Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1620 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 3% of all configurations. This is a lopsided pairing: the CPU is a modern powerhouse while the GPU is an older entry-level part, and the benchmark data reflects that imbalance clearly. The combo delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p on lower settings, but it struggles at 4K and with higher graphical presets, making it a system defined by its graphics card's limitations rather than its processor's capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 1620 out of 1671 tested combinations places it near the very bottom of the database for this game. This low ranking is not due to the CPU, which sits in the 91st percentile of all processors tested, but rather the GPU, which only reaches the 43rd percentile of all graphics cards. The data indicates that in Inside, this pairing is heavily bottlenecked by the GTX 1650. The CPU is capable of far more than the GPU can deliver, and the measured frame rates confirm that the graphics card is the limiting factor in almost every scenario.

In practical terms, this rank means that the vast majority of tested combos will outperform this setup. The Ryzen 7 7700's closest CPU rivals—the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, Intel Core i9-13905H, and Intel Core Ultra 5 235T—all have average benchmark scores within 1.2% of the 7700's average score of 40468. This shows the CPU is competitive with some of the best mobile and desktop chips available. However, the GTX 1650's nearest GPU rivals—the RTX 3050 A Mobile, Radeon 550X, Quadro P2200, and Radeon Pro WX 5100—are all similarly performing cards, meaning the GPU is firmly in the entry-level segment. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a bottom-tier GPU results in the low overall rank.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the primary constraint in this system. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1485 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. The card has 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, and the card supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

For Inside, a puzzle platformer, the GTX 1650's 4 GB VRAM is sufficient in terms of capacity, but the overall compute power is the issue. The benchmark scores show the card's modest capabilities: a Passmark G3D score of 7880 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305. The card's percentile ranking of 43% places it below the median of all GPUs. The data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the card can push 131.8 FPS, but this drops drastically as resolution and settings increase. The GPU's 75 W TDP and lack of power connectors indicate it is a low-power part, which is consistent with its performance profile. It is end-of-life, with a launch MSRP of 149 USD, and its performance in this game is exactly what its specifications suggest: adequate for light loads, but not for high-end gaming.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides the computational backbone of this system, and it is vastly more powerful than the GPU requires. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture on a 5 nm process. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it has a 65 W TDP. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 83.2 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core are substantial, and its PCIe Gen 5 support with 24 lanes ensures it will not be a bottleneck for future upgrades.

The CPU's benchmark results are impressive, particularly in multi-threaded workloads. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 29302, and its single-core score is 4136. The Passmark multithread score is 34470, and the 3DMark 16-thread score is 8484. These scores place the CPU in the 91st percentile of all processors. In Inside, the CPU's role is to handle the game's logic, physics, and streaming. Given the game's 2016 release date and puzzle platformer genre, the CPU is more than capable. The data shows that the CPU is never the limiting factor; even at 1080p Low settings where the GPU is producing 131.8 FPS, the CPU is not preventing higher frame rates. The CPU's high performance ensures that the frame rate is determined solely by the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the average frame rates are 131.8 FPS on Low, 109.7 FPS on Medium, 64.4 FPS on High, and 63.4 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is significant (a drop of 22.1 FPS), while the drop from High to Ultra is minimal (only 1.0 FPS), suggesting that the GPU hits a performance wall at higher settings. The 1080p results are all playable, with even Ultra settings maintaining an average above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop substantially. The average FPS is 96.8 on Low, 78.6 on Medium, 46.3 on High, and 48.2 on Ultra. The drop from Medium to High is steep (32.3 FPS), indicating that the 4 GB VRAM and GPU compute power are insufficient for high-detail rendering at this resolution. The Ultra setting even produces a slightly higher average FPS (48.2) than High (46.3), which is likely due to measurement variance or specific scene differences, but both are below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal. The average FPS is 59.5 on Low, 47.4 on Medium, 28.8 on High, and 31.4 on Ultra. Only the Low setting achieves a playable frame rate, and it barely reaches 60 FPS. High and Ultra settings are below 30 FPS, making them effectively unplayable for a smooth experience. The data shows that the GTX 1650 cannot handle 4K with any reasonable graphical fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is severe and indicates a GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low, the system produces 131.8 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 96.8 FPS, a 26.6% decrease. At 4K Low, it falls to 59.5 FPS, a 54.9% decrease from 1080p. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU that is overwhelmed by pixel count. The CPU's performance is constant across resolutions, so the frame rate is directly proportional to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth.

The data also shows that the scaling is more severe at higher settings. From 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, the FPS drops from 63.4 to 31.4, a 50.5% decrease. This confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would not drop as significantly with resolution changes. The CPU's high single-thread and multi-thread scores (4136 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 29302 in multicore) ensure it can feed the GPU at all resolutions, but the GPU cannot keep up. The conclusion is straightforward: to play Inside at higher resolutions or settings, a more powerful GPU is required. The Ryzen 7 7700 is not the issue; it is waiting for a graphics card that can match its potential.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings for this combo in Inside?

A: Based on the measured data, 1920x1080 with High settings provides 64.4 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Alternatively, 2560x1440 on Low settings offers 96.8 FPS, which is also smooth. For 4K, only Low settings at 59.5 FPS are near playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The CPU ranks in the 91st percentile of all processors, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29302, while the GPU ranks in the 43rd percentile with a Passmark G3D score of 7880. The FPS scaling across resolutions confirms the GPU limits performance.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 63.4, which is playable. However, at 1440p Ultra, the FPS drops to 48.2, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 31.4, which is not smooth. Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40468. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, scores 40431, which is 0.1% lower. The Intel Core i9-13905H scores 40712, which is 0.6% higher. The differences are negligible, indicating the 7700 is on par with these top-tier chips.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have and is it enough?

A: The GPU has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory. For this game, the VRAM capacity is not the primary issue; the GPU's compute power is. The performance drops more from settings changes than from resolution changes, indicating a compute limitation rather than a memory capacity issue.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 had a launch MSRP of 149 USD. This places it in the entry-level market segment, which is consistent with its benchmark performance and its 43rd percentile ranking among all GPUs.