Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle-platformer from 2016, and the measured performance data for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination shows extreme headroom across all tested configurations. The benchmark results indicate that this hardware pairing is overwhelmingly powerful for the game’s visual demands, delivering frame rates that far exceed the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. The data reveals that the primary bottleneck shifts from the GPU at 4K to the CPU at lower resolutions, but in all cases, the experience is exceptionally smooth.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across the four settings presets: Low, Medium, High, and Ultra. At every resolution, the Ultra preset yields the lowest average frame rate, while the Low preset delivers the highest. The gap between these extremes is substantial, but the absolute numbers are so high that even the most demanding preset remains comfortably playable.

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 219 FPS, which is only 11 FPS lower than the High preset’s 230 FPS. The Medium preset hits 312 FPS, and Low reaches 338 FPS. Given that all four presets exceed 200 FPS, the recommendation is to use the Ultra preset for the best visual quality, as the performance cost is negligible relative to the output. The data shows no reason to sacrifice graphical fidelity at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues. Ultra averages 157 FPS, High averages 165 FPS, Medium averages 264 FPS, and Low averages 303 FPS. The delta between Ultra and High is a mere 8 FPS, making the Ultra preset the obvious choice for a high-refresh-rate 1440p monitor. The Medium preset’s 264 FPS average suggests that even this mid-tier setting provides a massive performance buffer, but the visual improvements from Ultra are worth the marginal frame rate reduction.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. The Ultra preset averages 99 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but below the 120 FPS mark. High averages 104 FPS, a 5 FPS improvement over Ultra. Medium jumps to 166 FPS, and Low reaches 208 FPS. For 4K, the recommendation is the Medium preset, as it offers a 67 FPS advantage over Ultra while likely retaining most of the game’s visual charm. The High preset’s 104 FPS is a decent alternative, but the Medium preset’s 166 FPS average provides a more future-proof experience for variable refresh rate displays.

The data suggests that the best experience per the measured rows is the Ultra preset at 1080p and 1440p, and the Medium preset at 4K. This balances the highest visual settings with frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most monitors on the market.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achieved by this hardware combination?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 338 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to the High preset at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 99 FPS, while the High preset averages 104 FPS. The difference is only 5 FPS, making High the slightly faster option.

Q: Is the game playable at 4K with the RTX 4070 and Ryzen 5 8400F?

A: Yes, all four presets at 3840x2160 exceed 99 FPS on average. The Medium preset delivers 166 FPS, which is well above the standard 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the frame rate drop from 1080p to 1440p on the Ultra preset?

A: The Ultra preset drops from 219 FPS at 1920x1080 to 157 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 62 FPS or roughly 28%.

Q: Does the Medium preset provide consistent frame times?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the range is 265 to 359 FPS; at 1440p, it is 225 to 304 FPS; and at 4K, it is 141 to 191 FPS. This indicates a wide but stable performance envelope.

Q: How far ahead is the Low preset from the Ultra preset at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 303 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 157 FPS. The Low preset is 146 FPS faster, nearly doubling the frame rate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside, particularly at higher resolutions. The GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus provides 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for a 2D puzzle platformer with modest texture requirements. The card’s 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the game’s simple geometry and lighting with ease.

The GPU’s clock speeds, with a base of 1920 MHz and a boost of 2475 MHz, are key to its performance. The boost clock allows the card to sustain high frame rates even under load, as seen in the 4K results. The RTX 4070’s 29.15 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power is vastly overkill for Inside, but this headroom ensures that the game never becomes GPU-bound at 1080p or 1440p.

The measured data confirms the GPU’s role. At 4K, the frame rate scales dramatically with settings: Ultra runs at 99 FPS, High at 104 FPS, Medium at 166 FPS, and Low at 208 FPS. This 109 FPS spread between Ultra and Low shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the rendering load increases with each preset. The GPU’s 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are irrelevant for this game, as Inside does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, but they contribute to the card’s overall benchmark scores, such as a PassMark G3D score of 26927 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 154858.

