Inside

The pairing of AMD’s Ryzen 7 9700X with the Radeon RX 570 in Inside presents a stark study in bottleneck dynamics. The CPU is a modern, high-end part, while the GPU is an end-of-life Polaris 20 chip from 2017. The measured frame rates show a system where the graphics card’s 4 GB of VRAM and GCN 4.0 architecture are the primary constraints, especially as resolution and settings scale upward. The data indicates that while the CPU has ample headroom, the GPU determines playability across nearly all tested configurations.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Inside?*

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution where the combo consistently hits high refresh rates. At Low settings, it averages 137.8 FPS, and even at Ultra, it maintains 61.9 FPS. At 1440p, the average drops to 96.7 FPS on Low, but falls to 48.6 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, only the Low preset (60.6 FPS) achieves a 60 FPS average.

Q: How does the RX 570’s VRAM affect performance?

A: The Radeon RX 570 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is the most likely cause of the significant frame rate collapse when moving from High to Ultra settings at 1080p, where the average drops from 65.6 FPS to 61.9 FPS, and from 47.5 FPS to 48.6 FPS at 1440p, indicating that the Ultra preset may be exceeding the memory buffer.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9700X a bottleneck in this game?

A: Benchmark data suggests it is not. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 31588 and single-core score of 4459 indicate substantial processing power. The fact that frame rates scale dramatically with resolution and settings—from 137.8 FPS at 1080p Low to 31.1 FPS at 4K Ultra—points to the GPU as the limiting factor, not the CPU.

Q: How does this combo rank among other tested systems?

A: It ranks 1594 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 5% of all configurations. This low ranking is attributable to the GPU’s age and performance class, despite the CPU’s high percentile ranking (89th percentile vs. all CPUs).

Q: What is the playable preset at 4K resolution?

A: Only the Low preset is viable at 4K, producing an average of 60.6 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 47.8 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 34.1 and 31.1 FPS respectively, making them less desirable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the RX 570 compare to its nearest rivals in raw compute?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 30158, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 (30109) and AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30097), with delta percentages of 0.2% in both cases. This suggests that in synthetic tests, it is competitive with those newer cards, though real-world gaming results may differ due to feature support.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 570, based on the Polaris 20 chip with a GCN 4.0 architecture, is the definitive performance anchor in this configuration. Its 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM is a critical resource for Inside, which, despite being a puzzle platformer, features a dark, atmospheric art style that can be demanding on memory. The card’s 2048 shading units and 32 ROPs operate at a base clock of 1168 MHz and a boost clock of 1244 MHz, yielding a pixel rate of 39.81 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 159.2 GTexel/s.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 224.0 GB/s, achieved via a 256-bit bus and 7 Gbps effective memory speed, is adequate for 1080p but begins to strain at higher resolutions. The measured data illustrates this: at 1080p High, the system produces 65.6 FPS, but at 1440p High, it drops to 47.5 FPS, a 27.6% reduction. This scaling pattern is classic GPU-bound behavior, where the rendering load increases faster than the memory subsystem can feed the cores. The GPU’s FP32 performance of 5.095 TFLOPS is sufficient for the game’s physics and lighting, but the card’s age—released in 2017—means it lacks modern optimizations, and its DirectX 12 (12_0) support is basic.

The data shows that the GPU’s limitations are most apparent when transitioning from Medium to Ultra settings. At 1080p, the jump from Medium (106.6 FPS) to High (65.6 FPS) is a massive 38.5% drop, suggesting that High enables effects that tax the Polaris architecture heavily. The CPU, by contrast, is a Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) part with 8 cores and 16 threads, boosting to 5.50 GHz, and its 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 indicates it can easily feed the GPU. The imbalance is clear: the Ryzen 7 9700X is operating far below its potential, while the RX 570 is running at its limits.

Resolution Scaling

The performance degradation from 1080p to 4K is severe and consistent with a GPU-limited scenario. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 137.8 FPS, which is excellent. Dropping the resolution to 1440p Low yields 96.7 FPS (a 29.8% decrease), and at 4K Low, the average falls to 60.6 FPS (a 56.0% decrease from 1080p). This linear scaling with pixel count indicates the GPU’s fillrate and bandwidth are being saturated.

The trend is similar across all settings but with steeper drops at higher presets. For High settings, the frame rates are 65.6 FPS at 1080p, 47.5 FPS at 1440p, and 34.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27.6%, and from 1440p to 4K is 28.2%, showing a consistent penalty per pixel. This uniformity suggests that the GPU’s compute units are the bottleneck, not a specific feature like VRAM overflow, which would cause non-linear collapses.

The data implies that at 1080p, the system has enough headroom to allow the CPU to shine, but as resolution increases, the GPU’s 5.095 TFLOPS of compute and 224.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth become insufficient. For example, the 4K Ultra average of 31.1 FPS is just 22.6% of the 1080p Low score, highlighting how the Polaris 20 chip struggles with 8.3 million pixels. The limiting component is unequivocally the RX 570; a stronger GPU would show smaller relative drops between resolutions, as the CPU would begin to matter more.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing is near the bottom, ranking 1594 out of 1671. This places it in the 4.6th percentile of all combos, indicating that it is outperformed by 95.4% of systems tested. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s age and class, as the CPU is a top-tier part.

The Ryzen 7 9700X’s average benchmark score of 36029 puts it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs, with rivals like the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802) being within 0.6% of its score. In contrast, the RX 570’s average score of 30158 is only in the 74th percentile of all GPUs, yet its nearest rivals are surprisingly close: the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 scores 30109 (0.2% lower) and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 30097 (0.2% lower). This proximity in synthetic benchmarks is misleading, as those newer GPUs likely have better driver support and feature sets that the 2017 Polaris 20 chip lacks.

The combo’s low rank is reflected in the measured FPS data. While the CPU can push over 130 FPS in lighter scenes, the average scores across all settings are dominated by GPU limits. For instance, the 1080p Ultra average of 61.9 FPS is lower than what a modern mid-range GPU would achieve, and the 4K Ultra result of 31.1 FPS is borderline unplayable. The rank of 1594 suggests that most other tested systems, likely with more balanced pairings, deliver better overall performance in Inside. This is a case where the CPU’s potential is wasted, and the system’s overall standing is dragged down by the weakest link.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience depends heavily on the target resolution. For 1080p, the High preset delivers a solid 65.6 FPS, which is smooth for a puzzle platformer. The Ultra preset, however, only increases the visual load to achieve 61.9 FPS, a marginal gain that may not be worth the performance cost. The Medium preset at 106.6 FPS offers a better balance for high-refresh-rate displays, but High is the sweet spot for visual fidelity without sacrificing frame stability.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (75.6 FPS) is the best choice, as it provides a playable frame rate while maintaining a moderate level of detail. High (47.5 FPS) and Ultra (48.6 FPS) are too close in performance to justify the extra load, and both fall below the 60 FPS threshold, which can cause noticeable judder in a game with precise platforming mechanics. The Low preset (96.7 FPS) is viable for competitive play but strips away the atmospheric effects that define Inside’s aesthetic.

For 4K, the only acceptable preset is Low, which achieves 60.6 FPS. Medium (47.8 FPS) and High (34.1 FPS) are playable but not ideal, and Ultra (31.1 FPS) should be avoided due to the risk of frame pacing issues. The data suggests that users with a 4K display should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p to unlock higher quality presets. Ultimately, the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and 14 nm process are the limiting factors, and the recommendations above are designed to work within those constraints to provide the most consistent experience.