Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a fascinating performance profile in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The benchmark data reveals a system that is almost overkill for the title, yet the scaling patterns expose clear bottlenecks that shift depending on resolution and graphics preset. This combination sits at rank 1198 out of 1671 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, which is surprising given the hardware’s raw specifications. The measured frames per second (FPS) range from a modest 58.2 at 4K Ultra to a blistering 281.1 at 1080p Low, indicating that the experience is highly configurable.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p High, the system produces 138.7 FPS, but moving to 1440p High reduces that to 98.7 FPS, a 28.8% decline. Pushing further to 4K High yields 66.1 FPS, which is a 52.3% drop from the 1080p figure. This pattern strongly suggests that the RX 6600 XT becomes the primary constraint as pixel count rises, because the CPU has ample headroom at lower resolutions.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution reinforces this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the system hits 281.1 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, it drops to 132 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows at higher resolutions: at 1440p, Low produces 198.5 FPS while Ultra yields 97.8 FPS, and at 4K, Low delivers 127.1 FPS against Ultra’s 58.2 FPS. The percentage gap between Low and Ultra shrinks from 53% at 1080p to 54% at 1440p and then expands slightly to 54% at 4K, but the absolute numbers show the GPU struggling to maintain high frame rates when both resolution and quality are maxed.

What the data implies is that the Ryzen 7 5800X3D is rarely the limiting factor in Inside. The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads, combined with its 96 MB of shared L3 cache, are more than sufficient for a game of this era. The 4K Ultra result of 58.2 FPS is the only measurement that dips below the 60 FPS threshold, and it does so by a narrow margin, indicating that the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are being pushed to their limits at that extreme configuration.

GPU Role

The RX 6600 XT’s specifications provide context for these results. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1968 MHz and a boost clock of 2589 MHz, with a game clock of 2359 MHz. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, which is not known for demanding textures or complex shaders, this memory configuration appears adequate at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result suggests the GPU’s compute capabilities—10.60 TFLOPS FP32—start to hit a wall.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 71st percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 27985. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores 27956, a delta of just 0.1%. This near-identical performance in synthetic benchmarks translates to the measured FPS in Inside, where the RX 6600 XT shows consistent scaling. The card’s RDNA 2.0 architecture, built on a 7 nm process with 11,060 million transistors, provides 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, which are the key components driving pixel output in this type of game.

The 4K Low result of 127.1 FPS versus 4K Ultra’s 58.2 FPS highlights how much the GPU’s texture and shading units are taxed by higher presets. The pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are sufficient for 4K at lower settings, but the Ultra preset likely increases draw calls and post-processing effects that overwhelm the 64 ROPs. This is a case where the GPU’s memory bandwidth, while respectable, becomes a secondary factor to its raw shading throughput at extreme resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Why does the FPS drop so much from 1080p to 4K at High settings?

A: The RX 6600 XT becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the system produces 138.7 FPS, but 1440p High drops to 98.7 FPS, and 4K High falls to 66.1 FPS. The GPU’s 256.0 GB/s bandwidth and 10.60 TFLOPS compute are taxed heavily by the higher pixel count.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 5800X3D holding back performance in this game?

A: No. The CPU’s 8 cores, 16 threads, and 96 MB L3 cache provide ample headroom. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system hits 281.1 FPS, which is far beyond any display refresh rate, indicating the GPU is the limiting factor, not the processor.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth experience?

A: At 1440p High, the system delivers 98.7 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target. For 4K, only the Low preset achieves a high frame rate at 127.1 FPS, while Ultra drops to 58.2 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score of 27985 is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956) and 0.9% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (28238). This suggests similar performance in Inside, but the measured FPS data is needed for exact game-specific comparisons.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM cause any issues?

A: No. Even at 4K Ultra, the system produces 58.2 FPS, and the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s is sufficient. The game’s release in 2016 means it does not require large texture pools, so 8 GB is more than adequate.

