Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination delivers extreme performance in Inside, a 2016 Puzzle Platformer. The data shows a system capable of running the game at frame rates far beyond display refresh rates, even at maximum settings and 4K resolution. With an average of 152.8 FPS at 4K High and 319.5 FPS at 1080p Low, this pairing effectively removes hardware bottlenecks, making the game’s simple visual style the only limit.

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, codenamed Vermeer. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, built on TSMC's 7 nm process node. This is a desktop-class CPU with a 105 W TDP, designed for high-throughput workloads, though Inside is not one of them. The game’s puzzle-platformer nature relies on modest physics and logic, meaning the CPU's massive core count is largely idle.

Benchmark results indicate the processor's strength lies in multithreaded tasks. For instance, the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 38607, while the single-core score is 5450. Similarly, 3DMark results show a progression from 944 single-thread to 11597 max-threads. The Passmark multithread score of 45424 versus a single-thread score of 3470 highlights the same disparity. In Inside, the game rarely uses more than a few threads, so the Ryzen 9's performance is dictated by its single-core capability, not its 32 threads.

The processor ranks in the 93rd percentile against all CPUs, indicating top-tier overall performance. Its nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the Intel Core i5-14600K, which scores 49166 and is 0.2% slower, and the Intel Core i5-14600KF at 49367, which is 0.6% slower. The AMD EPYC 4345P scores 49595, making it 1.1% faster. These deltas are negligible, showing that in raw compute, the 5950X is competitive with modern mid-range parts, but none of this matters for Inside's frame rates. The game’s low CPU demand means the 5950X's boost clock of 4.90 GHz is sufficient to keep up with the GPU, but the data suggests the CPU is never the limiting factor in this pairing.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. Its base clock is 2017 MHz with a boost clock of 2407 MHz, and it features 21760 shading units. The memory runs at an effective 28 Gbps. This is an extreme piece of hardware, but for a game like Inside, the sheer compute power is overkill. The GPU's 32 GB VRAM is far more than the game requires, and its 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 performance is never fully utilized.

The RTX 5090's benchmark results are equally extreme. It scores 14411 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 39650 in Passmark G3D. The Passmark DirectX 11 score of 341 and DirectX 12 score of 185 show strong API performance. The GPU ranks in the 94th percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D with an average score of 84241 (0.1% slower), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile at 84171 (0.2% slower). Interestingly, the AMD Radeon PRO W6600 scores 83209, which is 1.3% slower, and the NVIDIA CMP 40HX scores 85637, which is 1.6% faster.

In Inside, the RTX 5090's role is to render a simple 2D side-scroller with high frame rates. The measured FPS data shows that even at 4K Ultra, the game averages 142.5 FPS. This indicates the GPU is not being stressed. The bottleneck, if any, is the game's engine or the CPU's single-thread speed, but the high frame rates suggest the RTX 5090 is waiting for instructions rather than working at full capacity. The GPU's 2407 MHz boost clock is more than adequate to handle the game's pixel-shading demands.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of resolution scaling. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 319.5 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 282.8 FPS, a reduction of 36.7 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 242.4 FPS. The same trend appears at High settings: 246.8 FPS at 1080p, 222.2 FPS at 1440p, and 152.8 FPS at 4K. This scaling indicates that the GPU is becoming more involved as resolution increases, but the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

The drop from 1080p to 4K at High settings is from 246.8 FPS to 152.8 FPS, a 38% decrease. At Low settings, the drop is from 319.5 FPS to 242.4 FPS, a 24% decrease. This difference suggests that at Low settings, the CPU or engine limits performance more than the GPU, as the frame rate drop is smaller. At High settings, the GPU's workload increases, leading to a larger FPS reduction. However, even at 4K Ultra, the system maintains 142.5 FPS, which is still far above the 60 FPS standard.

The data shows that the limiting component at lower resolutions is likely the CPU's single-thread speed or the game's engine. The Ryzen 9 5950X, despite its high boost clock, cannot push frame rates beyond 319.5 FPS at 1080p Low. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, but only because the resolution increases the pixel count. The RTX 5090 is powerful enough to handle 4K Ultra at 142.5 FPS, which confirms its capability. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is not linear, but the system never falls below 142.5 FPS, showing a robust performance envelope.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 166th out of 1671 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the top 10% of all systems tested. The rank is surprisingly low given the hardware's power, but it reflects the game's low requirements. Many other combos with less powerful CPUs and GPUs achieve similar frame rates because Inside does not scale well with high-end components.

The rank of 166 out of 1671 suggests that while this combo is fast, it is not the absolute fastest. The data implies that other combinations, likely with newer CPUs or more optimized pairings, can achieve higher frame rates. The Ryzen 9 5950X's 93rd percentile CPU rank and the RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU rank do not translate to a top-50 combo rank in this game. This is because the game's engine is likely CPU-bound at high frame rates, and the 5950X's single-core performance, while strong, is not the best available.

The combo's rank indicates that for Inside, the GPU is underutilized. The RTX 5090's massive compute power is wasted on such a simple game. The CPU is also not pushed to its limits. The result is a system that is fast but not the fastest, as other combos with higher single-thread CPU performance or different memory configurations may edge it out. The 166th rank is a data point that shows the diminishing returns of high-end hardware on older, less demanding titles.

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

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 319.5 FPS on Low, 290.8 FPS on Medium, 246.8 FPS on High, and 240.5 FPS on Ultra. The difference between Low and Ultra is 79 FPS, showing that settings have a moderate impact at this resolution. The game is likely CPU-bound at 1080p, as the frame rates are extremely high.

At 2560x1440, the results are 282.8 FPS on Low, 265.9 FPS on Medium, 222.2 FPS on High, and 217.2 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 65.6 FPS. The 1440p results show a slight decrease in frame rates compared to 1080p, indicating the GPU is starting to handle more work. The High and Ultra settings are closer in performance, with a difference of only 5 FPS, suggesting a GPU limit.

At 3840x2160, the system delivers 242.4 FPS on Low, 223.2 FPS on Medium, 152.8 FPS on High, and 142.5 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra is 99.9 FPS, the largest of any resolution. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the primary limiting factor. The drop from High to Ultra is only 10.3 FPS, showing that Ultra settings are not significantly more demanding than High. The 4K results are still impressive, with the lowest frame rate being 142.5 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the Medium setting consistently offers a balance, with 290.8 FPS at 1080p, 265.9 FPS at 1440p, and 223.2 FPS at 4K. The High and Ultra settings show less variation, with the 4K Ultra being the lowest at 142.5 FPS. The data shows that this combo can handle Inside at maximum settings and 4K resolution with frame rates well above 120 FPS, making it a superb experience for any display. The performance is consistent and high, with no dips below 142.5 FPS in any tested configuration.