Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers exceptional performance in Inside, a puzzle platformer that scales remarkably well across a wide range of resolutions and settings. The measured data shows this combination consistently produces triple-digit frame rates even at 4K, indicating a system that is far more powerful than the game's requirements demand. This analysis breaks down the specific performance metrics, the role of each component, and how this particular configuration stacks up against other tested combinations.

Settings Recommendations

For the highest fidelity experience, the Ultra preset remains the optimal choice, as it delivers frame rates that are still far beyond the refresh rate capabilities of most displays. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves an average of 240 FPS, while at 2560x1440 it reaches 201 FPS, and even at the demanding 3840x2160 resolution it maintains a robust 126 FPS average. The performance cost of moving from High to Ultra is minimal relative to the visual uplift, with a reduction of only 4 FPS at 1080p and 10 FPS at 1440p.

The High preset offers the best balance for users targeting maximum refresh rates on high-end monitors. The data shows High settings produce an average of 244 FPS at 1080p and 211 FPS at 1440p, making it the ideal choice for 240Hz and 144Hz displays respectively. At 4K, the High preset still manages 133 FPS, comfortably exceeding the 120Hz threshold for many modern televisions and monitors.

Medium settings provide a marginal performance increase over High, with gains of 49 FPS at 1080p and 51 FPS at 1440p, but the visual compromise is generally not worth the additional headroom given how capable the hardware is. The Low preset should only be considered for extreme frame rate pursuits, where it pushes the average to 317 FPS at 1080p and 284 FPS at 1440p, but this setting sacrifices significant visual quality for a game that already runs exceptionally smooth at higher presets.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 serves as the primary driver of performance in this configuration, given the game's relatively modest CPU requirements. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves more than sufficient for Inside at any resolution. The card's 9728 shading units, operating at a boost clock of 2505 MHz, provide substantial raw compute power that the game leverages effectively.

The RTX 4080's memory configuration is particularly relevant here, as the 16 GB capacity ensures there is no VRAM bottleneck even at 4K Ultra settings. The benchmark results show the GPU's PassMark G3D score of 34457, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the RTX 4080 SUPER at a 0.1% delta and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at -1.1%. The transition from 1440p to 4K at High settings demonstrates the GPU's scaling capability, with frame rates dropping from 211 FPS to 133 FPS, a reduction that aligns with the increased pixel count.

The GPU's architecture, based on Ada Lovelace with 45,900 million transistors on a 5 nm process, provides the efficiency needed to maintain high frame rates without excessive power draw, though the 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU indicate the system still requires robust power delivery. The RTX 4080's performance in this game is so dominant that at lower resolutions, frame rates begin to approach the limits of what the CPU can feed, suggesting the GPU is not the limiting factor in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals important insights about where the bottleneck lies in this system. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at Ultra settings results in a frame rate drop from 240 FPS to 201 FPS, a reduction of 16.3%. This is a relatively modest decline, indicating that the GPU has ample headroom and the system is not yet fully GPU-bound at 1080p.

The transition from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings is more pronounced, with the average frame rate falling from 201 FPS to 126 FPS, a 37.3% reduction. This steeper decline at higher resolutions clearly demonstrates the GPU becoming the primary limiting component, as the increased pixel count demands more from the RTX 4080's rendering pipeline. The same pattern holds for High settings, where 1080p delivers 244 FPS, 1440p produces 211 FPS, and 4K drops to 133 FPS.

The frame time consistency, as shown by the min and max FPS values at Medium settings, also scales with resolution. At 1080p Medium, the measured range is 249-337 FPS, while at 1440p it tightens slightly to 223-302 FPS, and at 4K it narrows to 181-244 FPS. This suggests that at lower resolutions, CPU-related frame time variance becomes more apparent, while at 4K the GPU's consistent rendering keeps frame times more stable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates exceptional performance across all settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 317 FPS, while Medium reaches 293 FPS with a measured range of 249-337 FPS. High settings produce 244 FPS, and Ultra settings deliver 240 FPS. The minimal difference between High and Ultra at this resolution, just 4 FPS, indicates that the CPU or game engine's frame rate ceiling is being approached, rather than the GPU being the limiting factor.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains remarkably strong. Low settings yield 284 FPS, Medium achieves 262 FPS with a range of 223-302 FPS, High produces 211 FPS, and Ultra maintains 201 FPS. The gap between settings widens slightly at this resolution compared to 1080p, suggesting the GPU is beginning to assert more influence over performance. The 50 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is more substantial than the 77 FPS difference at 1080p, indicating a shift towards GPU-bound operation.

