Inside

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates for Inside show a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the shape of that curve reveals important information about where the performance bottleneck sits. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 279.5 FPS, which drops to 199.2 FPS at 1440p and further to 128.1 FPS at 4K. That represents a 28.7% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.7% drop from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is not linear, and the fact that even at 4K Low the frame rate remains above 120 FPS suggests the CPU is doing substantial work to feed the GPU.

Looking at the High preset, the pattern shifts. At 1080p High, the combo produces 138.6 FPS, which falls to 99.6 FPS at 1440p (a 28.1% reduction) and then to 65.5 FPS at 4K (a 34.2% reduction from 1440p). The Ultra preset follows a similar trajectory: 132 FPS at 1080p, 94.2 FPS at 1440p, and 62.9 FPS at 4K. The consistent percentage drops across presets indicate that resolution scaling is behaving predictably, but the absolute frame rates at 4K Ultra dipping below 63 FPS marks the first point where the experience becomes less fluid.

The Medium preset offers the most interesting data point for bottleneck analysis. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 222.4 FPS, which is 60.4% higher than the High preset at the same resolution. Yet at 4K Medium, the frame rate is 101.4 FPS, which is 54.8% higher than 4K High. The gap between Medium and High narrows as resolution climbs, which points to the GPU becoming the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with 8 cores and 16 threads, is clearly capable of pushing well beyond 200 FPS at lower resolutions, but the Radeon RX 6600 XT's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth constrain the upper bounds at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The benchmark database places this specific combination at rank 1201 out of 1671 tested combos for Inside. That places it in the 28th percentile, meaning roughly 72% of all tested combinations deliver higher frame rates in this game. This ranking reflects the pairing of a high-end CPU with a mid-range GPU; the Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, while the RX 6600 XT lands in the 71st percentile among all GPUs. The composite ranking therefore drags down the CPU's strength.

When examining the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows how close the top of the CPU field is. The Intel Xeon 6353P scores 37811 in average benchmark score, just 0.1% ahead of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 37780. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 also sits 0.1% ahead, while the Intel Core i9-13900HK trails by 0.6% and the Intel Core i5-13600KF by 0.7%. These deltas are all within noise, indicating that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is competitively positioned at the very top of CPU performance. The GPU side tells a different story: the RX 6600 XT's average benchmark score of 27985 places it 0.1% ahead of the GTX 980 Ti, 0.4% ahead of the R9 M395X, but 0.9% behind the RTX 3070 and 1.5% behind the FirePro S7150. The GPU is therefore solidly mid-pack, which explains why the combo ranks where it does.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT is built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 7 nm process, with 11,060 million transistors packed into a 237 mm² die. The GPU operates with a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz. These clock speeds are respectable for the generation, but the memory subsystem is where the card shows its limitations for 4K gaming: 8 GB of GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Inside, a game that is not particularly demanding by modern standards, the 8 GB capacity is sufficient, but the bandwidth becomes relevant when comparing 1080p to 4K performance.

The GPU's benchmark scores paint a picture of a card that excels in specific workloads. Its Passmark G3D score of 16461 places it in the 71st percentile among all GPUs, while its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1804 shows DirectX 12 capability. The compute performance is modest, with a Passmark GPU compute score of 7520 and FP32 throughput of 10.60 TFLOPS. The card supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which covers all the API requirements of a 2016 puzzle platformer like Inside.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's ceiling in this game. At 4K Ultra, the combo produces 62.9 FPS, which is only marginally above the 60 FPS threshold. The GPU's pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are sufficient for this game's visual style, which relies on atmospheric lighting and silhouettes rather than dense geometric detail. The card's 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs handle the rendering load, but the 128-bit memory bus becomes the constraining factor at 4K, where the bandwidth demand outpaces what 256.0 GB/s can deliver.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance on which preset delivers the best experience. At 1080p, all four presets exceed 130 FPS, with Low at 279.5 FPS, Medium at 222.4 FPS, High at 138.6 FPS, and Ultra at 132 FPS. The jump from High to Ultra costs only 6.6 FPS, making Ultra the better choice at this resolution for users who prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. At 1440p, the story shifts: Low produces 199.2 FPS, Medium 163.2 FPS, High 99.6 FPS, and Ultra 94.2 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra narrows to 5.4 FPS, so Ultra remains viable, but Medium offers a significant frame rate advantage at 63.6 FPS over High.

At 4K, the choices become more consequential. Ultra drops to 62.9 FPS, which is below the 65.5 FPS of High. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 2.6 FPS, so neither preset provides a meaningful advantage over the other. Medium at 101.4 FPS is the standout option at 4K, offering 54.8% more frame rate than High while still maintaining acceptable visual quality. Low at 128.1 FPS is the performance king, but the visual downgrade is substantial.

The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 222.4 FPS, which is 60.4% higher than High. At 1440p Medium, 163.2 FPS represents a 63.9% improvement over High. At 4K Medium, 101.4 FPS is 54.8% better than High. The consistent advantage of Medium over High across all resolutions makes it the recommended preset for this combo, particularly for users targeting high refresh rate monitors at 1440p or maintaining fluid motion at 4K.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K Ultra?

A: The measured data shows 62.9 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is playable but close to the 60 FPS threshold. For a more comfortable margin, 4K Medium delivers 101.4 FPS.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to High?

A: At 1080p, Ultra is 6.6 FPS slower than High (132 vs 138.6). At 1440p, the difference is 5.4 FPS (94.2 vs 99.6). At 4K, Ultra is 2.6 FPS slower (62.9 vs 65.5).

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D or the RX 6600 XT the bottleneck in this game?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo produces 279.5 FPS, indicating the CPU is capable of very high frame rates. The GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where Ultra drops to 62.9 FPS.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming with this combo?

A: Medium at 163.2 FPS offers the best balance, being 63.9% faster than High while still providing good visual quality. Low reaches 199.2 FPS if maximum frame rate is the priority.

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

A: It ranks 1201 out of 1671 combos, placing it in the 28th percentile. The CPU ranks in the 90th percentile, while the GPU ranks in the 71st percentile.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance in Inside?

A: The measured data does not indicate VRAM capacity issues, as the game runs at all resolutions and presets. The 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appears more relevant to 4K performance scaling.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is the standout component in this pairing, and the benchmark data confirms its strength. Built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename, this 8-core, 16-thread processor operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The 96 MB of shared L3 cache is substantial, and the 4 nm TSMC process packs 8,315 million transistors into a 70.6 mm² die. The CPU's TDP of 120 W is modest for the performance on offer, and it supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s.

The CPU's benchmark scores are exceptional across the board. In Cinebench R23, it scores 34004 in multicore and 4800 in single-core. The Geekbench results show 18413 multicore and 3341 single-core. Passmark multithread scores 40009, with single-thread at 4430. The 3DMark results demonstrate scaling from 1212 single-thread to 10081 at 16 threads, showing near-linear scaling across the 8 cores. The CPU sits in the 90th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780, placing it among the fastest desktop processors.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is to maintain high frame rates even at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom. The data shows 279.5 FPS at 1080p Low and 222.4 FPS at 1080p Medium, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU well beyond what the RX 6600 XT can render at higher resolutions. The CPU's nearest rivals, including the Intel Xeon 6353P and Core Ultra 5 225, score within 0.1% of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, confirming that this processor is at the top of its class. For a game like Inside, which is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, the CPU provides a significant performance buffer that ensures the GPU is always the limiting factor.