Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination delivers an extraordinary performance profile in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. Across all tested configurations, this pairing produces frame rates that far exceed display refresh rate requirements, positioning it in the 64th spot out of 3,716 tested combos. The data reveals that the primary challenge is not achieving playability, but rather selecting a preset that balances the GPU’s immense throughput with the CPU’s capability to feed it.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combo indicates that the "Ultra" preset provides the most visually complete experience while still maintaining triple-digit frame rates at every resolution. At 1920x1080, Ultra delivers an average of 307 FPS, which is only a 5 FPS difference from the High preset's 312 FPS. This negligible performance gap makes Ultra the obvious choice for 1080p users, as the visual fidelity increase comes at virtually no measurable cost to smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 222 FPS, while High produces 234 FPS. The 12 FPS difference between these two settings is unlikely to be perceptible on any standard 144Hz or 240Hz monitor, especially given that both remain far above the refresh ceiling of most displays. The Medium preset at this resolution averages 335 FPS, but the jump from Medium to Ultra still leaves ample headroom, meaning users should prioritize image quality over raw frame rate here.

The 3840x2160 results show a more pronounced tiering. Ultra averages 140 FPS, High averages 147 FPS, and Medium averages 235 FPS. The 7 FPS gain from dropping from Ultra to High is marginal, but the 95 FPS gain from dropping to Medium is substantial. For 4K users with high-refresh displays, the Medium preset offers the best compromise, as it maintains a 200 FPS minimum and a 270 FPS maximum, ensuring consistent performance well above 144Hz. The Low preset at 4K produces 293 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that is heavily atmospheric.

The best experience per the measured rows is the Medium preset at 2560x1440. It yields 335 FPS average with a 285 FPS minimum and 385 FPS maximum, providing a flawless experience on any current monitor. This configuration demonstrates that the hardware is so overqualified for Inside that users can afford to prioritize stability and visual consistency over maximum fidelity.

FAQ

*Q: Can this system run Inside at 4K with maximum settings?*

A: Yes. The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 140 FPS, which is above the 144Hz threshold for many high-end displays. The High preset at the same resolution averages 147 FPS, providing a slightly higher margin of comfort.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 405 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 307 FPS. This represents a 98 FPS difference, meaning Ultra delivers roughly 76% of the Low preset's frame rate while offering significantly better visual quality.

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

A: The data suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset reaches 405 FPS, but at 4K, the Low preset drops to 293 FPS. This 112 FPS reduction indicates the GPU is struggling to keep up with the pixel count, while the CPU remains capable of feeding it.

Q: How does the Medium preset's minimum frame rate compare across resolutions?

A: At 1080p, the Medium preset has a 318 FPS minimum. At 1440p, it drops to 285 FPS. At 4K, the minimum is 200 FPS. All minimums remain exceptionally high, with the 4K figure still exceeding the refresh rate of most displays.

Q: What is the frame rate ceiling for this combo at 1440p?

A: The Low preset at 2560x1440 achieves an average of 363 FPS, which is the highest recorded average at that resolution. The Medium preset reaches 335 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 234 FPS and 222 FPS respectively.

Q: Does the game utilize the full potential of the RTX 4090?

A: The benchmark results indicate the GPU is heavily utilized, especially at 4K where frame rates drop from 405 FPS at 1080p Low to 293 FPS at 4K Low. This scaling pattern shows the GPU is processing more pixels, though the absolute numbers remain extremely high.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 64 out of 3,716 tested combinations places this system in the top 2% of all hardware pairings tested for Inside. This ranking is consistent with the component-level performance data. The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D holds an 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39,768. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 sits in the 88th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 60,347.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance tier. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS scores 39,603, which is 0.4% lower than the 9800X3D. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 scores 40,048, which is 0.7% higher. The AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 scores 39,485, which is 0.7% lower, and the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 scores 40,081, which is 0.8% higher. These deltas show that the 9800X3D is competitively positioned within a narrow performance band, though its 3D V-Cache architecture provides specific advantages in gaming workloads.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4090's nearest rivals show a similar clustering. The Intel Arc Pro A60 scores 60,326, which is statistically identical with a 0% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60,140, which is 0.3% lower. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61,896, which is 2.5% higher, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58,657, which is 2.9% lower. The RTX 4090's position in this group reflects its raw compute capabilities, though its gaming performance is further enhanced by its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 405 FPS, the Medium preset averages 374 FPS with a 318 FPS minimum and 430 FPS maximum, the High preset averages 312 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 307 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 98 FPS, representing a 24% reduction in performance when moving to the highest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 363 FPS, the Medium preset averages 335 FPS with a 285 FPS minimum and 385 FPS maximum, the High preset averages 234 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 222 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 141 FPS, a 39% reduction, showing that the higher resolution amplifies the cost of quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 293 FPS, the Medium preset averages 235 FPS with a 200 FPS minimum and 270 FPS maximum, the High preset averages 147 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 140 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 153 FPS, a 52% reduction, indicating that the GPU is under increasing stress at this resolution.

