Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016 that places minimal demands on modern hardware, yet the measured FPS data for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti reveals a clear and consistent performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. The dataset shows that this combination delivers playable frame rates at every tested configuration, with the most significant performance gains occurring at lower resolutions and settings, indicating a system that is heavily front-end bound rather than limited by the GPU.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial but follows a predictable pattern dictated by pixel count. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 159 at 1920x1080 to 114 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 45 FPS (about 28%), and then to 72 at 3840x2160, another 42 FPS drop (about 37%). This scaling is nearly linear with the total pixel increase, suggesting that the GPU is becoming the primary limiting factor as resolution rises, though the absolute numbers remain high enough that the experience stays fluid.

At Low settings, the scaling is more dramatic in percentage terms. The 1080p result is 317 FPS average, dropping to 228 at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 143 at 4K (a further 37% decrease). The 4K Low result still exceeds 140 FPS, which indicates that even at the highest pixel count, the GTX 1080 Ti is never fully saturated by this game's visual workload. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 75 FPS (143 versus 68), meaning the settings presets have a larger impact on performance than the resolution change alone.

The Medium preset provides the only rows with min and max FPS data, allowing for a more nuanced view of frame pacing. At 4K Medium, the average is 115 FPS with a minimum of 97 and maximum of 132, a spread of 35 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average jumps to 183 with a min of 155 and max of 210 (55 FPS spread), while at 1080p Medium, the average reaches 254 with a min of 216 and max of 292 (76 FPS spread). The widening range at lower resolutions points to CPU-side frame generation variability becoming more apparent when the GPU has spare capacity.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, built on the Pascal architecture with a 16 nm process, brings 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus, yielding 484.4 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock of 1481 MHz and boost clock of 1582 MHz, combined with 3584 shading units, deliver 11.34 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. In the context of Inside, these specifications are excessive for the game's visual fidelity, which is confirmed by the measured FPS not dropping below 68 average even at 4K Ultra.

The GPU's 88 ROPs and 224 TMUs provide a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s, which are more than sufficient for a puzzle platformer with relatively simple geometry and lighting. The 11 GB frame buffer is never a constraint here; the game's asset sizes do not threaten to exceed this capacity at any resolution or setting. The memory clock of 1376 MHz (11 Gbps effective) is a non-factor in this workload.

Benchmark results for the GTX 1080 Ti place it at the 58th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 15548. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 M380 (0.2% higher score), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (0.8% lower), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 (1.7% lower), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 (1.7% higher). These deltas are all within 2%, indicating that the 1080 Ti sits in a tightly clustered performance band around its contemporaries. In this game, however, the GPU is never the bottleneck; the data shows that even the weakest tested setting at 4K (Ultra) maintains an average above 60 FPS, which is the practical target for smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer), built on TSMC's 7 nm process. It operates at a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz, with 64 MB of L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. The processor supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel configuration and a bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s, and it connects via PCIe Gen 4. This CPU is far more powerful than what Inside requires, as evidenced by the 1080p Low result of 317 FPS average, which is likely hitting the game engine's frame rate ceiling rather than a hardware limit.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5900X scores 16262 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1527 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 14118 and single-core of 2083. Its Passmark multi-thread score is 39002, and it sits at the 87th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 41376. The nearest CPU rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% higher score), Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (0.4% higher), AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (0.4% higher), and Intel Core i7-14650HX (0.5% lower). These are all within a half-percent, making the 5900X effectively tied with those processors in aggregate compute.

For Inside, the CPU's single-thread performance is what matters most, since puzzle platformers rarely scale beyond a few cores. The 3dmark single-thread score of 941 and the 3dmark 2-thread score of 1852 indicate strong per-core capabilities. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (317) versus 4K Low (143) shows that the CPU can generate frames far faster than the GPU can render them at high pixel counts. When resolution drops, the CPU becomes the limiting factor, but it never produces an unplayable result; even the most CPU-bound scenario (1080p Low) exceeds 300 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance headroom. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 254 with a minimum of 216 and maximum of 292, which means the system never dips below 216 FPS even in the worst-case frame. Moving to High drops the average to 159, a 37% reduction, while Ultra further reduces it to 151. The jump from Medium to High costs 95 FPS on average at 1080p, which is a steep price for what is likely a marginal visual improvement in this art style.

At 1440p, the Medium preset delivers 183 FPS average with a minimum of 155, still far above any display's refresh rate. High drops to 114 and Ultra to 109. The difference between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 5 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds little beyond what High already provides. At 4K, Medium yields 115 FPS average with a minimum of 97, which is the only tested configuration at 4K that maintains a minimum above 60 FPS. High and Ultra at 4K both average below 75 FPS, with Ultra dipping to 68.

