Inside

# Inside: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + AMD Radeon RX 9070 — Benchmark Analysis

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. Benchmark data shows this combination achieves frame rates well above 90 FPS at every tested resolution and settings preset, with the lowest recorded average being 94.2 FPS at 4K Ultra. The combo ranks 759 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the 55th percentile overall — a solid mid-pack result that reflects the GPU's strength relative to the CPU's older architecture. The data indicates that this pairing is more than capable of handling the game's demands, with the RX 9070 providing headroom even at the most demanding settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 185.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 154.8 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 98.5 FPS at 3840x2160 — a reduction of 30.3 FPS (16.4%) moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 56.3 FPS (36.4%) moving from 1440p to 4K. This steepening decline as resolution increases is the hallmark of a system where the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern is similar but with higher absolute numbers: 244.9 FPS at 1080p, 217.5 FPS at 1440p, and 186.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still 76.1% of the 1080p Low figure, indicating that even when the GPU workload is reduced, the RX 9070 maintains strong performance. Medium settings show 226.8 FPS at 1080p, 199.5 FPS at 1440p, and 154.1 FPS at 4K — the 4K Medium result being 67.9% of the 1080p Medium number.

Ultra settings produce the largest relative drop: 185.9 FPS at 1080p, 149.1 FPS at 1440p, and 94.2 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is just 50.7% of the 1080p Ultra value, demonstrating that the combination of highest settings and 4K resolution nearly halves performance. This suggests that while the RX 9070 handles 1080p and 1440p effortlessly at any preset, 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits, with the frame rate dropping below the 100 FPS threshold that high-refresh-rate displays typically target.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience based on measured data, High settings at 1440p provide an excellent balance. The 154.8 FPS average at 2560x1440 High is only 5.7 FPS less than the 1080p High figure of 185.2 FPS, representing a minimal visual quality cost for a significant resolution upgrade. At 4K, High settings deliver 98.5 FPS, which remains comfortably above 60 FPS and is playable on standard 60Hz displays, though users with 144Hz 4K monitors may prefer Medium settings.

Medium settings at 4K yield 154.1 FPS, a substantial improvement over High's 98.5 FPS — a 55.6 FPS gain (56.4%) — making Medium the recommended preset for 4K users prioritizing smooth motion. At 1080p, even Ultra settings achieve 185.9 FPS, so users at this resolution can max out the game without concern. Low settings are unnecessary for playability at any resolution, as even 4K Low hits 186.2 FPS, but they may appeal to competitive players seeking the highest possible frame rates.

The data shows that the RX 9070's performance headroom is so large that settings recommendations depend entirely on display refresh rate. For 60Hz displays, 4K Ultra at 94.2 FPS is acceptable. For 144Hz panels, 1440p High at 154.8 FPS or 4K Medium at 154.1 FPS both clear the refresh rate threshold. The 1080p numbers — all above 185 FPS at any preset — indicate that this resolution is effectively GPU-idle territory for this combo.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070, built on RDNA 4.0 architecture with a Navi 48 chip, brings substantial resources to Inside. Its 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, while the GPU operates at a 1330 MHz base clock and 2520 MHz boost clock, with a game clock of 2070 MHz. The 3584 shading units and 128 ROPs deliver a pixel rate of 322.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 564.5 GTexel/s, figures that explain the card's ability to maintain high frame rates across all tested configurations.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS is particularly relevant for a game like Inside, which relies on 2D rendering with complex lighting effects. The 56 ray accelerators, while not heavily utilized in this title, contribute to the card's overall capability. The RX 9070's PassMark G3D score of 25381 places it in the 79th percentile among all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA A2 with a deltaPct of -0.2, indicating near-parity performance with that professional card.

In Inside, the GPU's role becomes dominant as resolution increases. At 1080p, the frame rates across settings (185.2 to 244.9 FPS) suggest the CPU may be limiting, since the GPU has more headroom. However, at 4K, the spread from 94.2 FPS at Ultra to 186.2 FPS at Low demonstrates clear GPU scaling with settings. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is far more than Inside requires, ensuring zero memory-related bottlenecks. The card's dual-slot design and 220 W TDP are notable, though the game itself is light enough that thermal throttling is unlikely in most systems.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 at High settings delivers 154.8 FPS, which is the sweet spot for high-refresh displays. At 4K, High settings still achieve 98.5 FPS, making 4K viable for 60Hz monitors.

