Inside

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016 that remains highly demanding at extreme frame rates. With measured data across three resolutions and four settings presets, this pairing ranks 21st out of 2,887 tested combos, placing it in the top fraction of all systems evaluated for this title. The benchmark results show a system capable of triple-digit frame rates even at 4K Ultra, while lower settings push well beyond the refresh rates of most displays.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame field places this specific CPU-GPU pairing at position 21 out of 2,887 tested combinations. That percentile placement indicates this system sits in the top 0.7% of all configurations tested for Inside, which is a meaningful distinction given the game’s age and the wide range of hardware that has been benchmarked against it. The ranking reflects both the CPU’s strong single-thread performance and the GPU’s raw fill-rate capabilities, which matter in a game that relies on layered parallax and high-contrast silhouettes rather than complex physics simulations.

Comparing the two components individually, the CPU holds a 92nd percentile ranking against all CPUs in the benchmark database, while the GPU also holds a 92nd percentile ranking against all GPUs. This near-identical percentile positioning suggests a balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outclasses the other in synthetic workloads. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 58,386 places it just 0.1% above the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58,323) and 0.5% above the Intel Core i9-14900 (58,115). On the other side, it trails the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 by 0.7% (58,826) and the Intel Xeon w5-2545 by 0.2% (58,504). These deltas are tiny, meaning the 9850X3D is effectively tied with several high-end server and desktop parts in aggregate benchmark performance.

For the GPU, the average benchmark score of 79,842 places it 0.3% above the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB (79,605) and 0.6% above the Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB (79,396). It sits 1.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (78,940) but trails the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X by 1.4% (80,959). These rival comparisons are useful for understanding where the RTX 5090 falls in the broader GPU landscape, but the measured FPS data in Inside provides the more relevant picture. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 433 FPS, which is more than double the 4K High result of 150 FPS, illustrating how resolution and settings interact with the game’s rendering workload.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D is an 8-core, 16-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge, built on TSMC’s 4 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a 120 W TDP. The processor supports DDR5 memory over a dual-channel bus with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and it includes 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial for a desktop part. The L1 cache is 80 KB per core, and L2 is 1 MB per core. This cache hierarchy is particularly relevant for Inside, where the game’s continuous side-scrolling camera movement requires frequent data fetches for environmental geometry and character animation.

In synthetic benchmarks, the CPU scores 22,807 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,228 in single-core, with Cinebench R15 scores of 3,551 multi-core and 343 single-core. PassMark results show a multi-thread score of 41,318, a single-thread score of 4,704, and a physics score of 4,171. The integer math score of 123,140 and floating-point math score of 81,998 indicate strong general-purpose compute, while data compression (474,501) and random string sorting (49,764) highlight throughput in memory-heavy workloads. These numbers place the CPU in the 92nd percentile, with nearest rivals like the Intel Core i9-14900 (58,115 average score) being just 0.5% behind, and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 470 (58,826) being 0.7% ahead.

For Inside, the CPU’s role is less about raw thread count and more about per-core responsiveness. The game’s physics and puzzle logic are largely single-threaded, so the 5.60 GHz boost clock and the large 96 MB L3 cache help maintain consistent frame pacing. The measured FPS at 1080p Low reaches 433 FPS, which is a scenario where the GPU is not heavily taxed, so the CPU must keep up with the game’s update loop. The 8-core/16-thread configuration ensures there is no bottleneck from background tasks or driver overhead, but the single-thread performance is the key driver at these high frame rates. The data shows that even at 1080p Ultra, the system sustains 317 FPS, indicating the CPU has ample headroom for this title’s demands.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture with the GB202 chip, manufactured by TSMC on a 5 nm process. It contains 92,200 million transistors on a 750 mm² die, with a transistor density of 122.9M per mm². The GPU clocks run at 2,017 MHz base and 2,407 MHz boost, with memory clocked at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory operates over a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units, along with 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. Pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, and texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 104.8 TFLOPS.

In benchmark tests, the RTX 5090 scores 39,650 in PassMark G3D, 334,370 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376,728 in Geekbench Vulkan. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 18,355, while PassMark GPU compute is 26,756. The DirectX 11 score of 341 and DirectX 12 score of 185 are modest relative to the G3D score, but these are legacy tests that do not fully reflect modern rendering workloads. The GPU’s 92nd percentile ranking puts it in the same tier as the Tesla P100 variants in the nearestRivals list, though those are data-center parts with different driver optimizations.

For Inside, the GPU’s massive memory bandwidth and high pixel rate are the most relevant specs. The game uses a monochromatic art style with high-contrast lighting, which means fill-rate-bound operations dominate. At 4K High, the combo achieves 150 FPS, which is a significant drop from the 1080p High result of 333 FPS. This 55% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s performance does not change with resolution. The 32 GB VRAM is far more than Inside requires, but the bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s ensures that texture streaming and pixel shading never stutter, even at 4K Ultra where the combo still manages 143 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). At 1080p, the results are as follows: Low averages 433 FPS, Medium averages 399 FPS with a minimum of 339 FPS and maximum of 459 FPS, High averages 333 FPS, and Ultra averages 317 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 116 FPS, which is a 27% reduction from the lowest preset to the highest. The Medium preset shows a minimum FPS of 339, which is higher than the Ultra average of 317, indicating that the Medium preset’s variability is contained within a reasonable range.

