Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination ranks 440th out of 1671 tested combos for Inside, placing it comfortably in the top quarter of all systems tested. For a puzzle platformer with modest hardware demands, this ranking indicates a build that is heavily overqualified for the task, delivering performance headroom that far exceeds what the game can utilize at standard display refresh rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The 440th position out of 1671 combos represents the 73.7th percentile of all tested configurations for this specific title. This is a strong result, though the context matters: Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer with a simple art style, so even mid-range hardware from that era could run it well. The data shows this combo is not just capable but decisively positioned above the median system, meaning the bottleneck is almost entirely the game engine and its frame rate limits rather than any component deficiency.

The CPU sits in the 89th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36029. The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 76th percentile against all GPUs with an average score of 32619. The combination of a top-decile processor with an upper-quartile graphics card produces a system that has no weak links for this workload. The measured performance suggests that the CPU is doing the heavy lifting at lower resolutions, while the GPU becomes more relevant as resolution increases, though the game is light enough that both are never fully stressed.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the measured average frame rate is 88 FPS. That is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play and well within high-refresh territory for a game of this type.

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

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the measured average is 146.2 FPS. This represents a sweet spot where the frame rate is high enough for any display, and the visual quality is still excellent. 1080p yields higher frame rates but the visual difference is minimal for this art style.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X has an average benchmark score of 36029, which is 0.2% ahead of the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35940) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802). It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%.

Q: Is the RX 7800 XT significantly better than its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 7800 XT scores 32619 on average, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32540) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD FirePro S10000 (32388). It is 0.4% behind the NVIDIA P104-100 (32747) and 0.7% behind the NVIDIA T600 Mobile (32849). These deltas are negligible in real-world gaming.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average at 1920x1080 with High settings is 204.9 FPS. This is well beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, indicating the system is CPU-bound at this resolution.

Q: Does the 16 GB of video memory matter for this game?

A: For Inside, the 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on the RX 7800 XT is far more than necessary. The game's simple textures and geometry do not stress memory capacity, so the headroom is irrelevant for this title but useful for other games.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, fabricated on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with 32 MB of shared L3 cache. For a game like Inside, which is a 2D side-scrolling puzzle platformer, the CPU workload is minimal. The game does not leverage multithreading heavily, so the 16 threads are mostly idle.

Benchmark results show the CPU's strengths: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 31588 and a single-core score of 4459. The single-core performance is what matters most for Inside, as the game's physics and logic are largely single-threaded. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1280 and PassMark single-thread score of 4654 confirm this processor has ample single-core headroom. The data suggests that, at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU is the limiting factor, capping the frame rate at 409.2 FPS. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the primary constraint, but even then, the CPU's strong performance ensures no frame drops due to processing bottlenecks.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die indicate high efficiency. For a game that runs this easily, the CPU will likely never reach full load, keeping temperatures and power draw low. The 89th percentile ranking versus all CPUs reinforces that this processor is well above average, making it a non-factor in limiting performance for Inside.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 409.2 FPS on Low settings, 331.9 FPS on Medium, 204.9 FPS on High, and 196.8 FPS on Ultra. The jump from Low to Medium is a 23% drop, while the drop from Medium to High is 38%, and from High to Ultra is only 4%. This pattern shows diminishing returns on visual quality versus frame rate at higher settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 296.8 FPS on Low, 239 FPS on Medium, 146.2 FPS on High, and 142.8 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 27% reduction on Low, 28% on Medium, 29% on High, and 27% on Ultra. This consistent percentage drop indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the resolution increase directly impacts pixel fill rate.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 186.9 FPS on Low, 149.8 FPS on Medium, 94.8 FPS on High, and 88 FPS on Ultra. The reduction from 1440p to 4K is 37% on Low, 37% on Medium, 35% on High, and 38% on Ultra. These larger percentage drops confirm that 4K resolution places substantial load on the GPU, though the RX 7800 XT still maintains playable frame rates across all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system's bottleneck characteristics. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 409.2 FPS, which is extraordinarily high. This suggests the CPU is the limiting component, as the GPU has enough headroom to render far more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 9824 and Cinebench R20 multicore score of 13266 indicate strong CPU performance, but even the best CPUs cannot feed a GPU beyond a certain frame rate in a single-threaded game loop.

As resolution increases to 1440p, the frame rates drop by roughly 27-29% across all settings. This proportional scaling indicates the GPU is now the primary constraint. The RX 7800 XT's 624.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 37.32 TFLOPS FP32 performance are sufficient for 1440p, but the increased pixel count demands more from the GPU.

At 4K, the frame rates drop another 35-38% from 1440p. This steeper decline is typical of a GPU-bound scenario at high resolution. The GPU's 16 GB of memory and 256-bit bus width are not exhausted by Inside, but the sheer number of pixels at 3840x2160 requires more shading and texture work. The measured 88 FPS at 4K Ultra is still excellent, but the scaling pattern clearly shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For a game like Inside, the visual difference between Medium and Ultra is subtle due to the minimalist art style. The data shows that the High preset offers the best balance for most users. At 1080p High, the system delivers 204.9 FPS, which is more than enough for any current display. At 1440p High, the 146.2 FPS average is ideal for high-refresh monitors. Even at 4K High, the 94.8 FPS average is smooth and responsive.

The Ultra preset at 1080p yields 196.8 FPS, only 4% lower than High, while at 1440p the difference is 2.3% (142.8 vs 146.2 FPS). At 4K, the Ultra preset drops to 88 FPS, which is 7.2% lower than High. Given the negligible visual improvements from High to Ultra in a game with flat shading and limited effects, the High preset is the recommended choice. It provides the highest frame rates with a 95% of the visual fidelity of Ultra.

For players with 60 Hz displays, the Low preset at 4K (186.9 FPS) is unnecessary, but it demonstrates the system's capability. The Medium preset at 1440p (239 FPS) is also excellent. The data indicates that this combo can handle any setting combination without dropping below 88 FPS, making Inside a trivial workload for this hardware. The recommendation is to prioritize High settings at your native resolution, as it delivers the best combination of smoothness and visual quality without any measurable downside.