Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding at high resolutions than its indie aesthetic suggests. The measured frame rates across all settings and resolutions indicate a system that is entirely GPU-bound at 4K, but which reveals CPU limitations at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured data to show how the combination scales, where the bottlenecks are, and what settings offer the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, with the most dramatic drop occurring between 1440p and 4K. At the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 232 FPS at 1080p to 208 FPS at 1440p, a modest 10.3% reduction. However, moving from 1440p to 4K sees a significant 36.1% decrease, dropping from 208 FPS to 133 FPS. This pattern is consistent across all settings, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at 4K.

This scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p and, to a lesser extent, 1440p, the system is partially limited by the CPU. The Ryzen 7 5700, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is capable of feeding the RTX 4080 at these resolutions, but the frame rates are not scaling linearly with pixel count. For instance, at Low settings, the frame rate drops from 302 FPS at 1080p to 270 FPS at 1440p (a 10.6% decrease), but then plummets to 231 FPS at 4K (a 14.4% decrease from 1440p). The larger relative drop at 4K confirms that the GPU is being fully utilized there.

The data also shows the impact of settings on resolution scaling. At 4K, the difference between Low and High presets is substantial: 231 FPS versus 133 FPS, a 42.4% performance penalty for increasing visual quality. This gap narrows at 1440p (270 FPS vs 208 FPS, a 23.0% penalty) and further still at 1080p (302 FPS vs 232 FPS, a 23.2% penalty). The smaller relative penalty at lower resolutions is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck; the GPU has headroom to render more frames, but the CPU cannot issue draw calls fast enough to exploit it.

The 4K results show a more significant spread between Low and Ultra, with the latter hitting 126 FPS. This indicates that at 4K, the RTX 4080 is the definitive limiting component, as the frame rate is highly sensitive to the graphical workload. The consistent performance across the Medium and High presets at 4K, with 212 FPS and 133 FPS respectively, further illustrates that the GPU's rendering load is the dominant factor. In summary, the system is well-balanced at 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, while at 1080p, the CPU begins to hold the system back from reaching its full potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 4K with High settings?

A: The system achieves an average of 133 FPS at 3840x2160 with the High preset. This is a playable frame rate, but it shows a significant drop from the 208 FPS average seen at 2560x1440 with the same settings.

Q: How does the Low preset compare to Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 302 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 228 FPS. This represents a 24.5% performance decrease when switching from Low to Ultra, indicating that even at the highest settings, the system remains well above the refresh rate of most monitors.

Q: Is there a large performance difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: The difference is modest. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 249 FPS, while High averages 208 FPS. This is a 16.5% reduction in frame rate, which is a noticeable but acceptable trade-off for the visual improvements.

Q: Which resolution shows the smallest performance gap between Low and High presets?

A: The smallest relative gap is at 1440p, where the Low preset produces 270 FPS and High produces 208 FPS, a 23.0% difference. In contrast, the gap is 42.4% at 4K, showing that the GPU's workload scales more significantly with settings at higher resolutions.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS recorded at 4K with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with the Medium preset, the measured minimum FPS is 181, and the maximum is 244, with an average of 212. This indicates a fairly wide variance in frame times, but the minimum is still well above 60 FPS.

Q: Does the system maintain high frame rates in all measured scenarios?

A: Yes. The lowest average frame rate recorded across all resolutions and settings is 126 FPS, which occurs at 4K with the Ultra preset. All other configurations produce an average of at least 133 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience in every scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice for most users, as it provides a marginal performance cost over High while offering the best visual quality. At 1440p, Ultra averages 201 FPS, a mere 3.4% reduction from High's 208 FPS. This negligible difference makes Ultra the clear winner for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 1080p, the gap is similarly small, with Ultra at 228 FPS versus High at 232 FPS, a 1.7% difference. Even at 4K, the difference is only 5.3% (126 FPS vs 133 FPS), which is unlikely to be perceptible.

The Medium preset offers a middle ground, but the data suggests it is not an optimal choice. At 4K, Medium produces 212 FPS, which is significantly higher than High's 133 FPS. However, the visual jump from Medium to High is generally considered more substantial than from High to Ultra. Given that High and Ultra are so close in performance, users should opt for Ultra. The Low preset is only advisable for competitive play at 1080p, where the 302 FPS average may be desirable, but the visual fidelity loss is significant.

