Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that places comparatively light demands on modern hardware, yet the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 reveal distinct scaling behaviors across resolutions and settings. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but transitions to a more balanced or CPU-influenced state at lower settings, where the 8-core, 16-thread processor's capabilities become more apparent. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS to identify where the bottlenecks lie and how to best configure the game for a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic pattern of GPU-bound scaling, but with some notable exceptions that highlight the game's engine characteristics. At the High preset, moving from 1920x1080 (186 FPS) to 2560x1440 (133.6 FPS) results in a 28.2% drop in performance, while the jump to 3840x2160 (83.7 FPS) represents a further 37.4% reduction from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at 4K is a clear indicator that the RTX 3070's rendering pipeline is the limiting factor, as the pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, demanding significantly more from the GPU's 5888 shading units and 96 ROPs.

The Ultra preset shows nearly identical scaling to High, with 179.8 FPS at 1080p, 130.1 FPS at 1440p, and 83.8 FPS at 4K. The fact that High and Ultra performance are so close at each resolution suggests that the additional visual effects in the Ultra preset have a negligible incremental cost on this hardware, or that the game's engine is already hitting a performance ceiling related to other factors. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is a mere 0.1 FPS, which is within the margin of error and effectively makes the two presets indistinguishable at that resolution.

The Low preset tells a different story. At 1080p, the system achieves 245 FPS, which drops to 218.4 FPS at 1440p (-10.9%) and then to 170.9 FPS at 4K (-21.7% from 1440p). The relative drop from 1440p to 4K is less severe than at higher presets, but the absolute frame rates remain very high. This pattern indicates that at Low settings, the GPU is no longer the sole bottleneck, and the CPU's performance—with its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 19087—begins to play a more significant role. The Ryzen 7 3700X's 3.60 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clocks are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the data suggests that the frame rate ceiling is approaching the CPU's limit, preventing the GPU from fully stretching its legs even at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the High preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers 186 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display, while at 1440p it maintains 133.6 FPS, providing smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K, the High preset achieves 83.7 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays, making it the most versatile choice.

The Ultra preset provides virtually no performance benefit over High, with scores of 179.8 FPS at 1080p, 130.1 FPS at 1440p, and 83.8 FPS at 4K. The maximum difference between the two presets is 6.2 FPS at 1080p (a 3.3% reduction), which is negligible for a game like Inside where the visual style is largely monochromatic and atmospheric. Given that High and Ultra are nearly identical in performance, selecting High is the more prudent option, as it likely preserves the same visual fidelity with a marginal frame rate advantage.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, with 223.2 FPS at 1080p and 203.4 FPS at 1440p, but its 4K performance of 136.7 FPS is notably higher than High or Ultra. However, the visual quality reduction from High to Medium is not justified by the frame rate gains, especially since High already exceeds 60 FPS at 4K. The Low preset, while achieving 245 FPS at 1080p, does not provide a substantially better experience than Medium at that resolution (223.2 FPS), and the visual downgrade would be significant for a game that relies on its art direction.

For users with 144Hz or 165Hz monitors, the High preset at 1440p (133.6 FPS) or Medium at 1080p (223.2 FPS) are the optimal choices. For 4K displays, High at 83.7 FPS is the recommended preset, as it balances visual quality with a smooth frame rate without the need to drop to Medium.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum frame rate achievable with this CPU and GPU combo in Inside?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 245 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The High preset at the same resolution achieves 186 FPS, indicating the game is well-optimized for this hardware.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 sufficient for 4K gaming in Inside?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the High preset delivers 83.7 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 83.8 FPS. This is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, though the Low preset reaches 170.9 FPS at this resolution.

Q: How does the performance at Ultra settings compare to High settings?

A: The performance is nearly identical. At 1080p, Ultra yields 179.8 FPS versus 186 FPS for High (a 3.3% difference). At 1440p, the gap narrows to 2.6% (130.1 vs 133.6 FPS), and at 4K, the difference is negligible (83.8 vs 83.7 FPS).

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any resolution or setting?

A: The data suggests a potential CPU limit at low resolutions and low settings. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 245 FPS, which is high but not proportionally higher than the 1440p Low score of 218.4 FPS, indicating the frame rate is being constrained by factors other than the GPU. The Ryzen 7 3700X's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 score of 2694) is adequate but not exceptional for pushing frame rates beyond 200 FPS.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Medium and Low settings?

A: At 1080p, Medium (223.2 FPS) is only 8.9% slower than Low (245 FPS). At 1440p, the gap widens to 6.9% (203.4 vs 218.4 FPS), and at 4K, Medium (136.7 FPS) is 20% slower than Low (170.9 FPS). The largest relative difference occurs at 4K, where the increased pixel count amplifies the GPU load.

Q: What is the rank of this hardware combination in the game's benchmark database?

A: This specific CPU and GPU combination is ranked 887 out of 1671 tested configurations, placing it in the 53rd percentile of all tested hardware pairs for Inside.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the performance envelope spans from 179.8 FPS (Ultra) to 245 FPS (Low). The High preset delivers 186 FPS, while Medium achieves 223.2 FPS. The difference between the lowest and highest settings is 65.2 FPS, indicating that the GPU has significant headroom at this resolution, but the CPU's ability to deliver frames above 245 FPS is limited.

At 2560x1440, the measured scores are 130.1 FPS (Ultra), 133.6 FPS (High), 203.4 FPS (Medium), and 218.4 FPS (Low). The gap between High and Ultra narrows to just 3.5 FPS, while the jump from Ultra to Medium is substantial at 73.3 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset's additional effects have a minimal cost, but reducing to Medium allows for a significant performance boost.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 83.8 FPS (Ultra), 83.7 FPS (High), 136.7 FPS (Medium), and 170.9 FPS (Low). The High and Ultra presets are effectively identical, while Medium offers a 63.2% improvement over High. Low provides a further 25% boost over Medium. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings (133.6 to 83.7 FPS) represents a 37.3% reduction, which is consistent with the increased pixel count.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070's specifications are central to understanding its performance in Inside. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than adequate for a puzzle platformer that does not feature large, open-world textures. The GPU's 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units, paired with a boost clock of 1725 MHz, allow for high fill rates, evidenced by the pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s.

The benchmark scores for the RTX 3070 place it in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 28238. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, has an average score of 27985, representing a 0.9% difference. This indicates that the RTX 3070 is a solid mid-to-high-range performer, and in Inside, it demonstrates strong scaling across resolutions.

The GPU's memory configuration is not a limiting factor in this game, as the 8 GB capacity is more than sufficient for the game's modest texture requirements. The 14 Gbps effective memory speed ensures that data transfer does not bottleneck the rendering pipeline, even at 4K with the Ultra preset. The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility ensure that it can handle the game's rendering features, though Inside is not a graphically demanding title that would stress these capabilities.

The GPU's performance in the measured FPS data shows that it is the primary driver of frame rate at higher resolutions and settings. The near-identical scores for High and Ultra presets at all resolutions suggest that the RTX 3070's execution units are efficiently utilized, but the game's engine does not impose a heavy load from the additional Ultra settings. The GPU's 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than enough to handle the game's physics and rendering effects, and the data confirms that the RTX 3070 is well-matched to the Ryzen 7 3700X for this title, with neither component consistently holding the other back except at the extreme low-resolution, low-settings scenario.