Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer that is far more dependent on raw geometric throughput than modern CPU-heavy titles. The data shows a system that is heavily GPU-bound at lower resolutions and settings, while the CPU's immense cache and clock speeds ensure that frame pacing never becomes a bottleneck, even when pushing past 400 FPS.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename) and manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The processor carries a substantial 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is critical for Inside's physics and object-state tracking. The benchmark results confirm the CPU's strength: it scores 34,004 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,800 in single-core, placing it in the 90th percentile against all CPUs.

In Inside, the CPU's role is less about brute multi-threaded power and more about consistent single-thread responsiveness. The game's logic, character animation, and puzzle mechanics rely on a handful of threads. The 9800X3D's 3DMark single-thread score of 1,212 and PassMark single-thread score of 4,430 indicate that it can process game logic far faster than the GPU can render frames, which is why we observe such high average FPS figures. The CPU’s 120 TDP and unlocked multiplier suggest it is a high-end part, but in this specific title, its performance headroom is vast.

Compared to its nearest rivals, the 9800X3D is statistically tied. The Intel Xeon 6353P scores 37,811 (a 0.1% difference), the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 scores 37,831 (0.1% difference), and the Intel Core i5-13600KF scores 38,028 (0.7% difference). These deltas are negligible, meaning the 9800X3D neither gains nor loses meaningful ground in synthetic tests against these peers. However, the 3D V-Cache technology (implied by the "X3D" suffix, though not numerically detailed here) likely provides an advantage in Inside's data-heavy scenes that synthetic benchmarks do not fully capture.

The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 404.7 FPS. This is a scenario where the CPU must feed frames as fast as possible. The 9800X3D’s 5.20 GHz boost clock and 96 MB L3 cache ensure that draw calls and physics updates are processed without delay, allowing the GPU to reach its maximum output. In contrast, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 89.4, illustrating that the workload shifts entirely to the GPU, and the CPU's influence on the final frame rate diminishes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800 XT is based on the RDNA 3.0 architecture (Navi 32 chip) and manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s. The GPU's boost clock is 2430 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz. It has 3,840 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, which translates to a pixel rate of 233.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 583.2 GTexel/s. The GPU's FP32 performance is 37.32 TFLOPS.

The RX 7800 XT is the primary determinant of frame rate in Inside across all tested configurations. The GPU sits in the 76th percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 32,619. Its nearest rivals are the AMD FirePro S9300 X2 (32,540, 0.2% higher), the NVIDIA P104-100 (32,747, 0.4% lower), and the NVIDIA T600 Mobile (32,849, 0.7% lower). These rival deltas are minor, indicating that the RX 7800 XT is positioned in a tightly contested performance tier.

The VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for Inside. Even at 4K Ultra, the game's texture requirements are modest, and the 16 GB buffer ensures there is no memory swapping or stutter. The GPU's memory clock of 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective) provides ample bandwidth for the game's relatively simple 2D sprite and particle effects. The data shows a clear scaling pattern: at 1440p, the RX 7800 XT delivers 147.6 FPS on High and 142.7 FPS on Ultra, a marginal difference that suggests the GPU is approaching a rendering limit for the game's engine.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures full compatibility with the game's rendering paths. The PassMark DirectX 12 score of 93 and DirectX 11 score of 249 show that the GPU is capable of handling the API overhead efficiently. In Inside, which is not a demanding title by modern standards, the RX 7800 XT's raw rasterization power is the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The jump from 1080p High (204.5 FPS) to 1440p High (147.6 FPS) represents a 28% reduction in frame rate, which correlates directly with the increase in pixel count.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo?

A: The highest recorded average frame rate is 404.7 FPS at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has an average benchmark score of 37,780. Its closest rival, the Intel Xeon 6353P, scores 37,811, which is a 0.1% difference, indicating they are statistically equal in performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the High preset yields an average of 95.1 FPS, while the Ultra preset yields 89.4 FPS. This represents a 5.7 FPS drop (approximately 6%) when moving to Ultra.

Q: Does the GPU have enough VRAM for this game?

A: Yes. The RX 7800 XT has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory, which is vastly more than required for Inside at any resolution or setting, eliminating any possibility of VRAM-related bottlenecks.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested GPUs?

A: The RX 7800 XT is in the 76th percentile, meaning it outperforms 76% of all GPUs in the database's aggregate benchmark tests.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The data does not indicate a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 404.7 FPS, which is limited by the GPU's rendering speed. The CPU's single-thread score of 4,800 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can handle frame generation far beyond this figure.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RX 7800 XT ranks 439th out of 1,671 tested combos for Inside. This places the system in the top 26.3% of all configurations tested. Given the game's release in 2016 and its relatively simple graphics, this ranking is expected; many higher-ranked combos likely feature more powerful GPUs that push frame rates even higher at 4K Ultra.

The ranking reflects the balance of this pairing. The CPU is a top-tier part (90th percentile), while the GPU is a solid upper-midrange part (76th percentile). In a game like Inside, the GPU's performance is the deciding factor for the final ranking. The 439th position suggests that while this combo is excellent for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, it is not the absolute top-tier configuration for maximizing 4K performance, where GPUs with higher pixel rates would score better.

The data shows that this combo is well-matched in the sense that neither component is severely holding back the other. The 9800X3D's processing power ensures that the RX 7800 XT is always fed with data, even at 404.7 FPS. This is a balanced pairing that avoids the classic pitfall of a weak CPU limiting a strong GPU, or a weak GPU failing to utilize a strong CPU's potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a clear picture of how the system scales across resolutions and settings.

At 3840x2160 (4K) , the system delivers playable frame rates across all presets. The Low preset yields an average of 188.3 FPS, which is surprisingly high and indicates the game is not graphically intense. Medium settings produce 150.9 FPS, High settings produce 95.1 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 89.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is significant (55.8 FPS), suggesting that the High preset enables effects that heavily tax the GPU.

At 2560x1440 (1440p) , the performance is exceptional for high-refresh-rate monitors. Low settings hit an average of 298.8 FPS, Medium reaches 238.5 FPS, and High achieves 147.6 FPS. The Ultra preset delivers 142.7 FPS, which is only a 3.3% drop from High. This indicates that the Ultra preset at 1440p is not substantially more demanding than High, and both are well above the 144 Hz threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 1920x1080 (1080p) , the frame rates are astronomical. Low settings produce an average of 404.7 FPS, Medium produces 330 FPS, and High produces 204.5 FPS. The Ultra setting yields 197.4 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a reduction of over 50%, highlighting the GPU's sensitivity to shadow quality and post-processing effects. Even at Ultra, the frame rate is more than triple the refresh rate of a standard 60 Hz monitor, making this combo overkill for most displays at this resolution.