Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that scales dramatically with resolution, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a performance profile that is heavily GPU-bound at 4K, but transitions to a more balanced load at lower resolutions. The measured data shows that this combo ranks in the 56th percentile of all tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle tier of systems, yet its frame rates are more than sufficient for the genre's demands across all tested settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe, indicating that the AMD Radeon RX 9060 is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 309 FPS at 1920x1080 to 140 FPS at 3840x2160, a reduction of 54.7%. This massive drop highlights that the GPU's pixel throughput, with its 64 ROPs and 128-bit memory bus, is being saturated by the four-fold increase in pixel count. The game becomes increasingly reliant on raw fillrate and memory bandwidth as resolution climbs, and the 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is clearly a bottleneck at 4K.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 155 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p (a 28.4% decline) and then to 70 at 4K (a 54.8% decline from 1080p). This non-linear degradation suggests that the GPU is not just limited by pixel count but also by the complexity of the shading work at higher resolutions. The RDNA 4.0 architecture, with its 21.43 TFLOPS FP32 compute, is being pushed to its limits, and the gap between 1440p and 4K is proportionally larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p.

At Ultra settings, the same pattern emerges, with 147 FPS at 1080p dropping to 106 FPS at 1440p and finally 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest average frame rate in the entire dataset, showing that the combo is barely maintaining playable performance at the highest fidelity and resolution. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads based on Zen 4 architecture, does not appear to be the limiting factor here, as the frame rate scales predictably with resolution rather than showing a plateau that would indicate a CPU bottleneck.

The medium preset provides the only min/max data points in the measured set, offering insight into frame time consistency. At 4K Medium, the average is 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 128, showing a relatively tight range of 33 FPS. This suggests that even at the most demanding resolution, the frame pacing remains stable, which is crucial for a puzzle platformer where precise timing is required. The scaling from Low to Medium to High to Ultra at 4K (140, 112, 70, 66 FPS) shows that the transition from Low to Medium costs 20% performance, while the jump from Medium to High costs 37.5%, indicating that High settings introduce a disproportionately heavy rendering workload.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achievable with this combo in Inside?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 309 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates that at 1080p, the combination of the Ryzen 5 7600 and Radeon RX 9060 has substantial headroom for high refresh rate displays.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 a bottleneck at any tested resolution?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. The frame rates scale smoothly with resolution changes across all settings, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's 3.80 GHz base and 5.10 GHz boost clocks, combined with its 32 MB L3 cache, appear sufficient to feed the GPU at all tested configurations.

Q: What is the difference in performance between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 222 FPS at Low settings to 106 FPS at Ultra settings, a performance reduction of 52.3%. This demonstrates that the Ultra preset nearly halves the frame rate compared to Low, making it a significant visual quality trade-off.

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

A: The combo ranks 1615 out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the 56th percentile. This means that roughly 44% of tested systems outperform it, while 56% are slower, positioning it as a mid-to-low tier configuration for this specific game.

Q: What is the frame rate consistency at 4K Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the average frame rate is 112 FPS, with a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 128 FPS. The 33 FPS range between min and max indicates a stable frame pacing without significant stutters or drops.

Q: Does the GPU's benchmark score align with its in-game performance?

A: The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 17631 places it at the 59th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 16014. The in-game performance at 4K (66-140 FPS depending on settings) is consistent with a GPU that sits near the 60th percentile, though the game's 2D nature may not fully stress the GPU's compute capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance is found at Medium settings across all resolutions, based on the measured data. At 4K, Medium settings deliver an average of 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The step up to High settings at 4K costs 37.5% of the frame rate (112 to 70 FPS), which is a substantial penalty for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in a puzzle platformer with limited geometric complexity.

At 1440p, Medium settings provide 178 FPS average with a minimum of 151 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display refresh rate currently on the market. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 106 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 40.4% performance reduction compared to Medium. Given that the game's visual style relies on atmospheric lighting and silhouettes rather than high-frequency texture detail, Medium settings are likely to preserve the intended aesthetic without the performance overhead.

