Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a game whose minimal demands are easily overwhelmed by this hardware pairing. The data shows that this combo is far more than sufficient for the title, offering high frame rates even at maximum settings. The analysis below details how these components interact with the game’s engine, what settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance, and how this specific pairing stacks up against other tested hardware configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a system that is never truly stressed by Inside. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 338 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that average to 254 FPS, a reduction of 84 FPS. At 4K (3840x2160), the average falls further to 160 FPS. This pattern shows that even at 4K, the frame rate remains exceptionally high, indicating that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower settings; the frame rate is likely limited by CPU or engine constraints.

The scaling becomes more pronounced when looking at Medium settings, where the 4K average (128 FPS) is less than half of the 1080p average (282 FPS). This demonstrates that the GPU workload increases significantly with resolution when more visual effects are enabled. The frame time data for Medium settings supports this: the 4K run has a minimum of 108 FPS and a maximum of 147 FPS, a 39 FPS variance. At 1440p Medium, the variance is larger (173 min, 234 max, a 61 FPS spread), and at 1080p Medium it is also significant (240 min, 325 max, an 85 FPS spread). This suggests that while the average FPS is high, the frame pacing can be inconsistent, though still far above playable thresholds.

For High and Ultra settings, the resolution scaling is steeper. At High, the 1080p average is 177 FPS, dropping to 127 FPS at 1440p and 80 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1440p to 4K on High settings represents a 37% decrease, indicating that the GPU is becoming more of a limiting factor. At Ultra, the trend continues: 168 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is minimal (80 vs 76 FPS), suggesting that Ultra’s additional settings have a negligible impact on GPU load at this resolution, or that the engine is hitting a performance ceiling.

The data clearly indicates that the limiting component shifts based on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the frame rates are so high (above 168 FPS for all settings) that the CPU’s per-core performance and memory bandwidth are likely the limiting factors, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher numbers. As resolution increases to 4K, the GPU’s fill rate (236.1 GPixel/s) and memory bandwidth (624.1 GB/s) become more relevant, but the RX 7700 still has ample headroom, never dropping below 76 FPS on the most demanding preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. For a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with a 2016 release date, the computational demands are primarily on single-thread performance and memory latency. The CPU’s benchmark scores reflect this capability: its 3dmark single-thread score is 951, and its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2943. These scores place it in the 77th percentile for all CPUs, indicating strong single-threaded performance.

The game’s frame rates at 1080p, particularly at Low settings (338 FPS), suggest that the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 5 8400F is likely able to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics calculations at a rate that caps the FPS around this figure. The L3 cache of 16 MB (shared) and DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s provide sufficient data throughput for the game’s assets. The processor’s performance is nearly identical to its closest rivals, with a 0.2% delta compared to the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and a 0.3% delta versus the Intel Core i7-11850H. This means that any of these CPUs would yield comparable performance in Inside.

The fact that the 1080p Low average is 338 FPS versus the 1440p Low average of 254 FPS shows that the CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases. The CPU is generating the same frame data, but the GPU is taking longer to render each frame at higher resolutions. Since the game is not highly threaded, the 12 threads of the 8400F are not fully utilized, but the strong single-core performance ensures that no frame is held back by CPU processing. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 6091 and max-thread score of 6165 demonstrate that the CPU can handle multithreaded tasks, but they are not needed here.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2459 MHz, and its game clock is 2041 MHz. For Inside, the GPU’s role is to render the game’s distinctive monochromatic 2.5D environments, which feature dynamic lighting and particle effects. The large VRAM buffer is irrelevant for this title, as the game’s textures are simple, but the GPU’s raw compute power (25.18 TFLOPS FP32) and pixel fill rate (236.1 GPixel/s) are more than adequate.

The GPU’s performance percentile is 58, placing it in the mid-range tier, and its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which scores 1% higher. The RX 7700’s directx 11 passmark score is 186, and its directx 12 score is 96, which are relevant for a 2016 game that likely uses DirectX 11. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo achieves 76 FPS, which is over double the 60 FPS target. This indicates that the GPU is never the limiting factor, even at the most demanding settings.

