Inside

# Inside: AMD Ryzen 9 5900X + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Benchmark Analysis

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 delivers a strong performance profile in Inside, a puzzle platformer that is far more demanding than its minimalist art style suggests. This combination achieves a combo rank of 1437 out of 3716 tested configurations, placing it in the upper 38.7% of all tested combos for this title. The data reveals a system that is capable of delivering extremely high frame rates at lower resolutions, while maintaining playable performance even at 4K Ultra settings. The measured FPS across four settings presets and three resolutions shows a consistent pattern where the GPU becomes the dominant factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU's 12-core/24-thread configuration provides ample headroom to avoid bottlenecking at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1437 out of 3716 tested combos places this pairing in the 61.3rd percentile among all tested systems for Inside. This is a respectable position given that Inside is a 2016 release that does not heavily tax modern high-end hardware at lower settings. The ranking reflects the fact that this combination excels at delivering very high frame rates, but it is not among the absolute top performers because the game's engine is relatively lightweight and many higher-end GPUs can push even higher numbers.

Looking at the CPU side, the Ryzen 9 5900X sits in the 87th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H (avg score 41263, delta +0.3%), Intel Core Ultra 7 356H (avg score 41215, delta +0.4%), AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440 (avg score 41208, delta +0.4%), and Intel Core i7-14650HX (avg score 41576, delta -0.5%). These delta percentages are all within a narrow band of less than one percent, indicating that the 5900X delivers essentially identical CPU-level performance to its closest competitors in synthetic benchmarks. The differences are negligible in real-world gaming scenarios, particularly for a game like Inside where frame rates are already extremely high.

On the GPU front, the RTX 3070 holds the 61st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT (avg score 17083, delta +0.7%), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 690 (avg score 17037, delta +1%), AMD Radeon HD 7970M (avg score 17019, delta +1.1%), and NVIDIA Tesla K40c (avg score 17468, delta -1.5%). The RTX 3070 sits slightly above its closest competitors in raw benchmark scores, but the differences remain small, with the largest delta being just 1.5% in either direction.

The combination of a top-tier CPU from 2020 and a mid-high-range GPU from the same generation creates a balanced system, though the benchmark results show that for Inside specifically, the GPU is the primary performance limiter at higher resolutions. The combo's rank in the upper third of all tested systems suggests that this pairing is well-suited for this game, delivering smooth gameplay across all tested settings and resolutions.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 317 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This drops to 272 at 2560x1440 Low, and 171 at 3840x2160 Low, showing that even at the lowest settings, the game scales predictably with resolution.

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

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo delivers an average of 81 FPS. This is the lowest measured average across all tested configurations, but it remains above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM cause any issues in Inside?

A: The data shows no VRAM-related performance degradation. The game runs at 85 FPS average at 4K High and 81 FPS at 4K Ultra, with no min FPS values recorded below playable levels for those settings, indicating the 8 GB frame buffer is sufficient for this title.

Q: What is the difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce an average of 217 FPS, while High settings produce 136 FPS. This represents a 37.3% reduction in frame rate when moving from Medium to High, which is a substantial performance cost for the visual upgrade.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X a bottleneck for the RTX 3070 in this game?

A: The CPU's 87th percentile ranking and the very high frame rates at 1080p suggest it is not a limiting factor. At 1920x1080 Medium, the combo reaches 293 FPS average, which indicates the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at high frame rates.

Q: How does this combo compare to its nearest GPU rival, the RX 7600 XT?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 17208, which is 0.7% higher than the RX 7600 XT's 17083. This negligible performance difference suggests the two GPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Inside, assuming the same CPU and settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 plays a critical role in determining performance in Inside, particularly at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU is built on the Ampere architecture using an 8 nm process at Samsung, featuring 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 96 ROPs. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). The base clock is 1500 MHz with a boost clock of 1725 MHz.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 20.31 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 20.31 TFLOPS of FP16 (1:1 ratio), along with 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores. The pixel rate is 165.6 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 317.4 GTexel/s. These specifications place the RTX 3070 in the 61st percentile against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17208.

In the context of Inside, the GPU's performance characteristics manifest clearly in the measured FPS data. At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 180 FPS at Ultra to 317 FPS at Low, showing that the GPU is capable of pushing very high frame rates when the resolution is low. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is not stressed by this game, as evidenced by the smooth performance at 4K resolutions where the frame buffer would be most heavily utilized.

The RTX 3070's architecture supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, which is relevant for a game released in 2016 that uses DirectX 11 or 12 rendering. The GPU's 8 nm process and 220 W TDP reflect its positioning as a mainstream high-performance card, and its PCIe 4.0 x16 interface ensures compatibility with the Ryzen 9 5900X's platform. The GPU's performance profile in Inside is characterized by strong scaling across resolution changes, with the most significant frame rate drops occurring when moving from 1440p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Inside covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), providing a comprehensive view of performance across the spectrum.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 317 FPS, Medium settings yield 293 FPS with a minimum of 249 and maximum of 337, High settings achieve 189 FPS, and Ultra settings reach 180 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is substantial at 104 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra is only 9 FPS. The Medium preset shows the tightest min-max range relative to its average, with a 88 FPS spread between minimum and maximum.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down predictably. Low settings average 272 FPS, Medium settings average 217 FPS with a minimum of 185 and maximum of 250, High settings average 136 FPS, and Ultra settings average 129 FPS. The difference between Medium and High at this resolution is 81 FPS, and the High to Ultra delta is just 7 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max range of 65 FPS shows consistent frame delivery.

