Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer, with measured frame rates that remain highly playable even at maximum settings. The data shows a clear pattern: this pairing is so powerful for this title that the GPU becomes the primary scaling factor as resolution increases, while the CPU's strong single-thread performance ensures no bottleneck at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that decline varies significantly depending on the preset. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 372.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 333.1 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 10.5%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the Low preset yields 287.9 FPS, representing a 22.6% decrease from the 1080p figure. This pattern indicates that even at the lowest settings, the RTX 4090’s raw rendering power is still the limiting factor, as the CPU can easily feed the GPU at these high frame rates.

The scaling becomes more pronounced at higher presets. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 285.8 at 1080p to 236.4 at 1440p (a 17.3% drop), then to 150 at 4K (a 47.5% drop from 1080p). The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: 279.4 FPS at 1080p, 225.4 FPS at 1440p, and 140 FPS at 4K. These steeper declines at higher presets suggest that the game’s graphical effects, likely including resolution-dependent shaders and post-processing, place increasing demands on the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth as pixel count rises.

The fact that 4K Ultra still maintains an average of 140 FPS is notable. Benchmark results indicate that the RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are more than sufficient for this title’s texture and buffer requirements, even at 3840x2160. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at Ultra (225.4 to 140 FPS, a 37.9% drop) is steeper than the 1080p to 1440p transition (279.4 to 225.4 FPS, a 19.3% drop), which aligns with the 2.25x pixel increase between those resolutions. This confirms that the GPU is the primary scaling component, with the CPU maintaining its role as a stable foundation across all tested configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing achieves a combo rank of 44 out of 1,671 total combinations. This places it in the top 3% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings for Inside, a remarkable result given the game’s age and the sheer number of configurations tracked. The rank reflects both the CPU’s strong multi-threaded capabilities and the GPU’s dominant position among all graphics cards.

The Ryzen 7 7700’s average benchmark score of 40,468 places it in the 91st percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H (40,431, a 0.1% delta) and Intel Core i9-13905H (40,712, a -0.6% delta). This proximity in scores indicates that the 7700’s performance is tightly grouped with other high-end processors, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game. Meanwhile, the RTX 4090’s average benchmark score of 66,473 places it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733, a -0.4% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097, a -0.9% delta) showing that the 4090 sits at the top of the performance hierarchy.

Given that the combo ranks 44th out of 1,671, the data suggests that only a handful of pairings—likely those with even faster CPUs or multiple GPU configurations—surpass this setup. For a single-GPU, mainstream desktop platform, this rank is exceptional. The high rank is driven primarily by the GPU’s ability to push frame rates well beyond typical display refresh rates, ensuring that the combo never becomes the limiting factor in gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory, operating across a 384-bit bus with 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, provides ample headroom for Inside’s art assets and effects. The GPU’s base clock of 2235 MHz and boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with its 16,384 shading units, deliver the raw compute throughput needed for the high frame rates observed. The memory clock of 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective) further supports rapid texture streaming and frame buffer updates.

The RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is a key factor in the measured results. At 4K Ultra, the GPU sustains 140 FPS, which is a demanding workload for most hardware. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are largely irrelevant for this game, as Inside does not utilize ray tracing or DLSS, but their presence does not detract from performance. The GPU’s pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s and texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s indicate that it can process the game’s 2D-style rendering with significant headroom, as evidenced by the 372.1 FPS at 1080p Low.

The GPU’s role is most apparent in the resolution scaling analysis. From 1080p High (285.8 FPS) to 4K High (150 FPS), the performance drops by 47.5%, which is directly attributable to the increased pixel count. The fact that the GPU can still deliver 150 FPS at 4K High confirms that it is not memory-constrained; rather, it is compute-bound at higher resolutions. The 24 GB VRAM is never a limiting factor, as Inside’s requirements are far below this capacity, even at maximum settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 372.1, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This indicates the CPU-GPU pairing is capable of extremely high frame rates at lower resolutions.

Q: How does performance scale from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 279.4 at 1920x1080 to 225.4 at 2560x1440, and finally to 140 at 3840x2160. This represents a 49.9% decrease from 1080p to 4K, highlighting the GPU’s workload increase.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data shows the GPU is the limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions. The CPU’s strong single-thread score (4,136 in Cinebench R23) keeps pace with the GPU, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p, but the GPU’s rendering load drives the performance differences between resolutions.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 44th out of 1,671 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the top 3% of all CPU-GPU pairings in the database.

