Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT combination delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on the GPU than the CPU at higher settings. The data shows a pairing where the 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 3000 series, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, provides ample headroom. This Zen 2 architecture chip, built on a 7 nm process, has a 32 MB L3 cache and a multi-threaded benchmark score of 19,087 in Cinebench R23. In the context of this game, the CPU's role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, and its performance is more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the graphics card, as evidenced by the significant FPS gains when lowering graphical settings or resolution.

The Ryzen 7 3700X ranks in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28,631. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600, which scores marginally higher at 28,654 (a delta of -0.1%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT, which scores slightly lower at 28,591 (a delta of 0.1%). These are essentially statistical ties, indicating that the 3700X's processing power is squarely in the mid-to-high range for desktop processors. For a game like Inside, which does not rely on complex AI or physics simulations that would stress many threads, the 3700X's single-threaded performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1,672, is the more relevant metric. The data confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor; the frame rates scale dramatically with GPU load, not CPU load.

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

The Ryzen 7 3700X is a desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, operating on the AMD Socket AM4 platform. Its architecture is Zen 2, codenamed Matisse, and it supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. With a TDP of 65 watts, it is a power-efficient chip that does not require exotic cooling. The processor's cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 and 512 KB of L2 per core, alongside a shared 32 MB L3 cache. This configuration provides the low-latency access to frequently used data that is beneficial for consistent frame pacing.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's logic. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the lowest resolution tested, the average FPS ranges from 131.7 at Ultra settings to 244.4 at Low settings. This wide spread indicates that the CPU is capable of pushing frame rates well beyond 200 FPS when the GPU is less burdened. The single-threaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,694, is more than adequate for a puzzle platformer. The processor's percentile rank of 85 versus all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 28,631, places it in a strong position, but the game's results show that even a modestly performing CPU would likely not be a bottleneck here. The deltaPct values against its nearest rivals, which are all within 0.2% of its score, further underscore that this CPU's performance is on par with other mid-range options, and the game's frame rates are not sensitive to these minor differences.

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

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the clear driver of performance in this pairing. This GPU, based on the Navi 10 chip and RDNA 1.0 architecture, has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1905 MHz, and a game clock of 1755 MHz. The memory operates at 1750 MHz, or 14 Gbps effective. The GPU has 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster operations pipelines, giving it a pixel rate of 121.9 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 9.754 TFLOPS.

The benchmark results for the GPU underscore its mid-range positioning. It has a percentile rank of 68 against all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 24,731. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (score 24,763, delta -0.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (score 24,592, delta 0.6%). The game's FPS data shows a clear and consistent scaling with GPU-bound settings. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 123.8 at Low settings to 57.7 at Ultra settings. This is a massive performance swing that is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's workload. The 8 GB of VRAM is sufficient for this title, as the game's art style does not appear to require more memory, even at 4K. The data indicates that the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the primary determinants of the final frame rate, especially at higher resolutions and detail levels.

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

Analyzing the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For a 60 FPS experience, the data shows that the "High" preset at 4K delivers an average of 63.2 FPS, which is just above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The "Ultra" preset at 4K falls below this target, averaging 57.7 FPS. Therefore, for 4K displays, "High" is the recommended preset to maintain a stable 60 FPS experience. If a higher refresh rate is desired, dropping to "Medium" at 4K yields an average of 101.4 FPS, which is a substantial improvement over "High" and provides a much smoother experience on 120Hz or 144Hz monitors.

For 1440p, the "Ultra" preset is viable, averaging 93.7 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS. However, the "High" preset at 1440p averages 102.3 FPS, and "Medium" jumps to 156.8 FPS. For users with 144Hz monitors, the "Medium" preset at 1440p is the best balance, offering a frame rate that can fully utilize the display's refresh rate. At 1080p, all presets are playable, with even "Ultra" averaging 131.7 FPS. The "High" preset averages 135.5 FPS, while "Medium" averages 222.2 FPS. For competitive play or maximum smoothness on a 240Hz monitor, the "Medium" preset at 1080p is the sweet spot, providing a very high frame rate without the visual degradation of "Low." The "Low" preset at 1080p produces 244.4 FPS, but the visual trade-offs are likely not worth the marginal FPS gain over "Medium."

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the comprehensive database of tested hardware combinations, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT ranks at 1277 out of 1671 combos for Inside. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking table, which is consistent with the hardware's age and tier. The GPU is from the RX 5000 series, launched in 2019, and the CPU is from the 3000 series, also launched in 2019. While they are not top-tier components by modern standards, their performance is still respectable for a game like Inside, which is not very demanding.

The rank of 1277 indicates that there are 394 other tested combinations that perform better in this specific game. This is a significant number, but it must be considered that the database likely includes many newer, higher-end CPUs and GPUs. The rank is a holistic measure of the combination's ability to produce high frame rates across all settings and resolutions. Given that the combo is capable of hitting 244.4 FPS at 1080p Low and 131.7 FPS at 1080p Ultra, its relative ranking is more a reflection of the competition than a condemnation of this pairing. The data shows that for a puzzle platformer, this combo is more than capable of delivering a high-quality experience, even if it is not at the top of the performance charts.

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

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the GPU as the limiting component in this system. At "High" settings, the average FPS drops from 135.5 at 1080p to 102.3 at 1440p, and then to 63.2 at 4K. This represents a 53.4% drop in performance when moving from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the pixel throughput required of the graphics card. The CPU's workload does not scale with resolution in the same way; it remains relatively constant, so the frame rate is dictated by how quickly the GPU can fill the screen.

The pattern is even more pronounced at "Ultra" settings, where the FPS drops from 131.7 at 1080p to 93.7 at 1440p, and then to 57.7 at 4K. This is a 56.2% drop from 1080p to 4K. The consistency of this drop across different settings confirms that the RX 5700 XT's processing power and memory bandwidth are the primary bottlenecks at higher resolutions. Conversely, at "Low" settings, the drop from 1080p (244.4 FPS) to 4K (123.8 FPS) is a 49.4% reduction, which is slightly less steep, but still substantial. This indicates that even at the lowest settings, the GPU is still the constraining factor when the resolution is increased to 4K, as the CPU is capable of providing frames much faster than the GPU can render them.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The complete set of measured average frame rates provides a detailed look at the combo's performance envelope. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 244.4 for Low settings, 222.2 for Medium settings, 135.5 for High settings, and 131.7 for Ultra settings. The gap between Medium and High is significant (86.7 FPS), suggesting that the High preset introduces graphical features that have a large performance penalty on this GPU. The difference between High and Ultra is much smaller at only 3.8 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is only marginally more demanding than High at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS numbers are 197.3 for Low, 156.8 for Medium, 102.3 for High, and 93.7 for Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a noticeable hit across the board, with the largest percentage drop occurring on the "High" preset, which loses 24.5% of its frame rate. At 3840x2160, the average FPS figures are 123.8 for Low, 101.4 for Medium, 63.2 for High, and 57.7 for Ultra. At this resolution, the "High" and "Ultra" presets converge significantly, with only a 5.5 FPS difference between them, while the "Low" and "Medium" presets retain a large performance lead. This data indicates that the GPU's compute and fill-rate limits are reached at 4K with the higher quality settings, making the "High" preset the most sensible choice for a balance of visual quality and performance at that resolution.