Inside

# Inside — AMD Ryzen 7 3700X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 delivers remarkably high frame rates in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016 that is far more demanding on the GPU than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. Across all tested resolutions and settings, this combination produces playable-to-excellent performance, with the data indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU remains largely underutilized even at lower resolutions. The measured results place this combo at rank 1891 out of 2887 tested combinations, which reflects a mid-pack standing relative to the broader database, though the absolute FPS numbers are strong for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 148 FPS at 1080p to 106 FPS at 1440p, then further to 67 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 54.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 5050's rendering workload scales predictably with pixel count, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario.

The Low settings preset shows even more dramatic scaling: 243 FPS at 1080p, 213 FPS at 1440p, and 134 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 44.9%, which is proportionally smaller than the High settings drop. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU begins to impose a ceiling at lower resolutions — the 243 FPS at 1080p is likely near the practical limit for this CPU-GPU combination, whereas at 4K the GPU workload dominates and scaling becomes more linear with pixel count.

Medium settings exhibit the steadiest scaling curve of all presets: 224 FPS at 1080p, 170 FPS at 1440p, and 107 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 24.1%, while the reduction from 1440p to 4K is 37.1%. This pattern indicates a transition from a partially CPU-limited state at 1080p to a fully GPU-limited state at 4K, where the pixel throughput requirements of 3840x2160 (four times the pixel count of 1080p) become the dominant factor.

Ultra settings show the smallest absolute FPS values but the most consistent relative scaling: 141 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p, and 64 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at Ultra dips below the 60 FPS threshold, which is notable given the game's age and relatively simple rendering requirements. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 54.6%, nearly identical to the High preset's 54.7%, suggesting that the render pipeline at these quality levels is similarly constrained by GPU throughput.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 320.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 2317 MHz with a boost clock of 2572 MHz, and it contains 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. For a game like Inside, which uses a distinctive 2.5D side-scrolling perspective with layered lighting and shadow effects, these specifications prove sufficient to maintain high frame rates across most resolution and settings combinations.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is not a limiting factor in this title. Even at 4K Ultra settings, where the GPU is most heavily taxed, the measured average FPS of 64 suggests that memory capacity is adequate — the bottleneck is raw pixel throughput rather than memory allocation. The 128-bit memory bus and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth provide sufficient data movement for the game's texture and geometry requirements, which are modest by modern standards given the 2016 release date.

The RTX 5050's compute capabilities are substantial for this workload. The GPU achieves 13.17 TFLOPS FP32 performance and a texture rate of 205.8 GTexel/s, which is well beyond what Inside requires at any settings level. The pixel rate of 82.30 GPixel/s, combined with the 32 ROPs, explains why 4K resolution becomes challenging — rendering 8.3 million pixels per frame at Ultra settings pushes the ROP throughput to its limits, resulting in the 64 FPS average at 3840x2160.

The GPU's benchmark scores contextualize its overall capability: a Passmark G3D score of 17326 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2502 place it at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% lower average score) and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (0.6% higher), indicating that the RTX 5050 sits in a competitive mid-range segment. The RTX 5050's predecessor is the GeForce 40 series, and its successor is the GeForce 60 series, positioning it as a current-generation entry point.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1891 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 34.5th percentile of all configurations tested. This ranking might seem modest given the high absolute FPS numbers, but it reflects the fact that Inside is not a demanding title — many older or higher-end GPUs can achieve very high frame rates, compressing the performance distribution.

The CPU component of this combo, the Ryzen 7 3700X, has an average benchmark score of 34260 and sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.1% higher average score), the AMD EPYC 4244P (0.1% higher), and the Intel Core i5-13450HX (0.2% lower). These rival comparisons show that the 3700X remains competitive with much newer processors in general compute workloads, though its age is evident in its 2019 release date.

The GPU component, the RTX 5050, has an average benchmark score of 21035 and sits at the 66th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (1.6% higher average score) and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (1.6% lower). When combined, the CPU's stronger relative standing (84th percentile) compared to the GPU's (66th percentile) suggests that the RTX 5050 is the more likely performance ceiling in this pairing for Inside, particularly at higher resolutions where GPU workload dominates.

