Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a performance profile in Inside that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphical settings, with the GPU emerging as the primary constraint at higher loads. The data shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern from 1080p through 4K, revealing a system that is exceptionally capable at lower resolutions but begins to show its limits as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo demonstrates a steep performance gradient as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system achieves an average of 276.8 FPS, which is a remarkably high ceiling that indicates the CPU is feeding frames far faster than the display pipeline requires. Moving to Medium settings at the same resolution yields 221.6 FPS, while High settings produce 140.4 FPS, and Ultra drops to 132.6 FPS. This progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 52% reduction in frame rate, which strongly suggests that while the GPU is being tasked more heavily, the Ryzen 7 9700X has ample headroom.

Stepping up to 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with a more pronounced GPU influence. Low settings at 1440p produce 201.8 FPS, which is still extremely high, but the gap to Medium (160.5 FPS) and High (98.5 FPS) widens considerably. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 94.6 FPS, representing a 53% drop from the Low setting at the same resolution. This scaling indicates that the RX 5700 XT is beginning to work harder, but the frame rates remain well above playable thresholds.

The most revealing data point is at 3840x2160, where the GPU's limitations become obvious. Low settings at 4K produce 126 FPS, which is still respectable, but Medium drops to 99.1 FPS, High falls to 64.1 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 61.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is a 51% reduction, similar to the other resolutions, but the absolute values tell the story: this combo is not designed for maxed-out 4K gaming. The drop from 1080p Low (276.8 FPS) to 4K Low (126 FPS) represents a 54% loss, and the 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra drop (132.6 to 61.5 FPS) is a 54% loss as well. This consistent scaling pattern points to a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, with the CPU not being the limiting factor until extremely low settings are used.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a Zen 5 architecture processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, built on a 4 nm process. Its base clock of 3.80 GHz and boost clock of 5.50 GHz provide substantial single-thread performance, as evidenced by a 3dmark_single_thread score of 1280 and a geekbench_singlecore score of 3353. The multi-threaded capabilities are equally strong, with a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 31588 and a geekbench_multicore score of 17002. This processor sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36029, placing it directly between the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940, deltaPct 0.2) and the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165, deltaPct -0.4).

In the context of Inside, a puzzle platformer, the CPU's role is less about raw multi-threaded throughput and more about maintaining consistent frame pacing and handling game logic. The 16 threads provide ample parallelism for the game's physics and AI systems, but the benchmark results indicate that even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would be most stressed, the system achieves 276.8 FPS without any apparent bottleneck. The 32 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) contribute to low latency access, which is crucial for a genre that relies on precise input response. The high single-thread scores, particularly the passmark_singlethread of 4654, suggest that the 9700X can easily keep up with the game's update loop, leaving the GPU as the deciding factor for overall performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RX 5700 XT achieves a combo rank of 1232 out of 1671 tested combinations for Inside. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, which is consistent with the GPU's age and tier relative to the CPU. The Ryzen 7 9700X itself is a high-tier processor—its 89th percentile standing and average benchmark score of 36029 demonstrate that it is a top-tier component. The RX 5700 XT, however, is in the 68th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 24731, which is a more modest position. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763, deltaPct -0.1) and the Intel Arc A350M (24647, deltaPct 0.3), showing that the GPU is competitive with mid-range mobile parts.

The combination rank of 1232 out of 1671 suggests that while the CPU is holding up its end of the bargain, the GPU is dragging the overall performance down. This is a classic pairing of a modern high-end CPU with an older mid-range GPU, and the data confirms that the GPU is the bottleneck in most scenarios. The rank would likely be much higher if the CPU were paired with a more contemporary graphics card. The fact that the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 1% of its average score (the Intel Core i5-14500HX at 0.2% and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 at 0.6%) indicates that the processor is delivering expected performance, and the low combo rank is attributable almost entirely to the GPU.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Inside?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 276.8, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: At which resolution and settings does this combo dip below 60 FPS?

A: The data shows no resolution/settings combination drops below 61.5 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and 0.4% lower than the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36165).

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The RX 5700 XT is in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 24731.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The 4K Ultra result of 61.5 FPS, combined with the GPU's lower percentile (68) compared to the CPU's 89th percentile, indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

*Q: How does the combo's rank in Inside compare to the total number of tested combos?*

A: The combo ranks 1232 out of 1671 total tested combinations, placing it in the lower 26% of all tested combos.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is a RDNA 1.0 architecture GPU with 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1905 MHz and a game clock of 1755 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes strained at 4K. The GPU's performance metrics show a passmark_g3d score of 16277 and a 3dmark_steel_nomad_dx12 score of 2134, which place it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 24731 is just 0.1% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (24763) and 0.3% higher than the Intel Arc A350M (24647), indicating it sits in a competitive but not dominant position.

In Inside, the GPU's role is most evident when examining the scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (276.8 FPS) and Ultra (132.6 FPS) is 144.2 FPS, a 52% drop. At 1440p, the gap is 107.2 FPS (201.8 to 94.6), and at 4K, the gap narrows to 64.5 FPS (126 to 61.5). This diminishing absolute difference at higher resolutions is a clear sign that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck—at 4K, even the Low preset requires significant GPU work, leaving less headroom for the CPU to flex its muscles. The FP32 performance of 9.754 TFLOPS and texture rate of 304.8 GTexel/s are sufficient for a puzzle platformer, but the 8 GB VRAM capacity could be a limiting factor if the game uses high-resolution textures, though the data does not indicate any VRAM-related performance drops.

The GPU's 225 W TDP and PCIe 4.0 x16 interface are consistent with a mid-range card from its generation, and its DirectX 12 (12_1) support ensures compatibility with modern game engines. The benchmark results show that while the RX 5700 XT can push high frame rates in Inside at lower settings, it is not capable of maintaining high FPS at 4K Ultra, where it falls to 61.5 FPS. This is a direct consequence of the GPU's 64 ROPs and 2560 shading units, which are simply not enough to handle the pixel throughput required at 4K with maxed-out settings. The data confirms that for this game, the RX 5700 XT is the primary constraint, and any upgrade path would involve replacing the GPU before the CPU.