Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 delivers a remarkably consistent experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer that is far more demanding on raw frame throughput than its minimalist aesthetic suggests. Measured data shows this combo never dips below 99 FPS at any resolution or setting, making it a formidable configuration for high-refresh-rate displays. The combination of a 12-core, 24-thread Zen 3 processor and an Ada Lovelace GPU with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory produces a system that scales predictably across the board, with the only significant bottleneck emerging at 4K Ultra where the GPU’s compute limits become apparent.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound curve, but with an unusual twist: the drop-off is far less dramatic than typical AAA titles. At 1080p High, the combo produces 230 FPS, which falls to 165 FPS at 1440p High (a 28% reduction) and then to 104 FPS at 4K High (a 37% further reduction). This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4070 remains the primary limiter at higher resolutions, but the Ryzen 9 5900X has enough headroom to keep feeding it data even at 4K.

The Low settings preset tells a more interesting story. At 1080p Low, the system hits 317 FPS, dropping to 284 FPS at 1440p Low and 208 FPS at 4K Low. The fact that 4K Low still achieves over 200 FPS suggests that even at this resolution, the CPU is not the binding constraint; the GPU is still able to push through the geometry with minimal shading work. However, the gap between 1080p and 4K Low (109 FPS difference) is larger than the gap between 1080p and 4K High (126 FPS difference), which indicates that the game’s visual effects at High settings add a more uniform load across resolutions.

The Medium preset provides the most granular data, with min/max FPS recorded. At 1080p Medium, the average is 293 FPS with a minimum of 249 FPS and maximum of 337 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium yields 262 FPS average (223 min, 302 max), and 4K Medium drops to 166 FPS (141 min, 191 max). The min-to-max spread narrows as resolution increases, from 88 FPS at 1080p to 79 FPS at 1440p and 50 FPS at 4K. This tightening suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing frame time variance.

The Ultra preset shows the steepest resolution penalty. At 1080p Ultra, the combo hits 219 FPS, which is only 5% lower than High. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 157 FPS (28% lower than 1080p), and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 99 FPS (37% lower than 1440p). The 4K Ultra result is the only point where the system dips below 100 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4070’s 192-bit memory bus and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are finally stretched thin. The scaling from 1080p to 4K across all settings averages roughly a 55-60% total drop, which is typical for a GPU-bound scenario but milder than the 70%+ drops seen in more graphically intensive titles.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 5900X, built on the Zen 3 architecture with a 7 nm process, provides 12 cores and 24 threads running at a 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.80 GHz boost. In Inside, which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with limited simultaneous entities, the CPU’s role is primarily to maintain a high single-thread throughput and feed the GPU with draw calls. The benchmark data shows that the CPU is never the limiting factor in this configuration, as even at 1080p Low with 317 FPS average, the system does not exhibit CPU-related frame drops.

The processor’s single-thread performance, as measured by Cinebench R23 at 1527 points, is sufficient to handle the game’s logic and physics at any resolution. The multi-threaded score of 16262 points indicates that the 12-core design has ample headroom for background tasks, but Inside does not utilize more than a few threads effectively. The 64 MB of L3 cache is likely beneficial for the game’s asset streaming, reducing stutter when moving between areas.

Comparing to the CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, the 5900X scores 41376 on average, placing it 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H and 0.4% ahead of both the Intel Core Ultra 7 356H and AMD Ryzen AI 5 PRO 440. It trails the Intel Core i7-14650HX by 0.5%. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, and the 5900X’s 87th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it sits comfortably in the upper tier for this workload. The 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support at 51.2 GB/s are more than adequate for a game that does not require high memory bandwidth.

The data shows that the CPU’s boost clock of 4.80 GHz is the key enabler for maintaining high frame rates at 1080p Low, where the system reaches 317 FPS. If the CPU were weaker, we would expect to see a plateau around 250-270 FPS at that resolution, but the 5900X’s strong single-core performance allows the GPU to run at full tilt. At 4K Ultra, the CPU’s utilization likely drops below 50%, as the GPU’s 99 FPS average becomes the hard limit.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, based on the AD104 chip with Ada Lovelace architecture and a 5 nm process, is the dominant component in this pairing. With 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, the GPU provides substantial pixel throughput. Its 1920 MHz base clock and 2475 MHz boost clock, combined with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus (504.2 GB/s bandwidth), give it ample resources for Inside’s stylized visuals.

The GPU’s role becomes increasingly important as resolution and settings rise. At 1080p Low, the GPU is only partially utilized, as evidenced by the 317 FPS frame rate. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU is fully saturated, producing 99 FPS. The 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 performance is sufficient to handle the game’s lighting and particle effects, but the memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the 192-bit bus struggles to feed the 12 GB frame buffer at high resolutions.

