Inside

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 3 architecture built on a 7 nm process. With a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, this CPU sits in the 91st percentile of all tested processors, indicating strong overall compute capability. Its 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample headroom for most gaming workloads, including the puzzle-platformer Inside.

In synthetic benchmarks, the 5950X posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26,017 and a single-core score of 1,614. Geekbench results show 15,233 multicore and 2,083 single-core. These numbers place it within a narrow competitive band: its average benchmark score is 51,947, which is just 0.2% below the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (52,073), 0.3% below the AMD EPYC 8124P (52,121), and 0.4% above the Intel Core i9-13900F (51,730). The closest rival is the Intel Core i7-14700 at 52,301, which edges out the 5950X by 0.7%.

For Inside, a game that is not heavily threaded, the CPU's single-thread performance is more relevant than its massive core count. The 3DMark single-thread score of 944 and PassMark single-thread score of 3,470 indicate that the 5950X can handle the game's physics and logic without bottlenecking. However, the data suggests that even at 1080p with Ultra settings, the CPU is not the limiting factor; the measured average FPS of 219 at 1080p Ultra is well above typical display refresh rates, and the scaling from 1080p to 4K (detailed below) shows a consistent GPU-bound pattern.

The 8-thread 3DMark score of 6,598 and max-thread score of 11,597 reveal that the processor scales well across its cores, but Inside's workload is light enough that even a fraction of the 32 threads would suffice. The PassMark physics score of 1,878 and floating-point math score of 100,280 further confirm the CPU's ability to handle game logic without creating a frame-time bottleneck. In practice, the 5950X's performance envelope is far beyond what Inside demands, making the GPU the primary driver of frame rate differences across settings and resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, featuring 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. It carries 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock is 2,475 MHz, with a base clock of 1,920 MHz, and memory runs at 1,313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This configuration places the RTX 4070 in the 81st percentile of all GPUs.

Its average benchmark score is 37,648, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (37,628) — a 0.1% difference — and 0.4% above the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507). The RTX 4080 Mobile scores 38,135, putting it 1.3% ahead, while the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 trails at 37,157, which is 1.3% behind. In PassMark G3D, the RTX 4070 scores 26,927, with a DirectX 12 score of 103 and DirectX 11 score of 244.

For Inside, the GPU's role becomes evident in the measured FPS across settings. At 1080p, the RTX 4070 delivers 318 FPS on Low, 294 FPS on Medium, 230 FPS on High, and 219 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that even at the highest settings, the GPU has significant headroom. The 12 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for a game of this visual complexity, as Inside uses a distinctive monochromatic art style that does not demand large texture pools. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures that any memory-intensive effects at 4K Ultra (which still yields 99 FPS) are handled without stutter.

The GPU's 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores are present but largely irrelevant for Inside, which does not utilize ray-traced effects in its measured configurations. Instead, the rasterization performance — driven by the 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 throughput and 455.4 GTexel/s texture rate — determines the frame rates. The data shows a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions, as the FPS drops are proportional to pixel count increases rather than CPU limitations.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a textbook GPU-bound scaling pattern. Starting at 1080p High with 230 FPS, moving to 1440p High drops performance by 28.3% to 165 FPS, and then to 4K High by another 37.0% to 104 FPS. This translates to a total drop of 54.8% from 1080p to 4K at High settings.

The Low settings show an even steeper curve: 318 FPS at 1080p, 285 FPS at 1440p (a 10.4% drop), and 208 FPS at 4K (a 27.0% drop from 1440p). The total 1080p-to-4K drop at Low is 34.6%. Medium settings follow a similar pattern: 294 FPS at 1080p, 263 FPS at 1440p (10.5% drop), and 166 FPS at 4K (36.9% drop from 1440p), for a total drop of 43.5%.

Ultra settings show the most significant scaling: 219 FPS at 1080p drops to 157 FPS at 1440p (28.3% drop) and then to 99 FPS at 4K (36.9% drop), totaling a 54.8% reduction. This consistent pattern — where the percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is smaller than from 1440p to 4K — indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the FPS would remain relatively flat across resolutions, as the CPU workload would not increase with pixel count.

The fact that even at 4K Ultra the average FPS stays above 99 confirms that the RTX 4070 has ample headroom for this title. The 5950X's role is passive: it provides enough single-thread performance to keep up with the GPU's frame delivery at all tested resolutions. The scaling behavior also suggests that players with 1440p or 4K displays will see progressively larger performance penalties, but none that make the game unplayable — the lowest measured average is 99 FPS at 4K Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 910th out of 3,716 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the top 24.5% of all configurations. This rank reflects the overall balance of the pairing: the CPU is in the 91st percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 81st percentile of all GPUs. The combo's ranking is slightly lower than either component's individual percentile, which suggests that the GPU's relative position drags the overall score down.

In practical terms, this rank means that 2,806 other combos outperform this pairing in Inside's measured FPS. However, the absolute performance is high — the combo never drops below 99 FPS average at 4K Ultra. The rank is likely influenced by combos featuring more powerful GPUs (such as the RTX 4080 or 4090-class cards) that push higher frame rates at 4K, where the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth become more limiting.

