Inside

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process. It carries a base clock of 4.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a 105 W TDP. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, the CPU's role is primarily about maintaining a stable frame pacing floor rather than pushing raw multi-threaded throughput. The game's measured frame rates suggest that the CPU is rarely the bottleneck; the 7700X's single-core performance, reflected in a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1987 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2289, is more than sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p and 1440p.

In the context of this benchmark database, the 7700X ranks in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35909. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (avg score 35802, 0.3% slower) and the Intel Core 7 250H (avg score 35728, 0.5% slower). The CPU’s 16 threads and 32 MB of shared L3 cache provide ample headroom for the game’s physics and logic, but the data shows that Inside is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 124 FPS average, which is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this title; however, the CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1090 and passmark single-thread score of 4190 indicate that it can handle the game's single-threaded workload without issue.

The architecture’s memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s over dual-channel DDR5 also helps avoid data starvation in scenes with many dynamic objects. Still, the measured FPS deltas between settings at each resolution reveal that the GPU is the primary limiter once settings rise. More on that in the Resolution Scaling section.

FAQ

*Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700X overkill for a game like Inside?*

A: The data shows the CPU is far ahead of what the game requires. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 124 FPS average, and the CPU’s single-core performance (Cinebench R23 single-core 1987) is well above the threshold for maintaining high frame rates in this puzzle platformer. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking against all CPUs indicates it has ample headroom for this title.

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this combo?*

A: Based on the measured FPS, 2560x1440 at High settings offers a strong balance: 56 FPS average, which is smooth for a slow-paced puzzle game. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 89 FPS average. At 4K High, the average drops to 29 FPS, which is below the standard 30 FPS threshold for playability.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in this context?

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 20282, placing it in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (avg score 20480, 1% faster) and the Intel Arc B570 (avg score 20556, 1.3% faster). The performance deltas are small, meaning the 2070 SUPER is competitive with these cards in general compute, though game-specific results may vary.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so much worse than High?

A: The measured data shows a substantial drop: at 1080p, Ultra yields 57 FPS average versus 89 FPS at High. At 1440p, the difference is 36 FPS versus 56 FPS. At 4K, Ultra drops to 19 FPS versus 29 FPS at High. The Ultra preset appears to impose a significant rendering cost that the GPU cannot sustain, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K at any settings?

A: At 4K Low, the average FPS is 41, which is playable but not ideal for a game that benefits from stable frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the average drops to 31 FPS with minimums of 26 FPS. At 4K High, it falls to 29 FPS. The only 4K row above 30 FPS average is Low at 41 FPS, making that the only viable 4K preset.

Q: What does the combo rank tell us about this pairing?

A: The combo ranks 3641 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 2% of all combos in this database for Inside. This is surprising given the hardware's individual benchmarks; it suggests that the game’s engine is not well-optimized for high-end desktop components, or that the benchmark methodology captures a specific bottleneck.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience based on the measured rows, the High preset is the clear recommendation across all resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 89 FPS average, which is well above the 60 FPS target and only 35 FPS short of the Low preset's 124 FPS. At 1440p, High yields 56 FPS, which is a comfortable frame rate for a puzzle platformer where precise input matters more than speed. The Medium preset at 1440p shows 59 FPS average with minimums of 50 FPS, but the jump to High costs only 3 FPS while presumably adding visual fidelity.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it drops to 57 FPS average, a 36% reduction from High. At 1440p, Ultra hits 36 FPS, which is below the 40 FPS threshold that many players consider the minimum for smooth motion. At 4K, Ultra averages 19 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. The Low preset is only useful at 4K, where it hits 41 FPS, but even then, Medium at 31 FPS is close enough that players might prefer the visual upgrade.

The optimal strategy is to use High at 1080p or 1440p. If the player has a 4K display, Low is the only preset that breaks 40 FPS, but the game’s art style is minimalist enough that the visual difference between Low and Medium may be less important than the frame rate stability. The Medium preset’s measured minimums (26 FPS at 4K, 50 FPS at 1440p, 80 FPS at 1080p) indicate that it can have frame dips, making High a safer choice for consistent pacing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 3641 out of 3716 tested combos in this game. That places this pairing in the bottom 2% of all configurations tested for Inside. This is a striking result given the individual hardware components: the CPU is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, and the GPU is in the 65th percentile of all GPUs. The rank indicates that, for this specific title, the combination underperforms relative to what the hardware's average benchmarks would suggest.

