Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT delivers a commanding performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding at high refresh rates than its minimalist art style suggests. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings place this combination in the top tier of tested hardware, with the data showing a clear ability to saturate even the fastest displays. This analysis breaks down the specific performance metrics, the role of the GPU's specifications, and provides practical guidance based on the measured results.

How This Combo Ranks

The data places this CPU-GPU pairing at rank 154 out of 1671 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the top 9.2% of all configurations evaluated. This high ranking is consistent with the hardware's raw capabilities: the Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits in the 90th percentile against all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 37780, while the Radeon RX 7900 XT achieves an 82nd percentile ranking among GPUs with an average score of 38358. The combo's performance is particularly notable given that Inside is a 2D side-scroller, yet the data shows frame rates that rival or exceed those of many 3D titles on similar hardware.

When examining the CPU's position relative to its nearest rivals, the Ryzen 7 9800X3D's average score of 37780 is essentially tied with the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811, deltaPct -0.1%) and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831, deltaPct -0.1%). The AMD chip is only 0.6% behind the Intel Core i9-13900HK (38020) and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028). These sub-1% differences indicate that in synthetic multi-threaded workloads, the 9800X3D is statistically indistinguishable from its closest competitors, meaning the combo's strong in-game ranking is driven more by the GPU and the CPU's specific architectural strengths rather than raw multi-core dominance.

The GPU's position among its rivals tells a similar story of near-parity at the top. The RX 7900 XT's average score of 38358 is exactly matched by the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 Mobile (38349, deltaPct 0%). It is 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA CMP 70HX (38225) and 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (38494). The deltaPct values are all within 0.6%, confirming that in general compute benchmarks, these GPUs are effectively interchangeable. That the combo still achieves a top-10% rank in Inside suggests the game's specific rendering path favors this hardware combination's particular balance of CPU cache and GPU bandwidth.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7900 XT brings substantial resources to Inside's rendering pipeline. The GPU is built on the Navi 31 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture, featuring 5376 shading units, 336 texture mapping units, and 192 raster operation units. The memory subsystem is generous: 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus delivers 800.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for maintaining high frame rates at 4K with high-resolution textures. The clock behavior is also noteworthy, with a base clock of 1387 MHz, a boost clock of 2394 MHz, and a game clock of 2025 MHz, allowing the GPU to dynamically scale based on workload demands.

In Inside, the GPU's role is to handle the game's atmospheric effects, dynamic lighting, and particle systems, which scale significantly with resolution. The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern: at 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops from 225.9 at Low settings to 103.5 at Ultra, a reduction of 54.2% that highlights the GPU's workload intensity at 4K. The 20 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient for the game's needs, even at Ultra settings, as evidenced by the fact that the GPU is not memory-limited at any tested configuration. The 800.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and shader execution never become bottlenecks.

The GPU's PCIe 4.0 x16 interface pairs well with the CPU's Gen 5, 24-lane PCIe support, though Inside's data transfer requirements are modest enough that this interface width is not a limiting factor. The RDNA 3.0 architecture's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) aligns with the game's modern rendering features, and the 84 ray accelerators provide dedicated hardware for any ray-traced effects, though Inside's known visual style relies more on rasterization than ray tracing. The measured results confirm that the GPU's 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than adequate for this title, with even the most demanding Ultra 4K configuration maintaining an average above 100 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Inside with this hardware?*

A: The data shows that all three tested resolutions—1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160—are playable at every settings level. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 103.5, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. For maximum visual fidelity, 3840x2160 Ultra is viable, while 2560x1440 offers a better balance with 171.9 FPS at Ultra.

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

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 246.6 at 1920x1080 to 113 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 54.2%. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 233.2 to 103.5, a 55.6% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor, with resolution affecting frame rate nearly linearly in this title.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D a bottleneck for the RX 7900 XT in this game?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not a bottleneck. The 9800X3D's 96 MB of shared L3 cache and 8-core, 16-thread configuration provide ample headroom. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1212 and multi-thread score of 10081 suggest it can feed the GPU efficiently, and the consistent scaling from Low to Ultra settings across all resolutions confirms GPU-bound behavior.

Q: What settings preset provides the highest frame rate at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 225.9, followed by Medium at 180.3. High provides 113 FPS, and Ultra drops to 103.5. For competitive play or high-refresh-rate monitors, Low or Medium at 4K would be recommended, while Ultra is still playable for slower-paced puzzle segments.

