Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer with modest hardware demands relative to its 2016 release, and the measured results for the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti combination show a system that can handle the game comfortably at 1080p, remains playable at 1440p, and only starts to show strain at 4K on the highest presets. The data indicates the GTX 1660 Ti is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 7600’s six Zen 4 cores provide ample headroom even at lower settings, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS at 1080p. This pairing ranks 3201 out of 3716 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower half of the database, which reflects the GPU’s age more than the CPU’s capability—the Ryzen 5 7600 itself sits at the 78th percentile of all CPUs, while the GTX 1660 Ti is at the 41st percentile of all GPUs.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. For a game like Inside, which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer rather than a large open-world title, the workload is generally light on multi-threading, meaning single-core performance often matters more than raw core counts. The CPU’s single-thread benchmark scores support this—3DMark single-thread score of 999, Cinebench R15 single-core of 298, Cinebench R23 single-core of 1852, and Geekbench single-core of 2521—all of which are strong for a desktop part. The multi-threaded scores (Cinebench R23 multi-core of 12735, Geekbench multi-core of 13413) are also robust, but the game’s frame rates suggest that even the CPU’s lower-thread performance is never a limiting factor at any tested resolution.

At 1080p, the measured FPS ranges from 103 (Ultra) to 216 (Low), with Medium hitting 173 and High 108. The jump from Low to High is stark—a 108 FPS difference—which indicates that the GPU is doing most of the work when settings increase, while the CPU is capable of feeding frames well beyond 200 FPS at the lowest preset. This is consistent with the CPU’s average benchmark score of 26324, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX, 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS, 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900KF, and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U. These rivals are all mobile or older desktop parts, and the Ryzen 5 7600’s edge in single-threaded tasks (3DMark single-thread 999 versus the 3DMark 2-thread score of 1938, which implies efficient per-core scaling) helps sustain high minimums in a game that doesn’t need many threads.

The CPU’s 65W TDP and 5 nm TSMC process node mean it runs efficiently, but that’s not directly reflected in game FPS. Instead, the key takeaway is that the Ryzen 5 7600 provides enough processing power to keep the GTX 1660 Ti fully utilized, especially at 1080p Low and Medium where the GPU is the clear constraint. At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes further—the FPS drops to 49 on High and 46 on Ultra, which are GPU-bound numbers. The CPU’s 78th percentile ranking among all CPUs versus the GPU’s 41st percentile among all GPUs reinforces this: the bottleneck is the graphics card, not the processor. In summary, the Ryzen 5 7600’s six cores and 12 threads are more than sufficient for Inside, and the data shows no scenario where the CPU limits the experience; the GTX 1660 Ti’s Turing architecture with 1536 shading units and 6 GB GDDR6 memory is the deciding factor.

FAQ

Q: What frame rate does this combo achieve at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 108 at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is a playable frame rate for a puzzle platformer, though lower than the Medium preset’s 173 FPS, suggesting High introduces a significant rendering cost.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7600 or the GTX 1660 Ti the limiting factor in Inside?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary constraint. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 216 FPS, while at 4K Ultra it drops to 46 FPS—a pattern consistent with GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s single-thread score of 999 in 3DMark and its 78th percentile ranking far exceed the GPU’s 41st percentile, confirming the GTX 1660 Ti holds back the system.

Q: How does the Ryzen 5 7600 compare to its nearest CPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 5 7600’s average benchmark score is 26324, which is 0.2% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (26274), 0.3% lower than the AMD Ryzen 7 7435HS (26402), 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i9-11900KF (26212), and 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 8540U (26187). These are marginal differences, meaning the CPU is competitive with those parts in general compute, but for gaming, its single-thread performance is the key asset.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gameplay?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 124 FPS average with minimums of 106 FPS, which is the smoothest experience above 60 FPS. High and Ultra produce 78 FPS and 74 FPS respectively, still playable, but Medium offers the best balance of visual quality and frame rate stability given the measured data.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the system achieves 49 FPS on High and 46 FPS on Ultra, which are borderline for smooth play. Low settings jump to 98 FPS, and Medium hits 78 FPS, so 4K is viable only if the user is willing to drop to Medium or Low presets. The 6 GB GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus width of the GTX 1660 Ti contribute to this limitation.

