advantage.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS. The High preset averages 52 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS, both of which are below the 60 FPS threshold for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 4K averages 104 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too great for most users. Therefore, for 4K, the Medium preset is the only viable option for a playable frame rate, and even then, the minimum FPS of 71 indicates that there may be occasional dips.

The Low preset is not recommended for any resolution above 1080p, as it does not provide a sufficient visual quality boost to justify the reduced frame rate. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it still averages 110 FPS, but the Medium preset offers a better performance margin. In summary, the Medium preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions, balancing visual quality with playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured frame rates provides a detailed picture of the combo’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 231 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 184 FPS (min 157, max 212), the High preset achieves 115 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 110 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is 47 FPS, while the jump from Medium to High is 69 FPS, and the jump from High to Ultra is only 5 FPS. This suggests that the High and Ultra presets are very similar in terms of GPU load, and the extra visual fidelity of Ultra is not worth the performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 166 FPS, the Medium preset averages 133 FPS (min 113, max 153), the High preset averages 83 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 79 FPS. The scaling is similar to 1080p, but the absolute numbers are lower. The difference between High and Ultra is again small (4 FPS), confirming that these two presets are nearly identical in their demands on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 104 FPS, the Medium preset averages 83 FPS (min 71, max 96), the High preset averages 52 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 50 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 21 FPS, from Medium to High is 31 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 2 FPS. This pattern shows that the Ultra preset offers virtually no improvement over High in terms of performance cost, suggesting that the game’s Ultra settings are not well optimized for this GPU architecture or that the GPU is already saturated at this resolution.

The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution. At 1080p, the minimum is 157 FPS, at 1440p it is 113 FPS, and at 4K it is 71 FPS. These minimums indicate that the frame pacing is stable and that there are no severe drops, which is a positive sign for gameplay smoothness. The maximum FPS for the Medium preset follows the same trend: 212 at 1080p, 153 at 1440p, and 96 at 4K.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 with the Medium preset delivers an average of 184 FPS, which is the highest frame rate at a visually acceptable settings level. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset still provides 133 FPS, which is also excellent. 4K is only playable at Medium settings, with an average of 83 FPS.

*Q: Is this CPU-GPU combo balanced for Inside?*

A: The benchmark data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU ranks in the 47th percentile. The frame rate drops significantly with resolution, confirming the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: How does the GTX 1070 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GTX 1070 has an average benchmark score of 9780, which is very close to the AMD FirePro W5000 (9803, -0.2% delta) and the NVIDIA Quadro M2000M (9832, -0.5% delta). These are the closest competitors in terms of raw benchmark score.

Q: What is the significance of the combo rank 2370 out of 2887?

A: This rank places the combo in the lower 18% of all tested combinations. It means that 2370 other CPU-GPU pairings perform better in Inside than the Ryzen 5 7500X3D and GTX 1070 combination.

Q: Does the game benefit from the CPU’s 3D V-Cache technology?

A: The CPU has 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a large amount. However, the measured FPS data does not show any unusual performance spikes or anomalies that would indicate the cache is providing a specific advantage in this game, since the frame rates scale predictably with resolution.

*Q: Is the 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for Inside at 4K?*

A: The data suggests that 8 GB is sufficient. The frame rates at 4K are limited by the GPU’s rendering capability, not by memory capacity. The 4K Medium preset averages 83 FPS, which would not be possible if the GPU were running out of VRAM and causing stuttering or texture thrashing.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D is a powerful processor that is not the limiting factor in this game. It has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 4.00 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz. Its architecture is Raphael, built on a 5 nm process, and it features 96 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s PassMark multithread score is 25047, and its single-thread score is 3494, which are strong numbers that place it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs.

In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 231 FPS, which is a very high frame rate that would stress the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls. However, the fact that the frame rate scales down so dramatically with resolution (to 104 FPS at 4K Low) indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU load would not change significantly.

The CPU’s high single-thread performance, as evidenced by its PassMark single-thread score of 3494, is likely sufficient for this game. Inside is a puzzle platformer that does not typically require massive amounts of CPU compute. The CPU’s 12 threads are more than adequate for the game’s threading model. The data does not show any signs of CPU-induced stuttering or frame drops, as the minimum FPS values for the Medium preset are stable and proportional to the average.

The CPU’s performance relative to its nearest rivals is also noteworthy. Its average benchmark score of 44573 is just 0.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra X9 388H (44466) and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core i9-13950HX (44342). It is 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (44309) and 0.7% lower than the Intel Core i5-14600 (44889). These very small deltas mean that the CPU is effectively in a dead heat with these other processors in terms of raw benchmark performance. In a game like Inside, this level of CPU performance is more than sufficient, and the GPU is the component that determines the final frame rate.