Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination produces strikingly high frame rates in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. The measured data shows that this pairing is capable of triple-digit averages at every tested resolution and settings level, with the lowest recorded average being 143 FPS at 4K Ultra. This indicates the hardware is massively overprovisioned for the game’s demands, shifting the bottleneck analysis toward how the CPU and GPU interact rather than whether they can handle the load. The following sections break down the measured FPS rows, the role of each component, and what the numbers imply for gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 331 at 1080p to 239 at 1440p, then to 150 at 4K. This represents a 54.7% reduction from 1080p to 4K. For Low settings, the drop is from 431 at 1080p to 386 at 1440p, and then to 300 at 4K, a 30.4% reduction overall. Medium settings show a similar trend: 398 at 1080p, 356 at 1440p, and 240 at 4K, which is a 39.7% decrease. Ultra settings follow with 317 at 1080p, 228 at 1440p, and 143 at 4K, a 54.9% drop.

The scaling behavior suggests that at 1080p, the system is likely constrained by the CPU or by the game engine’s frame rate limit, not by the GPU. The RTX 5090’s enormous compute resources are idle at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the relatively small FPS differences between Low and Ultra at 1080p (431 vs 317, a 26.4% gap). At 4K, the gap widens dramatically: Low yields 300 FPS while Ultra yields 143, a 52.3% difference. This widening gap indicates the GPU becomes the primary limiting component as pixel count rises, because the RTX 5090’s shading units, texture mapping units, and render output units are increasingly taxed by the higher resolution.

The data implies that for Inside, the sweet spot for resolution scaling is around 1440p, where the FPS remains above 228 even at Ultra settings. At 4K, the GPU still delivers playable frame rates, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is significant: 239 to 150 at High (37.2% reduction), and 228 to 143 at Ultra (37.3% reduction). The 1080p to 1440p transition is less punishing, with High settings dropping from 331 to 239 (27.8% reduction) and Low from 431 to 386 (10.4% reduction). This suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and pixel throughput become more relevant at 4K, while at lower resolutions the CPU’s single-thread performance and cache structure dominate.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, delivering 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is far beyond what a puzzle platformer like Inside requires, but it explains why the GPU does not bottleneck at 4K until Ultra settings. The card’s base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and it houses 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 render output units. These specs translate into a pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, which are the metrics most relevant to rendering at high resolutions.

The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (143 average) versus 4K Low (300 average) shows a 52.3% performance gap, indicating that the GPU’s shading units and ROPs are heavily utilized at Ultra. The 4K Medium result (240 average, with min 204 and max 276) sits between Low and High, confirming a linear scaling of GPU load with settings complexity. The RTX 5090’s 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is overkill for this game, but the data shows that at 4K Ultra, the card still delivers a playable average of 143 FPS, which is likely limited by the engine’s draw call overhead rather than raw compute.

The GPU’s 32 GB frame buffer is completely unused in this context; Inside is a 2D side-scroller with simple textures, so VRAM capacity is not a factor. However, the memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s may contribute to the smooth frame pacing at 4K, as the high bandwidth allows for efficient texture fetching even at Ultra settings. The card’s boost clock of 2407 MHz is not heavily stressed at 1080p, where the FPS numbers (431 at Low, 331 at High) suggest the GPU is waiting on CPU instructions. At 4K, the GPU’s clocks and shader utilization become the primary drivers of performance, as evidenced by the larger FPS differences between settings.

FAQ

Q: Why is the FPS at 1080p Low (431) so much higher than at 4K Low (300)?

A: The data shows a 30.4% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. This is because the RTX 5090’s pixel processing load increases with resolution, requiring more work from its 176 render output units and 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate. At 1080p, the GPU finishes frames quickly and waits on the CPU, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: Is the RTX 5090’s 32 GB of VRAM necessary for this game?

