Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 580 delivers a playable, if not spectacular, experience in Inside, a game that is far more demanding on the GPU than the CPU. The data shows a combo that ranks near the bottom of the tested pool, but the game’s modest requirements mean that even this lower-tier pairing can hit high frame rates at mainstream resolutions with the right settings. The following analysis breaks down the measured performance across resolutions and presets, examining where the bottleneck lies and which settings provide the best experience.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution and settings combo for this hardware in Inside?*

A: The data shows 1920x1080 at Medium settings is the optimal balance, delivering an average FPS of 120. For a higher visual quality option, 1920x1080 at High still achieves a solid 75 FPS average.

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K?*

A: Yes, but with compromises. At 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 34 FPS, while the Low preset nearly doubles that to 68 FPS. Ultra is not recommended at this resolution, as it drops to 32 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F has an average benchmark score of 25005. It is statistically tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which scores 24964, and is only 0.2% ahead. It also edges out the Intel Core i7-11850H by 0.3%.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The Radeon RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 12928. It is essentially on par with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which scores 12940, and is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is the primary limiting component. This is evident in the resolution scaling; the FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, while the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 score of 20851) suggests it is not the bottleneck.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth using?

A: Based on the measured data, the Ultra preset provides minimal performance benefit over High. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 71 FPS compared to High's 75 FPS, making High the better choice for a frame rate advantage.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is the workhorse in this pairing for Inside. Its specifications are dated but functional: it features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's core clocks are set at 1257 MHz base and 1340 MHz boost, with a memory clock of 2000 MHz. These are mid-range figures for its generation, placing the card at the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 12928, which is practically identical to its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile (deltaPct of -0.1%). This suggests that in raw compute, the RX 580 is a competitive, if aging, performer. In Inside, the GPU's role is dominant. The game's visual effects, lighting, and particle systems rely heavily on the graphics processor. The data shows that as resolution increases, the strain on the RX 580 becomes apparent. The 4K High preset result of 34 FPS is a clear indication that the GPU's 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is stretched thin at that pixel count.

The 8 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor at any of the tested settings, as Inside is not a VRAM-heavy title. Instead, the GPU's raw shading power and fill rate are what dictate performance. With 2304 shading units and 32 ROPs, the card can handle the game's 2D side-scrolling perspective with ease at lower resolutions. The texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s is sufficient for the game's art style. The measured results show that the RX 580 is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p, but its age shows when the resolution climbs, solidifying its role as the component that limits overall performance in this specific title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a modern, capable processor that is largely underutilized in Inside. Based on the Zen 4 architecture on a 4 nm process, it offers 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This configuration is more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer. The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its strength; a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20851 and a single-core score of 2943 indicate strong processing power that is unlikely to bottleneck the GPU in this scenario.

The CPU sits at the 77th percentile of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 25005 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, with a deltaPct of only 0.2%. This places the 8400F in a performance tier well above the RX 580. In Inside, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics calculations, and draw calls. Given the game's 2016 release and relatively simple mechanics, the workload is light. The data supports this; at 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 150 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's frame generation limit for this game engine, but the GPU is still keeping pace.

The high single-thread performance (Passmark single-thread score of 3685) is crucial for maintaining consistent frame times in games that rely on a primary simulation thread. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache provides a fast data pool for the cores. As the resolution increases, the CPU's workload remains relatively constant, but the GPU's frame time increases. This is classic GPU-bound behavior. The CPU is not the limiting factor here; it provides a stable foundation that allows the RX 580 to be the sole determinant of performance scaling across different resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations

