Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and AMD Radeon RX 9070 pairing delivers a remarkably smooth experience in Inside, a game that is far more demanding at 4K than its minimalist art style suggests. The data shows a clear shift in bottleneck behavior as resolution increases, moving from a CPU-limited state at 1080p to a GPU-bound state at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, contextualizes the combo's standing, and offers practical settings advice based strictly on the benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic curve that every builder should recognize. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 335.7 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 300.8 FPS, a reduction of about 10.4%. However, the jump to 3840x2160 is far more punishing, landing at 195.3 FPS—a 35% drop from the 1440p figure. This pattern indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is holding the system back from pushing even higher frame rates, while the GPU has headroom to spare.

The High settings preset tells a similar story with different magnitudes. At 1080p High, the system hits 215 FPS, which falls to 155.6 FPS at 1440p (a 27.6% decline) and then to 97.8 FPS at 4K (a 37.1% decline from 1440p). The consistent ~35-37% drop from 1440p to 4K across both Low and High settings strongly suggests the RX 9070's rendering workload is the limiting factor at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p scaling is less severe for Low settings (10.4%) but steeper for High (27.6%), indicating that the CPU can still feed frames efficiently at lower resolutions but becomes less relevant as pixel count rises.

Ultra settings exhibit the most dramatic scaling. The 207.8 FPS at 1080p drops to 148.9 FPS at 1440p (a 28.3% decline) and then to 95.6 FPS at 4K (a 35.8% decline). This shows that even at the highest quality preset, the 4K resolution is the primary performance limiter. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is notable: 157.1 FPS versus 97.8 FPS, a 60% difference that highlights how specific settings within the High preset disproportionately impact GPU load in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 457th out of 1671 tested combos for Inside. That places it in the top 27.4% of all configurations, which is a solid position for a mid-range pairing. The percentile data for the individual components aligns with this: the Ryzen 5 8400F sits at the 82nd percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 9070 is at the 79th percentile among all GPUs. The combo's overall rank is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile, suggesting that the pairing is well-balanced but that other systems with higher-end CPUs or GPUs edge it out in this specific game.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X, which scores nearly identically (25057 vs 25064, a 0% delta). The Ryzen 5 7500F is a close competitor at 24993 (0.3% slower), while the AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 and AMD EPYC 9474F are also within 0.2% of the 8400F's average score. This tells us the 8400F delivers performance consistent with a strong mid-range Zen 4 part, and its 6-core, 12-thread configuration is well-suited for a game like Inside that likely doesn't scale heavily beyond a few threads.

On the GPU side, the RX 9070's nearest rivals are less conventional. The NVIDIA A2 is 0.2% faster, the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 is 0.3% faster, and the AMD Radeon HD 7970 is 0.7% faster in average benchmark score. These are not direct gaming competitors, but the data indicates the RX 9070's raw compute performance is in that ballpark. For Inside specifically, the measured FPS shows the GPU is more than capable of handling 4K, which is a strong indicator of its overall gaming prowess.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F a bottleneck for the RX 9070 in Inside?

A: At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS gains when lowering settings from High to Low (e.g., 215 to 335.7 FPS at 1080p). At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, with FPS dropping to 97.8 on High settings despite the CPU's capabilities.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Inside?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on High settings (155.6 FPS) or Ultra (148.9 FPS) offers an excellent balance of visual quality and smoothness. At 4K, High settings (97.8 FPS) are still playable, but you will be closer to the edge of a 60 FPS display's comfort zone.

Q: How does the RX 9070's memory configuration affect 4K performance?

A: With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, the RX 9070 has ample resources for Inside. The 4K performance drop is more attributable to the GPU's compute load (36.13 TFLOPS FP32) than any memory limitation, as the game's art style is not texture-heavy.

Q: Should I use the Low or Ultra preset for competitive play?

A: If you need maximum frame rates, Low at 1080p (335.7 FPS) or 1440p (300.8 FPS) is the clear choice. For a single-player puzzle platformer, Ultra at 1440p (148.9 FPS) provides a far more visually polished experience without sacrificing smoothness.

