Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination delivers extreme performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that places minimal stress on even mid-range hardware. The measured data shows this pairing never drops below 126 FPS at any resolution or settings preset, with the 1080p Low preset reaching 378 FPS. This is a system built for high-refresh-rate displays, and the benchmark results confirm that the RTX 4080 is the dominant component in most scenarios, though the CPU becomes a more significant factor at lower resolutions.

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

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600X is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 7000 series, based on the Zen 4 architecture (codenamed Raphael) built on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 105 W. The CPU has a 32 MB shared L3 cache, plus 1 MB L2 and 64 KB L1 per core, and supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. Its PCIe Gen 5 interface provides 24 lanes from the CPU, and it includes integrated Radeon Graphics for basic display output, though the discrete RTX 4080 handles all rendering in this test.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 7600X scores 1060 in 3DMark single-thread, 2028 in 2-thread, 3796 in 4-thread, 5715 in 8-thread, and 6879 in 16-thread tests. Its Cinebench R23 scores are 1965 single-core and 15236 multi-core, while Geekbench shows 2603 single-core and 13858 multi-core. PassMark results include 4135 for single-thread and 28390 for multithread, with a data compression score of 317862 and integer math at 84749. The CPU's average benchmark score is 27636, placing it in the 79th percentile among all CPUs tested.

The nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700X and Intel Core i5-12600K, both with an average score of 27578, placing them 0.2% behind the 7600X. The AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE scores 27712, 0.3% ahead, and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 scores 27535, 0.4% behind. These margins are tiny, meaning the 7600X is effectively tied with those processors in general compute performance, though this game's workload is far lighter than those synthetic tests.

For Inside, the CPU's role is modest. This is a 2D puzzle platformer with simple physics and no complex AI or simulation systems. The measured FPS at 1080p Low hits 378 FPS, which is likely near the engine's frame rate ceiling rather than a true CPU limit. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 126 FPS, and the limiting factor shifts entirely to the GPU. The 7600X's high single-thread performance (1965 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that even the most demanding frame-generation scenarios are handled without stutter, but the data shows that the CPU is never the primary bottleneck in this title.

The 12 threads are more than sufficient for Inside, which is unlikely to use more than a few cores. The 6-core configuration provides headroom for background tasks, and the 5.30 GHz boost clock delivers the low-latency response needed for a game that relies on precise timing for its puzzle mechanics. The L3 cache size of 32 MB is ample for the game's asset streaming, and the DDR5 memory bandwidth ensures no data starvation at high frame rates. In short, the CPU is overqualified for this game, but its performance ensures consistent frame times even when the GPU is producing 300+ FPS.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, using the AD103 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU runs at a base clock of 2205 MHz and a boost clock of 2505 MHz, with memory clocked at 1400 MHz (22.4 Gbps effective). It features 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, 112 ROPs, 76 RT cores, and 304 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 280.6 GPixel/s, texture rate is 761.5 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance reaches 48.74 TFLOPS. The card has a TDP of 320 W, requires a 16-pin power connector, and is a triple-slot design.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 scores 34457 in PassMark G3D, 20671 in GPU compute, and 6567 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Geekbench results show 214739 in OpenCL and 263779 in Vulkan. The average benchmark score is 54247, placing it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER with a score of 54209 (0.1% behind), AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (1.1% ahead), AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698 (2.6% ahead), and AMD Radeon 8060S at 55757 (2.7% ahead). These deltas are small, indicating the RTX 4080 performs essentially on par with those cards in aggregate, though game-specific results can vary.

For Inside, the GPU is the dominant component at higher resolutions and settings. The 16 GB VRAM is far beyond what this game requires, as even at 4K Ultra the memory footprint is unlikely to exceed a few gigabytes. The high memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s ensures texture streaming is never a bottleneck, even when the game produces 265 FPS at 4K Low. The boost clock of 2505 MHz provides the raw compute throughput needed to render the game's dark, atmospheric scenes with minimal latency.

