Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2301st out of 2887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the bottom 20% of all tested systems. This relatively low ranking is surprising given the hardware's individual capabilities, but it is important to contextualize this within the game's age and the nature of the benchmark pool. This rank does not indicate poor playability; rather, it reflects the 9700X's and B570's positions among a vast array of hardware, many of which are specialized or newer. The benchmark data shows that this combo delivers a highly playable experience across all tested settings, with the primary limitation being the GPU at higher resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 2301 out of 2887 places it in the lower percentile of tested configurations for this title. This is a puzzle platformer with a release date of 2016-07-06, meaning the benchmark pool includes many older and more powerful configurations that excel in this specific workload. The CPU, however, is a high-end modern part, holding an 86th percentile rank against all CPUs in the broader database, with an average benchmark score of 37943. The GPU is less dominant, sitting at the 65th percentile against all GPUs with an average score of 20556. The disparity between the CPU's high percentile and the combo's low game rank suggests that the game's engine is not heavily reliant on the CPU's strengths, and the GPU becomes the primary determinant of the final ranking.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows it is extremely competitive. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is a mere 0.1% ahead of the Intel Core i9-14901E in average benchmark score, and also 0.1% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 370. It is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core 5 211E and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI Embedded P132. These negligible deltas indicate that in terms of raw processing power, the 9700X is at the very top of its performance class, but this edge does not translate into a high game-specific rank. The game's performance is clearly gated by the graphics solution, as the GPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Arc A750, which it trails by 0.1%, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, which it leads by 0.1%. The GPU's performance is solidly mid-pack, which drags the overall combo ranking down for a game that is not graphically demanding at lower settings.

The measured FPS data confirms that the combo's low rank is not a reflection of poor real-world performance. At 1080p, the lowest average FPS recorded is 114 on Ultra settings, which is still exceptionally smooth. The ranking system likely weighs the performance of the absolute fastest combos, where FPS counts can reach into the hundreds or thousands, making this combo's 114-240 FPS range appear modest by comparison. The data indicates that this is a well-balanced pairing for this game, but it is not optimized to compete with the top-tier, high-refresh-rate builds that dominate the upper ranks of the benchmark chart.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the "Medium" preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, providing a substantial frame rate buffer while maintaining acceptable minimums. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset delivers an average of 192 FPS with a minimum of 163 FPS and a maximum of 221 FPS. This is a significant jump from the High preset, which averages 120 FPS, and it provides a smoother experience than the Ultra preset, which averages 114 FPS. The 240 FPS achieved on Low is technically the highest, but the visual compromise is likely too steep for a game that relies on atmospheric detail.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Medium preset remains the sweet spot. It achieves an average of 138 FPS with a minimum of 117 FPS and a maximum of 159 FPS. This is more than sufficient for a smooth experience on a high-refresh-rate monitor and is a 60% improvement over the High preset's 86 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 82 FPS, which is still playable but introduces a higher risk of noticeable frame pacing issues compared to the stable Medium results. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 172 FPS, but again, the visual quality hit is significant.

At 3840x2160, the recommendation shifts. The Medium preset delivers an average of 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS and a maximum of 100 FPS. This is the only 4K preset that maintains an average above 60 FPS, making it the definitive choice for 4K gaming. The High preset averages 54 FPS, which dips below the 60 FPS threshold and is less ideal. The Ultra preset averages 52 FPS, and while the Low preset achieves 108 FPS, the visual degradation at 4K resolution is likely to be more noticeable than at lower resolutions. For players prioritizing a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, Medium is the clear winner. For those with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p displays, Medium provides the performance headroom to fully utilize the display's capabilities without sacrificing too much visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly identifies the Intel Arc B570 as the limiting component in this configuration. The data shows a stark difference in scaling between the Low and Ultra presets, which is indicative of the GPU's workload. At the Low preset, the average FPS drops from 240 at 1920x1080 to 172 at 2560x1440 (a 28% decrease), and then to 108 at 3840x2160 (a 37% decrease from 1440p). This scaling is expected as the GPU is filling more pixels.

However, the scaling on the Ultra preset is more aggressive. The average FPS drops from 114 at 1920x1080 to 82 at 2560x1440 (a 28% decrease), and then to 52 at 3840x2160 (a 37% decrease from 1440p). While the percentage drops are similar, the absolute drop from 1080p to 4K on Ultra is 62 FPS, whereas on Low it is 132 FPS. This indicates that at higher settings, the GPU is not just filling more pixels but is also being stressed by more complex shading and effects, leading to a more significant performance hit. The 1080p to 4K scaling factor for the Ultra preset is 2.19x, meaning the 4K performance is less than half of the 1080p performance. For the Low preset, the scaling factor is 2.22x, which is remarkably similar, suggesting the game's rendering pipeline is consistent across settings but that the GPU's raw fillrate and compute capacity are the bottlenecks at 4K.

