Inside

AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 deliver a commanding performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer where frame rates are so high that the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck. The data shows a system that handles even the most demanding settings with ease, though the scaling pattern reveals a clear shift in workload distribution as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions paint a clear picture of where this combo excels. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces an average of 428.7 FPS, which drops to 347.1 FPS at Medium and 214.6 FPS at High. This steep decline from Low to High at the same resolution indicates that the GPU is already being tasked more heavily with each graphical upgrade, yet the absolute numbers remain staggeringly high for a puzzle platformer.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern continues with Low settings yielding 310.8 FPS, Medium at 248.2 FPS, and High at 154.3 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Low to 1440p Low shows a 27.5% performance drop, which is relatively modest and suggests the CPU has ample headroom to feed the GPU even as pixel count increases. However, the gap widens significantly at High settings, where 1440p delivers 154.3 FPS versus 214.6 FPS at 1080p — a 28.1% reduction that points to the GPU becoming more influential.

At 4K, the scaling becomes even more pronounced. Low settings average 196.6 FPS, Medium drops to 157.8 FPS, and High falls to 96.4 FPS. The jump from 1080p Low to 4K Low represents a 54.1% reduction in frame rate, while the same resolution jump at High settings shows a 55.1% drop. This consistent scaling across all quality presets indicates that the RX 9070 is the limiting component at 4K, as the CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are more than capable of maintaining high frame rates but cannot compensate for the GPU's workload at higher pixel densities.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, with 4K delivering 92.6 FPS versus 208.3 FPS at 1080p — a 55.5% reduction. This close alignment across all presets suggests that resolution is the dominant factor in performance scaling, with the GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256-bit bus being sufficient to handle 4K textures without introducing memory bandwidth constraints.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 9070's specifications directly explain its behavior in Inside. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1330 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with a game clock of 2070 MHz that represents the typical sustained frequency during gaming workloads. The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for this title's art style and texture requirements.

The GPU's 3584 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 128 raster operation units provide the raw compute throughput needed for the game's lighting and particle effects. The 56 ray tracing cores are present but likely underutilized in a puzzle platformer that does not emphasize real-time ray tracing. The FP32 performance of 36.13 TFLOPS gives the card substantial headroom for pixel shading, yet the benchmark results show that even this capability is not fully stressed at lower resolutions.

At 1080p, the frame rates exceeding 400 FPS at Low settings indicate that the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The Ryzen 7 9700X's single-thread score of 1280 in 3DMark and 4459 in Cinebench R23 single-core demonstrate strong per-core performance, but the game's engine appears to be limited by draw call submission and physics updates rather than raw GPU throughput. The benchmark results support this interpretation: at 1080p Low, the GPU is effectively idle-waiting for the CPU, while at 4K Ultra, the GPU's workload becomes the limiting factor.

The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design are consistent with a mid-to-high-range card, and its performance in 3DMark Steel Nomad (6290) and PassMark G3D (25381) places it in the 79th percentile of all GPUs. This positioning aligns with the measured results, where the card delivers smooth gameplay at 4K but cannot reach the triple-digit frame rates that the CPU can enable at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: The average frame rate drops from 214.6 FPS at 1080p to 96.4 FPS at 4K, representing a 55.1% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is the scaling bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 9700X bottleneck the RX 9070 in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 428.7 FPS, which is exceptionally high and suggests CPU limitations. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads provide strong multithreaded performance, but the game's engine appears to cap frame rates based on per-core performance.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at the same resolution?

A: At 1440p, Ultra delivers 145.4 FPS versus 154.3 FPS for High, a 5.8% difference. At 1080p, the gap narrows to 208.3 FPS versus 214.6 FPS, a 2.9% difference. The small deltas suggest diminishing returns from the Ultra preset.

Q: Is the 16 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gameplay in this title?

A: The 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 644.6 GB/s of bandwidth. The 4K Ultra average of 92.6 FPS indicates that memory capacity and bandwidth are sufficient, as performance drops are attributable to compute workload rather than memory limitations.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems?

A: This combination ranks 353rd out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the top 21.1% of all systems tested. This reflects the strong overall performance of the CPU and GPU pair.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9700X's average benchmark score is 36029, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i5-14500HX and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845. It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H by 0.4% and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225H by 0.8%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the gameplay experience. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 214.6 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display, while Medium offers 347.1 FPS for competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors. The Low preset at 428.7 FPS is excessive for most users but demonstrates the system's headroom.

At 1440p, High settings produce 154.3 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz displays. Medium at 248.2 FPS and Low at 310.8 FPS offer additional performance for users with higher refresh rates, though the visual quality trade-off may not be worth it for a game like Inside that relies on atmospheric presentation.

For 4K, the High preset at 96.4 FPS is the sweet spot, providing smooth gameplay on 60Hz displays with room to spare. Ultra at 92.6 FPS offers marginal visual improvements for a 4% performance cost, making it a viable choice for users who prioritize image quality. Medium at 157.8 FPS is excellent for 144Hz 4K monitors, while Low at 196.6 FPS maximizes performance for competitive scenarios.

The optimal configuration depends on the display's refresh rate. For 1080p and 1440p users with 144Hz+ monitors, the High preset balances visual fidelity with frame rates that fully utilize the display. For 4K users with 60Hz displays, the Ultra preset is recommended, as the frame rate remains above 90 FPS while delivering the best visual experience. Users with 4K 120Hz+ panels should select Medium settings to maintain frame rates above 150 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and AMD Radeon RX 9070 combination ranks 353rd out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 21.1% of all systems. This ranking reflects the synergistic performance of the 8-core Zen 5 processor and the RDNA 4.0 GPU, which together deliver frame rates that exceed the requirements of almost any display configuration.

The CPU's 89th percentile ranking among all processors and the GPU's 79th percentile among all GPUs combine to produce a system that is well-balanced for this title. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (1280 in 3DMark single-thread, 4459 in Cinebench R23 single-core) ensures that the game's physics and logic run efficiently, while the GPU's 36.13 TFLOPS of FP32 compute provides ample pixel throughput.

Relative to other tested systems, this combo's ranking is impressive but not top-tier, reflecting the fact that Inside is not a demanding title and even mid-range components can achieve high frame rates. The data shows that the combination excels at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU's 16 GB memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth prevent bottlenecks. The main limitation is the CPU at 1080p Low settings, where the frame rate of 428.7 FPS suggests that the processor's per-core performance is the ceiling for this workload.

The ranking also places this combo ahead of the majority of systems, with the CPU's nearest rivals showing that it is competitive with Intel's latest mobile and desktop offerings. The 0.2% advantage over the Intel Core i5-14500HX and the 0.6% advantage over the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 indicate that the 9700X provides comparable or better performance than similarly positioned processors, making this combined system a strong choice for high-refresh-rate gaming.