At 3840x2160, the RTX 4080's capabilities are more fully tested. Low settings still deliver an impressive 244 FPS, while Medium achieves 212 FPS with a range of 181-244 FPS. High settings produce 133 FPS, and Ultra drops to 126 FPS. The performance gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 118 FPS, nearly double the delta at 1440p, confirming that the GPU is now the primary performance determinant. Even at 4K Ultra, the frame rate remains well above the 60 FPS threshold, making this an exceptionally smooth experience.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 holds the 495th rank out of 3716 total combinations for Inside. This places the configuration in the top 13.3% of all tested systems, a strong showing that reflects the high-end nature of both components. The ranking demonstrates that while there are more powerful combinations available, this setup delivers performance that exceeds the vast majority of tested configurations.

The CPU itself ranks in the 87th percentile against all processors, with an average benchmark score of 41376. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 7 366H at a 0.3% delta and the Intel Core i7-14650HX at -0.5%, showing that the Ryzen 9 5900X remains competitive even against newer silicon. The GPU, meanwhile, sits in the 86th percentile with an average score of 54247, with the RTX 4080 SUPER just 0.1% ahead and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB trailing by 2.6%.

The combination's rank relative to all 3716 tested combos suggests that for this particular game, the GPU is the more significant contributor to overall performance. Systems with higher-ranked GPUs but similar CPUs would likely outperform this configuration at 4K, while the CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads ensure there is never a processing bottleneck that would hold back the RTX 4080.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this system at 1080p?

A: The highest measured average frame rate at 1920x1080 is 317 FPS, achieved with Low settings. Medium settings deliver 293 FPS, while both High and Ultra settings produce 244 FPS and 240 FPS respectively.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings?

A: At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 240 FPS at 1920x1080 to 201 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 126 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a total reduction of 114 FPS, or approximately 47.5%, from 1080p to 4K.

*Q: Does this system ever drop below 60 FPS in Inside?*

A: No. The lowest average frame rate measured across all tested resolutions and settings is 126 FPS at 4K Ultra. The most demanding scenario still provides more than double the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the frame time range at Medium settings across different resolutions?

A: At 1080p Medium, the measured range is 249-337 FPS. At 1440p Medium, it narrows to 223-302 FPS, and at 4K Medium, it further narrows to 181-244 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in terms of overall benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080 SUPER at 54209. It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X by 1.1% and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB by 2.6%.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High settings achieve an average of 211 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 201 FPS. The difference of 10 FPS represents a 4.7% reduction in frame rate for the highest quality preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X plays a supporting but essential role in this configuration, ensuring the RTX 4080 never starves for data. With 12 cores and 24 threads based on the Zen 3 architecture, the CPU provides substantial multi-threaded capability, evidenced by its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16262 and PassMark multithread score of 39002. The 64 MB of L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed data close to the cores, reducing memory latency in game scenarios.

The CPU's single-thread performance, while not its primary strength, is still robust with a Geekbench single-core score of 2083 and a PassMark single-thread score of 3469. For a game like Inside that likely relies on a limited number of threads for game logic, this single-thread capability is more relevant than the CPU's massive multi-core throughput. The 3.70 GHz base clock and 4.80 GHz boost clock provide the responsiveness needed to maintain consistent frame delivery.

The 105 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for feeding the GPU, though the system's overall performance in this game suggests the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. The benchmark data supports this, as frame rates at 1080p across different settings show diminishing returns, with High and Ultra nearly identical at 244 FPS and 240 FPS, indicating the CPU's frame generation limit is being approached. The Ryzen 9 5900X's position in the 87th percentile of all CPUs, with an average score of 41376, confirms it is a high-end processor that pairs well with the RTX 4080 for this title.