Moving to 1440p, Low averages 388 FPS, Medium averages 358 FPS with a minimum of 304 FPS and maximum of 412 FPS, High averages 239 FPS, and Ultra averages 228 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low (433 FPS) to 1440p Low (388 FPS) is 45 FPS, or about 10%. The drop from 1080p High (333 FPS) to 1440p High (239 FPS) is 94 FPS, or about 28%. This larger percentage drop at High settings suggests that the higher fidelity effects at that preset become more expensive as resolution increases. At 1440p Ultra, the 228 FPS result remains well above typical 144 Hz refresh rates, so this resolution and preset combination is viable for high-refresh displays.

At 4K, the results are: Low averages 300 FPS, Medium averages 240 FPS with a minimum of 204 FPS and maximum of 276 FPS, High averages 150 FPS, and Ultra averages 143 FPS. The drop from 1080p Low (433 FPS) to 4K Low (300 FPS) is 133 FPS, or about 31%. The drop from 1080p High (333 FPS) to 4K High (150 FPS) is 183 FPS, or about 55%. This highlights that the High preset at 4K is roughly half the performance of the same preset at 1080p, which is a substantial reduction. However, even the 4K Ultra result of 143 FPS is above 120 FPS, making it suitable for high-refresh 4K monitors. The 4K Medium preset shows a minimum of 204 FPS, which is a solid floor for maintaining smooth gameplay without drops below 200 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the limiting component shifts across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 433 FPS result is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has plenty of headroom at such low settings. The CPU’s single-thread score of 4,704 in PassMark and boost clock of 5.60 GHz are the primary drivers here. At 1080p Ultra, the 317 FPS result is still high, but the gap between Low and Ultra (116 FPS) suggests that the GPU is beginning to take on more work. As resolution increases to 1440p, the Low preset drops to 388 FPS (a 10% reduction from 1080p), while Ultra drops to 228 FPS (a 28% reduction). This divergence indicates that the GPU becomes more involved at higher settings even at 1440p.

At 4K, the scaling becomes more pronounced. The Low preset drops to 300 FPS, which is 31% lower than 1080p Low. The High preset drops to 150 FPS, which is 55% lower than 1080p High. The Ultra preset drops to 143 FPS, which is 55% lower than 1080p Ultra. The fact that the High and Ultra presets both see approximately a 55% reduction from 1080p to 4K suggests that the GPU’s pixel throughput is the limiting factor at these settings. The RTX 5090’s pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s is being taxed by the 8.3 million pixels at 4K, especially with the game’s full-screen effects like ambient occlusion and motion blur. The Medium preset at 4K (240 FPS) shows a 40% reduction from 1080p Medium (399 FPS), which is less severe than High or Ultra, indicating that Medium settings reduce the per-pixel cost enough to partially mitigate the resolution penalty.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the difference is 116 FPS (433 vs 317). At 1440p, it is 160 FPS (388 vs 228). At 4K, it is 157 FPS (300 vs 143). This narrowing indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU can push higher frame rates regardless of settings, but at 4K, the GPU’s workload dominates, and the settings have a more uniform impact on performance. The minimum FPS values at Medium presets (339 at 1080p, 304 at 1440p, 204 at 4K) show that the worst-case frame times scale roughly with resolution, with the 4K minimum being 40% lower than the 1080p minimum.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the most balanced experience across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 399 FPS with a minimum of 339 FPS, which is substantially higher than the High preset’s 333 FPS average. The minimum FPS at Medium (339) is even higher than the High average (333), meaning that the Medium preset provides a smoother experience in terms of frame time consistency. At 1440p Medium, the 358 FPS average with a 304 FPS minimum is again superior to the High preset’s 239 FPS average, and the minimum is 65 FPS higher than the High average. At 4K Medium, the 240 FPS average with a 204 FPS minimum is the only preset at 4K that stays above 200 FPS in the worst case, making it the preferred choice for 4K gaming on high-refresh monitors.

The Ultra preset, while visually the most detailed, shows diminishing returns. At 1080p Ultra, the 317 FPS average is only 4% lower than High (333 FPS), but the gap between Ultra and Medium is 82 FPS (317 vs 399). At 1440p Ultra, the 228 FPS average is just 11 FPS lower than High (239 FPS), but 130 FPS lower than Medium (358 FPS). At 4K Ultra, the 143 FPS average is 7 FPS lower than High (150 FPS) and 97 FPS lower than Medium (240 FPS). The Ultra preset’s additional effects, such as higher-quality shadows and post-processing, do not justify the performance cost when Medium delivers more than double the frame rate at 4K.

For players targeting 60 FPS, any preset at any resolution exceeds that threshold by a wide margin, with the lowest result being 143 FPS at 4K Ultra. For 120 Hz displays, the 4K Medium (240 FPS) and 4K High (150 FPS) both provide enough headroom, while 4K Ultra (143 FPS) is also above 120 FPS but with less margin. For 144 Hz displays, the 4K Medium (240 FPS) is the safest choice, as the 4K High (150 FPS) has only 6 FPS of headroom, which could lead to occasional drops below the refresh rate. For 240 Hz displays, the 1080p Medium (399 FPS) and 1440p Medium (358 FPS) are the only presets that consistently stay above 240 FPS, with the 1080p High (333 FPS) also being viable if the minimum FPS is not a concern.

The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (433 FPS at 1080p, 388 FPS at 1440p, 300 FPS at 4K), sacrifices visual quality that is integral to Inside’s atmospheric presentation. The game’s lighting and shadow effects are reduced at Low, which diminishes the contrast-driven gameplay. Since the Medium preset provides at least 240 FPS at 4K, there is no practical need to use Low settings on this hardware. The measured data supports Medium as the optimal preset for this combo, balancing frame rate headroom with visual fidelity across all tested resolutions.