The RTX 4080's performance in this title is characterized by massive headroom. At 1080p Low, it achieves 378 FPS, which is likely limited by the game engine or CPU rather than the GPU. At 4K Ultra, the 126 FPS average still exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, meaning the GPU is never stressed to its limits. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 could handle even higher frame rates if the game engine allowed it, and the measured results are more indicative of software constraints than hardware capabilities.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data reveals clear scaling patterns across resolutions. At 1080p High, the average is 291 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 211 FPS (a 27.5% reduction); at 4K High, it falls to 133 FPS (a 54.3% reduction from 1080p). The Low preset shows a similar trend: 378 FPS at 1080p, 339 FPS at 1440p (10.3% drop), and 265 FPS at 4K (29.9% drop). Medium settings produce 349 FPS at 1080p, 313 FPS at 1440p (10.3% drop), and 212 FPS at 4K (39.3% drop). Ultra settings yield 280 FPS at 1080p, 201 FPS at 1440p (28.2% drop), and 126 FPS at 4K (55.0% drop).

These percentages indicate that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p, the CPU and game engine are more likely to constrain performance, as evidenced by the relatively small difference between Low (378 FPS) and High (291 FPS) — only 23% slower. At 4K, the differences between settings are more pronounced: Low (265 FPS) versus Ultra (126 FPS) is a 52.5% reduction, showing that the GPU is working harder at higher settings and resolutions.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly telling. At Low settings, the drop is 21.8% (from 339 to 265 FPS), while at Ultra, the drop is 37.3% (from 201 to 126 FPS). This indicates that the RTX 4080's shading units and memory bandwidth are being saturated more at 4K Ultra, where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p and the texture detail increases. The 16 GB VRAM and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth handle the workload without issue, but the GPU's raw compute power is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra.

At 1080p, the data suggests the CPU and engine are the bottlenecks. The 7600X's single-thread performance (1965 in Cinebench R23) is likely the ceiling, as frame rates above 300 FPS require extremely low frame times that the game's engine may not support. The fact that 1080p Low (378 FPS) is only 8.3% faster than 1080p High (291 FPS) — while 4K Low (265 FPS) is 99.2% faster than 4K Ultra (126 FPS) — confirms that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU/engine limits at lower resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This CPU and GPU combination ranks 205th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 5.5% of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the overall performance across all resolutions and settings, with the RTX 4080's high frame rates at 4K and the 7600X's strong single-thread performance contributing to the high position.

The rank is notable because Inside is not a demanding game, meaning that even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates. The fact that this combo still ranks in the top 5.5% indicates that the RTX 4080's raw performance at 4K Ultra (126 FPS) and the CPU's ability to push frame rates above 300 FPS at 1080p make a measurable difference. Combos with weaker GPUs would likely see larger FPS drops at 4K Ultra, while combos with weaker CPUs might struggle to reach the 378 FPS at 1080p Low.

The ranking also reflects the balance of this pairing. The 7600X's 79th percentile CPU performance and the RTX 4080's 86th percentile GPU performance are well matched, with neither component significantly bottlenecking the other in most scenarios. Combos ranked higher likely feature faster CPUs (like the Ryzen 7 or Core i7 series) or GPUs (like the RTX 4090), but the data shows that this combo delivers excellent results for its class.