The 5950X's nearest CPU rivals (Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX, AMD EPYC 8124P, Intel Core i9-13900F, Intel Core i7-14700) all have similar average scores within ±0.7%, meaning that swapping the CPU for any of these would yield negligible FPS differences in Inside — the game is not CPU-bound. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals (Tesla P4, RX Vega 56, RTX 4080 Mobile, PRO W6400) have scores within ±1.3%, which would translate to small but measurable FPS changes at 4K. The combo's rank of 910 reflects that this is a mid-to-upper-tier configuration, not a top-100 contender, but one that delivers smooth gameplay across all tested settings.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset at any resolution offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance headroom. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 294, with a minimum of 250 and maximum of 338 — this ensures that even in the most demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 240 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 263 FPS with a minimum of 224 and maximum of 303, which is still excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors.

The High preset is a viable alternative for those prioritizing visual quality, delivering 230 FPS at 1080p and 165 FPS at 1440p. However, at 4K High, the average drops to 104 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for frame-time spikes. The Ultra preset at 4K yields 99 FPS average, which is the lowest measured value — while technically smooth, it offers no minimum FPS data, suggesting potential variability.

The Low preset provides the highest frame rates (318 FPS at 1080p, 285 FPS at 1440p, 208 FPS at 4K) but at a significant visual cost. For a game like Inside that relies heavily on atmospheric lighting and shadow work, the Low preset may compromise the intended aesthetic experience. The Medium preset appears to be the sweet spot: at 4K it delivers 166 FPS with a minimum of 141 and maximum of 191, which is more than sufficient for a 144Hz display while maintaining most visual effects.

Given that the game is a puzzle platformer with a deliberate pacing, even 99 FPS at 4K Ultra is adequate. However, for the best experience on high-refresh displays, the data supports Medium at 1440p (263 FPS average) or 4K (166 FPS average) as the optimal choices — both offer substantial headroom above 144 FPS and include documented minimum FPS values (224 and 141, respectively), ensuring consistent frame delivery.

FAQ

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X sufficient for this game, or is it a bottleneck?

A: The 5950X is far from being a bottleneck. Its 16 cores and 32 threads, combined with a single-thread 3DMark score of 944 and PassMark single-thread score of 3,470, provide more than enough compute for Inside. The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a GPU-bound pattern, confirming the CPU is not limiting frame rates.

*Q: How does the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM affect performance in Inside?*

A: The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory is more than sufficient. Inside's art style does not demand large texture pools, and the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (99 FPS average) shows no signs of VRAM-related stuttering. The 504.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures smooth memory access even at high resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution to play at with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1440p Medium offers the best balance, with 263 FPS average and a minimum of 224 FPS. For 4K displays, Medium at 166 FPS average (minimum 141 FPS) is the recommended choice, as it maintains a high frame rate while keeping visual quality above Low.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GPU's nearest rivals in terms of gaming performance?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score of 37,648 is within 1.3% of its nearest rivals (Tesla P4, RX Vega 56, RTX 4080 Mobile, PRO W6400). In Inside, this translates to small FPS differences at 4K, but the 4070's higher percentile (81st) ensures it outperforms most of these alternatives in rasterization-heavy titles.

Q: Is the Ultra preset worth the performance cost?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo delivers 219 FPS, and at 1440p Ultra it delivers 157 FPS — both are respectable. However, at 4K Ultra, performance drops to 99 FPS average, which is a 40.4% reduction from 1440p Ultra. The Medium preset at 4K (166 FPS) offers a 67.7% higher frame rate than Ultra, making it the better choice unless visual fidelity is paramount.

Q: Does the CPU's 91st percentile ranking matter for this game?

A: Not significantly. Inside is not a CPU-intensive title, and the 5950X's nearest rivals (all within ±0.7% average score) would produce nearly identical FPS. The CPU's high core count is irrelevant here; its single-thread performance (PassMark 3,470) is what keeps it from bottlenecking the GPU.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1080p (1920x1080):

• Low: 318 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Medium: 294 FPS average, 250 FPS minimum, 338 FPS maximum
• High: 230 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Ultra: 219 FPS average (no min/max data)

At 1080p, the spread from Low to Ultra is 99 FPS (318 to 219). The Medium preset provides the best documented stability, with a minimum FPS of 250 that stays above 240 Hz refresh rates.

1440p (2560x1440):

• Low: 285 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Medium: 263 FPS average, 224 FPS minimum, 303 FPS maximum
• High: 165 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Ultra: 157 FPS average (no min/max data)

The 1440p results show a 128 FPS spread from Low to Ultra. Medium's minimum of 224 FPS ensures smooth playback on 144Hz monitors, while High and Ultra remain above 144 FPS averages.

4K (3840x2160):

• Low: 208 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Medium: 166 FPS average, 141 FPS minimum, 191 FPS maximum
• High: 104 FPS average (no min/max data)
• Ultra: 99 FPS average (no min/max data)

At 4K, the spread narrows to 109 FPS from Low to Ultra. Medium is the only preset with documented min/max values, showing a minimum of 141 FPS that stays above 120 Hz. High and Ultra both remain above 90 FPS averages, making them viable for 60-90 Hz displays.

The scaling analysis reveals that the Medium preset at each resolution offers the most consistent frame delivery, with documented minimums that are 85-88% of the average. This consistency is critical for a puzzle platformer where frame pacing affects the feel of precise platforming sections. The Ultra preset at 4K, while playable at 99 FPS, lacks min/max data, suggesting potential variability that could impact the experience.