Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination show a title that is remarkably easy to run at high refresh rates. The data indicates that this pairing is heavily overqualified for the game's demands, with performance remaining exceptionally high even at 4K Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rate data for this combination shows that the game's visual preset has a significant but not overwhelming impact on performance. Across all resolutions, the jump from Low to Medium settings results in a modest performance penalty, while the jump from High to Ultra produces the largest frame rate drop. For players prioritizing maximum smoothness, the Low preset at 1080p delivers the highest measured average of 319 FPS, which is the peak performance recorded for this combo. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

The Medium preset represents a balanced choice for high-refresh-rate displays. At 1080p, it delivers an average of 294.6 FPS, which is only a 7.6% decrease from the Low preset's 319 FPS. At 1440p, the Medium preset achieves 264.9 FPS, and at 4K it still manages an average of 227.6 FPS. These figures suggest that Medium is the optimal preset for players who want to maintain frame rates well above the 144 Hz threshold while gaining a substantial visual upgrade over Low settings.

The High preset offers a minor visual enhancement over Medium but incurs a larger performance cost. At 1080p, the average drops to 241.4 FPS, which is an 18% reduction from Medium. At 4K, the High preset falls to 141.8 FPS, which is a 37.7% decrease from Medium's 227.6 FPS. This indicates that the High preset is less efficient in terms of performance per visual gain.

The Ultra preset is the most demanding, and while it still delivers playable frame rates, the performance hit is substantial. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 133.3, which is nearly half of the 4K Medium result. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 213.3 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, it is 239.2 FPS. Given the diminishing returns in visual quality between High and Ultra, and the significant performance drop, the Ultra preset is not recommended for competitive or high-refresh-rate play. The data strongly suggests that Medium is the best overall choice, as it provides a superior balance of frame rate and visual quality across all tested resolutions.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the dominant component in this pairing for this game. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The card operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and a boost clock of 2617 MHz. These specifications are far in excess of what a puzzle platformer requires, and the benchmark results confirm that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor.

The GPU's role becomes more apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K with the Ultra preset, the average frame rate drops to 133.3 FPS, indicating that the GPU is being tasked more heavily. However, even this "worst-case" scenario produces frame rates that are perfectly smooth for most displays. The RTX 5080's architecture is Blackwell 2.0, built on a 5 nm process, and it has 10752 shading units. This raw compute power, combined with the high memory bandwidth, ensures that the game's rendering pipeline is never starved for data.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its high-end positioning. It scores 36,565 in Passmark G3D and 21,789 in Passmark GPU Compute. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it achieves a score of 8,637. These synthetic benchmarks place the GPU in the 89th percentile of all GPUs, which aligns with the measured in-game performance. The RTX 5080's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks, such as the Intel Arc A570M with a deltaPct of 1.6%, show that this GPU is at the top of the performance hierarchy, but the in-game results are so high that the difference between it and lesser GPUs is unlikely to be perceptible in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals how the workload shifts between the CPU and GPU. At the Low preset, the average FPS decreases from 319 at 1080p to 286.6 at 1440p and then to 246.9 at 4K. This is a relatively shallow decline, indicating that the CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU even at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low result of 319 FPS is likely near the CPU's limit for this game, as the GPU is not being fully utilized at this point.

The scaling pattern changes at higher settings. At the Ultra preset, the average FPS drops from 239.2 at 1080p to 213.3 at 1440p and then to 133.3 at 4K. The steep drop from 1440p to 4K is a 37.5% decrease, which is much larger than the 10.8% decrease from 1080p to 1440p. This indicates that at Ultra settings and 4K resolution, the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor. The RTX 5080's rendering capabilities are being pushed to their limits by the combination of high resolution and demanding graphical effects.

The data suggests that for this game, the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p with lower settings, while the GPU becomes the bottleneck at 4K with higher settings. The transition point appears to be around 1440p, where the load is more balanced. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 264.9 FPS, which is a good indicator of a balanced workload. The overall pattern shows that this system has more than enough power for this game at any reasonable configuration, with the limiting component only becoming apparent at the most extreme settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination ranks 185th out of 1,671 tested combos for this game. This places it in the top 11% of all tested configurations, which is a strong result but not the absolute top tier. This ranking is likely due to the CPU's age, as the Ryzen 9 5900X is a 5000-series part from 2020, while the GPU is a current-generation GeForce 50-series card from 2025.

The CPU's performance is a potential limiting factor in this ranking. The Ryzen 9 5900X has an average benchmark score of 39,453, which places it in the 90th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals in terms of average score include the AMD EPYC 4245P (deltaPct 0.2%), the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8845HS (deltaPct -0.7%), and the Intel Core i7-13700 (deltaPct -1%). These rivals are a mix of server and newer mobile/desktop parts, indicating that the 5900X is still competitive but not leading the pack.

The GPU, on the other hand, is a top-tier performer. The RTX 5080 has an average benchmark score of 59,188, placing it in the 89th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in terms of average score are the Intel Arc A570M (deltaPct 1.6%), the Intel Arc Pro A60 (deltaPct -1.9%), and the Intel Arc A580 (deltaPct 2.5%). These rivals are all lower-tier parts, which highlights the GPU's superior performance in synthetic tests.

The combo's rank of 185 suggests that while the GPU is powerful, the CPU is holding back the overall potential. In a game like Inside, which is not heavily threaded, the CPU's single-thread performance is more important than its multi-thread capabilities. The Ryzen 9 5900X scores 4,680 in Cinebench R23 single-core, which is respectable but not exceptional for its generation. The data indicates that a newer CPU with better single-thread performance could push this combo higher in the rankings, even with the same GPU.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average frame rate is 319 FPS, achieved at 1080p with the Low preset.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra performance compare to the 4K Medium performance?

A: The 4K Ultra preset delivers an average of 133.3 FPS, while the 4K Medium preset delivers an average of 227.6 FPS. This represents a 41.4% performance drop when using Ultra settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1080p Low settings?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p Low, as the frame rate of 319 FPS is likely near the CPU's maximum for this game, and the GPU is not fully utilized at this configuration.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested systems for this game?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 5900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 combination ranks 185th out of 1,671 tested combos.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5080 than its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score is 59,188, which is 1.6% higher than the Intel Arc A570M's score of 58,239, its nearest rival.

Q: What is the recommended preset for a balance of high frame rates and visual quality?

A: The Medium preset is recommended, as it delivers 294.6 FPS at 1080p, 264.9 FPS at 1440p, and 227.6 FPS at 4K, which are all well above standard high-refresh-rate targets.