Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, and the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT combination reveal a title that is exceptionally forgiving on hardware. The data shows a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings, with performance headroom that allows for high refresh rate gameplay even at demanding configurations. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, interprets what the scaling indicates about the system's bottleneck, and provides guidance on optimal settings for this specific hardware pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, characteristic of a GPU-bound workload at higher pixel counts. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 282.4 FPS, which drops to 202.6 FPS at 1440p and further to 130 FPS at 4K. This represents a 28.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 35.8% drop from 1440p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load scales significantly with pixel count. The pattern is similar across all settings presets, though the absolute differences shrink as the preset becomes more demanding.

The scaling behavior suggests that at lower resolutions, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to keep it fully utilized, while at 4K, the Radeon RX 6600 XT becomes the limiting factor. Evidence for this lies in the High preset: at 1080p, the system achieves 138.9 FPS, but at 4K, it drops to 60.9 FPS — a 56.2% reduction. This steep decline is typical of a GPU that is being pushed to its limits by the increased pixel throughput, rather than a CPU limitation, which would manifest as a plateau or a less severe drop at higher resolutions.

Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens considerably at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (282.4 FPS) and Ultra (134.3 FPS) is 148.1 FPS, while at 4K, the same comparison shows a difference of 68.3 FPS (130 FPS vs. 61.7 FPS). This compression of the settings gap at 4K further confirms that the GPU is the primary constraint at that resolution, as the additional shading and texture work from higher presets cannot be fully offset by the CPU's headroom.

The data also reveals that the step from Medium to High has a larger relative impact than the step from High to Ultra. At 1440p, Medium delivers 159.3 FPS, High drops to 101.6 FPS (a 36.2% reduction), and Ultra maintains 96.9 FPS (a 4.6% reduction from High). This non-linear scaling suggests that the High preset introduces a significant rendering feature or effect that is computationally expensive, while Ultra builds on that with diminishing returns. For a game like Inside, which uses a tightly controlled visual style, this points to specific lighting or post-processing effects being the primary cost drivers.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, built on the RDNA 2.0 architecture with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, plays a central role in these results. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and its 2048 shading units are the key specifications that govern its performance in this title. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (61.7 FPS) and 4K High (60.9 FPS) are remarkably close, suggesting that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of the preset — a sign that memory bandwidth or fill rate is the limiting factor rather than shader complexity.

The GPU's clock behavior is also relevant. With a base clock of 1968 MHz, a game clock of 2359 MHz, and a boost clock of 2589 MHz, the RX 6600 XT has a narrow operating range that allows for consistent performance without thermal throttling under sustained load. The pixel rate of 165.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 331.4 GTexel/s are moderate figures for a 2021 GPU, and the data shows that they are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gameplay with high frame rates, but they become the bottleneck at 4K where the demand for pixel throughput rises sharply.

The GPU's percentile ranking (71st among all GPUs) and its average benchmark score of 27985 place it in the mid-range tier, directly competitive with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct 0.1) and just behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 (deltaPct -0.9). In the context of Inside, the RX 6600 XT's 8 GB VRAM is more than adequate, as evidenced by the fact that the 4K Ultra preset still produces 61.7 FPS — the game's art style does not demand large texture pools or high-resolution assets. The GPU's FP32 performance of 10.60 TFLOPS is the raw compute resource that drives the pixel shader workloads, and the measured results show it is well-matched to the CPU in this game at resolutions up to 1440p.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achieved by this system in Inside?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 282.4, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset. This indicates that the system has substantial headroom for high refresh rate displays at 1080p.

Q: Is the system capable of 4K 60 FPS gameplay in Inside?

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160 resolution, the High preset delivers an average of 60.9 FPS and the Ultra preset delivers 61.7 FPS. Both are just above the 60 FPS threshold, though the margin is slim.

Q: How does the High preset compare to the Ultra preset in terms of performance cost?

A: The performance cost of moving from High to Ultra is minimal. At 1080p, the drop is from 138.9 FPS to 134.3 FPS (a 3.3% reduction), and at 1440p, it is from 101.6 FPS to 96.9 FPS (a 4.6% reduction). At 4K, the difference is negligible, with High at 60.9 FPS and Ultra at 61.7 FPS.

Q: Which resolution provides the best balance of frame rate and visual fidelity?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution with the High preset offers 101.6 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS standard and provides a significant visual upgrade over 1080p. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 202.6 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely not worthwhile for a game like Inside.

Q: Does the Low preset provide a linear performance increase over Medium?

A: No, the increase is not linear. At 1080p, Low (282.4 FPS) is 26% faster than Medium (224.1 FPS), but at 4K, Low (130 FPS) is only 25.1% faster than Medium (103.9 FPS). The relative benefit of Low is consistent, but the absolute frame rate gains are smaller at higher resolutions due to GPU limitations.

Q: How does this system's performance in Inside compare to other games based on the GPU's benchmark scores?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 27985 places it near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (score 27956), with a deltaPct of 0.1, meaning the RX 6600 XT is 0.1% faster in aggregate benchmarks. However, Inside's measured FPS shows this translates to very high frame rates, suggesting the game is less demanding than the average title.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays with a 144 Hz refresh rate, the High preset (138.9 FPS) is the best choice, as it delivers frame rates that approach the refresh rate ceiling while maintaining a higher level of visual quality than Medium (224.1 FPS) or Low (282.4 FPS). The Ultra preset (134.3 FPS) offers only a marginal visual improvement over High for a 3.3% performance cost, making it a reasonable alternative if the display can accept slightly lower frame rates.

For 1440p displays, the High preset (101.6 FPS) is the recommended configuration, as it balances the visual fidelity of the game's atmospheric art style with a frame rate that is well above 60 FPS. The Medium preset (159.3 FPS) is also viable for users who prioritize smoothness over visual effects, but the jump from Medium to High costs 36.2% of the frame rate, which is a significant trade-off. The Ultra preset (96.9 FPS) is borderline for 144 Hz displays but perfectly adequate for 60 Hz panels, though the performance difference from High is minimal.

For 4K displays, the choice is constrained by the GPU's limits. The Ultra preset (61.7 FPS) and High preset (60.9 FPS) both barely exceed 60 FPS, making them the only options for a standard 60 Hz display. The Medium preset (103.9 FPS) offers a substantial frame rate advantage, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is noticeable in a game with such a carefully crafted aesthetic. Given that the High preset is only 1.3% slower than Ultra, the recommendation is to use High at 4K to preserve the visual experience while staying just above the 60 FPS target.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 282.4 FPS, which represents the maximum frame rate measured in this dataset. The Medium preset delivers 224.1 FPS, a 20.6% reduction from Low. The High preset produces 138.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 134.3 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is only 4.6 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset's additional effects are not particularly demanding at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show the expected decline. The Low preset averages 202.6 FPS, which is a 28.3% drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset achieves 159.3 FPS, while High settles at 101.6 FPS. The Ultra preset produces 96.9 FPS, which is the lowest result at 1440p but still comfortably above 60 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at this resolution is 57.7 FPS, highlighting the significant cost of the High preset's rendering features.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The Low preset averages 130 FPS, which is still very playable. The Medium preset delivers 103.9 FPS, a 20.1% reduction from Low. The High preset achieves 60.9 FPS, and the Ultra preset reaches 61.7 FPS. Interestingly, the Ultra preset is slightly faster than High in this configuration, which may indicate measurement variance or that the two presets are hitting the same GPU limit. The scaling from 1440p to 4K for the High preset shows a 40.1% drop, while the Low preset drops by 35.8%, confirming that higher settings amplify the resolution penalty.