Q: Why is the combo rank only 1198 out of 1671 if the hardware is strong?

A: The rank reflects the combination’s performance relative to all tested combos in Inside. Given the game’s low system requirements, many older or less powerful setups can achieve high frame rates, so this mid-range GPU and CPU combo does not stand out as strongly as it would in a more demanding title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 281.1 FPS, Medium yields 226.1 FPS, High drops to 138.7 FPS, and Ultra settles at 132 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 55 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is only 6.7 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the top end.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers decrease proportionally. Low hits 198.5 FPS, Medium reaches 160.2 FPS, High averages 98.7 FPS, and Ultra manages 97.8 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is less than 1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset adds minimal visual benefit over High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low produces 127.1 FPS, Medium drops to 102.5 FPS, High falls to 66.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 58.2 FPS. The scaling from Low to Medium is a 19.4% reduction, but the drop from High to Ultra is 12%, showing that the most demanding preset has a significant cost at 4K.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the gap between Medium and High is larger than the gap between High and Ultra at every resolution. At 1080p, Medium to High drops 87.4 FPS, while High to Ultra drops only 6.7 FPS. This suggests that the High preset is the sweet spot for visual fidelity without a massive performance hit.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination ranks 1198 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 28th percentile of all configurations, which is lower than expected given the hardware’s capabilities. The rank suggests that many other combos, likely with more powerful GPUs, achieve higher frame rates, particularly at 4K where the RX 6600 XT struggles.

The CPU alone ranks in the 83rd percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 26574. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-11900K, which scores 26546 (a delta of 0.1%), and the AMD Ryzen 5 7600, which scores 26617 (a delta of -0.2%). This indicates the CPU is competitive with top-tier options from other generations.

The GPU ranks in the 71st percentile among all GPUs, with an average score of 27985. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores 27956, a delta of 0.1%, showing that the RX 6600 XT is essentially equivalent to a high-end card from a previous generation. In Inside, this translates to solid performance at 1080p and 1440p, but the combo rank is dragged down by the 4K Ultra result.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience, the data points to 1440p High as the optimal configuration. This setting produces 98.7 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay, while still offering the visual quality improvements over Medium. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is negligible (0.9 FPS), so choosing High over Ultra saves performance without a visible cost.

At 1080p, any preset above Low provides a high frame rate, but the jump from High to Ultra is minimal (6.7 FPS). Players with a 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitor might prefer 1080p Medium, which delivers 226.1 FPS, ensuring the frame rate stays above the refresh rate. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only option that maintains playable frame rates, hitting 127.1 FPS, while Medium at 102.5 FPS is still viable.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p it yields 132 FPS, which is only 4.8% lower than High, but at 4K it drops to 58.2 FPS, crossing below the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that the Ultra preset’s additional effects are not worth the performance penalty, especially at higher resolutions.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 5800X3D’s specifications explain why it is not a bottleneck in Inside. With 8 cores and 16 threads, it has more than enough processing power for a puzzle platformer. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a standout feature, providing fast access to frequently used data, which can benefit games that rely on repeated asset loading.

The CPU’s base clock of 3.40 GHz and boost clock of 4.50 GHz are moderate, but the benchmark scores show strong performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 24063 in multi-core and 3397 in single-core. The single-thread performance is particularly relevant for older games like Inside, which may not utilize many cores. The Geekbench single-core score of 2116 further confirms that the CPU can handle the game’s main thread without issue.

The 3DMark scores reveal the CPU’s scaling: 1746 for 2 threads, 3392 for 4 threads, 5906 for 8 threads, and 7299 for 16 threads. This linear scaling suggests that even if Inside were optimized for multi-threading, the CPU would not be the limiting factor. The fact that the system achieves 281.1 FPS at 1080p Low, a result that requires rapid frame generation, indicates the CPU’s memory subsystem and cache are well-suited for this workload. The 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth over dual-channel DDR4 is sufficient for this game’s data demands.