Q: How does the combo rank relative to other tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 3201 out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the lower 14% of configurations. This low rank is driven by the GTX 1660 Ti’s age (released in 2019) rather than the Ryzen 5 7600, which was released in 2023 and is a modern part.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for Inside suggests that the Medium preset offers the best overall experience across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium produces 173 FPS average with a minimum of 147 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and leaves headroom for any frame drops. High and Ultra both dip below 110 FPS (108 and 103 FPS respectively), which is still smooth but not necessary for a puzzle platformer. At 2560x1440, Medium again stands out with 124 FPS average and 106 FPS minimum, while High and Ultra drop to 78 FPS and 74 FPS—playable but less ideal. At 3840x2160, Medium is the only preset that maintains a consistent 78 FPS average with a 66 FPS minimum, whereas High and Ultra fall to 49 FPS and 46 FPS, which may cause noticeable stutter in fast-paced sections. Low settings provide the highest frame rates (216 FPS at 1080p, 155 FPS at 1440p, 98 FPS at 4K), but the visual downgrade is unnecessary given that Medium already exceeds 60 FPS at every resolution. Therefore, the data supports Medium as the recommended preset for a balanced experience, with Low as a fallback for 4K if the user prioritizes frame rate over visuals.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti ranks 3201 out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 14% of all configurations. This low ranking is notable because the CPU alone is a strong performer—it sits at the 78th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 26324, which is competitive with parts like the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HX (0.2% higher score) and Intel Core i9-11900KF (0.4% higher score). The GPU, however, is the weak link: the GTX 1660 Ti ranks at the 41st percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 7723, placing it just 0.7% above the AMD Radeon 540, 1.9% above the AMD Radeon Pro WX 3100, 2.2% above the AMD Radeon R7 250, and 2.3% above the Intel Arc A310. These rival GPUs are all older or lower-tier parts, indicating that the GTX 1660 Ti is a mid-range card from 2019 that struggles in modern benchmarks. In Inside specifically, the combo’s ranking reflects the GPU’s inability to push high frame rates at 4K, where the system only manages 46-49 FPS on the highest presets. At 1080p, the combo performs adequately, but the database ranking shows that many other GPU pairings—likely with newer cards—achieve better results. The CPU’s strength is evident in the fact that the combo doesn’t rank even lower; without the Ryzen 5 7600’s high single-thread performance, the GTX 1660 Ti might bottleneck even more at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of degradation as resolution increases, which points to the GPU as the limiting component. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by approximately 28% across settings: for example, High goes from 108 to 78 FPS, Medium from 173 to 124 FPS, Low from 216 to 155 FPS, and Ultra from 103 to 74 FPS. This is a substantial reduction that aligns with the GPU’s 192-bit memory bus and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth, which become more strained as pixel count increases. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is even more severe: High falls from 78 to 49 FPS (a 37% reduction), Medium from 124 to 78 FPS (a 37% reduction), and Low from 155 to 98 FPS (a 37% reduction). Ultra drops from 74 to 46 FPS (a 38% reduction). These consistent percentage drops across all settings indicate that the GTX 1660 Ti’s compute power (5.437 TFLOPS FP32) and memory capacity (6 GB) are insufficient for 4K, regardless of the preset. In contrast, the CPU’s performance is largely resolution-independent—the Ryzen 5 7600’s 12 threads and 5.10 GHz boost clock are more than capable of handling the same game logic at any resolution. The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is somewhat balanced, but at 4K, the GPU is the sole bottleneck, as evidenced by the fact that even Low settings (which reduce GPU load) only reach 98 FPS, far below the 216 FPS seen at 1080p Low. This scaling behavior is typical for a GPU that ranks at the 41st percentile, and it confirms that upgrading the graphics card would yield the largest frame rate improvements for this system in Inside.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average FPS: Low settings produce 216 FPS, Medium produces 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 FPS and maximum of 199 FPS, High produces 108 FPS, and Ultra produces 103 FPS. These numbers show that the GTX 1660 Ti can handle 1080p with ease, even at Ultra, which maintains a triple-digit frame rate. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are: Low at 155 FPS, Medium at 124 FPS (minimum 106, maximum 143), High at 78 FPS, and Ultra at 74 FPS. The drop from 1080p is significant but expected, and all presets remain above 60 FPS, making 1440p a viable resolution for this combo. At 3840x2160, the results are more mixed: Low averages 98 FPS, Medium averages 78 FPS (minimum 66, maximum 90), High averages 49 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The High and Ultra numbers fall below the 60 FPS threshold, which could result in noticeable stuttering, while Low and Medium remain playable. The minimum FPS data is only available for the Medium preset at each resolution—147 FPS at 1080p, 106 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K—which suggests that Medium is the most stable preset, with the smallest gap between average and minimum. Overall, the measured data indicates that this combo excels at 1080p, is solid at 1440p, and is only suitable for 4K when settings are lowered to Medium or below.