For 4K gaming, the Ultra preset is still viable, as the 126 FPS average is well above the standard 60 FPS target. The data shows that the system has ample headroom to run the game at maximum settings across all resolutions. The only scenario where a user might consider lowering settings is if they are targeting a very high refresh rate (e.g., 240Hz) at 4K, in which case the Medium preset's 212 FPS would be more suitable. However, for the vast majority of displays, Ultra provides the best balance of image quality and performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080:

• Low: Average 302 FPS. This is the highest frame rate recorded, indicating a CPU-bound scenario.
• Medium: Average 278 FPS, with a minimum of 237 FPS and a maximum of 320 FPS.
• High: Average 232 FPS. A significant drop from Medium, but still extremely high.
• Ultra: Average 228 FPS. The performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal, at just 1.7%.

2560x1440:

• Low: Average 270 FPS. A 10.6% drop from the 1080p Low result.
• Medium: Average 249 FPS, with a minimum of 212 FPS and a maximum of 287 FPS.
• High: Average 208 FPS. A 23.0% reduction from the Low preset.
• Ultra: Average 201 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra remains small, at 3.4%.

3840x2160:

• Low: Average 231 FPS. The performance hit from increasing resolution is most pronounced here.
• Medium: Average 212 FPS, with a minimum of 181 FPS and a maximum of 244 FPS.
• High: Average 133 FPS. A 42.4% decrease from the Low preset.
• Ultra: Average 126 FPS. This is the lowest average frame rate measured, but it remains highly playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 667th out of 3716 tested combos in Inside. This places the system in the top 18% of all configurations benchmarked for this game, which is a strong result given the age of the title. The high ranking is primarily driven by the RTX 4080's raw power, as the CPU is a mid-range part that does not significantly hinder the GPU at most settings.

The GPU's individual performance is a key contributor to this ranking. The RTX 4080 sits in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 4080 SUPER (0.1% faster), the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (1.1% slower), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (2.6% slower). This shows that the RTX 4080 is a very capable card, and its performance in Inside is consistent with its overall standing.

The CPU, while less dominant, is still a solid performer. The Ryzen 7 5700 is in the 78th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25517. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon D-2752TER (0.1% faster), the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H (0.1% slower), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7640U (0.1% faster). The CPU's performance is adequate for this game, and the data suggests that upgrading the CPU would yield diminishing returns in Inside due to the GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 5700 is a Zen 3 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, operating at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. It features a 16 MB L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel interface, providing 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark scores are strong for a mid-range part, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 20655 and a single-core score of 2916.

In Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p resolution, where the frame rates are highest. The data shows that the system achieves 302 FPS at Low settings and 232 FPS at High settings, indicating that the CPU is capable of driving the GPU to high frame rates. However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at these resolutions. The 10.3% drop in FPS at High settings from 1080p to 1440p (232 to 208 FPS) is less than the 36.1% drop from 1440p to 4K (208 to 133 FPS), which confirms that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

The CPU's 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient for this game, which is not heavily multithreaded. The single-thread performance, as evidenced by a Passmark single-thread score of 3296, is adequate for the game's logic and physics. The data shows that the CPU does not significantly impede the system's performance in Inside, as the frame rates are consistently high across all settings. The CPU's performance is comparable to rivals like the AMD Ryzen 5 6600H and Intel Xeon D-2752TER, but its advantage is not decisive in this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this system, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Ada Lovelace architecture includes 9728 shading units and a boost clock of 2505 MHz. The GPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Passmark G3D score of 34457, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's role is clearly defined by the resolution scaling data. At 4K, the frame rates drop significantly, with a 42.4% difference between Low (231 FPS) and High (133 FPS) presets. This indicates that the GPU's rendering workload is the primary factor limiting performance at this resolution. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Inside, as the game's texture requirements are modest, but the raw compute power is what drives the high frame rates.

The GPU's performance is also reflected in its nearest rivals. The RTX 4080 is 0.1% slower than the RTX 4080 SUPER, but 2.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB, and 2.7% faster than the AMD Radeon 8060S. This shows that the GPU is a top-tier part, and its performance in Inside is consistent with its overall ranking. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of the system's high ranking in this game, as its performance scales well with resolution, and it is only at 1080p that the CPU starts to limit the system's potential.