Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that is not demanding by modern standards, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D produces frame rates that are almost absurdly high, with the data showing a system that is completely untaxed at every resolution tested. The measured results indicate that the primary challenge for this hardware is not achieving playable performance, but rather deciding whether to chase maximum refresh rates or maximum visual fidelity, as the average FPS never drops below 153 even at 4K Ultra settings. This pairing sits in the 36th rank out of 2887 tested combinations for this game, placing it in the top percentile of systems, and the benchmark data shows that the GPU is the dominant factor in scaling, though the CPU’s strong single-thread performance ensures no bottleneck appears.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for the RTX 5090 D paired with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D in Inside shows that the Ultra preset offers the best overall experience, despite having the lowest average frame rate of all settings tested. At 1920x1080, Ultra delivers an average of 307 FPS, which is only 5 FPS lower than the High preset’s 312 FPS, and the difference between these two settings shrinks further at higher resolutions, with Ultra trailing High by just 7 FPS at 2560x1440 and 7 FPS at 3840x2160. Since the visual quality improvements from High to Ultra come at such a minimal performance cost, the data strongly suggests that users should select Ultra for the best experience, as the frame rates remain far above any practical display refresh rate, even at 4K.

The Medium preset is a curious middle ground, offering 374 FPS at 1080p, 335 FPS at 1440p, and 256 FPS at 4K, which are all respectable numbers, but the measured minimum frame rates for this setting are notably lower than the averages, with the 4K Medium run showing a min of 218 FPS and the 1080p Medium run showing a min of 318 FPS. This suggests that Medium may introduce occasional frame hitches that are not present in the High or Ultra presets, making it a less consistent choice for the data presented. The Low preset achieves the highest average frame rates, with 405 FPS at 1080p, 363 FPS at 1440p, and 311 FPS at 4K, but the performance gap between Low and Ultra is so large that the visual sacrifices are not justified, especially when Ultra already exceeds 150 FPS at 4K.

For users with high-refresh-rate displays, the data indicates that Ultra is the only setting that should be considered, as it maintains an average of 153 FPS at 4K, which is above the threshold for 144Hz monitors, and the 243 FPS at 1440p easily saturates 240Hz displays. The High preset offers nearly identical performance to Ultra, but since the measured FPS delta is so small, there is no reason to drop from Ultra to High unless the user specifically prefers the slight performance headroom. The recommendation is clear: Ultra preset provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, with the measured data showing that no other setting offers a meaningful advantage in this specific hardware configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is the clear performance driver in this pairing, as evidenced by the benchmark data showing its 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 77712. The GPU’s memory configuration includes 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for a game like Inside that has modest texture and geometry requirements. The base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz are relatively low compared to what the architecture might suggest, but the sheer scale of the GPU, with 21760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, means that raw clock speed is less important than the massive parallel throughput.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is a key factor in why the frame rates scale so well across all resolutions, as the data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS remains at 153, which indicates that the memory subsystem is not a bottleneck. The fact that the RTX 5090 D achieves a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14326 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 376915 further confirms its position as a top-tier graphics processor, and the PassMark G3D score of 44065 places it well above the vast majority of competing GPUs. The GPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT with an average score of 76904 and a deltaPct of 1.1%, meaning the RTX 5090 D is only slightly ahead of that mobile GPU, but it is actually behind the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT by -1.6% and behind both Tesla P100 variants by -2.1% and -2.4%, which is an unusual situation that suggests the benchmark averaging may be skewed by different test conditions.

In the context of Inside, the GPU’s 32 GB of VRAM is dramatically overkill, as the game’s visual assets are simple 2D silhouettes and lighting effects, but this excess capacity means there is zero risk of VRAM-related frame drops, even at 4K with Ultra settings. The boost clock of 2407 MHz, when combined with the 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, allows the GPU to render frames so quickly that the CPU becomes the limiting factor in some scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where the data shows diminishing returns from 1080p to 1440p. Overall, the GPU role in this pairing is to provide an effectively unlimited performance ceiling, and the measured FPS data reflects that the RTX 5090 D is nowhere near its limits in this game.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the scaling is not linear, which provides insight into where the bottleneck lies. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 307, and this drops to 243 at 1440p Ultra, representing a 64 FPS decrease, while the 4K Ultra result of 153 FPS represents another 90 FPS drop from 1440p. The percentage drops are substantial: moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces performance by roughly 21%, and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces performance by roughly 37%, which indicates that the GPU is becoming more heavily utilized at higher resolutions.

The Low preset shows a similar but less dramatic scaling pattern, with 405 FPS at 1080p, 363 FPS at 1440p, and 311 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 42 FPS, or about 10%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 52 FPS, or about 14%. This smaller percentage decrease suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is more of a limiting factor at 1080p, as the frame rates are so high that the GPU is not fully saturated, and the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the constraint. The High preset shows 312 FPS at 1080p, 255 FPS at 1440p, and 160 FPS at 4K, with the drop from 1080p to 1440p being 57 FPS (18%) and the drop from 1440p to 4K being 95 FPS (37%), which is a more GPU-bound scaling pattern.

The Medium preset has the most complete data, with min and max FPS values recorded, and it shows 374 FPS average at 1080p, 335 FPS at 1440p, and 256 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 39 FPS (10%), while the 1440p to 4K drop is 79 FPS (24%), and the min FPS values of 318 at 1080p, 285 at 1440p, and 218 at 4K indicate that the frame pacing remains consistent across resolutions. The data suggests that the limiting component shifts from the CPU at 1080p to the GPU at 4K, but even at 4K Ultra, the average FPS of 153 proves that neither component is truly stressed, as this is a lightweight game that the RTX 5090 D can handle with ease at any resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this CPU and GPU combination in Inside?

