Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. Benchmark data shows the combo achieves its best results at 1080p with Low settings, hitting an average of 156 FPS, but the GPU’s modest 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 and its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs clearly position it as the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The combination ranks 2547th out of 2887 tested combos for this game, indicating that while the CPU brings substantial multi-threaded capability, the integrated graphics solution limits overall performance to mid-range levels.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance decline as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K, a pattern that points directly at the Intel Arc B390 as the limiting component. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 156 FPS at 1920x1080 to 112 FPS at 2560x1440, a 28% reduction, and then falls further to 70 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 55% loss compared to the 1080p figure. This scaling behavior is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the number of pixels rendered doubles or quadruples and the graphics processor cannot keep pace.

The High settings preset tells a similar story with even more dramatic consequences. At 1080p High, the combo averages 78 FPS, which drops to 56 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decline) and bottoms out at 35 FPS at 4K (a 55% decline from 1080p). The fact that the percentage drops are nearly identical between Low and High settings across resolutions suggests that the GPU’s fill rate and shading throughput are the dominant factors, not the CPU or memory subsystem. The Ryzen 7 3700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, has ample headroom for a game from 2016, so the frame rate collapse at higher resolutions cannot be attributed to processor limitations.

Ultra settings exacerbate the issue further. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS falls to 34, which is effectively unplayable for a smooth experience, while 1440p Ultra manages only 53 FPS and 1080p Ultra reaches 74 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is substantial—70 FPS versus 34 FPS—indicating that the visual quality settings have a multiplicative effect on the GPU load. The Arc B390’s 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs, combined with a 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate, simply do not provide enough throughput for 4K rendering at higher presets.

Interestingly, the Medium preset provides the only data points with minimum and maximum FPS values recorded. At 4K Medium, the frame rate fluctuates between 48 and 65 FPS with an average of 56, while at 1440p Medium it ranges from 76 to 103 FPS averaging 90, and at 1080p Medium it spans 106 to 144 FPS averaging 125. These ranges suggest that even at Medium settings, the GPU is working near its limits, with frame times varying significantly under load. The data indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where this combo can consistently maintain frame rates above 60 FPS across all settings, while 1440p requires Low or Medium settings to approach that threshold, and 4K is only viable at Low settings.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all four settings presets achieve average frame rates above 70 FPS. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 156 FPS, while Ultra still manages 74 FPS, making it the only resolution that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS across the board.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it just 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463) and 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M (1460). It leads the GeForce GT 625 OEM by 2.5% and the GT 710 by 2.7%, but its 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates it sits near the bottom of the performance spectrum.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 3700X holding back performance in this game?

A: No, the CPU data suggests it is not the bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 3700X scores 8899 in Geekbench multicore and 1593 in single-core, with a Passmark multithread score of 22458. For a 2016 Puzzle Platformer, these figures are more than sufficient, and the FPS scaling pattern across resolutions confirms the GPU is the limiting factor.

Q: What is the playable FPS threshold for this combo at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 112 FPS and Medium averages 90 FPS, both well above the 60 FPS threshold. High settings drop to 56 FPS, which is borderline, while Ultra falls to 53 FPS, indicating that smooth play at 1440p requires Low or Medium settings.

*Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for Inside?*

A: The combo ranks 2547th out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the lower 12% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU’s limited capabilities rather than the CPU, as the Ryzen 7 3700X itself sits in the 84th percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Does the Medium preset offer a good balance of quality and performance?

A: Yes, the Medium preset provides the only measured frame time ranges, showing average FPS of 125 at 1080p, 90 at 1440p, and 56 at 4K. At 1080p and 1440p, it offers a significant visual improvement over Low while maintaining frame rates above 90 FPS, making it the recommended middle ground.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X brings substantial processing power to this combination, with 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 2 architecture and Matisse codename. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 4.40 GHz, and it carries 32 MB of L3 cache alongside 512 KB of L2 per core. The CPU’s benchmark results demonstrate strong multi-threaded performance: a Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2092, a Geekbench multicore score of 8899, and a Passmark multithread score of 22458. These numbers place the CPU in the 84th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 34260.

In the context of Inside, a game released in 2016, the CPU’s role is largely secondary. The game’s puzzle-platformer mechanics do not demand the kind of heavy physics or AI computations that would stress a modern 8-core processor. The data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 156 FPS, which is a high frame rate that would require consistent single-thread performance. The Ryzen 7 3700X’s Passmark single-thread score of 2656 and Geekbench single-core score of 1593 provide adequate headroom for this workload.