For this combination, the optimal experience is found at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. The measured data shows an average FPS of 120, with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138. This provides a smooth, high-refresh-rate experience that is ideal for the game's precise platforming mechanics. The 1080p High preset is a viable alternative, offering an average of 75 FPS, which is still smooth, but the jump from Medium to High costs a significant 45 FPS on average.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is again the best choice, delivering an average of 86 FPS. This resolution provides a sharper image than 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is well above the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 1440p drops to 54 FPS, which is playable but less ideal for a game that benefits from smooth motion. The Low preset at 1440p yields a very high 108 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity for a marginal gain over Medium.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it provides an average of 71 FPS, which is lower than the High preset's 75 FPS. This is an anomaly in the data, suggesting that the Ultra preset may introduce effects that are particularly inefficient on the GCN 4.0 architecture, or that the setting is not properly optimized for this GPU. Regardless, the data clearly shows that High is superior to Ultra in both performance and likely visual quality, as the performance penalty is not justified. At 4K, Ultra is the worst performer at 32 FPS, making it unplayable. The best 4K option is Low, which achieves 68 FPS, though this sacrifices most visual enhancements.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination ranks 3386 out of 3716 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the bottom 9% of all tested system configurations. This low ranking is almost entirely due to the aging GPU. The CPU is a strong performer, but when paired with a GPU that is at the 53rd percentile, the overall system performance is dragged down. The data suggests that this combo is at the very entry-level of what is considered playable for modern games, though Inside's low system requirements allow it to function adequately.

The ranking indicates that most other tested combos, which likely feature newer or higher-tier GPUs, will outperform this setup in terms of raw frame rates. However, the ranking is a relative measure; it does not negate the fact that this combo can run Inside smoothly at 1080p. The combo's rank of 3386 is a reflection of its position in the overall performance hierarchy, not a judgment on its viability for this specific game. The measured FPS data is more useful for determining the actual user experience, and it shows that at the right settings, this is a playable configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at the combo's performance across a matrix of resolutions and settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 150 FPS average. This is the highest frame rate recorded at any resolution and setting.
• Medium: 120 FPS average, with a minimum of 102 and a maximum of 138 FPS. This is the most balanced setting.
• High: 75 FPS average. This is a solid, playable frame rate.
• Ultra: 71 FPS average. This is unexpectedly lower than High, indicating a performance regression.

At 2560x1440, the results are:

• Low: 108 FPS average. A very high frame rate for this resolution.
• Medium: 86 FPS average, with a minimum of 73 and a maximum of 99 FPS. This is the recommended setting for 1440p.
• High: 54 FPS average. This is just below the 60 FPS target.
• Ultra: 51 FPS average. This is the lowest setting at this resolution, aside from High.

At 3840x2160, the results are:

• Low: 68 FPS average. This is the only playable option at 4K.
• Medium: 54 FPS average, with a minimum of 46 and a maximum of 62 FPS. This is borderline playable.
• High: 34 FPS average. This is too low for a smooth experience.
• Ultra: 32 FPS average. This is the worst result in the entire dataset.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the GPU-bound nature of this configuration. At 1080p Medium, the combo averages 120 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium, the average drops to 86 FPS, a reduction of 28.3%. Moving further to 4K Medium, the average plummets to 54 FPS, a 55% drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting component.

If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU workload is resolution-independent. Instead, the FPS drops consistently as pixel count increases, which directly correlates with the GPU's fill rate and shading workload. The RX 580's 256.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth is also a factor; at 4K, the GPU must access more texture data, and the bandwidth becomes a constraint. This is further evidenced by the fact that the gap between High and Ultra settings narrows at higher resolutions, suggesting that the GPU is simply running out of resources to differentiate between the two presets.

The data indicates that the Ryzen 5 8400F is more than capable of feeding the RX 580 at all resolutions. The CPU's robust multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R20 score of 8757) and high single-thread speed ensure it is not holding the system back. The limiting factor is purely the GPU's ability to render frames at higher resolutions. For a user with this combo, the path to higher frame rates is not to upgrade the CPU, but to lower the resolution or settings to reduce the GPU's workload. The 1080p to 1440p scaling is the most efficient, with a 28.3% FPS drop for a significant resolution increase, making 1440p Medium the sweet spot for a balance of visual quality and performance.