Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that scales impressively across hardware, and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X pair with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti proves more than capable of flattening its atmospheric challenges. The measured data shows a configuration that excels at high refresh rates across 1080p and 1440p, while still delivering playable 4K performance. This analysis breaks down how to configure the game and where this specific component pairing stands among 1,671 tested combos.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows show a clear hierarchy across presets, with the sweet spot balancing visual fidelity and raw speed found at High settings. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 170.9 FPS, which is only 4.2 FPS behind the Ultra preset’s 166.7 FPS. This marginal gap indicates that the High preset captures nearly all of Ultra’s visual benefits without the performance penalty. The Medium preset at 1080p pushes higher at 221.6 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High costs 50.7 FPS—a significant drop that suggests High is the more visually complete option without sacrificing the fluidity needed for the game’s precise platforming sections.

At 2560x1440, the High preset maintains a robust 125.7 FPS average, which is more than adequate for a game where timing is critical. The Ultra preset at this resolution drops to 117.8 FPS, a 6.7% reduction that offers diminishing returns. The Medium preset at 1440p actually performs better than High at 201.5 FPS, but this 75.8 FPS delta indicates Medium is leaving substantial visual detail on the table. For 4K gaming, the High preset produces 79.5 FPS, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 75.3 FPS, while Medium sits between at 126.2 FPS—both viable, but High offers the best compromise between image quality and headroom.

The data suggests the optimal experience is the High preset across all resolutions. It provides the highest fidelity among the presets that maintain a comfortable margin above 60 FPS at 4K, and it delivers triple-digit frame rates at 1440p and 1080p. The Low preset at 1080p reaches 240.5 FPS, but this sacrifices the atmospheric lighting and shadow work that define Inside’s visual identity. Given that the High preset at 1080p already exceeds 170 FPS, there is no practical reason to drop below High unless targeting a 240 Hz display, where the Low preset’s 240.5 FPS becomes relevant.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip using an 8 nm process from Samsung. It packs 4,864 shading units, 152 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output pipelines, along with 38 ray tracing cores and 152 tensor cores. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1410 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, while its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory runs at 1750 MHz on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the card in the 69th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,120.

In Inside’s measured results, the GPU’s memory configuration proves sufficient even at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS stays above 75. The 8 GB frame buffer is not a limiting factor here, as the game’s art style relies on silhouettes and sparse geometry rather than high-resolution textures. The pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 253.1 GTexel/s allow the card to handle the game’s side-scrolling scenes with ease. The FP32 performance of 16.20 TFLOPS is more than enough for a title that does not push compute-heavy effects.

The RTX 3060 Ti’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6700M with an average score of 25,180 (0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon RX 6600 at 25,235 (0.5% faster), and the AMD Radeon 890M at 25,246 (0.5% faster). These deltas are negligible, indicating the card sits in a tightly contested performance tier. The measured FPS data shows the GPU scaling predictably with resolution, dropping from 240.5 FPS at 1080p Low to 157.4 FPS at 4K Low—a 34.5% reduction that highlights the increasing pixel workload. At High settings, the drop from 170.9 FPS at 1080p to 79.5 FPS at 4K represents a 53.5% decrease, showing how the game’s lighting effects interact with resolution scaling.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is a Zen 2 architecture processor codenamed Matisse, fabricated on TSMC’s 7 nm process with 3,800 million transistors on a 74 mm² die. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR4 via a dual-channel bus, offering 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth, and the chip connects through PCIe Gen 4 with 24 lanes.

This processor sits in the 85th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28,631. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i5-12600 with a score of 28,654 (0.1% faster), the Intel Core i5-12600H at 28,666 (0.1% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600XT at 28,591 (0.1% slower). The performance deltas are essentially flat, meaning the 3700X trades blows with these alternatives within a 0.2% band. For Inside, a game that is not CPU-intensive by modern standards, the 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides ample headroom for the game’s physics and logic threads.

The CPU’s single-thread performance, measured at 2694 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 1672 in Geekbench single-core, is the more relevant metric for a puzzle platformer. Inside’s gameplay loop depends on responsive input and consistent frame pacing, both of which benefit from strong single-core throughput. The multi-core scores—19,087 in Cinebench R23 and 8,083 in Geekbench—ensure that background tasks or streaming software do not interfere with frame delivery. With a TDP of 65 W and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, the 3700X maintains sustained performance without thermal throttling in most systems, which is critical for long sessions of precise platforming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti ranks 951st out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking reflects the fact that Inside is an older title from 2016, and many newer or higher-end components can achieve higher frame rates. However, the measured FPS data tells a more nuanced story: the combo delivers 170.9 FPS at 1080p High, which is far beyond what the game requires for a smooth experience.

The ranking should be interpreted in context. Many of the 720 combos ranked above this pairing likely include newer GPUs with higher raw throughput, but the actual gameplay experience is determined by whether the frame rate meets the display’s refresh rate. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 125.7 FPS, which exceeds the 120 Hz refresh rate common on many monitors. At 4K High, the 79.5 FPS average is above the 60 FPS standard, making this a viable 4K configuration despite its mid-tier ranking. The GPU’s 69th percentile and CPU’s 85th percentile scores indicate that both components are solidly above average, and their combination in this game produces no bottleneck that would drag performance below playable thresholds.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS across resolutions reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 240.5 FPS, while at 4K Low it drops to 157.4 FPS—a 34.5% reduction. This relatively modest drop for a 4x pixel count increase suggests that at Low settings, the game is partially CPU-limited at 1080p, as the GPU has spare capacity. Moving to High settings, the 1080p result is 170.9 FPS, which falls to 79.5 FPS at 4K—a 53.5% decrease. This larger drop indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings, as the additional lighting and shadow calculations scale with pixel count.

The scaling pattern from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 36.8% drop from 125.7 FPS to 79.5 FPS, which is closer to the pixel ratio of 2.25x between these resolutions. This suggests the GPU is the dominant constraint at High settings across all resolutions. At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p at 221.6 FPS to 4K at 126.2 FPS represents a 43.0% reduction, indicating a balanced load where both components contribute. The Ultra preset shows the steepest scaling from 1080p at 166.7 FPS to 4K at 75.3 FPS—a 54.8% drop—confirming that Ultra effects place the heaviest burden on the GPU’s shading and raster pipelines. For users seeking maximum frame rates, the Low preset at 1080p offers the best performance, but the High preset at 1440p provides the most balanced experience, with 125.7 FPS and substantial visual improvements over lower presets.