The nearest rivals to the Ryzen 7 3700X in CPU benchmarks include the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350, which scores 34222 (0.1% behind), and the AMD EPYC 4244P at 34220 (0.1% behind). The Intel Core i5-13450HX scores 34333, which is 0.2% ahead, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H scores 34083, 0.5% behind. These tight margins indicate that the 3700X remains competitive with newer processors in synthetic benchmarks, though none of these rivals would change the GPU-bound nature of Inside performance.

The CPU’s 65W TDP and 7nm process node from TSMC contribute to efficiency, but these characteristics do not directly influence game FPS. What matters is that the 3700X can feed frames to the Arc B390 without becoming a constraint. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 156 FPS, which is well below what the CPU could theoretically support. Even at 4K Ultra, where the game averages 34 FPS, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU’s 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate are simply insufficient for higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2547th out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations. This ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU’s performance, as the Arc B390’s 9th percentile ranking among all GPUs drags the overall combo down despite the CPU’s 84th percentile standing. The disparity between the two components is stark: a top-tier CPU from 2019 paired with an integrated graphics solution that competes with entry-level discrete GPUs from over a decade ago.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores—the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710—are all legacy or low-end parts, which contextualizes the Arc B390’s position. The 1.3% to 2.7% performance deltas between these GPUs are minimal, indicating that the Arc B390 sits at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy. In a game like Inside, which is not graphically intensive by modern standards, this low-end GPU still manages to deliver playable frame rates at 1080p, but the combo’s rank reflects its inability to handle higher resolutions or settings with authority.

The combo’s rank also suffers because of the CPU-GPU imbalance. A system with a more capable discrete GPU would likely rank significantly higher, as the Ryzen 7 3700X provides ample processing power. The fact that this combo ranks 2547th out of 2887 suggests that many other configurations, even those with older or weaker CPUs, outperform it simply by having a better graphics solution. For a game from 2016, the CPU is more than adequate, but the GPU’s limitations cap the overall experience.

The measured FPS data aligns with the combo’s low rank. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 34 is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth, and even at 1440p High, the 56 FPS average falls short. Only at 1080p does the combo perform acceptably, and even then, Ultra settings drop to 74 FPS. This pattern confirms that the combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with medium to high settings, which is a modest outcome for a system built around an 8-core, 16-thread CPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 156 FPS, which is the highest figure recorded for this configuration. Medium settings average 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 144 FPS, showing a stable frame time distribution. High settings drop to 78 FPS, while Ultra settings average 74 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 4 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds visual features that are not particularly demanding at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance penalty becomes apparent. Low settings average 112 FPS, which is a 28% reduction from 1080p. Medium settings average 90 FPS, with a range of 76 to 103 FPS, maintaining playability. High settings average 56 FPS, which dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra settings average 53 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 59 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s limitations are more pronounced at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain high frame rates. Low settings average 70 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium settings drop to 56 FPS, with a range of 48 to 65 FPS. High settings average 35 FPS, and Ultra settings average 34 FPS, both of which are below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows a 38% reduction in FPS at Low settings (112 to 70) and a similar 37% reduction at High settings (56 to 35), confirming that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the 106 to 144 FPS range shows a 36% variation between minimum and maximum, while at 1440p, the 76 to 103 FPS range shows a 35% variation. At 4K, the 48 to 65 FPS range shows a 35% variation as well. This consistent frame time variance suggests that the Arc B390’s rendering workload fluctuates significantly, which could lead to noticeable stuttering in gameplay, particularly at lower frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS of 125 provides a smooth experience well above the 60 FPS threshold, while the minimum of 106 FPS ensures that frame rates rarely dip to noticeable levels. At 1440p Medium, the average of 90 FPS remains playable, with a minimum of 76 FPS that still exceeds the 60 FPS threshold. Even at 4K Medium, the average of 56 FPS is borderline playable, though the minimum of 48 FPS may cause occasional stutter.

For players prioritizing maximum frame rates, the Low preset is the clear choice. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 156 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate displays, and at 1440p Low, the 112 FPS average remains well above 60. The Low preset also delivers the only playable 4K experience, with an average of 70 FPS, making it the only setting where 4K is viable for this GPU.

High and Ultra settings are less recommended. At 1440p, both presets fall below 60 FPS, with High averaging 56 FPS and Ultra averaging 53 FPS. At 1080p, High and Ultra average 78 and 74 FPS respectively, which is acceptable but offers diminishing returns over Medium given the reduced performance headroom. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 34 FPS, is effectively unplayable and should be avoided.

The data suggests that players should default to Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p for the best experience. If the display supports higher refresh rates, Low settings at 1080p unlock the full potential of the combo. For 4K displays, Low settings are the only viable option, and even then, the frame rate will hover around 70 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal. The Ultra preset offers no measurable benefit over High at any resolution, so it can be skipped without sacrificing visual quality.