*Q: How does this combo compare to other top configurations for Inside?*

A: With a rank of 154 out of 1671 combos, this pairing is in the top 9.2% of all tested systems. The CPU's performance is within 0.7% of its closest rivals (Intel Core i5-13600KF), and the GPU is within 0.6% of its nearest competitors (NVIDIA GeForce MX570), yet the combined result places it far ahead of the median configuration.

*Q: Does the 20 GB VRAM provide any benefit in Inside?*

A: The 20 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is far larger than Inside's requirements, but the 800.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that high-resolution textures and effects load without stutter. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 103.5 shows no memory-related dips, confirming that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor in any tested scenario.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rate data provides a complete picture of this combo's performance across twelve distinct configurations. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, frame rates are exceptionally high: Low settings produce an average of 403.4 FPS, Medium 374 FPS, High 246.6 FPS, and Ultra 233.2 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 42.2%, indicating that even at 1080p, the GPU's workload scales noticeably with visual fidelity. The 1080p results show that this hardware is capable of driving 360 Hz or 400 Hz monitors even at Ultra settings, though the differences between Medium and High (127.4 FPS) are significant.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains excellent. Low settings average 354.8 FPS, Medium 283.1 FPS, High 179.9 FPS, and Ultra 171.9 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent: Low drops by 13.7%, Medium by 24.3%, High by 27.1%, and Ultra by 26.3%. This scaling pattern shows that at 1440p, the GPU is still the primary limiting factor, but the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache helps maintain high minimum frame rates during complex scenes, as evidenced by the relatively small drop from High to Ultra (8 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the most demanding configuration, the average FPS values are 225.9 (Low), 180.3 (Medium), 113 (High), and 103.5 (Ultra). The 4K results show a more pronounced drop from Medium to High (67.3 FPS) compared to 1440p (103.2 FPS), suggesting that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being saturated more heavily at this resolution. The Ultra setting at 4K still maintains an average above 100 FPS, which is remarkable for a game with this visual style, and the 20 GB VRAM ensures no texture pop-in or frame drops during memory-intensive sequences.

The data reveals an interesting pattern in the settings scaling: the difference between Low and Medium is relatively small at all resolutions (45.6 FPS at 1080p, 71.7 FPS at 1440p, 45.6 FPS at 4K), while the jump from Medium to High is much larger (127.4 FPS at 1080p, 103.2 FPS at 1440p, 67.3 FPS at 4K). This indicates that the High preset introduces significant additional graphical effects beyond Medium, likely including advanced lighting and shadow rendering, which the RX 7900 XT handles well but with a measurable performance cost.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target display refresh rate and resolution. For 1920x1080 displays with refresh rates up to 240 Hz, the Ultra preset is the best choice, delivering an average of 233.2 FPS that comfortably exceeds 240 Hz thresholds. Even for 360 Hz esports monitors, the Medium preset at 374 FPS provides ample headroom, while the Low preset at 403.4 FPS is only marginally faster and sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset at 171.9 FPS is ideal for 144 Hz or 165 Hz monitors, providing a smooth experience with all visual features enabled. For 240 Hz displays, the High preset at 179.9 FPS is the better option, as it offers identical performance headroom to Ultra but with fewer graphical effects that are less noticeable during fast-paced gameplay. The Medium preset at 283.1 FPS is overkill for most 1440p monitors but would be necessary for 360 Hz displays, though the visual compromise from High to Medium is substantial.

For 3840x2160, the High preset at 113 FPS is the recommended balance, providing excellent visual quality while maintaining frame rates above 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 103.5 FPS is also viable for 60 Hz or 120 Hz 4K displays, and the data shows that the visual upgrade from High to Ultra is worth the 9.5 FPS average loss. The Medium preset at 180.3 FPS is ideal for 144 Hz 4K monitors, but the drop from High to Medium is significant (67.3 FPS), suggesting that players with 120 Hz displays should prefer High or Ultra. The Low preset at 225.9 FPS is only recommended for competitive scenarios where maximum frame rate is paramount, though Inside's puzzle-platformer nature rarely demands such performance.

The overall best experience across all resolutions is achieved with the High preset, which offers the most balanced tradeoff between visual fidelity and frame rate. At 4K High, the 113 FPS average is 9.2% faster than Ultra, while at 1440p High, the 179.9 FPS is 4.7% faster than Ultra. The data clearly shows that this hardware combination has enough headroom to run Inside at maximum settings on any modern display, with the only real decision being whether to prioritize visual effects (Ultra) or frame rate headroom (High).