Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a highly playable experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on the GPU than the CPU at higher settings. Across the measured configurations, the combination shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary bottleneck at 4K and at Ultra settings, while the Ryzen 7 7800X3D’s strong single-thread performance ensures no CPU-related frame drops at lower resolutions. The data indicates that this pairing is capable of maintaining smooth gameplay, with average frame rates ranging from a low of 47.9 FPS at 4K Ultra to a high of 215.3 FPS at 1080p Low. The following analysis breaks down the specific contributions of each component and how they interact across the twelve measured scenarios.

FAQ

*Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with High settings in Inside?*

A: The measured average frame rate is 105.6 FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings. This is above the typical 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in terms of overall benchmark score?

A: The Ryzen 7 7800X3D has an average benchmark score of 31580, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-12700F, its closest rival with a score of 31543.

Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile relative to all other graphics cards?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER sits in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14286. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11, is 0.2% behind in score.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its highest measured average FPS?

A: The highest average FPS is 215.3, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is more than double the frame rate seen at 4K High.

Q: How large is the performance gap between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 157.2 FPS, while the Ultra preset delivers 76.5 FPS. This represents a performance drop of 80.7 FPS, or roughly 51%, when moving from Low to Ultra.

Q: Does the combo rank highly among all CPU and GPU combinations tested for this game?

A: The data shows this combination ranks 1476 out of 1671 total combinations, placing it in the lower half of tested setups for Inside.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a desktop processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor has a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is critical for gaming performance. Its single-thread benchmark scores are notably strong, including a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 4115 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2725. These numbers indicate that in a game like Inside, which does not heavily utilize many threads, the CPU is more than capable of keeping up with the GPU.

The benchmark data supports this conclusion. The 3DMark 2-thread score is 1887, while the max-thread score is 7967; the relatively small difference between these scores suggests that the game's workload does not scale dramatically with additional cores. In the measured FPS data, the CPU's influence is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the GPU is less taxed. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 215.3 FPS, which is only possible if the CPU can process frames quickly enough. The Ryzen 7 7800X3D's performance percentile of 87 versus all CPUs indicates it is a high-end part, and its average benchmark score of 31580 places it just ahead of the Intel Core i7-12700F by 0.1% and the AMD Ryzen 9 5980HX by 0.3%. For this game, the CPU is not a limiting factor; the data consistently shows the GPU is responsible for frame rate variations across different settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is based on the Turing architecture and features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. Its base clock is 1530 MHz with a boost clock of 1785 MHz. The GPU has 1408 shading units and 48 ROPs, and its FP32 performance is rated at 5.027 TFLOPS. In terms of raw compute, this places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 14286 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 only 0.2% lower and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics 0.2% lower as well.

The GPU's role in Inside becomes clear when examining the measured FPS across different settings. At a fixed resolution, the transition from Low to Ultra has a massive impact on performance. For example, at 1080p, the average FPS drops from 215.3 on Low to 104.1 on Ultra, a reduction of over 50%. This steep decline is directly attributable to the GPU's workload increasing with graphical fidelity. The GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game, as the data does not show any anomalies that would suggest memory capacity issues at 4K. The pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s are adequate for the game's 2D side-scrolling visuals, but the framerate is clearly bound by the GPU's compute capabilities at higher presets, as evidenced by the 4K Ultra result of 47.9 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the average FPS is consistently high: Low delivers 215.3 FPS, Medium delivers 173.9 FPS, High delivers 105.6 FPS, and Ultra delivers 104.1 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain playable but show a clear drop: Low averages 157.2 FPS, Medium averages 122.4 FPS, High averages 76 FPS, and Ultra averages 76.5 FPS. At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles with the higher settings: Low averages 98.3 FPS, Medium averages 80.5 FPS, High averages 48.4 FPS, and Ultra averages 47.9 FPS.

The most significant observation is the non-linear scaling between High and Ultra. At 1080p, the difference between High (105.6 FPS) and Ultra (104.1 FPS) is only 1.5 FPS, while the difference between Medium (173.9 FPS) and High (105.6 FPS) is 68.3 FPS. This pattern repeats at 1440p, where High (76 FPS) and Ultra (76.5 FPS) are nearly identical, and at 4K, where High (48.4 FPS) and Ultra (47.9 FPS) are also within a fraction of a frame. This suggests that the High and Ultra presets impose a similar load on the GPU, likely due to a specific setting that does not increase further. The data indicates that the GTX 1660 SUPER is fully utilized at High settings, and the jump to Ultra does not meaningfully change performance.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a predictable pattern of performance degradation that highlights the GPU's role as the primary bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 215.3 at 1080p to 157.2 at 1440p and further to 98.3 at 4K. This represents a 54% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the drop is from 173.9 FPS to 122.4 FPS to 80.5 FPS, a 54% reduction as well. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 105.6 to 76 to 48.4, which is a 54% reduction. The consistency of this percentage across settings is notable.

The uniform scaling of approximately 54% from 1080p to 4K is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would remain relatively flat as resolution increases, since the CPU workload does not change with pixel count. Instead, the frame rate drops in direct proportion to the increase in pixel count (4K has four times the pixels of 1080p, though the drop is not exactly 75%, indicating some other overhead). This data strongly suggests that the Ryzen 7 7800X3D is not a limiting factor at any resolution, and the GTX 1660 SUPER's raw pixel throughput is the determining factor for the final frame rate. The 48.4 FPS at 4K High is just below the 60 FPS target, but the 80.5 FPS at 4K Medium shows that a playable experience is achievable with a modest setting reduction.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players aiming for a consistent 60 FPS or higher, the Medium preset is the most balanced choice across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 173.9, which leaves ample headroom. At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 122.4, still well above 60 FPS. Even at 4K Medium, the average FPS of 80.5 is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold, making this the recommended preset for a smooth experience at that resolution.

The High preset is viable at 1080p and 1440p, with average FPS of 105.6 and 76, respectively, but it dips to 48.4 FPS at 4K, which may be below the preference for some players. The Ultra preset offers no significant advantage over High, as the measured FPS is nearly identical at all resolutions (104.1 vs 105.6 at 1080p, 76.5 vs 76 at 1440p, and 47.9 vs 48.4 at 4K). Therefore, selecting Ultra provides no measurable benefit while consuming the same resources as High. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (215.3 FPS at 1080p), is unnecessary for a game of this genre, as the Medium or High presets already provide a superior experience without compromising smoothness. For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data supports using the Medium preset for resolutions up to and including 4K, with the High preset being a reasonable alternative for those who prefer higher fidelity at 1080p or 1440p and are willing to accept a lower but still playable frame rate.