Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti pairing delivers a robust experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on the GPU than the CPU at high settings. Benchmark data shows the combination ranks in the 1157th position out of 1671 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database, primarily constrained by the graphics card’s performance ceiling. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can easily handle the game at lower presets but struggles to maintain high refresh rates at maximum graphical fidelity.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 140.2 frames per second. This indicates a smooth experience well above the standard 60 FPS target, though it falls short of high-refresh-rate displays seeking 240Hz.

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

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D’s average benchmark score of 37780 is statistically tied with its closest competitors. It trails the Intel Core i5-13600KF by 0.7%, the Intel Core i9-13900HK by 0.6%, and the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 by 0.1%, while leading the Intel Xeon 6353P by 0.1%.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K?

A: The data shows a massive gap. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 125.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 58.5 FPS. This represents a performance reduction of over 50% when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings.

Q: Is the GPU or the CPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. The frame rate scales significantly with resolution changes, from 280.9 FPS at 1080p Low down to 65.1 FPS at 4K High, which is a classic sign of graphics card limitation. The CPU’s high multi-threaded performance, evidenced by its 34004 Cinebench R23 score, is not the constraint here.

Q: What is the best performance the GPU achieves in the 3DMark Steel Nomad test?

A: The RTX 3060 Ti scores 2626 points in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark. This score places it in the 69th percentile of all GPUs, showing it is a mid-range performer relative to the entire database.

Q: Does the game run well on the Medium preset at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows an average of 162 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings. This is an excellent result, providing a fluid experience that is well-suited for high refresh rate monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing for Inside. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for the game’s data requirements. The GPU’s boost clock of 1665 MHz and its 4864 shading units dictate the raw processing throughput for rendering the game’s atmospheric visuals.

Benchmark results clearly show the GPU’s performance tier. With a PassMark G3D score of 20349, it sits in the 69th percentile of all GPUs. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600, is only 0.5% behind in average benchmark score, while the AMD Radeon 890M is 0.5% ahead. This places the 3060 Ti in a tight competitive cluster. In Inside, the GPU’s capabilities are the deciding factor for frame rates. The transition from 1080p to 4K at High settings shows a performance drop from 140.2 FPS to 65.1 FPS, a clear indication that the rendering load is scaling with resolution and saturating the GPU’s compute and memory resources. The CPU, with its 96 MB of shared L3 cache and high single-thread score of 4800 in Cinebench R23, provides ample headroom, ensuring it is not the bottleneck in this scenario.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable pattern of scaling across resolutions. At the Low preset, the game runs at 280.9 FPS at 1080p, which drops to 203.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 125.4 FPS at 4K. This scaling shows that even at the lowest settings, the rendering resolution has a direct impact on performance, confirming the GPU is the primary limiting factor.

The scaling is more pronounced at higher settings. For instance, at High settings, the frame rate drops from 140.2 FPS at 1080p to 103.4 FPS at 1440p, a 26% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings results in a further drop to 65.1 FPS, a 37% reduction. This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the pixel count increases exponentially with resolution. The CPU’s role is diminished at higher resolutions, as the time spent on each frame is dominated by GPU rendering. The results show that for 4K gaming, only the Low preset (125.4 FPS) achieves a high frame rate; the Ultra preset (58.5 FPS) falls just below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that the RTX 3060 Ti is not capable of maxing out this game at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 7 9800X3D and RTX 3060 Ti achieves a rank of 1157 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the 69th percentile of all tested system configurations. This ranking reflects a system where the CPU is a top-tier performer, but the GPU holds the overall result back.

The CPU alone is a powerhouse, with an average benchmark score of 37780 and a 90th percentile ranking against all CPUs. Its performance is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, with a maximum delta of only -0.7% against the Intel Core i5-13600KF. However, the GPU, with a PassMark G3D score of 20349 and a 69th percentile ranking, is the limiting factor in this game. The combo’s rank of 1157 suggests that many other pairings with more powerful GPUs, even with slower CPUs, would achieve higher frame rates in Inside. The data indicates that this specific pairing is not optimized for maximum performance in this title; the CPU’s potential is largely untapped due to the GPU’s mid-range capabilities. The system is effectively balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming at medium to high settings, but it will not compete with high-end configurations at the top of the benchmark charts.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 133.4 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced gameplay. For those with 1440p monitors, the High preset at 103.4 FPS provides a great balance of visual quality and smoothness. Pushing to Ultra at 1440p yields 98.2 FPS, which is still very playable.

For 4K resolution, the data suggests that the High preset, with an average of 65.1 FPS, is the highest quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate. The Medium preset at 4K offers a significant boost to 99.9 FPS, which is a better choice for players prioritizing smoothness over maximum visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 4K (58.5 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS target and is not recommended for a consistent experience. The Low preset is unnecessary for this game on this hardware, as even the Medium preset at 4K provides a high frame rate. The data shows a clear trend: the RTX 3060 Ti has sufficient power for high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p, but 4K gaming requires a compromise on settings to achieve optimal performance.