Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on this particular hardware pairing, behaves less like a demanding AAA title and more like a test of raw frame throughput, with the measured results showing a clear bifurcation between the CPU-bound low presets and the GPU-bound high and ultra presets. The combination of an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a wide range of frame rates across the three tested resolutions, from a highly playable 47 FPS at 4K Ultra to a blistering 216 FPS at 1080p Low, demonstrating that this game is sensitive to both the graphics settings and the resolution chosen.

FAQ

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

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 216 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 173 FPS at 1080p Medium, followed by 156 FPS at 1440p Low, indicating that the CPU is capable of pushing very high frame rates when the GPU load is minimized.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 47 FPS on Ultra to 98 FPS on Low. The Medium preset at 4K yields an average of 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS and a maximum of 90 FPS, showing that playable performance is available but with a significant drop from lower resolutions.

Q: Is there a significant difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: Yes, the data shows a consistent gap. At 1080p, the average FPS drops from 108 on High to 103 on Ultra. At 1440p, the drop is from 78 on High to 74 on Ultra. At 4K, the drop is from 49 on High to 47 on Ultra, indicating that the Ultra preset offers diminishing returns for the performance cost.

Q: What is the combo's percentile ranking among all CPUs and GPUs?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X sits in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, while the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs. This suggests the processor is a high-end part relative to the market, whereas the graphics card is more of a mid-range performer.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700X has an average benchmark score of 35909. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845, scores 35802, which is 0.3% lower. The Intel Core 7 250H is 0.5% lower with a score of 35728, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 is also 0.5% lower with 35719.

Q: What is the GPU's standing against its closest competitors?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12986. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile is 0.4% lower at 12940, and the AMD Radeon RX 580 is also 0.4% lower at 12928. The NVIDIA Tesla M2090 is slightly higher at 13075, which is -0.7% relative to the 1660 SUPER.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data presents a clear hierarchy for this game, and the optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. For a standard 60 FPS target, the Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it produces an average of 103 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra drops to 74 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 47 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Therefore, for higher resolutions, the High preset becomes the better choice, offering 78 FPS at 1440p and 49 FPS at 4K, though the 4K High result still falls short of 60 FPS.

For users with high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset is the only way to fully utilize the display's potential. At 1080p, Low yields an average of 216 FPS, which is exceptional. At 1440p, Low still produces 156 FPS, and even at 4K, Low manages 98 FPS, making it the only preset capable of exceeding 60 FPS at that resolution. The Medium preset offers a middle ground, providing 173 FPS at 1080p and 125 FPS at 1440p, but it drops to 78 FPS at 4K, which is still playable but not as fluid as the Low setting.

Given the data, the Medium preset appears to be the best overall experience for most users. At 1080p, it delivers 173 FPS, which is well above the 144Hz threshold and only 43 FPS lower than Low. At 1440p, it provides 125 FPS, which is smooth for most gaming scenarios. The trade-off is that Medium at 4K yields 78 FPS, which is respectable. The High preset is a reasonable alternative for those who prioritize visual fidelity over frame rate, but the performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal compared to the jump from Medium to High, making Medium the most balanced option based on the measured frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a typical pattern for a game that is not heavily GPU-bound at lower settings. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 216 at 1080p to 156 at 1440p, a 27.8% decrease, and then to 98 at 4K, a 37.2% decrease from 1440p. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is the primary limiting factor at 1080p, as the GTX 1660 SUPER is able to render frames faster than the processor can feed it, and the scaling to higher resolutions gradually shifts the bottleneck to the GPU.

The scaling behavior changes dramatically at higher presets. At Ultra settings, the average FPS drops from 103 at 1080p to 74 at 1440p, a 28.2% decrease, and then to 47 at 4K, a 36.5% decrease from 1440p. This pattern is similar to the Low setting, but the absolute frame rates are much lower. The High preset shows a similar trend, with 108 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts based on settings. At Low and Medium presets, the frame rate at 1080p is so high (216 and 173 FPS respectively) that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes the bottleneck, as the Ryzen 7 7700X can only generate so many draw calls per second. As resolution increases, the GPU's fill rate and shading power become the limiting factor, which is why the frame rate drops significantly at 4K. The fact that the 4K Low (98 FPS) is nearly double the 4K High (49 FPS) shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB of VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game's low-resolution textures, but the shading units are still the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3166 out of 3716 tested combos for this game. This places the pairing in the lower portion of the database, which is surprising given the CPU's high percentile ranking. The rank reflects the GPU's mid-range status, as the GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, whereas the CPU is in the 85th percentile.

