Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, placing 9th out of 1,671 tested combos. This pairing produces triple-digit frame rates at every resolution and settings combination, with the lowest recorded average being 141.7 FPS at 4K Ultra. The data indicates a system that is predominantly GPU-limited at lower resolutions, while the CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures headroom even at 1080p.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 7 9700X is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), built on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.50 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The chip features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. Its memory bandwidth is rated at 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel DDR5 interface.

For Inside, a puzzle platformer with relatively modest computational demands, the CPU’s high boost clock is the most relevant specification. Benchmark results show a single-thread score of 1,280 in 3DMark and 4,459 in Cinebench R23, placing the 9700X in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs. This strong single-threaded capability is crucial because the game’s logic and physics updates typically rely on one or two primary threads; the data suggests the 8-core configuration provides ample headroom, as frame rates remain consistently high even at 1080p where the CPU’s influence is most pronounced.

The processor’s multi-threaded scores, such as 31,588 in Cinebench R23 and 17,002 in Geekbench multi-core, demonstrate it is not a bottleneck in this pairing. Comparing to nearest rivals, the 9700X’s average benchmark score of 36,029 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i5-14500HX (35,940, deltaPct 0.2) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35,802, deltaPct 0.6). It trails the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H (36,165, deltaPct -0.4) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225H (36,328, deltaPct -0.8) by margins under 1%. These negligible differences mean the 9700X is squarely in the same performance tier as its immediate competitors, none of which would meaningfully alter Inside’s frame rates.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an Ada Lovelace architecture GPU with 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. It runs at a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz, with memory clocked at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). The card is equipped with 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. Its FP32 compute throughput is 82.58 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6.

For Inside, the RTX 4090’s massive memory bandwidth and pixel rate (443.5 GPixel/s) directly explain the high frame rates observed. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 141.7, which still exceeds the refresh rate of most standard displays. The GPU’s 24 GB VRAM is far beyond what Inside requires, meaning memory capacity is never a limiting factor. The card’s percentile rank among all GPUs is 91, with an average benchmark score of 66,473. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66,733, deltaPct -0.4) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097, deltaPct -0.9), though these are workstation-oriented cards; the RTX 4090’s gaming-oriented feature set makes it particularly effective in this title.

The performance scaling from low to ultra settings at any resolution is smooth, indicating that the GPU handles the incremental load without stutter. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product, but its capabilities remain top-tier for this game.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Ryzen 7 9700X and RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 9 out of 1,671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 0.5% of all systems tested, a position driven primarily by the GPU’s raw power. The rank reflects the aggregate performance across all resolutions and settings, where the combo never falls below 141.7 FPS.

To contextualize this rank, the CPU’s contribution is secondary. The 9700X’s average benchmark score (36,029) is within 0.8% of its nearest rivals, but the RTX 4090’s dominance (91st percentile) ensures that any modern mid-to-high-end CPU would produce similar frame rates in this game. The rank of 9 suggests that only a handful of combinations—likely those pairing the RTX 4090 with even faster CPUs or those leveraging higher memory bandwidth—surpass it. The gap to the top is narrow; the data shows that the combo is not bottlenecked by either component, as evidenced by the consistent scaling across settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data reveals a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields 428.1 FPS, Medium drops to 391.4 FPS, High produces 326.2 FPS, and Ultra yields 313.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 115 FPS, indicating that the GPU is still the primary limiter even at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 381.6 FPS (Low), 354.6 FPS (Medium), 236.6 FPS (High), and 225.2 FPS (Ultra). The drop from Low to High is 145 FPS, showing a steeper penalty than at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the values are 294.1 FPS (Low), 237.1 FPS (Medium), 149.5 FPS (High), and 141.7 FPS (Ultra). The transition from Low to High at 4K costs 144.6 FPS, nearly identical in absolute terms to the 1440p drop.

The data shows that the High and Ultra presets are closely grouped at every resolution, with a difference of only 7.8 FPS at 4K, 11.4 FPS at 1440p, and 13.1 FPS at 1080p. This suggests that the visual leap from High to Ultra is computationally expensive but the engine handles both similarly. Conversely, the gap between Medium and High is significant: 87.6 FPS at 4K, 118 FPS at 1440p, and 65.2 FPS at 1080p, indicating that High preset introduces a substantial rendering load.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average is 428.1 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K Ultra?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 141.7, which is the lowest recorded value for this pairing but still well above standard 60 Hz display refresh rates.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 428.1 FPS, but increasing resolution to 4K Low drops this to 294.1 FPS, showing the GPU’s workload scaling with pixel count. The CPU’s single-thread score of 1,280 in 3DMark is sufficient to feed the GPU at these rates.

Q: How much FPS is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: For Low settings, the drop is 134 FPS (from 428.1 to 294.1). For Medium, it is 154.3 FPS (391.4 to 237.1). For High, it is 176.7 FPS (326.2 to 149.5). For Ultra, it is 171.4 FPS (313.1 to 141.7).

Q: What is the difference in FPS between High and Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 13.1 FPS lower than High. At 1440p, the difference is 11.4 FPS. At 4K, it is 7.8 FPS. These small gaps suggest Ultra provides diminishing returns over High.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all other tested systems?

A: It ranks 9th out of 1,671 combinations, placing it in the top percentile for performance in Inside.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data strongly favors the High preset as the optimal balance for this combo. At 4K, High produces 149.5 FPS, which is 7.8 FPS higher than Ultra while presumably reducing visual load. The difference between High and Ultra is consistently small across all resolutions (7.8 to 13.1 FPS), suggesting that Ultra’s extra effects do not justify the performance cost for most users. Conversely, the drop from Medium to High is large (87.6 FPS at 4K), indicating that High unlocks significant visual improvements that the RTX 4090 can still handle comfortably.

For users with high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors, the Medium preset at 354.6 FPS or High at 236.6 FPS both exceed typical 240 Hz and 144 Hz panels, respectively. At 1080p, even Ultra at 313.1 FPS exceeds the fastest consumer displays, so the choice is purely aesthetic. The Low preset, while providing the highest FPS (428.1 at 1080p), is unnecessary given the headroom; the data suggests High is the sweet spot, offering robust visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a predictable GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average drops from 428.1 FPS (1080p) to 294.1 FPS (4K), a 31.3% reduction. At Medium, the drop is from 391.4 to 237.1 FPS, a 39.4% reduction. High settings see a drop from 326.2 to 149.5 FPS, a 54.2% reduction. Ultra settings fall from 313.1 to 141.7 FPS, a 54.7% reduction.

The increasing percentage drop at higher settings indicates that the GPU’s shading and texture work scales non-linearly with resolution, particularly when advanced effects are enabled. This is consistent with the RTX 4090’s specifications: its 1.01 TB/s bandwidth and 82.58 TFLOPS compute are taxed more heavily as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K. The fact that the FPS does not halve exactly (which would be a 50% drop) suggests that the CPU still provides enough headroom to mitigate some of the load, but the trend is clear—the GPU is the limiting component.

The relatively small absolute difference between 1440p and 4K at High settings (236.6 to 149.5 FPS, a 36.8% drop) versus the larger gap between 1080p and 1440p (326.2 to 236.6 FPS, a 27.5% drop) further confirms that the RTX 4090’s memory bandwidth is the key constraint. The data shows that this combo is overkill for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where frame rates exceed 225 FPS even at Ultra, and it remains highly capable at 4K, never dipping below 141.7 FPS.