A: The highest average frame rate is 405 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is followed by 374 FPS at 1080p Medium and 363 FPS at 1440p Low, showing that the system is capable of extremely high refresh rates at lower resolutions and settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D compare to its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 5090 D has an average benchmark score of 77712, while the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT has an average score of 76904, resulting in a deltaPct of 1.1%, meaning the RTX 5090 D is slightly ahead. However, the RTX 5090 D trails the RX 6850M XT by -1.6%, the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB by -2.1%, and the Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB by -2.4%.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K resolution with Medium settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the measured minimum FPS is 218, with an average of 256 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS. This shows that even the lowest frame rate at 4K remains well above typical display refresh rates.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D have enough VRAM for Inside at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The RTX 5090 D features 32 GB of GDDR7 memory with a 512-bit bus and 1.79 TB/s bandwidth, which is far more than what Inside requires. The measured 4K Ultra average FPS of 153 confirms that the VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor, as the game’s simple visual style does not stress memory usage.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance relate to the frame rates in Inside?

A: The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has a 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2080, and a Geekbench single-core score of 2964, and the data shows that at 1080p Low, the average FPS of 405 is likely constrained by CPU performance, as the GPU is not fully utilized at such high frame rates.

Q: What is the rank of this CPU and GPU combination among all tested combinations in Inside?

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D ranks 36th out of 2887 tested combinations, placing it in the top 1.25% of all systems tested for this game, with the data confirming that it is a high-end configuration.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D plays a supporting role in this pairing, but its performance characteristics are still important for understanding the measured frame rates. The CPU has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, and it features 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is a key advantage for gaming workloads. The single-thread performance is exceptional, as shown by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1212, Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2080, and Geekbench single-core score of 2964, and this is critical for a game like Inside that likely relies on a single primary game thread.

The CPU’s multi-threaded performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23230 and a Geekbench multicore score of 18696, but the data from Inside suggests that the game does not utilize many threads, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 1440p is relatively flat at lower settings. For example, at Low settings, the average FPS only drops from 405 at 1080p to 363 at 1440p, which is a 10% decrease, whereas at Ultra settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 21%, indicating that the GPU becomes more of a bottleneck as settings increase. This pattern implies that at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU is the limiting factor, and the 8 cores and 16 threads are more than sufficient to keep up with the game’s demands.

The Ryzen 7 9800X3D has an average benchmark score of 39768 and ranks in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, with its nearest rivals being the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840HS (0.4% ahead), AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (0.7% behind), AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 (0.7% ahead), and AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (0.8% behind). These small deltas indicate that the 9800X3D’s performance is closely matched with other top CPUs, but its 3D V-Cache technology, which provides the 96 MB of L3 cache, gives it an edge in gaming scenarios where cache-sensitive workloads benefit from reduced memory latency. The CPU’s 4 nm process node, manufactured by TSMC, and its 8,315 million transistors on a 70.6 mm² die size, contribute to its efficiency, though the 120 W TDP means it draws moderate power.

In the context of Inside, the CPU’s role is to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain the high frame rates seen in the benchmark data. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 153, which is well within the CPU’s capabilities, and the fact that the frame rates do not collapse at lower resolutions suggests that the CPU is not a bottleneck, even at 1080p where the GPU is less stressed. The CPU’s boost clock of 5.20 GHz and 16 threads ensure that any potential CPU-bound scenario is handled with ease, and the data confirms that the Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a capable partner for the RTX 5090 D in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Inside with the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D covers four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160), providing a comprehensive view of performance. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 405 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 374 FPS with a minimum of 318 FPS and a maximum of 430 FPS, the High preset achieves 312 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 307 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 98 FPS, which shows that while settings have a noticeable impact, even the lowest preset is extremely fast.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 363 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 335 FPS with a minimum of 285 FPS and a maximum of 385 FPS, the High preset delivers 255 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 243 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 120 FPS, which is slightly larger than at 1080p, indicating that the GPU is starting to become more involved. The Medium preset’s minimum FPS of 285 at 1440p is still higher than the Ultra preset’s average of 243, which highlights the performance hierarchy among presets.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 311 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 256 FPS with a minimum of 218 FPS and a maximum of 295 FPS, the High preset achieves 160 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 153 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 158 FPS, which is the largest difference across all resolutions, and this shows that the GPU is more heavily utilized at higher resolutions. The 4K Medium preset has the lowest recorded minimum FPS of 218, but this is still above 200 FPS, demonstrating that the system never drops below a very high level of performance.

The data shows that the High and Ultra presets produce nearly identical results, with differences of only 5 FPS at 1080p, 12 FPS at 1440p, and 7 FPS at 4K, which suggests that the visual improvements from Ultra over High are computationally cheap. The Medium preset consistently falls between Low and High, with average frame rates that are 31 FPS higher than High at 1080p, 80 FPS higher at 1440p, and 96 FPS higher at 4K, but the minimum frame rates for Medium are lower than the averages, indicating potential frame pacing issues. Overall, the measured breakdown confirms that this hardware combination is overkill for Inside, with even the most demanding settings at 4K producing frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of most monitors.