Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 pairing delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a game whose 2D side-scrolling presentation places unusual demands on the hardware. The data indicates that this combination is not merely playable but overwhelmingly capable, with performance headroom that allows for extreme refresh rates even at high resolutions.

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

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is a desktop processor built on the Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) architecture using a 4 nm process at TSMC. It brings 8 cores and 16 threads to the table, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a 32 MB shared L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus, providing 89.6 GB/s of bandwidth, and the processor connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

For a puzzle platformer like Inside, the CPU's role is often less about raw multi-threaded throughput and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing. The 9700F's PassMark single-thread score is 4691, which places it in the 94th percentile among all CPUs. Its multithread score of 36470 and integer math score of 120788 suggest substantial headroom for any background tasks or physics calculations the game might offload. The floating point math score of 77955 and extended instructions score of 33688 further indicate a processor that is not easily stressed by the game's logic.

The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this configuration. At 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 378, a figure that far exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The CPU's benchmark rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (deltaPct 0.2), Intel Core i7-14700KF (deltaPct -0.2), AMD Ryzen 9 7950X (deltaPct 0.7), and Intel Core i7-14700K (deltaPct 0.9). These deltas are minimal, indicating that the 9700F sits in a performance tier where CPU-bound scenarios are unlikely to produce meaningful differences in Inside. The 8-core, 16-thread configuration is more than sufficient; the game simply does not require the processor's full capabilities to achieve high frame rates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is based on the GA104 chip using the Ampere architecture, fabricated on Samsung's 8 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 1500 MHz and a boost clock of 1725 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs provide a theoretical FP32 performance of 20.31 TFLOPS.

In Inside, the GPU's pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s are highly relevant. The game's visual style relies heavily on atmospheric lighting, silhouettes, and particle effects rather than complex geometry. The RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM is ample for this title, as the measured data shows no sign of memory-related performance drops even at 4K Ultra settings. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 22214 places it in the 61st percentile of all GPUs.

Benchmark rivals for the RTX 3070 include the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (deltaPct 0.7), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (deltaPct 1), AMD Radeon HD 7970M (deltaPct 1.1), and NVIDIA Tesla K40c (deltaPct -1.5). These rival deltas are small, but the RTX 3070's performance in Inside demonstrates that it is the component that scales most directly with resolution and settings changes. The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3162 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 21022 provide context for its capabilities, yet the in-game results show the RTX 3070 is more than adequate for this title, with the bottleneck shifting from GPU to CPU only at the lowest settings and resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 achieves a rank of 986 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places the pairing in the 66th percentile of all configurations tested for this game. The rank is a holistic measure that considers the average performance across all tested resolutions and settings.

Given the game's release date of 2016-07-06, it is not surprising that even a mid-to-high-range 2020-era GPU paired with a 2025-era CPU lands solidly in the upper third of all combos. The rank suggests that while there are many faster configurations, this pairing offers a level of performance that comfortably exceeds the requirements for a smooth experience. The data indicates that the combo's rank is likely more constrained by the GPU's absolute performance ceiling than by any CPU limitation, as the CPU's percentile (94) is significantly higher than the GPU's percentile (61). This combination is thus well-balanced for the game, with the CPU providing ample headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential, though the overall ranking shows there is still a substantial performance gap to the top-tier combos that feature more powerful GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets.

At 1920x1080, the RTX 3070 and 9700F combination produces an average of 378 FPS on Low settings, 302 FPS on Medium, 189 FPS on High, and 180 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset includes a minimum FPS of 257 and maximum of 347, showing a stable frame delivery with a narrow range. The difference between High and Ultra is just 9 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns at the top end.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS drops to 272 on Low, 217 on Medium, 136 on High, and 129 on Ultra. The Medium preset again shows a minimum of 185 and maximum of 250 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steep but consistent: Low settings drop by 106 FPS, Medium by 85 FPS, High by 53 FPS, and Ultra by 51 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 171 FPS on Low, 136 FPS on Medium, 85 FPS on High, and 81 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset records a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157 FPS. The 4K results show the largest relative drop from 1440p, with Low settings losing 101 FPS, Medium losing 81 FPS, High losing 51 FPS, and Ultra losing 48 FPS.