The data strongly suggests a GPU-bound scenario. The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X, with its 8 cores and 16 threads, is more than capable of feeding the GPU at all resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see a smaller performance gap between 1080p and 4K, as the CPU workload would remain constant. Instead, the significant FPS drops at higher resolutions indicate that the Intel Arc B570's processing power is being fully utilized. The 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for this game at 4K, but the 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the limiting factor for pushing high frame rates at that resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS data provides a clear picture of the combo's performance across all tested scenarios. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low preset averages 240 FPS, Medium averages 192 FPS with a minimum of 163 and maximum of 221, High averages 120 FPS, and Ultra averages 114 FPS. This shows a clear hierarchy, with a massive 120 FPS gap between Low and Medium, and a relatively small 6 FPS gap between High and Ultra. This suggests that the Ultra preset adds very little graphical overhead compared to High, but the Medium preset offers a substantial performance advantage.

At 2560x1440, the same pattern emerges. Low averages 172 FPS, Medium averages 138 FPS (min 117, max 159), High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 82 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 52 FPS, which is substantial, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 4 FPS. This reinforces the idea that the High to Ultra transition is not costly, but the Medium to High transition is where the GPU begins to struggle. The minimum FPS for Medium at 1440p is 117, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the performance metrics become more critical. Low averages 108 FPS, Medium averages 87 FPS (min 74, max 100), High averages 54 FPS, and Ultra averages 52 FPS. The data here is telling: the GPU can handle 4K on Low and Medium, but falls below the 60 FPS average threshold on High and Ultra. The minimum FPS of 74 on Medium is reassuring, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 60. The High and Ultra presets, with averages of 54 and 52 respectively, are likely to experience noticeable stutters and dips, making them less desirable for a consistent gaming experience.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is the primary performance driver in this game, and its specifications directly correlate with the observed FPS. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, which work together to render the game's visuals. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory, with a 160-bit bus and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth, is adequate for the game's textures and assets at all tested resolutions. The memory clock is listed at 2375 MHz or 19 Gbps effective, which contributes to the 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. This bandwidth is sufficient to prevent memory bandwidth from being a bottleneck, as the game is not texture-heavy enough to saturate it.

The GPU's compute capabilities are defined by its 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. The 5 nm process node from TSMC, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, gives the GPU a transistor density of 72.1M / mm². The boost clock of 2500 MHz is constant, and the pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are directly responsible for the fill rate performance we see at 4K. The data shows that the GPU's raw compute power is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 52. The RT cores (18) and the support for DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2) are present, but this game does not utilize ray tracing, so their impact is minimal.

The GPU's benchmark performance, with a 65th percentile rank and an average score of 20556, places it in a competitive mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, is a direct predecessor and is only 0.1% faster, indicating that the B570 is a marginal improvement over the previous generation. The GPU's performance in this game, particularly the 87 FPS average at 4K Medium, is a testament to its efficiency. However, the 54 FPS and 52 FPS averages at 4K High and Ultra, respectively, show that the GPU lacks the headroom to handle the highest settings at 4K. The 150 W TDP and suggested 450 W PSU are the power requirements, but these do not directly affect the in-game performance metrics.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X plays a supporting role in this game, providing more than enough processing power to avoid becoming a bottleneck. The CPU is a Zen 5 architecture part, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on a 4 nm process node from TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz. This high boost clock, combined with a substantial 32 MB of shared L3 cache, ensures that the CPU can quickly feed data to the GPU. The 89.6 GB/s of memory bandwidth from the dual-channel DDR5 memory support is also a positive factor, though the game is not memory-bandwidth sensitive.

The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive. It achieves a single-thread score of 2211 in Cinebench R23 and a multi-core score of 20485. In Geekbench, it scores 3023 single-core and 17906 multi-core. These scores place it in the 86th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37943. The nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14901E, are within 0.1% of its performance, confirming that the 9700X is a top-tier processor. In the context of Inside, which is not a multi-threaded game, the CPU's single-core performance is the most relevant metric. The 1280 score in 3DMark's single-thread test and the 4654 score in Passmark's single-thread test indicate a very fast core.

The data from the FPS scaling confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The fact that the FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, while the CPU workload remains relatively constant, proves that the GPU is the primary constraint. The CPU's 8 cores and 16 threads are far more than what this puzzle platformer requires, and the high boost clock ensures that frame times remain consistent. The CPU's 65W TDP and unlocked multiplier are features that do not directly impact game performance but do reflect its efficiency and overclocking potential. The CPU's role is to provide a stable platform, and it does so without issue, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of the final frame rate.