The deltaPct values in the nearest rivals highlight the closeness of competition. The RTX 4080 SUPER is only 0.1% behind in average score, meaning this combo's performance is nearly identical to what a 4080 SUPER system would achieve. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X and RX 6750 GRE are 1.1% and 2.6% ahead in GPU benchmarks, but those differences are unlikely to translate into meaningful FPS gains in Inside given the game's low requirements.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all twelve test configurations (four resolutions × three settings plus Ultra). At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 378 FPS, Medium produces 349 FPS with a minimum of 297 FPS and maximum of 402 FPS, High reaches 291 FPS, and Ultra achieves 280 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 98 FPS, or 25.9% of the Low score.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 339 FPS, Medium averages 313 FPS with a minimum of 266 FPS and maximum of 360 FPS, High averages 211 FPS, and Ultra averages 201 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 138 FPS, or 40.7% of Low. The minimum FPS for Medium (266 FPS) is still well above 144 Hz, meaning no frame drops below the threshold for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 265 FPS, Medium averages 212 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 244 FPS, High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 126 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 139 FPS, or 52.5% of Low. The minimum FPS for Medium (181 FPS) is still comfortably above 144 Hz, indicating that even the most demanding preset at 4K never dips below playable frame rates.

The Medium presets are the only ones with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 297 FPS (85.1% of the average), and the maximum is 402 FPS (115.2% of average). At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 266 FPS (85.0% of average) and maximum is 360 FPS (115.0%). At 4K Medium, the minimum is 181 FPS (85.4% of average) and maximum is 244 FPS (115.1%). This consistency suggests that the game has stable frame pacing, with minimal stuttering even at high frame rates.

The data shows that the RTX 4080 provides the most headroom at 4K Low (265 FPS), which is more than double the 4K Ultra performance (126 FPS). This indicates that the GPU's capabilities are only fully utilized at Ultra settings, where the additional shading and texture work reduce frame rates significantly. At 1080p, the differences between settings are smaller, confirming that the CPU/engine limit is reached before the GPU's full potential is tapped.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target display and performance goals. For 4K displays, the Medium preset at 212 FPS average (with a 181 FPS minimum) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. The High preset at 133 FPS is still playable, but the 37.3% drop from Medium to High (212 to 133 FPS) is significant, and the visual difference in a puzzle platformer like Inside is likely minimal. Ultra at 126 FPS is only 5.3% slower than High, suggesting that Ultra is viable if the user prioritizes maximum visual fidelity, but Medium provides nearly double the frame rate with only a modest reduction in settings.

For 1440p displays, the Ultra preset at 201 FPS is the recommended choice, as it delivers the highest visual quality while still exceeding 200 FPS. The High preset at 211 FPS is only 5.0% faster than Ultra, making the performance difference negligible. The Low preset at 339 FPS offers no practical benefit for most users, as 201 FPS already exceeds the refresh rate of virtually all 1440p monitors. The Medium preset at 313 FPS is also acceptable, but Ultra's higher fidelity comes at a minimal frame rate cost.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 280 FPS is the clear recommendation. The High preset at 291 FPS is only 3.9% faster, and the Low preset at 378 FPS provides no meaningful advantage unless the user has a 360 Hz monitor and wants to maximize frame rates. The Medium preset at 349 FPS is a middle ground, but Ultra's visual improvements are worth the 69 FPS difference (19.8% lower than Medium). The minimum FPS for Medium at 1080p is 297 FPS, indicating that even the most demanding scenes remain above 240 Hz.

The data suggests that users should prioritize Ultra settings at 1080p and 1440p, while Medium is the sweet spot at 4K. The RTX 4080's performance is so high that even the most demanding preset at 1440p (201 FPS) exceeds the refresh rate of most gaming monitors. At 4K, the choice between Medium and Ultra comes down to whether the user values frame rate or visual fidelity more; Medium offers a 68.3% higher frame rate (212 vs 126 FPS) with likely minimal visual differences in this dark, stylized game.

For users with high-refresh-rate 4K displays (144 Hz or higher), the Medium preset at 4K (212 FPS average, 181 FPS minimum) is the only setting that guarantees frame rates above the display's refresh rate. The High preset at 133 FPS would cause screen tearing or require V-Sync, reducing the experience. The Low preset at 265 FPS offers the highest frame rates but sacrifices visual quality for a game that already runs well above playable thresholds. In summary, the measured data supports Medium at 4K, Ultra at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p as the best presets for this hardware combination.