The RTX 4070’s 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 37648 place it well above the minimum requirements for this title. The data indicates that the GPU is never a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, as the frame rates across all presets exceed 157 FPS. The GPU’s role is most pronounced at 4K, where the difference between presets is largest.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 338 FPS, Medium averages 312 FPS with a range of 265 to 359 FPS, High averages 230 FPS, and Ultra averages 219 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 119 FPS, but even the lowest value (Ultra’s 219 FPS) is exceptionally high.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates decrease but remain impressive. Low averages 303 FPS, Medium averages 264 FPS with a range of 225 to 304 FPS, High averages 165 FPS, and Ultra averages 157 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra is 146 FPS, showing a wider spread than at 1080p. The Medium preset’s minimum of 225 FPS is still higher than the Ultra preset’s average, highlighting the performance benefit of lower settings.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the primary constraint. Low averages 208 FPS, Medium averages 166 FPS with a range of 141 to 191 FPS, High averages 104 FPS, and Ultra averages 99 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 109 FPS, and the Ultra preset’s average of 99 FPS is the only result below 100 FPS in the entire dataset. The Medium preset’s 166 FPS average is a strong middle ground, offering 67 FPS more than Ultra.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset is the only one with recorded minimum and maximum FPS values, providing insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p, the minimum is 265 FPS and the maximum is 359 FPS; at 1440p, the minimum is 225 FPS and the maximum is 304 FPS; and at 4K, the minimum is 141 FPS and the maximum is 191 FPS. This indicates that the Medium preset maintains a stable frame rate without large dips, even at 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system’s components respond to increasing rendering loads. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 338 at 1080p to 303 at 1440p and then to 208 at 4K. This represents a 10% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a 38% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The Low preset’s minimal GPU workload means the CPU has more influence, allowing frame rates to remain high even at 4K.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 312 FPS at 1080p, 264 FPS at 1440p, and 166 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 48 FPS (15%), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 98 FPS (37%). This steeper decline at 4K indicates the GPU is becoming a more significant factor, as the higher resolution increases the pixel count and rendering demands.

The High preset exhibits a more pronounced scaling curve: 230 FPS at 1080p, 165 FPS at 1440p, and 104 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 65 FPS (28%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 61 FPS (37%). The Ultra preset follows a similar pattern: 219 FPS at 1080p, 157 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K, with drops of 62 FPS (28%) and 58 FPS (37%), respectively.

The data shows that the frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is proportionally larger for the higher settings presets. For Low, the total drop is 130 FPS (38%); for Medium, it is 146 FPS (47%); for High, it is 126 FPS (55%); and for Ultra, it is 120 FPS (55%). This suggests that at lower settings, the CPU and memory bandwidth can keep up with the resolution increase, while at higher settings, the GPU’s rendering load becomes the limiting factor. The system is clearly CPU-bound at 1080p, as evidenced by the 338 FPS Low result, but transitions to GPU-bound at 4K, where the Ultra preset barely exceeds 99 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Phoenix, and built on a 4 nm process. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide strong single-thread performance, which is crucial for a game like Inside that relies on deterministic physics and logic. The CPU’s 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache ensure low latency access to game data.

Benchmark results show the CPU’s capabilities. In Cinebench R23, it scores 20851 in multi-core and 2943 in single-core. The 3DMark scores range from 951 in single-thread to 6165 in max-threads, indicating robust scaling across cores. The PassMark single-thread score is 3685, and the multi-thread score is 24389. These scores place the CPU in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25005.

The CPU’s role in Inside is most evident at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset reaches 338 FPS, which is likely near the game’s engine limit or the CPU’s frame generation capability. The fact that the Low preset at 1440p still hits 303 FPS suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at this resolution either. However, at 4K, the frame rates drop significantly across all presets, indicating the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 5 8400F include the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, which scores 24964 with a 0.2% delta, and the Intel Core i7-11850H at 24935 with a 0.3% delta. These close scores confirm that the 8400F is a mid-range performer with consistent throughput. For Inside, the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads are more than adequate, as the game is unlikely to utilize more than a few threads. The CPU’s 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on a dual-channel DDR5 interface ensures that texture and asset streaming is never a bottleneck, even at high frame rates.

The data indicates that the CPU is the primary driver of performance at 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU has ample headroom. The 219 FPS Ultra result at 1080p confirms the CPU’s ability to feed frames quickly. At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes, and the GPU’s rendering power takes over, as shown by the 99 FPS Ultra result. This pairing of a capable 6-core CPU with a high-end GPU provides a balanced experience for Inside, with the CPU limiting only at extreme frame rates and the GPU limiting only at 4K with high settings.