The difference between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution highlights the GPU’s workload scaling. At 4K, the jump from Low (160 FPS) to Medium (128 FPS) is a 32 FPS drop, while the jump from Medium to High (80 FPS) is a 48 FPS drop. The subsequent jump to Ultra (76 FPS) is only 4 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds effects that have a minimal impact on the GPU’s rendering pipeline, or that the game engine is bottlenecking the GPU’s ability to draw more frames. The GPU’s memory bandwidth and 16 GB VRAM are not stressed, but the 96 ROPs ensure that fill-rate-heavy effects are handled efficiently.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience is achieved by balancing visual fidelity with frame rate stability. The data shows that the Medium preset offers a significant performance advantage over High while likely providing a visually comparable experience for this art style. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 128, with a minimum of 108 and a maximum of 147. This is a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS standard for smooth gameplay, and the variance is acceptable.

Moving to High settings at 4K drops the average to 80 FPS, which is still very playable, but the 37% performance decrease from Medium may not be worth the visual gains in a puzzle platformer where frame pacing is more important than shadows or draw distance. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 76 FPS, a negligible improvement over High, suggesting that the Ultra preset is not optimized or that the engine’s overhead limits returns.

For the best "measured" experience, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 203 FPS with a minimum of 173, and at 1080p Medium, it hits 282 FPS with a minimum of 240. These frame rates are so high that they are likely capped by the CPU or the engine’s physics tick rate. The High preset is also viable if the user prefers the visual enhancements, but the data indicates that the performance cost is steep. The Low preset is unnecessary, as even Ultra settings provide playable frame rates at all tested resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + AMD Radeon RX 7700 combo ranks 1222 out of 2887 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the 58th percentile of all combos (calculated by dividing the rank by the total combos). While this seems low, it is important to note that this game is not demanding, and many older or less powerful components can still achieve high frame rates. The rank is more a reflection of the sheer number of combos tested than the absolute performance of this pairing.

The combo’s ranking is primarily influenced by the CPU’s position, which is in the 77th percentile, and the GPU’s position, which is in the 58th percentile. Because the game is CPU-bound at lower resolutions, the CPU’s strong single-thread performance helps push the frame rates high. However, the GPU’s mid-range standing means that at 4K Ultra, it does not outperform higher-tier cards that would rank higher. The data shows that this combo is in the upper half of all tested systems, and for a game from 2016, it delivers exceptional performance.

The nearest rival GPUs include the AMD Radeon RX 9060, which scores 1% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, which scores 1.7% higher. The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (0.2% faster) and the Intel Core i7-13620H (0.4% faster). If a user were to swap the CPU for a Ryzen 5 7500F, the performance in Inside would be nearly identical. Similarly, swapping the GPU for an RX 9060 would yield a marginal 1% improvement in average FPS, which is imperceptible in real-world gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The following table summarizes the exact measured average FPS values for each resolution and settings combination:

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS | Min FPS | Max FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|---------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | Low | 160 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 128 | 108 | 147 |

| 3840x2160 | High | 80 | - | - |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 76 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 254 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 203 | 173 | 234 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 127 | - | - |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 121 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 338 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 282 | 240 | 325 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 177 | - | - |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 168 | - | - |

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the Medium preset offers the best combination of high average FPS and documented frame time variance. The High and Ultra presets show a significant drop in average FPS compared to Medium, particularly at 4K, where the difference between High (80 FPS) and Medium (128 FPS) is 48 FPS. The Low preset provides the highest frame rates but is not recommended due to the visual compromises. For a game like Inside, the Medium preset at 1440p is the optimal choice, delivering 203 FPS average with a minimum of 173, ensuring a perfectly smooth and responsive experience. At 4K, the Medium preset’s 128 FPS average and 108 FPS minimum are still far above the threshold for any display refresh rate, making it the best option for users with 4K monitors.