Q: How does the RX 9070 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9070's average benchmark score of 34780 is within 0.2% of the NVIDIA A2 (34866) and 0.3% of the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34677). It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34541) and 0.8% ahead of the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (34511).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X a bottleneck for the RX 9070 in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate potential CPU limiting at 1080p, where frame rates range from 185.2 to 244.9 FPS across settings — a 59.7 FPS spread. At 4K, the spread widens to 92 FPS (94.2 to 186.2), suggesting the GPU becomes the primary limiter at higher resolutions.

Q: What settings should I use for 4K gaming?

A: Medium settings at 4K provide 154.1 FPS, which is 59.9 FPS higher than High's 98.5 FPS. For the smoothest experience, Medium is recommended. Ultra at 4K drops to 94.2 FPS, still playable but with diminishing returns.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: The combo ranks 759 out of 1671 tested combinations in Inside, placing it in the upper half of all tested systems. This ranking reflects strong overall performance despite the CPU's older Zen 2 architecture.

*Q: Does the RX 9070's VRAM capacity matter for Inside?*

A: The 16 GB GDDR6 memory is far more than needed for this 2016 puzzle platformer. No benchmark data suggests memory capacity or bandwidth (644.6 GB/s) becomes a limiting factor at any tested resolution or settings preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, an 8-core, 16-thread processor from the 3000 series built on Zen 2 architecture, provides the computational foundation for this combo. With a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, the CPU's single-thread performance is adequate for Inside's physics and logic. The 32 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth ensure the GPU receives data without significant delays.

The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded capability: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 19087, while single-core scores 2694. In PassMark, the CPU achieves 22458 for multithread and 2656 for single-thread. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 85 indicates it outperforms 85% of all CPUs in the database, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-12600 at a deltaPct of -0.1 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT at 0.1.

In Inside, the CPU's role appears significant at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 244.9 FPS, but this drops to 185.2 FPS at High — a 59.7 FPS difference that cannot be solely attributed to GPU load, suggesting CPU limitations emerge when the GPU is underutilized. At 4K, the Low to High spread is 87.7 FPS (186.2 to 98.5), which more clearly reflects GPU scaling. The CPU's 65 W TDP and 7 nm process node make it an efficient partner, and its AM4 socket compatibility with PCIe Gen 4 (24 lanes) provides sufficient bandwidth for the RX 9070's PCIe 5.0 x16 interface.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings average 244.9 FPS, Medium 226.8 FPS, High 185.2 FPS, and Ultra 185.9 FPS. The near-identical High and Ultra figures (0.7 FPS difference) suggest that Ultra settings add visual effects that the GPU handles without additional CPU cost.

At 2560x1440, frame rates remain high. Low settings average 217.5 FPS, Medium 199.5 FPS, High 154.8 FPS, and Ultra 149.1 FPS. The drop from High to Ultra is 5.7 FPS, and the gap between Medium and High is 44.7 FPS, indicating that High settings impose a significant GPU workload increase over Medium.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Low settings average 186.2 FPS, Medium 154.1 FPS, High 98.5 FPS, and Ultra 94.2 FPS. The Medium to High drop of 55.6 FPS is the largest single-setting jump across all resolutions, highlighting the GPU cost of High preset at 4K. The Ultra figure of 94.2 FPS is the lowest measured average, yet still above 60 FPS.

Across all configurations, the data shows consistent performance with no anomalous results. The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is monotonic, with 1080p showing the smallest relative impact (59.7 FPS total spread) and 4K showing the largest (92 FPS total spread), confirming that resolution amplifies the GPU's workload more than settings changes alone.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 759 out of 1671 tested combinations places it in the 54.6th percentile — comfortably in the upper half of all systems benchmarked in Inside. This ranking is notable given that the Ryzen 7 3700X is a 2019 processor, while the RX 9070 is a 2025 GPU. The combination of an older CPU with a modern GPU yields results that outrank nearly half of all tested systems, indicating that the GPU's performance dominates in this game.

The ranking suggests that while the CPU may limit frame rates at 1080p, the overall system performance is strong enough to compete with many newer CPU/GPU pairings. The RX 9070's percentileVsAllGpus of 79 (outperforming 79% of GPUs) is the primary driver, while the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 85 provides a solid foundation. The gap between these percentiles and the combo's 55th percentile ranking indicates that the pairing is not perfectly balanced, with the CPU potentially holding back the GPU in certain scenarios.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals — the Intel Core i5-12600 with a deltaPct of -0.1 and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT with a deltaPct of 0.1 — represent alternative processors that would yield nearly identical CPU-side performance. The GPU's nearest rival, the NVIDIA A2 at -0.2 deltaPct, suggests that swapping the RX 9070 for that card would produce similar results. This ranking data confirms that the combo is a capable, mid-to-upper-tier configuration for Inside, with the RX 9070 providing the majority of the system's gaming muscle.