The data reveals a pattern where the absolute FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is largest at the Low preset (207 FPS) and smallest at the Ultra preset (99 FPS). This indicates that at lower settings, the system is more sensitive to resolution increases, pointing to a GPU-bound scenario where the extra pixel count directly impacts throughput. At higher settings, the additional shading work already consumes GPU resources, making the resolution increase relatively less impactful.

FAQ

*Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F bottlenecking the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 in Inside?*

A: The data suggests no. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 378 FPS, which is significantly higher than the GPU's performance at 4K Ultra (81 FPS). The CPU's single-thread score of 4691 and multithread score of 36470 indicate it can feed the GPU well beyond the frame rates where the GPU becomes the constraint.

Q: What is the highest resolution and settings combination that maintains a 60 FPS average?

A: All tested combinations average above 60 FPS. The lowest average is 81 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. Even the most demanding preset at the highest resolution exceeds the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin.

*Q: How does the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM hold up at 4K in Inside?*

A: The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is sufficient for this game. The 4K Ultra preset averages 81 FPS with no reported anomalies in the data, and the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is more than adequate for the game's art style.

Q: Is the difference between High and Ultra settings significant at 1440p?

A: The difference is minor. At 2560x1440, High averages 136 FPS while Ultra averages 129 FPS, a gap of 7 FPS. This suggests that the visual improvements from Ultra are achieved with a minimal performance cost, making it a viable choice for most users.

Q: Which component is more responsible for the frame rate differences between resolutions?

A: The GPU is the primary factor. The RTX 3070's specifications, including its 5888 shading units and 165.6 GPixel/s pixel rate, show that it is tasked with the increased pixel workload. The CPU's performance remains consistent, as evidenced by the high frame rates at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed.

Q: How does the combo's performance at 4K Low compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 4K Low preset averages 171 FPS, which is lower than the 1080p Ultra average of 180 FPS. This 9 FPS difference is surprisingly small, indicating that the GPU can handle the pixel count increase at Low settings nearly as well as it handles the additional shading at 1080p Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset appears to be the most balanced choice across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium averages 302 FPS with a minimum of 257 FPS, providing a massive buffer above any refresh rate. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 217 FPS with a minimum of 185 FPS, still well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay even during demanding sequences.

The High preset is a close second, offering 189 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. However, the jump from Medium to High costs 113 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 51 FPS at 4K. The visual difference between Medium and High is typically less pronounced than the frame rate difference suggests.

Ultra settings are only recommended for users with monitors that cannot display frame rates above 180 FPS, as the performance cost over High is minimal (9 FPS at 1080p, 7 FPS at 1440p, and 4 FPS at 4K). The Low preset offers the highest frame rates but sacrifices the atmospheric lighting effects that are central to Inside's visual identity. For most users, Medium at 1440p or 4K provides an optimal combination of visual fidelity and performance, with the data showing that the GPU has ample headroom to maintain high frame rates.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of the system's bottleneck characteristics. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 378 at 1080p to 171 at 4K, a 54.8% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 302 to 136, a 55.0% reduction. At High, the drop is from 189 to 85, a 55.0% reduction. At Ultra, the drop is from 180 to 81, a 55.0% reduction.

The consistency of this percentage drop across all settings is notable. It suggests that the GPU is the limiting component in all scenarios, as the relative performance loss is directly proportional to the increase in pixel count. The 4K resolution has exactly four times the pixels of 1080p, but the frame rate does not drop to one quarter; instead, it drops to roughly 45% of the 1080p value. This indicates that the GPU is not fully saturated at 1080p and has some headroom, but it is the primary constraint when resolution increases.

The CPU's role in this scaling is minimal. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the FPS to remain relatively flat between 1080p and 1440p, as the CPU's workload does not change with resolution. The data shows a significant drop from 1080p to 1440p (e.g., from 378 to 272 FPS at Low), proving that the GPU is the limiting factor. The 9700F's high single-thread performance (4691 PassMark score) ensures that it can keep up with the GPU's demands at all tested resolutions, but the GPU's pixel throughput capabilities are what ultimately determine the frame rates. The scaling behavior confirms that this pairing is well-matched, with no excessive CPU overhead or GPU starvation at any resolution.