Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The data shows a system capable of frame rates far beyond standard display refresh rates, with the limiting factor shifting between the CPU and GPU depending on resolution and quality settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all tested configurations and contextualizes the results against the broader benchmark database.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic transition from a CPU-bound scenario to a GPU-bound one. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combination produces 407.6 FPS, but this drops to 356.2 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 222.5 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 45.4% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the GPU is increasingly becoming the bottleneck as pixel count rises.

The scaling pattern shifts dramatically with higher quality settings. At Ultra settings, the frame rate goes from 236.2 FPS at 1080p to 170.3 FPS at 1440p and finally to 106 FPS at 4K. This is a 55.1% drop from 1080p to 4K, which is steeper than the Low setting decline. The reason is that Ultra settings place a heavier load on the GPU's shading units and memory subsystem, making the graphics card the primary constraint even at lower resolutions. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for this game, but the rendering workload scales with both resolution and settings.

At 1080p Low, the 407.6 FPS result suggests the CPU is the limiting component, as the GPU has relatively little work to do. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 8 cores and 16 threads with a boost clock of 5.20 GHz are clearly capable of feeding the GPU at these rates. The gap between Low and Medium settings at 1080p is just 31.3 FPS (407.6 to 376.3), while the gap between Medium and High is 125.6 FPS (376.3 to 250.7), suggesting that High settings introduce effects that significantly increase GPU workload. The data indicates that for this game, 1440p High represents a balanced point where the system still delivers 176.4 FPS, well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common in gaming monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 plays a critical role in determining the upper limits of performance at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU's boost clock of 2512 MHz and base clock of 2325 MHz, combined with 6144 shading units, drive the rendering pipeline. In benchmark results, the RTX 5070 achieves a PassMark G3D score of 29137 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Inside's visual style. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not strained by this game's art direction, but the 672.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and post-processing effects do not introduce stutters. The 192-bit bus width and GDDR7 memory type provide ample throughput for the game's side-scrolling camera and lighting effects.

When comparing to nearest rivals, the RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 41687 is marginally higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (41610, deltaPct 0.2) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 (41441, deltaPct 0.6). However, it trails the NVIDIA Tesla M40 (41897, deltaPct -0.5) and AMD Radeon Pro 580X (41991, deltaPct -0.7) by small margins. These differences are within typical measurement variance and do not indicate a meaningful performance tier gap.

The measured FPS data shows the GPU's scaling efficiency. At 4K, the difference between Low (222.5 FPS) and Ultra (106 FPS) is 116.5 FPS, a 52.4% reduction. This indicates that Ultra settings nearly double the rendering workload compared to Low. The RTX 5070's pixel rate of 201.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 482.3 GTexel/s are sufficient to maintain high frame rates even at 4K, as evidenced by the 110.4 FPS at High settings. For a game like Inside with its atmospheric lighting and shadow effects, the GPU's ray tracing cores (48 RT cores) are present but not heavily utilized given the game's release date.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D serves as the foundation for this system's exceptional low-resolution performance. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), the CPU operates at a base clock of 4.70 GHz and boosts to 5.20 GHz. The 96 MB shared L3 cache is particularly beneficial for gaming workloads, as it reduces memory latency and improves frame pacing.

The CPU's benchmark results underscore its strength. In Cinebench R23, the processor scores 34004 in multi-core and 4800 in single-core tests. The Geekbench scores are 18413 (multi-core) and 3341 (single-core). These results place the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37780. The nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6353P (37811, deltaPct -0.1) and Intel Core Ultra 5 225 (37831, deltaPct -0.1), both of which are statistically tied with the AMD processor. The Intel Core i9-13900HK (38020, deltaPct -0.6) and Intel Core i5-13600KF (38028, deltaPct -0.7) show slightly higher average scores, but the differences are negligible in real-world gaming.