The low rank is not a reflection of the CPU's capability — the 7700X's nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (0.3% slower) and the Intel Core 7 250H (0.5% slower), would likely not perform differently in this game. The bottleneck is the GPU, which, while competent in general workloads (avg benchmark score 20282), struggles with the game's rendering demands at higher settings. The fact that the combo rank is so low suggests that many other tested combos feature more powerful GPUs, even if their CPUs are weaker.

Looking at the resolution scaling data, the combo’s performance drops off sharply as resolution increases. At 1080p High, it achieves 89 FPS; at 1440p High, it drops to 56 FPS (a 37% reduction); at 4K High, it falls to 29 FPS (a 48% reduction from 1440p). This steep scaling curve is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, and it explains why the combo ranks so low — the RTX 2070 SUPER is simply not fast enough for high-resolution play in this title, even though it handles 1080p well.

For context, the GPU's nearest rival, the Intel Arc B570, has an average score 1.3% higher, and the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M is 1% faster. Those margins are small, so swapping the GPU for a slightly faster card would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in this game. The data suggests that the combo is stuck in a performance tier that is below what many other tested configurations achieve.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At High settings, the combo delivers 89 FPS at 1080p, 56 FPS at 1440p, and 29 FPS at 4K. That translates to a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. This scaling is characteristic of a GPU-limited workload, where the number of pixels being rendered directly impacts the frame rate.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly less severe: 124 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and 41 FPS at 4K (a 47% drop from 1440p). The fact that Low settings still show significant drops at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar FPS numbers across resolutions at the same settings, but that is not the case.

The Medium preset shows the same trend: 94 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is the most demanding, with 57 FPS at 1080p, 36 FPS at 1440p, and 19 FPS at 4K. The data indicates that the limiting component is the GPU's raw fill rate and shader throughput. The RTX 2070 SUPER has a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s, but these are insufficient for maintaining 60 FPS at 1440p on High settings, let alone 4K.

The 1080p to 1440p drop is consistent across all settings (roughly 37-39%), suggesting that the game's rendering pipeline scales linearly with pixel count in this range. The 1440p to 4K drop is slightly larger (47-48%), which may indicate that the 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on the GPU is becoming a factor, or that the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is insufficient for the higher resolution. Regardless, the conclusion is clear: this combo is best suited for 1080p play, with 1440p being a stretch for High settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best results. The Low preset delivers an average of 124 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset hits 94 FPS average, with a minimum of 80 FPS and a maximum of 108 FPS)Skip. High settings yield 89 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 57 FPS. The 1080p data shows that the combo can comfortably handle the game at High settings with a solid margin above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance becomes more moderate. Low settings deliver 78 FPS average, which is still smooth. Medium produces 59 FPS average with a min/max range of 50 to 68 FPS. High settings drop to 56 FPS average, which is borderline for a 60 Hz display but acceptable for a puzzle game. Ultra falls to 36 FPS average, which is below the 40 FPS threshold for comfortable play. The 1440p data suggests that High is the practical ceiling for this resolution, as it maintains an average above 55 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles across the board. Low settings yield 41 FPS average, which is the only 4K preset above 40 FPS. Medium drops to 31 FPS average with a minimum of 26 FPS and a maximum of 35 FPS. High settings produce 29 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 19 FPS. None of the 4K presets achieve a consistent 30 FPS average except Low, and even that is marginal. The measured minimums for Medium at 4K (26 FPS) indicate that frame pacing can be erratic at this resolution.

The data also reveals how the settings scale at each resolution. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium costs 30 FPS (124 to 94), Medium to High costs 5 FPS (94 to 89), and High to Ultra costs 32 FPS (89 to 57). At 1440p, Low to Medium costs 19 FPS (78 to 59), Medium to High costs 3 FPS (59 to 56), and High to Ultra costs 20 FPS (56 to 36). At 4K, Low to Medium costs 10 FPS (41 to 31), Medium to High costs 2 FPS (31 to 29), and High to Ultra costs 10 FPS (29 to 19). The Ultra preset is disproportionately expensive at all resolutions, while the Medium to High transition is relatively cheap in terms of FPS, reinforcing the recommendation to use High settings.