Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a decisive performance envelope in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The measured frame rates demonstrate that this combination is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 8-core, 16-thread configuration provides ample headroom to push frame rates to extreme levels at 1080p. The data indicates that users can expect a highly responsive experience across all tested configurations, with the primary trade-off being between visual fidelity and raw frame rate headroom.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data for this combination presents a clear hierarchy of performance across the four tested presets. At 4K, the Ultra preset produces an average of 61 FPS, which is the baseline for smooth gameplay but leaves no headroom for demanding scenes. The High preset at 4K delivers 79 FPS, a 29.5% improvement over Ultra, making it the optimal choice for 4K displays, as it balances visual quality with a more comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset at 4K yields 95 FPS, a further 20.3% increase over High, which would be preferable for users with variable refresh rate monitors seeking higher fluidity.

At 1440p, the High preset achieves 148 FPS, which is exceptionally smooth for any display technology. The Ultra preset at 1440p still produces 112 FPS, making it a viable choice for users prioritizing maximum visual fidelity. However, the measured data suggests that the High preset at 1440p offers the best balance, providing a 32.1% performance uplift over Ultra with only a marginal visual difference in a game of this graphical style. The Medium preset at 1440p reaches 176 FPS, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, making it redundant for typical usage.

For 1080p, the High preset delivers 229 FPS, which is sufficient to saturate most high-refresh-rate panels. The Ultra preset at 1080p produces 174 FPS, still an excellent result. The data shows that the Ultra preset at 1080p is the most demanding configuration tested, yet it remains highly playable. The best experience per the measured rows is the High preset at 1440p, as it provides a 148 FPS average while maintaining high visual standards, representing the strongest combination of fluidity and fidelity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant performance driver in this pairing. Its specifications include 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The GPU's 9728 shading units are complemented by 304 texture mapping units and 112 render output units, with a boost clock of 2505 MHz. This hardware configuration is significantly over-provisioned for a game like Inside, which is not visually complex by modern standards.

The GPU's role is clearly demonstrated by the scaling of frame rates with resolution. At 1080p High, the system produces 229 FPS, while at 4K High, it drops to 79 FPS. This 65.5% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K indicates that the RTX 4080 is being progressively more taxed as pixel count increases. The GPU's 16 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor, as Inside's texture and geometry requirements are minimal; the frame rate is dictated by the GPU's raw shading and rasterization throughput, not its memory capacity.

The RTX 4080's performance percentile of 86 versus all GPUs and its average benchmark score of 54247 position it as a top-tier part. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% faster, indicating that this GPU is essentially at the peak of its performance class. The data shows that the GPU's compute capabilities, including its FP32 throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS, are far more than sufficient to handle Inside's rendering load. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, with an average of 61 FPS, but this is a result of the GPU being pushed to its limits with high-resolution rendering, not a deficiency in the card itself.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X, based on the Zen 2 architecture, provides a substantial foundation for this system. With 8 cores and 16 threads, a base clock of 3.60 GHz, and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, this CPU offers strong multi-threaded performance. Its 32 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth are more than adequate for a game like Inside, which does not require extensive CPU-side simulation or asset streaming.

The CPU's benchmark scores indicate it is a capable processor. Its Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2092 and Geekbench multicore score of 8899 demonstrate solid throughput. However, for gaming, the single-thread performance is often more critical. The CPU's Geekbench singlecore score of 1593 and Passmark singlethread score of 2656 show respectable, but not class-leading, performance. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this system, as evidenced by the 1080p Low preset achieving 283 FPS, which is a very high frame rate.

The CPU's percentile of 84 versus all CPUs confirms its position as an above-average part. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i5-13450HX, is only 0.2% faster, indicating that the 3700X remains competitive. In this specific game, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and physics data. The measured results show that at 1080p, the CPU can keep up with the RTX 4080's output, as the frame rate scales up to 283 FPS on Low settings. The system is not CPU-bound at any tested resolution, as frame rates continue to increase as resolution decreases, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 3700X and RTX 4080 is ranked 1961 out of 3716 tested combos for this game, placing it in the 47.3rd percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking is somewhat counterintuitive given the high individual performance of both components. The data suggests that the ranking is influenced by the fact that many other tested combos likely feature newer, higher-clocked CPUs, which can deliver even higher frame rates in a game where the CPU can sometimes matter at lower resolutions.