Q: Where does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 457th out of 1671 combos for Inside, placing it in the top 27.4% of all configurations tested. This is a strong result, especially considering the individual component percentiles (82nd for CPU, 79th for GPU).

Q: What is the CPU's single-thread performance like for this game?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 296 in Cinebench R15 single-core and 951 in 3DMark single-thread, with a PassMark single-thread score of 3684. These figures are more than sufficient for a game like Inside, which typically relies on a few well-optimized threads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 335.7 FPS, Medium yields 312.1 FPS, High reaches 215 FPS, and Ultra drops to 207.8 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is only 7%, while the jump from Medium to High costs 31%. This suggests that Medium is a sweet spot for high refresh rate displays, while High and Ultra are closer in cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show more separation. Low settings hit 300.8 FPS, Medium comes in at 251 FPS, High reaches 155.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 148.9 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal (4.5%), making Ultra the better choice if you want the best visuals without a significant FPS penalty. The Low to Medium delta is 16.5%, and the Medium to High delta is a steep 38%.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's workload becomes evident. Low settings still produce a very playable 195.3 FPS, while Medium drops to 157.1 FPS. High settings fall to 97.8 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 95.6 FPS. The High to Ultra difference is only 2.2%, so there is no reason to avoid Ultra at 4K if you can accept the frame rate. The Low to Medium drop is 19.5%, but the Medium to High drop is a substantial 37.7%, indicating that High preset enables effects that heavily tax the GPU.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 9070 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 48 chip, featuring 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2520 MHz and game clock of 2070 MHz are the key drivers of its 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance. For Inside, this raw compute power is what determines the 4K results, as the game's visual style relies on lighting and post-processing effects rather than complex geometry or textures. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory with 644.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures that there are no frame time spikes from memory swapping, even at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its capabilities. It scores 6290 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 133741 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 165532 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its PassMark G3D score is 25381, placing it at the 79th percentile among all GPUs. The deltaPct against its nearest rivals is minimal (within 0.8%), which means the RX 9070's performance is consistent with its peer group in synthetic tests. In Inside, the measured FPS shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, but it still maintains a solid 95.6 FPS at Ultra, which is far above the 60 FPS target for most displays.

The 4nm process node and 53,900 million transistors on a 357 mm² die allow for high clock speeds while keeping power consumption at a 220 W TDP. The PCIe 5.0 x16 interface provides ample bandwidth for data transfer, though Inside is unlikely to be constrained by bus speed. The GPU's 56 RT cores are irrelevant for this title, as it does not use ray tracing, but they add to the overall feature set for other games.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the 2560x1440 Ultra preset (148.9 FPS) is the recommended choice. The difference between High (155.6 FPS) and Ultra (148.9 FPS) at this resolution is negligible, so enabling Ultra costs almost nothing while providing the highest quality assets and effects. If you have a 144Hz monitor, this combo will comfortably drive it at 1440p Ultra.

For 4K displays, the Low preset (195.3 FPS) is overkill, and the Medium preset (157.1 FPS) is still excessive for most use cases. The High preset (97.8 FPS) is the minimum for a smooth experience, but the Ultra preset (95.6 FPS) is only 2.2% slower, making it the better option if you want the best visuals. The data shows that the High to Ultra transition at 4K is the most efficient in terms of FPS cost, so there is no reason to settle for High when Ultra is nearly identical in performance.

At 1080p, the Medium preset (312.1 FPS) is the best choice for high refresh rate gaming, as it is only 7% slower than Low but offers significantly better visuals. The High (215 FPS) and Ultra (207.8 FPS) presets are also viable for 240Hz displays, but the frame rate drop from Medium is substantial. For most players, 1080p Medium or 1440p Ultra will provide the best experience, depending on their monitor's resolution and refresh rate. The measured data consistently shows that this combo has enough headroom to prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate in Inside.