Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT delivers a remarkably fluid experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on the GPU than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. The measured frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings indicate that this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate displays, with the primary performance ceiling shifting between the CPU and GPU depending on the configuration chosen. The data shows a clear hierarchy where lower resolutions and settings expose the CPU's strength, while higher resolutions and presets place the load squarely on the Radeon RX 6600 XT.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern, but with a notable twist at the highest settings. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 sees average FPS drop from 282.4 to 202, a reduction of 28.5%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average falls to 125.3, which is a 55.6% decrease from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the RX 6600 XT is the limiting factor, as the Ryzen 7 9700X's 16 threads and high single-core performance (evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 1280) are more than sufficient to feed the GPU.

However, the scaling at the High and Ultra presets tells a different story. At High settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is from 139 to 102.4 FPS, a 26.3% reduction, and then to 63.7 FPS at 4K, a 54.2% decline from 1080p. The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: 132.7 FPS at 1080p, 93.5 FPS at 1440p, and 62.3 FPS at 4K. The fact that the 4K High and Ultra scores are nearly identical (63.7 vs 62.3) suggests that the game has hit a hard GPU memory or compute ceiling. With 8 GB of VRAM and a 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth, the RX 6600 XT is being saturated at 4K, and additional graphical fidelity from the Ultra preset cannot be fully utilized without sacrificing frame rate.

The Medium preset offers the most interesting scaling behavior. It starts at 222.7 FPS at 1080p, drops to 161.1 at 1440p, and then falls to 102.9 at 4K. This represents a 53.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which is less severe than the Low preset's 55.6% drop. This suggests that the Medium preset is better balanced for this GPU, keeping the rendering pipeline busy without overwhelming the memory subsystem. The data indicates that for 4K gaming, the user should expect roughly 60-125 FPS depending on the preset, with the GPU being the definitive bottleneck at the higher quality settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear picture of the optimal trade-off between visual fidelity and performance. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 132.7 FPS is the best choice, as it provides the highest quality without dipping below the 120 FPS threshold that is desirable for a smooth experience. Even the High preset at 139 FPS offers diminishing returns over Ultra, making Ultra the clear winner at this resolution.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. The High preset delivers 102.4 FPS, which is respectable, but the Ultra preset at 93.5 FPS is still playable. However, the Medium preset at 161.1 FPS offers a substantial 57.4% performance increase over Ultra while maintaining a visual quality that is likely indistinguishable in a game like Inside, which relies on atmospheric lighting and silhouettes rather than high-frequency textures. The data suggests that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot for high-refresh-rate monitors, providing a frame rate that is 72.3% higher than Ultra.

For 4K, the situation is more constrained. The High preset at 63.7 FPS is the only one that maintains a 60 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 62.3 FPS. The Medium preset at 102.9 FPS is the best option for a smoother experience, but it sacrifices some visual effects. Given that the gap between High and Ultra at 4K is only 1.4 FPS (63.7 vs 62.3), choosing Ultra is not advisable. The optimal strategy is to use the Medium preset at 4K, which provides a 63.5% improvement over Ultra while still looking visually coherent. For players prioritizing a locked 60 FPS, the High preset is the safest bet, but the Medium preset's 102.9 FPS average leaves headroom for frame time spikes.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X + AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination ranks 1180 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the 29.4th percentile. This ranking is influenced by the GPU's position in the overall hierarchy, as the RX 6600 XT sits in the 71st percentile against all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 89th percentile. The disparity between the two components is evident: the CPU is a top-tier performer, but the GPU holds the combo back from a higher placement.

Looking at the nearest rivals for the GPU, the RX 6600 XT is nearly identical in average benchmark score to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, with a deltaPct of 0.1%. This means that in terms of raw compute, these two cards are interchangeable. The AMD Radeon R9 M395X is 0.4% slower, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 is 0.9% faster. The combo's rank of 1180 suggests that many other pairings with faster GPUs, such as the RTX 3070, would rank higher, even if they are paired with weaker CPUs.

The CPU's nearest rivals further contextualize the pairing. The Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.2% faster in average benchmark score, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is 0.4% slower. This indicates that the Ryzen 7 9700X is not the bottleneck in this combo; swapping it for a slightly weaker CPU would yield nearly identical results in Inside. The data supports the conclusion that the combo's rank is primarily determined by the GPU, and that upgrading the graphics card would be the only meaningful path to a higher percentile ranking in this specific game.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this combo?

A: The highest recorded average FPS is 282.4 at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The Ultra preset at 1080p still achieves 132.7 FPS.

Q: Is this combo capable of 4K gaming at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only with the High preset, which delivers 63.7 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 62.3 FPS, which is barely above the 60 FPS threshold. The Medium preset offers 102.9 FPS for a more comfortable margin.

Q: How does the RX 6600 XT compare to its closest rival in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RX 6600 XT has an average benchmark score of 27985. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, scores 27956, a deltaPct of 0.1% slower. The RTX 3070 is 0.9% faster with a score of 28238.

Q: Does the CPU limit performance at lower resolutions?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 282.4 FPS, which is far above the refresh rate of most monitors. The CPU's 3dmark_single_thread score of 1280 and 16 threads ensure it is not the bottleneck at any tested setting.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the High and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The High preset averages 102.4 FPS, while Ultra averages 93.5 FPS. The difference is 8.9 FPS, or approximately 9.5%.

Q: Is the combo's rank in this game influenced more by the CPU or GPU?

A: The GPU. The combo ranks 1180 out of 1671, and the RX 6600 XT is in the 71st percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 89th percentile. The GPU's lower percentile is the limiting factor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT plays the dominant role in determining this combo's performance in Inside. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the card provides a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. The measured data shows that at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 62.3 FPS, which is only 1.4 FPS lower than the High preset. This narrow gap indicates that the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth are being saturated, preventing the Ultra preset from offering any meaningful visual improvement over High without a significant performance penalty.

The GPU's clock speeds are also relevant. The base clock is 1968 MHz, the game clock is 2359 MHz, and the boost clock is 2589 MHz. These relatively high clocks, combined with 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, allow the card to achieve a pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s. However, the 4K results suggest that the card is compute-limited rather than pixel-limited, as the pixel rate should theoretically support higher frame rates.

The GPU's 32 ray accelerators (RT cores) are not a factor in Inside, as the game does not utilize ray tracing. Instead, the card's raw rasterization performance is what matters. The 10.60 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming at high frame rates, but the 4K results show a clear wall. The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a passmark_g3d score of 16461, place it in the 71st percentile, which is respectable but not top-tier. The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is adequate for this game at all tested settings, but the memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s becomes a limiting factor at 4K, as evidenced by the minimal difference between High and Ultra presets at that resolution.