A: No. Inside is a puzzle platformer with simple 2D visuals, so the 32 GB GDDR7 frame buffer is not utilized. The measured FPS at all resolutions and settings exceeds 143 average, indicating that memory capacity is irrelevant to the results. The memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s may help with texture throughput, but the game’s demands are minimal.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 317, which is only 4.2% lower than at 1080p High (331). The small gap suggests the CPU, with 8 cores and 16 threads running at up to 5.50 GHz boost, is the bottleneck. The RTX 5090 can render frames faster than the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F can feed it draw calls at this resolution.

Q: What is the best resolution for a smooth experience?

A: The data shows that 1440p offers the best balance. At High settings, the average FPS is 239, and at Ultra it is 228. Both are well above typical 144 Hz refresh rates. At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 143 average, which is still playable but closer to the edge of 120 Hz displays.

Q: Why does the 4K Medium result (240 avg) have min and max values (204–276), but 4K Low does not?

A: The measured data only includes min and max FPS for the Medium preset at each resolution. The 4K Medium range of 204–276 indicates some frame time variability, but the average of 240 shows consistent performance. The absence of min/max values for other presets means they were not recorded, not that they are perfectly stable.

Q: How does this combo compare to other CPUs in the PassMark database?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700F has an average benchmark score of 69,996, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, scores 69,875, a 0.2% delta, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, a -0.2% delta. This indicates the CPU is positioned near the top of desktop processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a clear hierarchy across settings. Low settings produce an average of 431 FPS, which is the highest recorded for this resolution. Medium settings yield 398 FPS, with a min of 338 and max of 457. High settings drop to 331 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 317 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 114 FPS, or 26.4% relative to Low. The Medium preset’s min of 338 FPS indicates that even the worst-case frame times stay above 300 FPS, which is far beyond any display refresh rate.

At 2560x1440, the averages are lower but still substantial. Low settings produce 386 FPS, Medium yields 356 FPS (min 303, max 410), High delivers 239 FPS, and Ultra drops to 228 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 158 FPS, or 40.9%. The Medium preset’s min of 303 FPS suggests that the system never dips below 300 FPS at this resolution, even with the increased pixel count. The High setting’s 239 FPS average is a notable step down from Medium’s 356, indicating that High settings introduce a significant graphical load compared to Medium.

At 3840x2160, the data shows the most pronounced settings impact. Low settings produce 300 FPS, Medium yields 240 FPS (min 204, max 276), High delivers 150 FPS, and Ultra drops to 143 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 157 FPS, or 52.3%. The Medium preset’s min of 204 FPS shows that even at 4K, the system maintains a high floor, but the max of 276 FPS is closer to the average than at lower resolutions, suggesting tighter frame pacing. The High and Ultra presets both hover around 143–150 FPS, which is close to 144 Hz refresh rates, meaning players with 144 Hz monitors would see near-constant synchronization.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently provides the highest min FPS relative to its average. At 1080p, the min is 338 (85% of the 398 average), at 1440p the min is 303 (85% of 356), and at 4K the min is 204 (85% of 240). This consistency suggests that Medium settings produce stable frame times, likely due to balanced load between the CPU and GPU. The Low and High presets lack min/max data, but their averages are either higher (Low) or lower (High) than Medium, implying that Medium is the most predictable setting.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU’s PassMark single-thread score is 4,691, and its multithreaded score is 36,470, placing it in the 94th percentile of all CPUs. The average benchmark score of 69,996 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX (69,875, 0.2% delta) and the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70,163, -0.2% delta).

In Inside, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the FPS differences between settings are small. At 1080p Low, the average is 431, while at 1080p Ultra, it is 317. This 26.4% gap is smaller than at 4K, where the gap is 52.3%. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU’s single-thread performance (4,691 PassMark score) is the limiting factor, because the RTX 5090 can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. The boost clock of 5.50 GHz is critical here, as Inside likely relies on a few threads for game logic and rendering.