The Medium preset is the only configuration that reports min and max frame rates, providing a clearer picture of frame pacing. At 1080p, the 318 FPS minimum and 430 FPS maximum show a 112 FPS variance. At 1440p, the 285 FPS minimum and 385 FPS maximum show a 100 FPS variance. At 4K, the 200 FPS minimum and 270 FPS maximum show a 70 FPS variance. The narrowing variance at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes more consistently loaded as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals important insights into the system's bottleneck characteristics. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 with the Low preset, the frame rate drops from 405 FPS to 363 FPS, a 10.4% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K with the same preset, the frame rate drops from 363 FPS to 293 FPS, a 19.3% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 112 FPS, representing a 27.7% decrease.

For the Ultra preset, the scaling is more aggressive. At 1080p, the average is 307 FPS. At 1440p, it drops to 222 FPS, a 27.7% reduction. At 4K, it drops to 140 FPS, a 36.9% reduction from 1440p and a 54.4% reduction from 1080p. This steeper scaling curve for Ultra settings indicates that the GPU is more heavily taxed by the combination of high resolution and high-quality effects.

The Medium preset shows intermediate scaling behavior. At 1080p, it averages 374 FPS. At 1440p, it averages 335 FPS, an 10.4% reduction. At 4K, it averages 235 FPS, a 29.9% reduction from 1440p and a 37.2% reduction from 1080p. The fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop is identical for Low and Medium (10.4%) suggests that the CPU is still contributing to performance at these settings, while the larger 4K drops point to GPU dominance.

The scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4090 is the primary limiting component at 4K, particularly with higher quality presets. The 54.4% performance reduction from 1080p to 4K on Ultra settings is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count directly translates to lower frame rates. Conversely, the relatively modest drops at lower settings suggest the CPU can maintain high frame rates until the GPU becomes the constraint.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It operates on the AMD Socket AM5 platform with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz. The CPU's 96 MB of shared L3 cache is a defining feature, providing substantial data locality benefits for gaming workloads.

The CPU's benchmark performance substantiates its gaming credentials. In Cinebench R23, it scores 23,230 in multicore and 2,080 in single-core. In Geekbench, it achieves 18,696 in multicore and 2,964 in single-core. The 3DMark results show strong scaling from 2,394 for 2 threads to 10,067 for max threads, with 10,081 for 16 threads. This scaling pattern indicates that the processor efficiently utilizes its 8 cores and 16 threads.

For Inside, a puzzle platformer that does not demand extreme CPU throughput, the 9800X3D's performance is more than sufficient. The game's frame rates at 1080p Low reach 405 FPS, which is likely CPU-limited given the GPU's capabilities. The fact that the frame rate increases from 307 FPS at Ultra to 405 FPS at Low at 1080p suggests that the CPU can push beyond 400 FPS when the GPU is not constrained by quality settings.

The CPU's 120W TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC contribute to its efficiency, while its 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die allow for high clock speeds. The processor supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, which is adequate for feeding the GPU in this title. The 24 PCIe Gen 5 lanes provide ample bandwidth for the RTX 4090, though the GPU uses PCIe 4.0 x16, which is still sufficient for this workload.

The benchmark data shows that the 9800X3D performs at 87th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39,768. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS, scores 39,603, a 0.4% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 scores 40,081, a 0.8% difference. These small deltas indicate that the 9800X3D is not dramatically ahead of its peers in synthetic benchmarks, but its gaming-oriented cache design provides tangible benefits in frame pacing and minimum frame rates, as evidenced by the consistent triple-digit performance in Inside.