The CPU's role becomes apparent when examining the 1080p results. At Low settings, the system achieves 407.6 FPS, which is likely near the engine's maximum frame rate or the CPU's ability to issue draw calls. The 2560x1440 Low result of 356.2 FPS shows a 12.6% reduction from 1080p, which is smaller than the resolution scaling would suggest for a purely GPU-bound scenario. This indicates that the CPU is still contributing to the bottleneck at 1440p Low. However, at 4K Low, the 222.5 FPS result shows a 37.5% drop from 1440p, confirming that the GPU becomes the dominant constraint at higher pixel counts.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's 4 nm process node and 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die contribute to its efficiency. The 120 W TDP is modest for a processor with this level of performance, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without creating a system-level bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 407.6 FPS at Low settings, 376.3 FPS at Medium, 250.7 FPS at High, and 236.2 FPS at Ultra. The progression from Low to Medium is modest (31.3 FPS difference), but the jump from Medium to High is substantial (125.6 FPS difference), suggesting that High settings enable more demanding visual effects. The difference between High and Ultra is only 14.5 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the highest quality preset.

At 2560x1440, the results are 356.2 FPS (Low), 282.4 FPS (Medium), 176.4 FPS (High), and 170.3 FPS (Ultra). The Medium to High drop is 106.0 FPS, which is proportionally similar to the 1080p results. The High to Ultra difference narrows to 6.1 FPS at 1440p, suggesting that Ultra settings are not significantly more demanding than High at this resolution. The 1440p results indicate that the system can easily drive high-refresh-rate 1440p monitors at any quality setting, with the minimum tested average being 170.3 FPS at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates are 222.5 FPS (Low), 181.9 FPS (Medium), 110.4 FPS (High), and 106 FPS (Ultra). The 4K results show a more consistent scaling pattern, with each settings tier reducing performance by roughly 30-40 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 4K is just 4.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU is saturated and the additional Ultra settings have minimal impact on frame rate. The 4K Ultra result of 106 FPS is still above 100 FPS, which is excellent for a game of this visual fidelity.

The data shows a consistent pattern: Medium settings offer a significant performance boost over High with relatively little visual compromise, while Ultra provides minimal gains over High at higher resolutions. For players targeting 60 FPS, even 4K Ultra is achievable with headroom. For 144 Hz displays, 1440p Ultra is the sweet spot, while 4K High maintains an average above 110 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 151st out of 1671 tested combinations in Inside. This places the system in the top 9.0% of all tested hardware configurations, which is a strong result given the game's age and the capabilities of modern components. The rank reflects the balanced nature of this pairing, where neither the CPU nor GPU presents a significant bottleneck across the tested settings.

The ranking is particularly impressive considering the game's release date of 2016-07-06. Inside was designed for hardware from that era, and modern components like the Ryzen 7 9800X3D (released 2024-11-06) and RTX 5070 (released 2025-03-03) far exceed the game's requirements. The 151st rank among 1671 combos indicates that many other configurations, likely including more powerful GPUs or CPUs, achieve even higher frame rates, but the difference is often marginal at the frame rates observed.

The combo's performance is characterized by the CPU's ability to maintain high minimum frame rates and the GPU's capacity to handle the game's rendering workload at 4K. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D's strong single-thread performance (3dmark single thread score of 1212) and the RTX 5070's efficient architecture work together to deliver the measured results. The 90th percentile CPU ranking and 83rd percentile GPU ranking individually suggest that this combination is well-matched, with neither component significantly outclassing the other for this particular game.

In the context of the benchmark database, this combo's 151st rank out of 1671 means there are 150 configurations that perform better. These are likely to include higher-end GPUs such as the RTX 5090 or RX 7900 XTX, or CPUs with higher multi-threaded performance. However, for a game like Inside, the practical difference between 151st and 1st place is unlikely to be perceptible, as even the 4K Ultra result of 106 FPS is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data confirms that this pairing is a highly capable choice for this game, delivering exceptional performance at all tested resolutions and settings.