The low combo rank is primarily due to the GPU being the weaker link in this pairing. The data suggests that the Ryzen 7 7700X is capable of pushing much higher frame rates than the GTX 1660 SUPER can render, especially at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU is able to generate 216 FPS, which is likely near its limit for this game, but the GPU is still able to keep up. However, at 4K Ultra, the combo drops to 47 FPS, showing that the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

This rank is not a measure of poor performance, but rather a reflection of the hardware pairing. The Ryzen 7 7700X is a high-end processor that is often paired with much more powerful graphics cards. When paired with a mid-range GPU like the GTX 1660 SUPER, the overall system performance is constrained by the graphics card, which results in a lower combo rank than if the CPU were paired with a more capable GPU. The data shows that this combo is well-suited for 1080p gaming at high refresh rates, but it is not ideal for 4K gaming at high settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary determinant of performance at higher resolutions and settings, as indicated by the measured frame rates. The GPU features 1408 shading units, 88 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, which are the core components responsible for rendering the game's visuals. Its boost clock of 1785 MHz and base clock of 1530 MHz, combined with its 12 nm Turing architecture, provide a solid foundation for a mid-range card.

The GPU's memory configuration plays a critical role in this game's performance. The 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. For a game like Inside, which is a 2D side-scroller with relatively simple textures, this memory bandwidth is likely sufficient even at 4K, as evidenced by the 98 FPS at 4K Low. However, at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 47 FPS, suggesting that the GPU's shading units, rather than its memory bandwidth, are the limiting factor.

The GPU's overall performance is reflected in its average benchmark score of 12986 and its 53rd percentile ranking. Its nearest rivals, such as the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and the RX 580, have very similar average scores, showing that the 1660 SUPER is a standard mid-range performer. The PassMark G3D score of 12699 further confirms its position, while the low DirectX 12 score of 50 indicates that the GPU may not be fully optimized for modern API workloads, but this does not seem to impact Inside, which is a DirectX 11-era title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high across all presets. The Low preset achieves an average of 216 FPS, while Medium produces 173 FPS with a minimum of 147 and a maximum of 199. High settings yield 108 FPS, and Ultra drops slightly to 103 FPS. These numbers show that at 1080p, the system is capable of delivering a highly responsive experience, with even the Ultra preset far exceeding the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. Low settings produce an average of 156 FPS, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings deliver 125 FPS, with a minimum of 106 and a maximum of 143. High settings drop to 78 FPS, and Ultra falls to 74 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 31 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset is not much more demanding than High at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle at higher presets. Low settings still manage an average of 98 FPS, which is playable. Medium settings drop to 78 FPS, with a minimum of 66 and a maximum of 90. High settings fall to 49 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 47 FPS. The 4K results show a significant drop from 1440p, particularly at High and Ultra settings, where the frame rate nearly halves, confirming that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the bottleneck at this resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is a high-end processor that provides more than enough compute power for this game. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture, it has a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores, such as a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19088 and a single-core score of 1987, place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, indicating that it is a top-tier part.

In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings, where the frame rate is not limited by the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 216 FPS, which is likely close to the CPU's maximum draw call throughput for this game. The CPU's single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1090 and PassMark single-thread score of 4190, is crucial for maintaining high frame rates in games that are not heavily multi-threaded.

The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals is closely matched. Its average benchmark score of 35909 is only 0.3% higher than the Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 and 0.5% higher than the Intel Core 7 250H and Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350. This suggests that the 7700X is not a significant outlier in terms of raw processing power, but its high clocks and modern architecture ensure that it does not bottleneck the GTX 1660 SUPER in most scenarios, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rates at 1080p Low and Medium are well above 144 FPS.