For users with a 144 Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1080p or 1440p is the clear choice, as it averages well above 144 FPS at both resolutions. For 4K displays, Medium is the only preset that stays consistently above 90 FPS, making it the recommended setting unless the user prioritizes absolute visual fidelity over frame rate. The Low preset, while delivering 317 FPS at 1080p and 143 at 4K, sacrifices too much visual quality for a game that already runs smoothly at Medium.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti combination ranks 2004 out of 3716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all systems in this database. This ranking reflects the fact that the GTX 1080 Ti, while a capable card, is not a top-tier GPU by modern standards, and the game's low requirements mean that many newer or higher-end GPUs will achieve similar or better frame rates. The 5900X's strong CPU performance does not boost the ranking further because Inside does not heavily stress multi-core processors.

The percentile data supports this interpretation: the CPU is at the 87th percentile, while the GPU is at the 58th. The combo's rank of 2004 out of 3716 (about 54th percentile) sits between these two values, weighted more toward the GPU's relative standing. This suggests that in this game, the GPU is the more influential component for determining overall ranking, even though it is not the bottleneck at lower resolutions. The CPU's headroom is largely wasted in this title, as evidenced by the 317 FPS at 1080p Low, but it ensures that no CPU-bound stutter occurs.

Compared to the GPU's nearest rivals, the 1080 Ti's performance in this combo is consistent with its aggregate benchmark score. The Radeon R9 M380, which scores 0.2% higher in synthetic tests, would likely produce nearly identical In-game results. The RTX 2060, despite being 1.7% lower in aggregate score, might perform similarly due to architectural differences that favor newer games, but Inside is old enough that such differences are minimal. The ranking of 2004 indicates that this is a mid-pack system for this specific title, not a top performer nor a weak one.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete FPS dataset covers three resolutions and four settings, with all rows showing average FPS and some showing minimum and maximum values. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 317 FPS average, Medium reaches 254 (min 216, max 292), High hits 159, and Ultra drops to 151. The 1080p results show a clear ceiling effect: Low is 66 FPS higher than Medium, but High and Ultra are only 8 FPS apart, indicating diminishing returns from Medium to High and then a plateau from High to Ultra.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 228 FPS, Medium averages 183 (min 155, max 210), High averages 114, and Ultra averages 109. The gap between Low and Medium is 45 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is just 5 FPS. The 1440p results mirror the 1080p pattern but with lower absolute numbers, confirming that the GPU's rendering load increases with pixel count. The minimum FPS at 1440p Medium (155) is still higher than the average FPS at 4K High (72), showing that 1440p is never a challenge for this combo.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 143 FPS, Medium averages 115 (min 97, max 132), High averages 72, and Ultra averages 68. The 4K results show the largest relative drop from Medium to High (43 FPS, or 37%), whereas the drop from Low to Medium is only 28 FPS (20%). The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (97) is above the 60 FPS threshold, but High and Ultra both fall below 75 FPS average, making them less suitable for high-refresh-rate 4K displays. The data shows no min or max values for Low, High, or Ultra at any resolution, so frame pacing variability cannot be assessed for those presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Inside?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 317, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The second-highest is 254 FPS at 1080p Medium, and the third is 228 FPS at 1440p Low.

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K with any settings?

A: Yes. The Medium preset at 3840x2160 has an average of 115 FPS with a minimum of 97, which stays well above 60 FPS. The High preset averages 72 FPS, and Ultra averages 68 FPS, both also above 60 FPS on average.

Q: How much performance is lost from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At Low settings, the drop is from 317 FPS at 1080p to 143 FPS at 4K, a 174 FPS reduction (about 55%). At Medium, it drops from 254 to 115 (139 FPS loss, about 55%). At High, it drops from 159 to 72 (87 FPS loss, about 55%). At Ultra, it drops from 151 to 68 (83 FPS loss, about 55%).

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: The minimum FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings is 155, with a maximum of 210 and an average of 183. This is the only 1440p row with min/max data.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 5900X compare to its nearest CPU rivals in aggregate benchmarks?

A: The 5900X has an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (0.3% higher), Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (0.4% higher), AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (0.4% higher), and Intel Core i7-14650HX (0.5% lower). All are within 0.5% of each other.

Q: Is the GTX 1080 Ti or the Ryzen 9 5900X the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU generates 317 FPS, but at 4K Low, the GPU caps the average at 143 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 68 FPS, showing the GPU's rendering load is the primary constraint. The CPU is never the bottleneck at any tested configuration.