For 1080p users, the choice is less critical due to the high frame rates across the board. However, Medium settings at 247 FPS average (with a 210 FPS minimum) offer the best combination of visual quality and headroom, ensuring that the frame rate never dips below 200 FPS even in the most demanding scenes. The Low preset at 309 FPS is only 25% faster than Medium, making the visual quality sacrifice at Low settings unjustifiable for most users.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 120Hz or lower refresh rate displays at 1080p or 1440p, where the 147 FPS and 106 FPS averages respectively remain above the display's refresh rate. At 4K, Ultra settings at 66 FPS average are borderline, and the lack of min/max data for this preset makes it a riskier choice than Medium, which has proven frame time stability.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame of 1615 out of 2887 tested combinations places this system in the 56th percentile, indicating that it is firmly in the middle of the pack for Inside. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong synthetic benchmarks, which place the Ryzen 5 7600 at the 78th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 26324. The discrepancy between CPU and combo ranking suggests that Inside is not a CPU-intensive title, and the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of the overall ranking.

The GPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its in-game performance. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 has an average benchmark score of 16014, which is within 0.7% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (16129) and 1% of both the AMD Radeon R9 370X (15862) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 (15852). This tight clustering indicates that the RX 9060 is performance-equivalent to a mid-range GPU from the previous generation, which aligns with its 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals tell a similar story, with the Ryzen 5 7600's average score of 26324 being within 0.5% of the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (26274), AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (26402), Intel Core i9-11900KF (26212), and AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (26187). This indicates that the CPU is performing as expected for its class, though the combo's 56th percentile ranking suggests that the GPU is the weaker link in this pairing.

The fact that the combo ranks in the 56th percentile while the CPU is in the 78th percentile and the GPU is in the 59th percentile suggests that Inside's rendering workload is more GPU-bound than CPU-bound. This is consistent with the resolution scaling data, which shows significant frame rate drops as resolution increases, and minimal evidence of CPU limitations even at 1080p with 309 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 brings 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. These specifications, combined with 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 6 MB of L2 cache (1 MB per core), provide ample single-threaded performance for a game like Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and AI logic. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3910 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1852 confirm that its single-threaded capabilities are strong, which is more relevant to this genre than multi-threaded performance.

The multi-threaded performance, while not critical for Inside, is still robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12735 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 13413. The CPU's 3DMark scores scale well with thread count, going from 999 single-thread to 6503 max-threads, indicating good scaling across its 12 threads. However, the game's frame rates do not show any evidence of CPU limitation, as the frame rate scaling with resolution is consistent and the 1080p Low result of 309 FPS does not suggest a CPU ceiling.

The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for feeding the GPU, though the GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory with 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is the more critical memory subsystem for this game. The PCIe Gen 5 interface with 24 lanes provides ample bandwidth for the GPU, though the RX 9060's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface is unlikely to be fully utilized by a 2D game.

The CPU's 65W TDP and 5nm process node from TSMC indicate an efficient design, but these power characteristics have no direct impact on game performance in the measured data. The CPU's percentile ranking of 78th among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26324, places it well above the combo's overall ranking, reinforcing that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 309 FPS, which is the highest measured result in the entire dataset. Medium settings drop to 247 FPS average, with a minimum of 210 FPS and maximum of 284 FPS, showing a 74 FPS range. High settings reduce the average to 155 FPS, and Ultra settings bring it down to 147 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 20.1% performance, while Medium to High costs 37.2%, and High to Ultra costs only 5.2%.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show more pronounced scaling. Low settings average 222 FPS, which is a 28.2% drop from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 178 FPS with a minimum of 151 FPS and maximum of 204 FPS, showing a 53 FPS range. High settings drop to 111 FPS, and Ultra settings to 106 FPS. The performance gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 4.5%, similar to the 1080p pattern, suggesting that Ultra adds minimal overhead over High at these resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop significantly across all settings. Low settings average 140 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 54.7% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 FPS and maximum of 128 FPS, showing a 33 FPS range that is the tightest of any resolution. This indicates that Medium 4K is the most stable configuration in terms of frame pacing. High settings drop to 70 FPS, and Ultra settings to 66 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 5.7%, while the jump from Medium to High is 37.5%, making Medium the clear sweet spot for 4K.

The data shows a consistent pattern where the performance gap between Low and Medium is smaller than the gap between Medium and High, while the gap between High and Ultra is minimal across all resolutions. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant rendering feature (likely related to the game's lighting or shadow system) that is disproportionately expensive, while Ultra adds only marginal improvements over High. The Medium preset at 4K, with its 112 FPS average and 95 FPS minimum, is the only 4K configuration that guarantees frame rates above 90 FPS, making it the recommended choice for 4K displays.