Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER produces a wide spread of frame rates in Inside, ranging from a highly playable 49 FPS at 4K High to a very fast 216 FPS at 1080p Low. The data indicates a system where the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU's strong performance allows for exceptionally high frame rates at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is steep, revealing the GTX 1660 SUPER as the limiting factor. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 108 FPS at 1920x1080 to 78 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 30 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 49 FPS, meaning the 4K High result is less than half the 1080p High result. This scaling pattern is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the pixel throughput demand at 4K overwhelms the 1660 SUPER's capabilities.

The scaling under Low settings is even more dramatic. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 216 FPS, which drops to 156 FPS at 1440p and then to 98 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is 118 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. Despite the significant drop, 98 FPS at 4K Low remains fluid, showing that even at the highest resolution, the GPU can handle the game when visual load is minimized. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low is 60 FPS, while the difference between 1440p and 4K is 58 FPS, indicating a relatively consistent scaling penalty per pixel increase.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 173 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The gap between 1080p and 4K Medium is 95 FPS. This consistent pattern across all presets confirms that resolution is the dominant factor in performance for this combination, with the CPU having ample headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

For a 60 FPS target, the data shows that 4K High is insufficient, averaging only 49 FPS. To achieve a smooth 60 FPS at 4K, users must step down to Medium settings, which yields an average of 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. This makes 4K Medium the only 4K preset in the measured data that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS, providing a solid experience without the need to drop to Low.

At 1440p, the High preset averages 78 FPS, which is above 60, but the Ultra preset drops to 74 FPS. For a guaranteed smooth experience with headroom, 1440p Medium is a strong choice, offering 125 FPS average with a minimum of 106 FPS. This preset provides a significant performance buffer while maintaining higher visual quality than Low. The 1440p Ultra setting, at 74 FPS, is playable but leaves less margin for demanding scenes.

For 1080p, all presets exceed 100 FPS on average. The High preset delivers 108 FPS, while Medium offers 173 FPS. The Ultra preset at 103 FPS is the lowest of the 1080p options but still very smooth. Given the high frame rates, the best experience per the measured rows is arguably 1080p Medium, which balances a very high 173 FPS average with a minimum of 147 FPS, ensuring no noticeable dips. The Low preset at 216 FPS is only useful for extremely high refresh rate displays, as the visual quality trade-off is significant.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and GTX 1660 SUPER ranks 3166 out of 3716 tested combos. This places it in the lower percentile of overall performance, which is expected given the GPU's mid-range standing relative to other tested components. The rank indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier part, it is not enough to boost the combo's performance in this game, as the GPU bottleneck at higher resolutions caps the final output.

The CPU itself, when considered in isolation, is a high performer. Its average benchmark score of 39768 places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. The data shows it is closely matched with rivals like the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS, which has an average score of 39603, a delta of 0.4%. This means the 9800X3D is only 0.4% faster than that rival in synthetic benchmarks, showing that its edge in CPU-bound tests is minimal. The combo's low rank in Inside is therefore a direct consequence of the GPU, which sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 12986.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of average frame rates across three resolutions and four settings.

At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 216 FPS, Medium 173 FPS (min 147, max 199), High 108 FPS, and Ultra 103 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 43 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 65 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are very close, with only a 5 FPS difference.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 156 FPS, Medium 125 FPS (min 106, max 143), High 78 FPS, and Ultra 74 FPS. The scaling from 1080p shows a consistent reduction: Low drops by 60 FPS, Medium by 48 FPS, High by 30 FPS, and Ultra by 29 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 98 FPS, Medium 78 FPS (min 66, max 90), High 49 FPS, and Ultra 47 FPS. The High and Ultra presets are nearly identical in performance, separated by only 2 FPS. The Medium preset is the only 4K option with a recorded minimum above 60 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is built on the Turing architecture with a TU116 chip on a 12 nm process. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock is 1785 MHz, with a base clock of 1530 MHz. These specifications place it in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12986.

The nearest rival to the GTX 1660 SUPER is the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, which has an average score of 12940, a delta of 0.4% in favor of the 1660 SUPER. This indicates that the desktop 1660 SUPER is essentially on par with that mobile part in raw compute. In the context of Inside, the GPU's 6 GB VRAM is sufficient for the game's demands, as the memory size does not appear to be a limiting factor in the measured settings. The performance bottleneck is instead the GPU's raw shading power, which is why the 4K High preset fails to reach 60 FPS.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with a smooth frame rate?*

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings, which produces an average of 78 FPS with a minimum of 66 FPS. The High and Ultra presets at 4K average 49 FPS and 47 FPS respectively, which are below a 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the fastest preset measured at 1080p?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers the highest average frame rate at 216 FPS. The Medium preset is next at 173 FPS, while High and Ultra are 108 and 103 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 12986. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile, scores 12940, making the 1660 SUPER 0.4% faster.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 9800X3D a bottleneck for the GTX 1660 SUPER in this game?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 216 FPS, indicating the CPU can handle very high frame rates. The performance drops are more consistent with GPU limitations at higher resolutions.

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

A: The highest average FPS is 216, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The highest average for Medium settings is 173 FPS at the same resolution.

Q: Does the Ultra preset offer a significant advantage over High in this game?

A: The measured data shows minimal difference. At 1080p, Ultra averages 103 FPS versus 108 FPS for High. At 4K, the difference is only 2 FPS, with Ultra at 47 FPS and High at 49 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a desktop processor with 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) on a 4 nm process. It has a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The CPU features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a significant asset for gaming workloads. Its average benchmark score of 39768 puts it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, and it is closely matched with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700, which scores 40081, a delta of -0.8%.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and game logic. The data shows that the CPU is more than capable of this task. At 1080p Low, the frame rate reaches 216 FPS, which is a level that many CPUs cannot sustain. The fact that the frame rate drops as resolution increases, even at Low settings, indicates that the GPU's pixel fill rate becomes the limiting factor, not the CPU's processing power. The high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 2964, is particularly relevant for a puzzle platformer like Inside, which typically relies on a single primary thread for game logic.