The combo's rank of 1891 out of 2887 indicates that a substantial number of other configurations achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is expected given that Inside is a lightweight title that can run well on a wide range of hardware, and the database includes many combinations with more powerful GPUs or newer CPUs. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo delivers smooth gameplay in nearly all tested scenarios, with only the 4K Ultra preset falling below 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers exceptional performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 243 FPS, Medium produces 224 FPS with a minimum of 191 and maximum of 258, High produces 148 FPS, and Ultra produces 141 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium (19 FPS) is smaller than the gap between Medium and High (76 FPS), indicating that the High preset introduces a significant rendering cost — likely related to shadow quality or post-processing effects — that disproportionately impacts performance.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 213 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS with a minimum of 145 and maximum of 196, High averages 106 FPS, and Ultra averages 101 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a 20.4% reduction from its 1080p counterpart, while High shows a 28.4% reduction and Ultra shows a 28.4% reduction. This consistency suggests that the rendering pipeline's resolution scaling is uniform across quality levels, with no single setting causing disproportionate overhead at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the combo's limits become apparent. Low settings still deliver a playable 134 FPS average, and Medium maintains 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 123. However, High settings drop to 67 FPS, and Ultra falls to 64 FPS. The 4K Medium result is particularly notable: the 107 FPS average with a 91 FPS minimum indicates that even under worst-case frame time spikes, the game remains comfortably above 60 FPS. The 4K Ultra result at 64 FPS is the only measured scenario that approaches the 60 FPS threshold, and it does not cross it on average.

The minimum FPS values are only provided for the Medium preset across all resolutions: 191 at 1080p, 145 at 1440p, and 91 at 4K. These minimums represent 85.3%, 85.3%, and 85.0% of their respective averages, indicating very stable frame pacing with only modest variance. The consistency of this ratio across resolutions suggests that the game's frame time distribution is uniform regardless of pixel count, which is a sign of well-optimized rendering code.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture (Matisse codename), manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in a dual-channel configuration with 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth, and it connects to the system via PCIe Gen 4 with 24 lanes.

For Inside, a game that is primarily GPU-bound even at lower resolutions, the 3700X provides ample processing headroom. The measured FPS at 1080p Low settings (243 FPS) approaches the practical limit for this combination, and the relatively small performance gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (19 FPS) compared to the larger gap between Medium and High (76 FPS) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in any tested configuration. The 8-core/16-thread configuration is far more than this game requires, as Inside is a single-threaded title that primarily stresses the GPU's fill rate and pixel processing.

The CPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability: a Cinebench R15 multicore score of 2092 and singlecore score of 204, a Geekbench multicore score of 8899 and singlecore score of 1593, and a Passmark multithread score of 22458. The single-thread performance, which is most relevant for Inside's physics and game logic, is respectable for a 2019 processor but not exceptional by current standards. However, the game's modest CPU requirements mean that even this level of single-thread performance is sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 5050.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are adequate for feeding the GPU with frame data, though the RTX 5050's own 320.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is substantially higher, indicating that the GPU is designed to handle large amounts of texture and geometry data independently. The CPU's 32 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for game logic, but this is unlikely to be a determining factor in Inside's performance given the title's simplicity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 224 FPS with a minimum of 191 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display refresh rate currently available. At 1440p, Medium maintains 170 FPS with a 145 FPS minimum, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Medium still achieves 107 FPS with a 91 FPS minimum, comfortably exceeding the 60 FPS threshold for standard displays.

The High preset is a viable alternative for users who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, but the performance cost is substantial. At 1080p, High drops to 148 FPS (34% lower than Medium), and at 1440p it falls to 106 FPS (38% lower). At 4K, High averages 67 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for frame time spikes. The visual difference between Medium and High in Inside may not justify the 30-40% performance penalty, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU is already heavily loaded.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for any resolution, as it provides the lowest frame rates with no corresponding benefit in the measured data. At 1080p, Ultra yields 141 FPS — only 7 FPS lower than High but 83 FPS lower than Medium. At 1440p, Ultra averages 101 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 64 FPS, which is the only tested configuration that approaches the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (243 FPS at 1080p, 213 FPS at 1440p, 134 FPS at 4K), sacrifices visual quality that is likely noticeable in this game's atmospheric presentation.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1440p provides the strongest combination of visual fidelity and performance, with a 170 FPS average and a 145 FPS minimum that ensures smooth gameplay even during demanding scenes. Users with 4K displays should still choose Medium, as the 107 FPS average provides ample headroom for the game's occasional frame time spikes.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Inside?*

A: The highest average FPS is 243, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

*Q: Can this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K in Inside?*

A: Yes, at 4K with Medium settings the combo averages 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 FPS. At High settings it averages 67 FPS, and at Ultra it averages 64 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 5050 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050 has an average benchmark score of 21035. The AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT scores 1.6% higher, while the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile scores 1.6% lower and the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL scores 0.6% higher.

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

A: No. The CPU's high frame rate at 1080p Low (243 FPS) and the relatively small performance difference between Low and Medium at 1080p indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor, not the CPU.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Inside?*

A: The combo ranks 1891 out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo at 4K?

A: The minimum FPS at 4K is 91, recorded with Medium settings. This is the only 4K preset with a reported minimum FPS value.