At 3840x2160, the combo's performance remains playable across all settings. Low settings average 171 FPS, Medium settings average 136 FPS with a minimum of 116 and maximum of 157, High settings average 85 FPS, and Ultra settings average 81 FPS. The Medium to High drop is 51 FPS, while High to Ultra is only 4 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread of 41 FPS indicates good frame pacing even at 4K.

The data shows that the combo maintains average frame rates above 60 FPS at every tested resolution and settings combination, with the only sub-100 FPS results occurring at 4K High and Ultra settings. The minimum FPS values, only recorded for Medium settings, show that even the worst-case frame delivery remains above 116 FPS at all resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling across resolutions reveals important insights about which component limits performance in Inside. Starting from 1920x1080 Low at 317 FPS, moving to 2560x1440 Low reduces the average to 272 FPS, a drop of 14.2%. Continuing to 3840x2160 Low brings the average down to 171 FPS, a 37.1% reduction from 1440p. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Low settings represents a total reduction of 46.1%.

For Medium settings, the progression is 293 FPS at 1080p, 217 FPS at 1440p (a 25.9% drop), and 136 FPS at 4K (a 37.3% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Medium is 53.6%. High settings follow a similar pattern: 189 FPS at 1080p, 136 FPS at 1440p (a 28% drop), and 85 FPS at 4K (a 37.5% drop from 1440p). The total reduction at High is 55%.

Ultra settings show the most pronounced scaling: 180 FPS at 1080p, 129 FPS at 1440p (a 28.3% drop), and 81 FPS at 4K (a 37.2% drop from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 55%.

The pattern across all settings shows that the largest performance hit occurs when moving from 1440p to 4K, with reductions ranging from 37.1% to 37.5%. This consistent percentage drop suggests that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor at 4K, as the pixel count increase from 1440p to 4K is 2.25x, which would require a corresponding increase in GPU throughput. The fact that frame rates do not drop by the full 55.6% that pixel count scaling would suggest indicates that the game is not purely GPU-bound at these resolutions.

The smaller drops from 1080p to 1440p (ranging from 14.2% to 28.3%) suggest that at 1080p, the CPU is providing enough headroom that the GPU is not fully saturated, and the system is partially CPU-limited at the lowest resolution. This is consistent with the Ryzen 9 5900X's strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark_single_thread score of 941 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1527.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combo in Inside depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For players seeking the highest possible frame rates, the Low preset at 1920x1080 delivers 317 FPS average, which is likely beyond the refresh rate of most displays and provides no practical benefit over Medium settings.

The Medium preset offers the best balance of performance and visual quality across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, it delivers 293 FPS average with a minimum of 249 FPS, ensuring no frame drops below even the highest refresh rate monitors. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 217 FPS average with a minimum of 185 FPS, maintaining smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays. At 3840x2160, Medium achieves 136 FPS average with a minimum of 116 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for standard displays.

The High preset is a viable option for players who prioritize visual fidelity over maximum frame rates. At 1080p, it delivers 189 FPS average, which remains smooth. At 1440p, High produces 136 FPS average, which is good for 120 Hz displays. At 4K, High drops to 85 FPS average, which is still playable but may be noticeable on high-refresh monitors.

The Ultra preset provides the highest visual quality but at a significant performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra delivers 180 FPS average, nearly identical to High. At 1440p, Ultra achieves 129 FPS average, and at 4K, it drops to 81 FPS average. The performance difference between High and Ultra is minimal (4-9 FPS across all resolutions), suggesting that Ultra offers marginal visual improvements for a small performance penalty.

Given the data, the Medium preset at 2560x1440 represents the best experience for most users, offering 217 FPS average with a minimum of 185 FPS. This combination provides smooth gameplay on high-refresh monitors while maintaining reasonable visual quality. For 4K users, Medium settings at 136 FPS average provide the best balance of performance and quality, while those with 60 Hz displays can comfortably use High or Ultra settings at 4K given the 85 and 81 FPS averages respectively.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X plays a supporting but important role in Inside's performance, particularly at lower resolutions where its high single-thread performance prevents CPU bottlenecks. The CPU features 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.80 GHz. It has 64 MB of L3 cache, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 64 KB of L1 cache per core.

The CPU's benchmark scores demonstrate its capabilities. In 3DMark tests, it scores 9075 with 16 threads, 1852 with 2 threads, 3588 with 4 threads, 6601 with 8 threads, 10075 with max threads, and 941 single-thread. Cinebench R23 results show 16262 multicore and 1527 single-core scores. Geekbench scores are 14118 multicore and 2083 single-core. PassMark scores include 39002 multithread and 3469 single-thread.

The Ryzen 9 5900X sits in the 87th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals, as noted earlier, all perform within 0.5% of its average score, indicating that CPU-level performance is not a differentiator among these top processors.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is primarily to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 317 FPS average, which requires the CPU to process a high number of frames per second. The fact that the frame rate at 1080p Low (317 FPS) is not proportionally higher than at 1440p Low (272 FPS) compared to the pixel count difference suggests that the CPU is providing a near-optimal frame delivery rate, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases.

The CPU's 12-core configuration is more than sufficient for Inside, which is not a heavily threaded game. The high single-thread performance, evidenced by the 941 3DMark single-thread score and 1527 Cinebench R23 single-core score, is more relevant for this title. The 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.80 GHz boost clock provide strong per-core performance, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates in games that rely on a few primary threads.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 51.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck for the GPU. The PCIe Gen 4 interface provides ample bandwidth for the RTX 3070's PCIe 4.0 x16 connection. Overall, the Ryzen 9 5900X provides a robust foundation for the RTX 3070, ensuring that the GPU is the primary performance determinant in Inside across all tested resolutions and settings.