Q: How does the RTX 4090 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4090’s average benchmark score is 66,473, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733) and 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097). These deltas are negligible, indicating the 4090 is at the top of the GPU performance curve.

Q: Does the game benefit from the CPU’s multi-threading capabilities?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700’s 8 cores and 16 threads provide strong multi-threaded performance, as shown by its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29,302. However, Inside’s light CPU workload means the game likely relies more on single-thread performance, where the CPU scores 4,136 in Cinebench R23.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 serves as a capable foundation for this GPU. Its 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture, run at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost up to 5.30 GHz. The CPU’s 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth) provide sufficient data throughput for the game’s logic and physics. In the context of Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer with modest CPU demands, the 7700’s performance is more than adequate.

The CPU’s single-thread performance is particularly relevant. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4,136, along with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,049, ensures that game logic, collision detection, and input handling are processed without introducing frame time spikes. The PassMark single-thread score of 4,063 further corroborates this. The multi-threaded scores (3DMark 16-thread: 8,484; Cinebench R23 multi-core: 29,302) demonstrate that the CPU has substantial headroom, though Inside likely does not utilize more than a few threads.

The CPU’s role becomes evident when comparing 1080p Low (372.1 FPS) to 1440p Low (333.1 FPS). The 39 FPS difference is entirely due to the GPU’s increased pixel workload, as the CPU’s frame generation capability exceeds 372 FPS. The fact that the CPU does not bottleneck even at these extreme frame rates confirms its high boost clock and efficient architecture. In the broader context of the database, the 7700’s 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is not a weak link, though its nearest rivals (Ryzen 9 7940H and Core i9-13905H) show that it is not the absolute fastest processor available.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, all presets deliver average frame rates above 279 FPS, meaning even Ultra settings (279.4 FPS) are far beyond any standard 144 Hz or 240 Hz display’s capability. For 1080p users, the Ultra preset provides the best visual quality without sacrificing playability, as the 279.4 FPS average leaves enormous headroom.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset maintains an average of 225.4 FPS, which is still exceptionally high. The High preset (236.4 FPS) offers a marginal 11 FPS improvement, but the visual difference between High and Ultra is likely minimal in this game. For 1440p, the data suggests that Ultra is the recommended choice, as it provides the best image quality while remaining far above any refresh rate threshold.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more nuanced. The Ultra preset delivers 140 FPS, which is sufficient for most 120 Hz or 144 Hz displays. The High preset (150 FPS) offers a 7.1% performance increase, while Medium (234.3 FPS) and Low (287.9 FPS) provide diminishing visual returns. For 4K users with high-refresh displays, High settings strike the best balance, as the 150 FPS average exceeds most 4K monitor refresh rates. However, for those prioritizing visual fidelity, Ultra at 140 FPS remains a viable option, as the game is not a fast-paced competitive title where 1% lows would be critical.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 372.1 FPS average
• Medium: 342.8 FPS average
• High: 285.8 FPS average
• Ultra: 279.4 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 333.1 FPS average
• Medium: 310.1 FPS average
• High: 236.4 FPS average
• Ultra: 225.4 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 287.9 FPS average
• Medium: 234.3 FPS average
• High: 150 FPS average
• Ultra: 140 FPS average

These numbers reveal a clear hierarchy: the Low preset is fastest at every resolution, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is relatively small (29.3 FPS at 1080p, 23 FPS at 1440p, 53.6 FPS at 4K), suggesting that Medium provides a substantial visual upgrade for a modest performance cost. The jump from Medium to High is more significant (57 FPS at 1080p, 73.7 FPS at 1440p, 84.3 FPS at 4K), indicating that High introduces heavier rendering effects. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal (6.4 FPS at 1080p, 11 FPS at 1440p, 10 FPS at 4K), making Ultra a low-cost upgrade over High in terms of performance. At 4K, the 150 FPS High and 140 FPS Ultra figures are both well within playable ranges, confirming that this combo handles Inside with exceptional ease across all tested configurations.