Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 produces a profoundly lopsided combination in Inside, where the CPU’s immense processing headroom is almost entirely wasted by the GPU’s modest rendering throughput. The measured frame rates show that this pairing ranks 1597th out of 1671 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom percentile of system configurations. The data indicates that the GTX 1650 is the definitive performance limiter across all tested resolutions, with the 9800X3D never coming close to being a bottleneck in this 2D puzzle platformer.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU’s cache configuration is substantial: 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a massive 96 MB of shared L3 cache. This processor scores 34004 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4800 in single-core, with a Passmark multi-thread score of 40009 and a single-thread score of 4430. Its average benchmark score of 37780 places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs.

In Inside, a game that does not demand high thread counts or complex physics calculations, the 9800X3D’s capabilities are entirely superfluous. The game’s puzzle-platformer nature means that even at 1080p with Low settings, where the CPU would theoretically be most stressed, the measured average of 134.2 FPS is still constrained by the GPU. The closest rivals to the 9800X3D in synthetic benchmarks—the Intel Xeon 6353P (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (deltaPct -0.1), Intel Core i9-13900HK (deltaPct -0.6), and Intel Core i5-13600KF (deltaPct -0.7)—all show that the 9800X3D is statistically tied with these processors in raw compute. However, none of this headroom translates into higher frame rates in Inside, because the GTX 1650’s rendering limits are reached long before the CPU’s processing capabilities are taxed.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU (TU117 chip) built on a 12 nm process, featuring 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1485 MHz with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and its memory operates at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). Its FP32 performance is rated at 2.984 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. The GTX 1650 scores 7880 in Passmark G3D and 39112 in Geekbench OpenCL, placing it in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 8713.

This GPU is the single dominant factor in Inside’s performance profile. The measured frame rates show a clear ceiling: at 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 62.6, while at 4K Ultra, it drops to 28.8. The GTX 1650’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (deltaPct -0.4), AMD Radeon 550X (deltaPct -0.4), NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (deltaPct 0.5), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (deltaPct -0.5). These rivals are all within 0.5% of the GTX 1650’s synthetic score, indicating that this GPU is at the very bottom of the performance tier that can still run Inside at playable frame rates. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for this game’s simple visuals, but the raw compute throughput limits the resolution and settings combinations that can achieve smooth gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS achievable with this combo in Inside?

A: The highest measured average is 134.2 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next best is 107.5 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance compared to the GPU in this game?

A: The CPU’s impact is negligible. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D scores in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, but the GTX 1650’s 43rd percentile GPU score means the GPU is always the limiting factor. The frame rates scale with resolution and settings exactly as expected for a GPU-bound workload.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this combination?

A: At 4K, the only playable setting is Low, which produces an average of 62.5 FPS. High settings at 4K drop to 32.2 FPS, Medium to 49.4 FPS, and Ultra to 28.8 FPS, making those presets unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: What settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings yield 75.1 FPS average, which is a solid experience. High settings drop to 47.5 FPS, while Low offers 98 FPS and Ultra only 45.7 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1650 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1650 has an average benchmark score of 8713. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100, is 0.5% faster, while the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile and AMD Radeon 550X are 0.4% faster. The NVIDIA Quadro P2200 is 0.5% slower.

Q: Does the 9800X3D’s large L3 cache provide any benefit in Inside?

A: The 96 MB of shared L3 cache does not translate into higher frame rates in this game. The measured FPS at all resolutions and settings are consistent with GPU-bound performance, showing no evidence that CPU cache capacity or speed influences the results.

How This Combo Ranks

This configuration ranks 1597th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 5% of all system pairings. This ranking is almost entirely attributable to the GTX 1650, which sits in the 43rd percentile of all GPUs. The CPU, conversely, is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, creating an extreme imbalance where the processor’s capabilities are completely untapped. The rank indicates that nearly every other combination of CPU and GPU tested for this game outperforms this pairing, regardless of whether those systems have weaker CPUs or stronger GPUs. The data suggests that even a significantly less powerful CPU paired with the same GTX 1650 would produce near-identical frame rates, as the GPU’s 2.984 TFLOPS of compute and 128.1 GB/s of memory bandwidth are the hard limits. The 1597th rank is a direct reflection of the GPU’s low standing in the overall GPU hierarchy, not the CPU’s performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 134.2 at 1080p to 98 at 1440p (a 27% reduction), and then to 62.5 at 4K (a 53% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline mirrors the increase in pixel count: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p. The GTX 1650’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to maintain higher frame rates as resolution increases.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more dramatic. The average FPS at 1080p is 62.6, which drops to 45.7 at 1440p (a 27% drop) and then to 28.8 at 4K (a 37% drop from 1440p). The fact that the percentage drops are consistent across settings indicates that the GPU is the sole bottleneck—there is no point where the CPU begins to limit performance. The 9800X3D’s single-thread score of 4800 in Cinebench R23 and its 3dmark single-thread score of 1212 are irrelevant here, as even the weakest CPU would not constrain a GTX 1650 in this title. The resolution scaling data confirms that to achieve 60+ FPS at 4K, the user must select Low settings, while 1080p allows for Ultra at 62.6 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 134.2 at Low to 62.6 at Ultra, with Medium at 107.5 and High at 69.8. At 2560x1440, the averages are 98 (Low), 75.1 (Medium), 47.5 (High), and 45.7 (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the averages are 62.5 (Low), 49.4 (Medium), 32.2 (High), and 28.8 (Ultra).

The 1080p results show that Low settings provide more than double the frame rate of Ultra (134.2 vs 62.6), which is a significant difference for a game with relatively simple visuals. The 1440p results demonstrate a tighter spread, with Low only 53 FPS faster than Ultra (98 vs 45.7). At 4K, the spread narrows further, with Low only 33.7 FPS faster than Ultra (62.5 vs 28.8). This pattern suggests that as resolution increases, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant factor, and the settings-based differences shrink because the GPU is already saturated. None of the measured rows include minFps or maxFps values, so the analysis relies solely on average FPS, which shows a consistent and predictable performance curve.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the data indicates that 1080p with Ultra settings is the optimal choice, delivering 62.6 FPS average. This is the only 60+ FPS configuration at the highest preset level. At 1440p, Medium settings provide 75.1 FPS, which is the best balance of resolution and quality, since High drops to 47.5 FPS and Ultra to 45.7 FPS. For 4K gaming, Low settings are the only viable option, yielding 62.5 FPS, while Medium falls to 49.4 FPS and High to 32.2 FPS.

The recommendation hierarchy is clear: prioritize resolution over settings for this pairing. If a 1080p display is used, Ultra settings are fully playable. If a 1440p display is used, Medium settings offer the best compromise, as they maintain a solid frame rate while preserving visual fidelity. For 4K displays, users must accept Low settings to stay above 60 FPS, or alternatively, cap at 30 FPS and use Medium settings for a more cinematic experience at 49.4 FPS. The GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM is not a limiting factor in any of these configurations, as the game’s textures fit comfortably within that capacity even at Ultra settings. The 9800X3D’s role is entirely passive; no settings adjustment can shift the bottleneck from the GPU to the CPU, as the processor’s capabilities far exceed what this game requires.