Inside

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The data shows this pairing is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at lower resolutions, with the CPU’s six Zen 4 cores providing ample headroom. At 1080p, the RTX 4090 pushes frame rates well beyond what any display can reasonably use, while the 8400F’s 4.20 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clocks ensure the GPU never starves for data. The CPU’s 12 threads and 16 MB of shared L3 cache are more than sufficient for this title’s modest physics and logic demands, which is reflected in the near-linear scaling from Low to Ultra settings at every resolution.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Ryzen 5 8400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor built on TSMC’s 4 nm process with a Zen 4 (Phoenix) architecture. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz place it in the upper tier of mainstream desktop CPUs, and the benchmark results confirm its capability. In the 3DMark multi-threaded test, it scores 6,091 with 16 threads, while the single-thread score of 951 indicates strong per-core performance. These numbers matter for Inside because the game’s puzzle-platformer mechanics rely on consistent frame pacing, not extreme core counts.

The processor’s average benchmark score of 25,064 places it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 7 2700X (deltaPct 0), AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 340 (deltaPct -0.1), and AMD Ryzen 5 7500F (deltaPct 0.3). This clustering shows the 8400F is a solid mid-range performer, but the real story is how it feeds the RTX 4090. At 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 336 FPS, which is only 10% higher than the 4K Low result of 257.7 FPS. This relatively small gap suggests the CPU is not the limiting factor even at the lowest resolution and settings, where game logic typically becomes a bottleneck.

In Inside, which is not known for heavy CPU simulation, the 8400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads provide more than enough parallel processing power. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache helps maintain low latency for game state updates, and the DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures the GPU can stream textures and geometry without stalling. The processor’s 65 W TDP and unlocked multiplier make it an efficient choice, though the data shows it is rarely the deciding component in this specific game’s frame rate.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across settings presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 336 FPS, Medium drops to 309.7 FPS, High falls to 262.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 258.2 FPS. The jump from Low to Medium is only 26.3 FPS, but stepping from Medium to High costs 47.6 FPS. This suggests that Medium offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it retains most of the frame rate headroom while improving graphics quality over Low.

At 1440p, the pattern repeats: Low hits 305.1 FPS, Medium 278 FPS, High 231.6 FPS, and Ultra 221.5 FPS. The delta between High and Ultra narrows to just 10.1 FPS, indicating diminishing returns from the highest preset. For 4K, the differences become more pronounced: Low delivers 257.7 FPS, Medium 237.4 FPS, High 145.3 FPS, and Ultra 141.9 FPS. Here, the gap between Medium and High is a substantial 92.1 FPS, making Medium the clear recommendation for maintaining a smooth experience at 3840x2160.

Given that Inside is a puzzle platformer with a dark, atmospheric art style, the visual improvements from High to Ultra are likely subtle. The data suggests selecting Medium at any resolution, as it preserves over 300 FPS at 1080p, 278 FPS at 1440p, and 237.4 FPS at 4K — all well above the refresh rates of typical monitors. If a user prioritizes visuals over raw speed, High at 1440p (231.6 FPS) or 4K (145.3 FPS) remains viable, but Ultra adds little benefit for the performance cost.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling across resolutions provides insight into the system’s bottleneck. From 1080p Low (336 FPS) to 1440p Low (305.1 FPS), the drop is 30.9 FPS, or about 9.2%. From 1440p Low to 4K Low (257.7 FPS), the drop is 47.4 FPS, or about 15.5%. This gradual decline indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as resolution increases, but the CPU still has enough headroom to maintain high frame rates even at 4K.

For High settings, the scaling is steeper: 1080p High (262.1 FPS) to 1440p High (231.6 FPS) is a 30.5 FPS drop, and 1440p High to 4K High (145.3 FPS) is an 86.3 FPS drop — a 37.3% reduction. This disproportionate decline at 4K High suggests that the RTX 4090 is hitting a rendering limit, likely due to pixel fill-rate demands from the game’s shadow and post-processing effects. In contrast, the Medium preset shows a more linear decline: 1080p (309.7 FPS) to 1440p (278 FPS) is 31.7 FPS, and 1440p to 4K (237.4 FPS) is 40.6 FPS.

The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the Ryzen 5 8400F is sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 fully utilized, as the FPS differences between Low and Ultra are relatively contained. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor, with the Ultra preset dropping to 141.9 FPS — still playable but less than half of the 1080p Low result. This pattern is typical for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU in a less demanding title: the CPU handles game logic with ease, and the GPU’s rendering throughput dictates the final frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 106th out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 6.3% of all systems tested, which is an impressive result given that the CPU is not a flagship part. The ranking reflects the fact that the RTX 4090 is the dominant contributor to frame rate in this game, and the 8400F is capable enough to avoid becoming a bottleneck.

The combo’s position in the database suggests that many higher-ranked configurations likely pair the RTX 4090 with even faster CPUs, such as those with higher single-thread scores. However, the delta between this combo and those above it is likely small, given the game’s modest CPU demands. The 8400F’s single-thread score of 951 in 3DMark and 3,684 in PassMark single-thread tests are respectable, but not top-tier. Yet, the measured FPS numbers — exceeding 250 FPS at 4K on Low settings — demonstrate that the CPU is not holding back the GPU in any meaningful way.

Comparatively, the 8400F’s nearest CPU rivals all have similar average benchmark scores, with deltaPct values between -0.2 and 0.3. This means that swapping the 8400F for a Ryzen 7 2700X or Ryzen 5 7500F would likely produce nearly identical results in Inside, as the frame rate is dominated by the RTX 4090. The 106th rank out of 1,671 combos is a strong showing, confirming that this pairing delivers top-tier performance for this specific game.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is a behemoth, built on the AD102 chip with 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. Its boost clock of 2520 MHz and memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) feed a 384-bit memory bus with 24 GB of GDDR6X, yielding a staggering 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. These specifications translate directly into the measured frame rates: the GPU’s pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s allow it to handle Inside’s 2D-style rendering with ease, even at 4K Ultra.

The 24 GB of VRAM is far more than this game requires, but it ensures that texture streaming and asset loading never cause hitches. The GPU’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 128 RT cores are largely irrelevant for a puzzle platformer, but they contribute to the overall headroom that keeps frame rates high. The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 66,473 places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (deltaPct -0.4) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (deltaPct -0.9). These are all compute-oriented cards, underscoring the 4090’s dominance in gaming workloads.

The measured FPS data shows the RTX 4090’s strength: at 4K Ultra, it still delivers 141.9 FPS, which is more than enough for smooth gameplay. The GPU’s power is most evident in the scaling from High to Ultra at 4K, where the FPS drops by only 3.4 FPS (from 145.3 to 141.9), indicating that the GPU has plenty of reserve capacity even at the most demanding settings. This reflects the 4090’s raw computing power, which ensures that Inside runs flawlessly regardless of resolution or preset, with the Ryzen 5 8400F providing a stable platform for it to operate.