The RTX 4070’s 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are largely idle in this game, as Inside does not use ray tracing or DLSS. However, the GPU’s raw rasterization performance is what matters here. The benchmark results show that the GPU’s performance scales nearly linearly with pixel count: from 1080p to 1440p (a 1.78x pixel increase), the High preset FPS drops from 230 to 165 (a 1.39x decrease), and from 1440p to 4K (a 2.25x pixel increase), it drops from 165 to 104 (a 1.59x decrease). This sub-linear scaling indicates that the GPU is not purely pixel-bound but also benefits from the game’s relatively simple shader complexity.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 scores 37648 on average, placing it 0.1% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P4 and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, while trailing the RTX 4080 Mobile by 1.3% and leading the Radeon PRO W6400 by 1.3%. The GPU’s 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs shows that it is a solid mid-to-high-end performer, but the 4K Ultra results confirm that it is not a 4K-max-settings card for all titles. The 200 W TDP and 550 W suggested PSU rating indicate that this is a power-efficient solution, but the 16-pin power connector is a notable requirement.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Inside, this pairing of the Ryzen 9 5900X and RTX 4070 ranks 916th out of 3716 combinations, placing it in the top 25% of all tested systems. This ranking is notable because the combo is not using top-tier components from either camp, yet it outperforms the majority of configurations due to the game’s moderate requirements. The 916th rank suggests that there are 915 combinations that achieve higher average FPS across all settings, likely featuring newer GPUs like the RTX 4080 or RX 7900 XTX, or CPUs with higher single-thread performance.

The rank of 916 out of 3716 means that this combo outperforms 75.4% of all tested systems. This is a strong showing for a CPU released in 2020 and a GPU released in 2023, indicating that their combination is well-balanced for this particular game. The data suggests that the GPU is the more important component, as the 5900X’s CPU performance is sufficient to keep up with even the fastest GPUs in this title. If the RTX 4070 were paired with a slower CPU, the rank would likely drop slightly, but the difference would be minimal given the game’s CPU-light nature.

The combo’s position relative to other Ryzen 9 5900X configurations is not directly provided, but the 87th percentile CPU ranking and 81st percentile GPU ranking suggest that this combo sits above the median for both components individually. The fact that the combo rank (916/3716, or 75.4th percentile) is lower than both individual percentiles indicates that the game’s performance is not perfectly correlated with component strength, and other factors like memory speed or driver optimization play a role.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 317 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The minimum average FPS is 99 FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070’s VRAM affect 4K performance?

A: The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Inside at 4K, as the game does not require high texture memory. The 4K Ultra preset still achieves 99 FPS, indicating that memory capacity is not a bottleneck, but the 192-bit bus width limits bandwidth at extreme resolutions.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5900X overkill for this game?

A: Benchmark data shows that the 12-core, 24-thread CPU is not fully utilized, as Inside is not multi-threaded. However, the high single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1527) ensures that the CPU does not become a bottleneck even at 317 FPS, making it a capable match for the GPU.

Q: What is the largest FPS drop between 1080p and 4K?

A: The largest drop occurs at Low settings, where FPS falls from 317 at 1080p to 208 at 4K, a difference of 109 FPS (34% reduction). The smallest drop is at High settings, from 230 to 104 FPS, a 126 FPS reduction (55%).

Q: Does the game benefit from the GPU’s ray tracing cores?

A: No, Inside does not use ray tracing, so the 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are not utilized. The game relies entirely on rasterization performance, which the RTX 4070 provides through its 5888 shading units.

Q: How does this combo compare to the nearest rival GPU?

A: The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score is 37648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37628) and 0.4% higher than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507). It is 1.3% lower than the RTX 4080 Mobile (38135) and 1.3% higher than the Radeon PRO W6400 (37157).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield 317 FPS average, which is the single highest recorded value in the dataset. Medium settings produce 293 FPS with a minimum of 249 FPS and maximum of 337 FPS, showing a 88 FPS spread. High settings reduce the average to 230 FPS, while Ultra settings bring it down to 219 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 63 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 11 FPS, indicating that Ultra adds minimal visual impact for this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show expected drops. Low settings average 284 FPS, which is 33 FPS lower than 1080p Low. Medium settings average 262 FPS with a min of 223 and max of 302, a spread of 79 FPS. High settings drop to 165 FPS, and Ultra drops further to 157 FPS. The 1440p Medium result shows the largest min-to-max variance of any preset at this resolution, suggesting occasional frame spikes during scene transitions.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings still achieve 208 FPS, which is respectable for 4K. Medium settings average 166 FPS with a min of 141 and max of 191, showing a tighter 50 FPS spread. High settings drop to 104 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 99 FPS, the only preset below 100 FPS. The difference between 1440p Ultra (157 FPS) and 4K Ultra (99 FPS) is 58 FPS, demonstrating the significant pixel load increase.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset provides the only complete min/max data, allowing for frame time analysis. At 1080p Medium, the minimum of 249 FPS is 84 FPS below the average, while at 4K Medium, the minimum of 141 FPS is 25 FPS below the average. This indicates that at lower resolutions, CPU-side hitches can cause larger relative frame drops, while at 4K, the GPU’s consistent workload smooths out the frame delivery. The highest average FPS (317) occurs at 1080p Low, while the lowest (99) occurs at 4K Ultra, giving the combo a performance range of 218 FPS across all tested configurations.