Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX delivers an exceptional experience in Inside, a title that is not graphically demanding by modern standards but benefits enormously from high refresh rates. The data shows a combination that obliterates standard 60 FPS targets, offering frame rates that push the limits of high-end displays. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, scaling behavior, and the specific roles the CPU and GPU play in achieving these results.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a classic pattern where the GPU becomes progressively more stressed as pixel count increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo produces 268 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 193 FPS, a 28% reduction. The jump to 3840x2160 yields 121 FPS, another 37% drop from 1440p. This steep decline from 1080p to 4K indicates that the RX 7900 XTX is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, though the absolute numbers remain high.

The scaling between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution further confirms this. At 1080p, the frame rate swings from 433 FPS on Low to 255 FPS on Ultra, a 41% performance cost for maximum visual fidelity. At 1440p, the same settings span from 385 FPS down to 184 FPS, a 52% reduction. This widening gap at higher resolutions suggests that the GPU's shading units, texture units, and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily as both resolution and settings increase, while the CPU maintains its ability to feed frames.

The most telling data point for the limiting component is the 4K Medium result of 194 FPS, which is higher than the 4K High result of 121 FPS. This 60% difference between Medium and High at 4K shows that the GPU is hitting a performance wall tied to specific rendering features rather than raw resolution alone. The 4K Low result of 242 FPS, which is nearly double the Ultra result of 115 FPS, reinforces that the RX 7900 XTX has ample headroom if the graphics load is reduced. In contrast, the CPU's performance is essentially constant across these scenarios, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Low, the system reaches 242 FPS, which is still far above the 60 FPS standard.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Inside?*

A: The highest measured average FPS is 433 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 385 FPS at 2560x1440 Low and 242 FPS at 3840x2160 Low.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with maximum settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 115, which is still well above typical high-refresh targets. The Medium setting at 4K provides a much higher 194 FPS.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra settings?

A: Yes, the performance gap is consistent. At 1080p, High yields 268 FPS while Ultra yields 255 FPS, a 5% difference. At 1440p, High gives 193 FPS and Ultra gives 184 FPS, also a 5% difference. At 4K, the gap widens: High is 121 FPS and Ultra is 115 FPS, a 5% difference.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only min FPS values recorded are for Medium settings: 339 FPS at 1080p, 262 FPS at 1440p, and 165 FPS at 4K. These minimums are still very high, indicating smooth frame pacing.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: It ranks 149th out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the top 5% of all configurations. This is a strong result, though not the absolute top.

Q: Does the GPU's 24 GB of VRAM matter for this game?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory, but Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that does not require such capacity. The bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is more relevant, helping to sustain high frame rates across all settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame data places this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX at rank 149 out of 2887 tested combinations. This percentile placement indicates that while the system is exceptionally fast, there are 148 other configurations that achieve higher average FPS in Inside. The rank is a composite measure of the entire system's performance, and the fact that it sits in the top 5% suggests that the CPU and GPU are well-matched for this title.

The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 92 and the GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 64 provide context for this ranking. The CPU is in the 92nd percentile of all processors, meaning it is faster than 92% of CPUs tested. The GPU is in the 64th percentile of all graphics cards, which is lower but still above average. This discrepancy suggests that the CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU's lower percentile is likely what prevents the combo from ranking higher. The measured FPS data supports this: the system can produce over 400 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates.

The nearest rivals for the CPU have average scores within 0.7% of the Ryzen 7 9850X3D, such as the Intel Core i9-14900 with a deltaPct of 0.5. This shows that the CPU is competitive with the best mainstream desktop processors. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB with a deltaPct of 0.4, which is a much older and lower-tier card, highlighting the wide variance in the GPU benchmark pool. For Inside, the combo's rank is driven by the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at 4K, where it still exceeds 115 FPS on Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 433 on Low to 255 on Ultra. The Medium setting records a min FPS of 339 and a max of 459, with an average of 399. High settings yield 268 FPS. This resolution is clearly CPU-bound, as the frame rates are extremely high and the GPU has significant headroom.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 385 on Low to 184 on Ultra. The Medium setting records a min FPS of 262 and a max of 355, with an average of 308. High settings yield 193 FPS. The 1440p results show a more balanced load between CPU and GPU, with the GPU starting to become more relevant as the pixel count increases.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 242 on Low to 115 on Ultra. The Medium setting records a min FPS of 165 and a max of 223, with an average of 194. High settings yield 121 FPS. This resolution is clearly GPU-bound, as the frame rates drop significantly compared to 1440p. The 4K Ultra result of 115 FPS is still above 100 FPS, which is excellent for a puzzle platformer, but the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 52% performance cost.

The lack of min FPS data for Low, High, and Ultra settings means we only have average FPS for those configurations. The Medium settings at all resolutions include min and max FPS, which show a tight range: at 1080p, the spread is 120 FPS; at 1440p, it is 93 FPS; at 4K, it is 58 FPS. This narrowing spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's frame time consistency improves relative to the CPU, which is typical for GPU-bound scenarios.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the dominant component in determining frame rates at higher resolutions and settings. Its 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus provides 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is more than sufficient for Inside. The game's 2016 release date means it does not require modern GPU features, but the card's raw compute power, rated at 61.39 TFLOPS FP32, ensures it can handle any in-game effect without breaking a sweat.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 1929 MHz, a game clock of 2365 MHz, and a boost clock of 2498 MHz. These clocks allow the card to maintain high utilization across all tested settings. The 4K Ultra result of 115 FPS is a direct reflection of the GPU's shading units (6144) and ROPs (192) working together. The 4K Low result of 242 FPS shows that when the GPU is less stressed, it can deliver nearly double the frame rate, which is a sign of the card's headroom.

The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 64 is lower than the CPU's percentile, but this metric includes all GPUs, many of which are older or lower-end. In the context of Inside, the RX 7900 XTX is clearly not a bottleneck at 1080p or 1440p, where the CPU is more likely to limit performance. The benchmark results show the GPU's strength: a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6841 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 85612, which confirm its high-end status. The card's end-of-life production status and 355 W TDP are worth noting for system planning, but they do not affect the measured game performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D plays a crucial role in enabling the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. With 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, this CPU is built for gaming. Its base clock of 4.70 GHz and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are among the highest in the desktop market, and the 96 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency. The CPU's benchmark scores reflect its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228, with a PassMark single-thread score of 4704.

In Inside, the CPU's role becomes apparent at 1080p, where the GPU is not the limiting factor. The 433 FPS result at Low settings shows that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough frames to saturate it. The CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 92 places it well above average, and its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i9-14900 with a deltaPct of 0.5, indicate that it is at the top of the performance stack. The CPU's memory support for DDR5 with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s also helps in maintaining high minimum frame rates, as seen in the Medium settings results.

The CPU's TDP of 120 W is relatively low for its performance level, and the socket AM5 platform provides PCIe Gen 5 lanes, though Inside does not benefit from this. The CPU's single-thread performance is key for a puzzle platformer like Inside, which relies on consistent frame pacing rather than multi-threaded rendering. The PassMark physics score of 4171 and the data compression score of 474501 suggest that the CPU handles complex calculations easily, but for this game, the high clock speeds and large cache are the most relevant attributes. The combination of a 92nd percentile CPU with a 64th percentile GPU means the system is balanced for high-refresh gaming, with the CPU ensuring no frame drops even when the GPU is pushed to its limits.