Inside

The data for Inside, captured on the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination, reveals a title that scales dramatically with both resolution and image quality settings. The measured frame rates indicate a game that is highly responsive to GPU load, transitioning from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a GPU-bound state at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured results to explain where the performance ceiling lies and how to optimize the experience.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a classic pattern of increasing GPU workload. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces an average of 279.1 FPS, which is an exceptionally high frame rate that suggests the CPU is doing the heavy lifting to feed frames to the GPU. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same Low preset, the average drops to 203.9 FPS, a reduction of 75.2 FPS, or about 27% lower performance. This is a substantial decrease, but the frame rate remains very high, indicating the GPU is still not fully saturated.

The jump to 3840x2160 at Low settings shows a more pronounced impact, with the average falling to 128.5 FPS. This represents a 75.4 FPS drop from the 1440p result, showing that the 4K resolution is demanding significantly more from the GPU. The pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For instance, with High settings, the frame rate goes from 141.3 FPS at 1080p to 101.2 FPS at 1440p, and then down to 60.5 FPS at 4K. The scaling is not linear; the gap between 1440p and 4K is often larger than the gap between 1080p and 1440p, which is typical for a game that becomes more GPU-bound as pixel count rises.

These results indicate that at 1080p, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is likely the limiting component, as the frame rates are high enough that the GPU cannot always maintain maximum utilization. At 4K, the RTX 2060 SUPER becomes the primary bottleneck, with the 4K High preset barely holding onto a 60 FPS average at 60.5 FPS. The data suggests that for the smoothest experience at high refresh rates, 1440p is the sweet spot, offering a balance where the GPU is sufficiently loaded but still delivers well over 100 FPS on most presets.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience. For 4K displays, the choice is stark. The High preset averages 60.5 FPS, which is right at the edge of playability for many, while the Ultra preset drops to 61.5 FPS, which is essentially identical in performance. However, the Medium preset at 4K provides a much healthier 103 FPS, which is a 42.5 FPS improvement over High. This makes Medium the recommended setting for 4K, as it offers a significant performance headroom while still being a step above Low, which hits 128.5 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the situation is more comfortable. The High preset delivers 101.2 FPS, which is excellent for most monitors. The Ultra preset, at 95.3 FPS, is also very playable and offers the maximum visual fidelity. Given the small 5.9 FPS difference between High and Ultra at this resolution, Ultra is the recommended preset for a 1440p display, as the performance cost is minimal relative to the potential visual improvement.

For 1920x1080, the CPU is the limiting factor, and all presets deliver very high frame rates. The High preset at 141.3 FPS and Ultra at 133.2 FPS are both excellent choices. Since the difference between High and Ultra is only 8.1 FPS, and both are well above 120 FPS, selecting Ultra is the recommended option to maximize visual quality without compromising the experience. The Low preset at 279.1 FPS is only useful for extreme refresh rate displays, as the visual sacrifices are likely not worth the performance gain for most users.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER plays a central role in determining the performance ceiling at higher resolutions. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is sufficient for Inside, as the game's visual style, while detailed, does not appear to be excessively VRAM-hungry based on the consistent performance scaling. The GPU's core clocks are listed with a base of 1470 MHz and a boost of 1650 MHz, which are the operational frequencies that drive the shader and texture processing.

The benchmark results for the GPU show it sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which is 0.3% ahead, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which is 0.5% behind. This places the RTX 2060 SUPER in a competitive position, though it is clearly not a top-tier card. The data shows that in this game, the GPU's performance is the deciding factor at 4K, where the High and Ultra presets both struggle to break past the 61.5 FPS mark. The fact that the 4K Low preset hits 128.5 FPS shows that the GPU has enough raw power to handle the game's geometry and effects, but the pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become strained as resolution increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete set of measured average frame rates is as follows. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 279.1 FPS, Medium achieves 221.6 FPS, High achieves 141.3 FPS, and Ultra achieves 133.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 145.9 FPS difference, indicating that the settings have a massive impact on GPU load, but the CPU keeps the minimum frame rate high.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 203.9 FPS, Medium delivers 161.7 FPS, High delivers 101.2 FPS, and Ultra delivers 95.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra here is 108.6 FPS. At 3840x2160, the Low preset provides 128.5 FPS, Medium provides 103 FPS, High provides 60.5 FPS, and Ultra provides 61.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K narrows to 67 FPS, which shows that the GPU is becoming the primary constraint, limiting the maximum frame rate even at lower settings.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 61.5 FPS, which is playable. However, the High preset is nearly identical at 60.5 FPS, so there is no performance benefit to choosing High over Ultra at this resolution.

Q: What resolution provides the best balance of high frame rate and visual quality?

A: The data suggests 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At this resolution, the Ultra preset averages 95.3 FPS, which is both high quality and well above 60 FPS, providing a smooth experience without the need for lower settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The CPU appears to be the limiting factor at 1920x1080. The Low preset achieves 279.1 FPS, which is extremely high. The fact that the frame rate drops significantly when moving to 1440p, where the GPU load increases, indicates that the GPU was not fully utilized at 1080p.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 203.9 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 95.3 FPS. This means the Low preset is 108.6 FPS, or roughly 114% faster, than Ultra.

Q: Is the RTX 2060 SUPER a strong performer relative to its peers?

A: The benchmark data shows it is a mid-range card. It sits at the 63rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 19774. It is nearly identical in performance to the RTX 2070, which is only 0.5% behind, and the GTX TITAN, which is 0.3% ahead.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Based on the measured results, yes. The consistent frame rates across resolutions and the lack of any anomalous drops suggest that the 8 GB GDDR6 memory on the RTX 2060 SUPER is not a bottleneck for Inside.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a capable desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 3 architecture. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions, where it can deliver frame rates that far exceed the GPU's rendering capacity. The 279.1 FPS result at 1080p Low reflects the CPU's single-thread performance, which is crucial for game logic and draw calls.

The CPU's benchmark scores show it is a strong performer, ranking in the 84th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 27220. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-9900K, which is only 0.7% faster, and the Intel Core i7-12700H, which is 0.8% faster. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 5700 is competitive with high-end desktop and mobile chips from previous generations.

In this game, the CPU is not the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, as the frame rates scale consistently with GPU load. The data shows that the CPU can easily keep up with the GPU's output at these resolutions. The single-thread score of 901 in 3dMark and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2916 suggest that the processor has the per-core speed necessary to handle the game's physics and AI without stuttering, allowing the GPU to be the primary driver of performance at higher resolutions.