The CPU’s 8 cores and 16 threads are not fully utilized in this game, as the FPS at 1080p Low (431) is only 43.7% higher than at 4K Low (300). If the CPU were the bottleneck at 4K, the FPS would be similar across resolutions, but the data shows a clear resolution-dependent drop. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 9700F’s multi-threaded capabilities (PassMark multithread score of 36,470) are sufficient to feed the GPU at 4K, but at 1080p, the per-core performance (single-thread 4,691) becomes the constraint. The L3 cache of 32 MB shared across 8 cores may also help with the game’s asset streaming, but the simple 2D visuals likely keep cache usage low.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the PassMark database are all within 0.9% of its average score, meaning performance in Inside would be nearly identical with those chips. The Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163, which is 0.2% higher, while the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X scores 69,515, which is 0.7% lower. These deltas are negligible for a game like Inside, where the GPU is the primary driver at higher resolutions. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and AM5 socket indicate it is a mainstream desktop part, but its boost clock of 5.50 GHz places it among the fastest single-threaded processors available.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance consistency. At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 356 with a min of 303 and max of 410, meaning the system never drops below 300 FPS. This provides a smooth experience on any display, including high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K Medium, the average is 240 FPS with a min of 204, which is still far above 144 Hz. The Medium preset’s min FPS values are consistently 85% of the average across all resolutions, indicating stable frame pacing.

The High preset is a viable alternative for players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw FPS. At 1440p High, the average is 239 FPS, which is still above 144 Hz, and at 1080p High, the average is 331 FPS. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 150 FPS, which is just above 144 Hz but leaves less headroom for frame time spikes. The Ultra preset is not recommended for 4K, as the 143 FPS average is below the 144 Hz threshold, and the lack of min/max data means frame pacing is uncertain. For 1080p and 1440p, Ultra produces 317 and 228 FPS respectively, which are playable but offer diminishing returns over High.

The Low preset yields the highest FPS (431 at 1080p, 386 at 1440p, 300 at 4K), but it sacrifices visual quality. For a game like Inside, which relies on atmospheric lighting and shadows, Low settings may detract from the experience. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot, as it provides a 240 FPS average at 4K and 356 at 1440p, with min FPS values that never approach the refresh rate limits of common displays. Players with 120 Hz or 144 Hz monitors should target Medium at 4K or High at 1440p, both of which remain above 144 FPS in the measured data.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 24th out of 2,887 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 0.8% of all configurations. This high rank is expected given the RTX 5090’s position as a top-tier GPU (92nd percentile of all GPUs) and the Ryzen 7 9700F’s 94th percentile CPU ranking. The combo’s rank reflects the GPU’s dominance at higher resolutions, where the RTX 5090’s 1.79 TB/s memory bandwidth and 104.8 TFLOPS compute are fully utilized.

The ranking implies that only 23 other combos produce higher FPS in this game, likely featuring even faster CPUs or overclocked variants. However, the measured FPS data shows that this combo is already delivering over 300 FPS at 1080p Low and 240 FPS at 4K Medium, so the practical difference between rank 24 and rank 1 is minimal. The RTX 5090’s nearest rivals in the PassMark database, such as the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (0.3% delta) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (1.1% delta), are not gaming-focused hardware, which suggests that the RTX 5090’s gaming-specific features are what drive its high rank in Inside.

The combo’s rank of 24 out of 2,887 also indicates that the CPU is not holding back the GPU significantly. If the Ryzen 7 9700F were a major bottleneck, the combo would rank lower, as other configurations with faster CPUs would pull ahead. The CPU’s 5.50 GHz boost clock and 4,691 single-thread score ensure that even at 1080p, where CPU load is highest, the combo still achieves 317 FPS at Ultra. The data suggests that this pairing is overkill for Inside, but the rank confirms that it sits near the absolute top of the performance pyramid, with only a handful of exotic configurations outperforming it.