Inside

Inside is not the kind of title that typically stresses a flagship GPU, and the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination confirm that the experience is defined by the processor's ability to feed frames rather than the graphics card's raw rendering ceiling. The data shows a system that is dramatically overqualified for the game's visual demands, with performance scaling that reveals a significant CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions and a GPU that only begins to stretch its legs as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K follows a clear pattern of diminishing returns that is classic for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range processor in a lightweight title. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 338 FPS, which is an extraordinary figure for any game, but it is also the clearest indicator of a CPU limit. Moving to 1440p Low drops the average to 303 FPS, a reduction of roughly 10%, while the jump to 4K Low brings the average down to 259 FPS, another 14.5% decrease. The scaling between 1080p and 1440p is unusually small, suggesting that the processor is holding the system back from reaching even higher frame rates at the lower resolution.

The pattern becomes more pronounced when examining the High and Ultra presets, where the GPU has more work to do. At High settings, the transition from 1080p (260 FPS) to 1440p (211 FPS) is an 18.8% drop, and then to 4K (133 FPS) is another 37% reduction. This larger drop at 4K indicates that the RTX 4080 is finally becoming the limiting factor, as the pixel throughput demands start to exceed what the CPU can prepare. The Ultra preset shows the same shape: 256 FPS at 1080p, 201 FPS at 1440p, and 126 FPS at 4K, with the step from 1440p to 4K being a 37.3% decline.

The most telling comparison is between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (338 FPS) and Ultra (256 FPS) is only 24.3%, which is modest for a graphics-heavy setting change. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 33.7% (303 FPS vs 201 FPS), and at 4K, it widens to 51.4% (259 FPS vs 126 FPS). This widening gap at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU has more headroom to differentiate between settings when the CPU is not the primary constraint. The conclusion from the resolution scaling data is unambiguous: this combo is CPU-bound at 1080p and 1440p, and only at 4K does the RTX 4080's workload become substantial enough to influence the frame rate meaningfully.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3,716 tested combos in the database, this pairing of the Ryzen 5 8400F and RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 374 for Inside, placing it in the top 10.1% of all systems tested. That percentile ranking is notable because it puts this configuration ahead of many setups with more expensive processors, but it also shows that the CPU is holding back what could be an even higher position. The rank reflects the average performance across all settings and resolutions, which is dragged down by the CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p.

The CPU's own benchmark percentile is 77 against all processors, while the GPU sits at 86 against all graphics cards. The fact that the combo ranks as high as 374 out of 3,716 despite the GPU being significantly stronger than the CPU suggests that Inside's engine is not exceptionally demanding on either component. The gap between the CPU's 77th percentile and the GPU's 86th percentile indicates that the processor is the weaker link in this pairing, which aligns with the resolution scaling data showing CPU limits at lower resolutions. If the CPU were replaced with a stronger model, the combo rank would likely improve, but the measured data shows that the current configuration is still very competitive for this title.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 8000 series, based on the Zen 4 architecture on a 4 nm process. It runs at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boosts to 4.70 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. For a game like Inside, which is a puzzle platformer with modest computational demands, this processor has ample headroom in raw compute, but the benchmark results suggest that its single-thread performance is the determining factor for the high frame rates seen at 1080p.

The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score is 951, and its 2-thread score is 1,874, which are strong figures that translate directly to the 338 FPS observed at 1080p Low. The multi-thread scores, such as 6,091 in the 16-thread test and 6,165 in the max-thread test, indicate that the processor can handle concurrent workloads, but Inside does not appear to be a heavily threaded title. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20,851 and single-core score of 2,943 further confirm that this is a balanced processor, but the game's frame rates are more closely tied to the single-core performance.