The ranking of 1961 indicates that while this combo is capable, it is not at the very top of the performance hierarchy. This is likely due to the CPU's single-thread performance, which, while adequate, does not match the latest generation of processors. However, the combo's performance is still exceptional in absolute terms. The 4K High result of 79 FPS and the 1440p High result of 148 FPS are both excellent, and the 1080p results are so high that they exceed the refresh rate of most displays.

The combo's rank relative to the total number of tested combos (3716) shows that it outperforms 52.7% of all systems tested. This is a solid result, but it is not the top tier. The analysis indicates that the GPU is the star of this pairing, and the CPU is holding the system back from achieving the very highest frame rates at 1080p. If the CPU were upgraded, the combo would likely rank much higher, but as tested, it sits in the middle of the pack, delivering a highly playable experience in Inside.

FAQ

Q: What are the best settings to use for a 4K display?

A: The data shows that the High preset at 4K provides an average of 79 FPS, which is a 29.5% improvement over the Ultra preset's 61 FPS. The High preset is recommended for 4K, as it maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold while retaining high visual quality.

Q: Is this system capable of supporting a 144Hz monitor?

A: Yes, at 1440p, the High preset produces 148 FPS, which exceeds the 144 Hz refresh rate. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 229 FPS, and the Low preset reaches 283 FPS, both of which are well above 144 Hz. Even the Ultra preset at 1440p yields 112 FPS, which is close to the 144 Hz target.

*Q: Which component is the bottleneck in this system for Inside?*

A: The data indicates that the system is GPU-bound at higher resolutions. For example, moving from 1080p High (229 FPS) to 4K High (79 FPS) results in a 65.5% frame rate drop, which is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario. The CPU is not the limiting factor at any tested resolution, as frame rates scale inversely with resolution.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in terms of performance?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, has a score of 54209. The deltaPct is 0.1%, meaning the RTX 4080 is marginally faster than the SUPER variant by a negligible margin.

Q: What is the maximum frame rate measured for this configuration?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 283 FPS, which occurs at the 1080p resolution with the Low preset. The next highest is 257 FPS at 1080p with the Medium preset, showing that the system can push very high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide a significant visual benefit over High?

A: The data only shows frame rates, not visual quality. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 112 FPS, which is 24.3% slower than the High preset's 148 FPS. Whether the visual upgrade is worth this performance cost is subjective, but the High preset offers a more substantial frame rate advantage.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured results show a clear progression across settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 283 FPS. The Medium preset produces 257 FPS, with a minimum of 219 FPS and a maximum of 296 FPS. The High preset yields 229 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 174 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 109 FPS, showing that the settings have a significant impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high. The Low preset averages 230 FPS. The Medium preset records 176 FPS, with a minimum of 149 FPS and a maximum of 202 FPS. The High preset achieves 148 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 112 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 118 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still capable of handling the increased pixel count without severe performance degradation.

At 3840x2160, the performance scales down as expected. The Low preset averages 124 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 95 FPS, with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 109 FPS. The High preset delivers 79 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 61 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 63 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms but represents a 51.6% performance difference relative to the Low preset. The 4K Ultra result of 61 FPS is the only tested configuration that approaches the edge of smooth gameplay, while all other results maintain averages above 79 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a substantial performance cost. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 229 FPS at 1080p to 148 FPS at 1440p, a 35.4% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is being taxed by the increased pixel count, but the system still delivers excellent performance. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a further drop from 148 FPS to 79 FPS, a 46.6% reduction. The cumulative drop from 1080p High to 4K High is 65.5%, which is a significant but expected decrease for a GPU-bound workload.

The data reveals that the system is not CPU-limited at any resolution. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. Instead, the frame rates scale consistently with pixel count, which is the definition of a GPU-bound scenario. For example, at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 283 FPS at 1080p to 230 FPS at 1440p (an 18.7% reduction) and then to 124 FPS at 4K (a 46.1% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern confirms that the RTX 4080's rendering throughput is the primary factor determining performance.

The resolution scaling also shows that the CPU's 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for this game. The high frame rates at 1080p, which often stress the CPU more than higher resolutions due to the increased draw call overhead per pixel, demonstrate that the Ryzen 7 3700X can keep up with the RTX 4080's output. The limiting component at all resolutions is the GPU, as evidenced by the consistent frame rate drops when increasing the resolution. The system's performance is ultimately constrained by the RTX 4080's ability to process pixels, not by the CPU's ability to issue commands.