The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate memory latency for the game's data access patterns, and the DDR5 memory support with a dual-channel bus and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for a title of this era. The processor's performance in the Passmark tests, particularly the 89 in find prime numbers and 46,217 in floating point math, shows that it is not a specialized compute monster but rather a well-rounded desktop chip. For Inside, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates without becoming a bottleneck, and the data shows that it does so admirably up to 1440p, but at 1080p it is clearly the limiting factor, preventing the RTX 4080 from achieving even higher frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are exceptionally high across the board: Low averages 338 FPS, Medium averages 312 FPS with a minimum of 265 FPS and maximum of 359 FPS, High averages 260 FPS, and Ultra averages 256 FPS. The difference between Medium and High is 52 FPS, which is significant, but the difference between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset offers marginal gains over High in terms of visual fidelity without a major performance hit.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected decline. Low averages 303 FPS, Medium averages 279 FPS with a minimum of 238 FPS and maximum of 321 FPS, High averages 211 FPS, and Ultra averages 201 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at High settings (260 to 211 FPS), which suggests that the GPU is becoming more involved in the rendering process at this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 238 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system stays well above the 200 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates finally show the GPU working harder. Low averages 259 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 gap between High and Ultra at 4K is only 7 FPS, similar to the 1080p pattern, but the gap between Low and High is 126 FPS, which is substantial. The Medium preset at 4K provides a balanced experience with a minimum of 181 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even in the most demanding scenes. Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best balance of average and minimum FPS, with the 1440p Medium (279 FPS average, 238 FPS minimum) being the standout for high-refresh-rate displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a formidable graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. It is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture on a 5 nm process, with 9,728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output processors. The GPU's boost clock is 2505 MHz, and it has a 320 W TDP, making it a high-power component that is clearly overkill for a game like Inside.

The GPU's benchmark scores confirm its strength: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6,567, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 214,739, and a Passmark G3D score of 34,457. Its percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs places it in the upper tier of graphics cards, and its average benchmark score of 54,247 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER, indicating that the two cards perform nearly identically in synthetic tests. The GPU's Passmark DirectX 12 score of 132 and DirectX 11 score of 314 are relatively low compared to its other scores, but these are likely limited by the test's resolution and not representative of real-world gaming performance.

In the context of Inside, the RTX 4080's role is minimal at lower resolutions because the CPU is the bottleneck. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is far more than the game requires, and its 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is never fully utilized at 1080p or 1440p. Only at 4K, particularly at Low and Medium settings, does the GPU begin to show its capabilities, but even then, the frame rates are so high that the GPU is not stressed. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is overkill for a game with simple textures and geometry, and the 112 ROPs are more than enough to handle the pixel throughput at any resolution. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 is operating well below its potential in this title, with the CPU limiting its performance at lower resolutions and the game's simplicity limiting its workload at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this combo?

A: The highest average FPS is 338, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 312 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: At which resolution does the GPU become the primary limiting factor?

A: The data shows that at 3840x2160, the frame rate drops become more pronounced, particularly at High settings (133 FPS) and Ultra settings (126 FPS), indicating the GPU is becoming the primary constraint. At 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the limiting factor.

Q: How does the Medium preset compare to High and Ultra in terms of minimum FPS?

A: The Medium preset has recorded minimum FPS values of 265 at 1080p, 238 at 1440p, and 181 at 4K. The High and Ultra presets do not have recorded minimum FPS values, but their average FPS is lower than Medium, suggesting that Medium offers more consistent performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems for Inside?

A: The combo ranks 374 out of 3,716 tested combos, placing it in the top 10.1% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F or the RTX 4080 the stronger component in this pairing?

A: The RTX 4080 is the stronger component, with a percentile rank of 86 against all GPUs, compared to the CPU's percentile rank of 77 against all CPUs. The CPU's lower percentile means it is more likely to be the bottleneck in CPU-bound scenarios.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, High settings average 211 FPS while Ultra settings average 201 FPS, a difference of 10 FPS (4.7%). This suggests that Ultra offers minimal performance cost over High at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset provides the most balanced experience across all resolutions for this combo. At 1080p, Medium achieves 312 FPS average with a 265 FPS minimum, which is only 26 FPS less than Low but with better visual quality. The High preset at 1080p drops to 260 FPS, which is still excellent, but the 52 FPS difference between Medium and High is significant for a game that benefits from high refresh rates. At 1440p, Medium delivers 279 FPS average with a 238 FPS minimum, making it the ideal choice for high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, as it provides the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate stability.

At 4K, the Medium preset (212 FPS average, 181 FPS minimum) is again the recommended choice, as it offers a substantial improvement over High (133 FPS) and Ultra (126 FPS) while maintaining a minimum FPS above 180, which is well above the refresh rate of most 4K displays. The Low preset at 4K (259 FPS) is technically higher, but the visual quality reduction is not worth the 47 FPS gain over Medium. For users prioritizing maximum visual quality, the Ultra preset at 1440p (201 FPS) is viable, but the 10 FPS difference between High and Ultra means that High is the more sensible choice for most users. The data clearly indicates that Medium is the sweet spot for this combo, providing frame rates that exceed the refresh rates of almost all displays while maintaining acceptable visual quality.