Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7800M delivers a decisive performance profile in Inside, a game that scales dramatically with resolution. The data shows this combination is far more capable at 1440p and 1080p than at 4K, where it still manages to hold playable frame rates. This analysis breaks down the measured results, focusing on where the bottleneck shifts and how the hardware responds to settings changes.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance curve as resolution increases. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 143 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 103 FPS, a reduction of 40 FPS or roughly 28%. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 65 FPS, which is 78 FPS below the 1080p result. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames at lower pixel counts.

The Low settings row amplifies this trend. At 1080p Low, the average FPS reaches 286, which is more than double the 4K High result. At 1440p Low, the average is 206 FPS, and at 4K Low, it drops to 129 FPS. The gap between Low and High at the same resolution is substantial: at 1080p, the difference is 143 FPS (286 vs 143), while at 4K, the difference is 64 FPS (129 vs 65). This suggests that the GPU's shading and texture throughput is heavily taxed by the High preset, especially as resolution climbs.

Looking at the Medium preset with min and max FPS data provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 229 FPS with a minimum of 194 and a maximum of 263. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 164 FPS with a minimum of 140 and a maximum of 189. At 4K Medium, the average is 103 FPS with a minimum of 88 and a maximum of 119. The consistency of the frame times, as indicated by the narrow min-max range relative to the average, suggests that the hardware maintains stable performance without severe stutters, even when the GPU is under heavy load.

The Ultra preset shows the highest demand. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 136 FPS, which is only 7 FPS lower than High at the same resolution. At 1440p Ultra, the average is 98 FPS, a 5 FPS drop from High. At 4K Ultra, the average is 61 FPS, which is 4 FPS lower than High. This relatively small difference between High and Ultra across all resolutions indicates that the Ultra preset adds marginal graphical fidelity but does not introduce a significant performance penalty in this title.

The data suggests that the limiting component shifts based on resolution. At 1080p, the CPU is likely the ceiling, as the GPU can render frames quickly enough to expose any CPU-bound logic. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, given the sharp drop in average FPS across all settings. The 4K High result of 65 FPS and 4K Ultra result of 61 FPS both sit near the edge of playable for a smooth experience, while 1440p offers a comfortable middle ground with High at 103 FPS and Ultra at 98 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the High preset offers the best balance between visual quality and performance across most resolutions. At 1080p, High delivers 143 FPS, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay on high-refresh displays. At 1440p, High provides 103 FPS, which remains fluid and responsive. At 4K, High drops to 65 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive or fast-paced scenes.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing higher frame rates over visual fidelity. At 1080p Medium, the average of 229 FPS is exceptional, and even at 4K Medium, the 103 FPS result is smoother than High at the same resolution. The min FPS values at Medium (194 at 1080p, 140 at 1440p, 88 at 4K) indicate that frame pacing remains stable, with no severe dips that would cause noticeable hitches.

The Low preset is the performance king, but it sacrifices visual detail. At 1080p Low, the 286 FPS average is the highest measured, and at 1440p Low, the 206 FPS result is still excellent. At 4K Low, the 129 FPS average is the only sub-4K result that exceeds 120 FPS at that resolution, making it the recommended choice for users with 4K displays who want to maximize responsiveness.

The Ultra preset does not offer a compelling reason to choose it over High. The performance delta is minimal — only 7 FPS at 1080p, 5 FPS at 1440p, and 4 FPS at 4K — which suggests that the extra graphical settings in Ultra have a negligible impact on this game's rendering workload. For most users, High is the sweet spot, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium without the frame rate cost of Ultra.

For 4K users, the choice is between High at 65 FPS and Medium at 103 FPS. The data favors Medium for a consistently smooth experience, especially given the min FPS of 88 at Medium versus no min FPS data for High. For 1440p users, High at 103 FPS is recommended, as it balances quality and speed without needing to drop to Medium. For 1080p users, High at 143 FPS is sufficient, but Medium at 229 FPS is the better option if the display supports high refresh rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores reflect a high-end mobile part: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 place it in the 95th percentile against all CPUs. The PassMark multithread score of 51405 and single-thread score of 3907 further confirm its capability.

In Inside, a puzzle platformer, the CPU's role is less demanding than in other genres, but the data still shows its influence. At 1080p Low, the average FPS of 286 is likely CPU-bound, as the GPU has enough headroom to render frames far faster than the processor can feed draw calls and game logic. The boost clock of 5.40 GHz on a single core is critical for this scenario, as the game's main thread benefits from high single-thread performance.

The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 2532 and R15 single-core score of 607 indicate strong per-core performance, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. The PassMark single-thread score of 3907 reinforces this, showing that the processor can handle the physics and AI calculations typical of a puzzle platformer without becoming a bottleneck.

The 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample memory for the game's assets, reducing the need for slower memory access. The DDR5 memory support with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s ensures that data flows efficiently between the CPU and memory, which is particularly relevant when the GPU is not the limiting factor.

At 4K, the CPU's workload decreases relative to the GPU, as the resolution scaling shifts the bottleneck. The data shows that the 4K Low result of 129 FPS is still high, indicating that the CPU can maintain frame delivery even when the GPU is producing fewer frames per second. The 16 cores and 32 threads also help with background tasks and system overhead, ensuring that no processing stalls occur during gameplay.

The nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks, including the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX with a delta of 0.1% and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D with a delta of 0.6%, show that this processor is competitive at the top tier. However, in Inside, the CPU is rarely the limiting factor above 1080p, so the performance differences between these high-end parts would be negligible in practice.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and the AMD Radeon RX 7800M ranks 1877 out of 2887 tested combos in Inside. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is surprising given the individual component strengths. The rank of 1877 suggests that many other tested combos, likely including desktop parts and higher-end mobile GPUs, produce higher average FPS in this game.

The combo's rank is likely influenced by the GPU's performance ceiling. The Radeon RX 7800M has a percentile of 73 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 27883. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 20 (delta 0.2%), the AMD Radeon Pro W5500X (delta -0.3%), and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (delta -0.5%). These rivals are older or workstation-oriented parts, which suggests that the RX 7800M is competitive with mid-range desktop GPUs from a previous generation.

The CPU's percentile of 95 and average benchmark score of 76212 are much stronger, but the GPU's lower percentile drags the combo rank down. In a game like Inside, which is not heavily threaded and relies on GPU rasterization, the GPU's performance is the primary determinant of the final rank. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 432.0 GB/s bandwidth is adequate for this title, but the GPU's compute power, measured at 35.87 TFLOPS FP32, may not be sufficient to compete with higher-ranked combos at 4K.

The rank of 1877 out of 2887 means that approximately 65% of tested combos perform better in Inside. This is not a flattering position, but it is consistent with the GPU's mid-range positioning. The CPU's performance is not the issue; rather, the GPU's inability to sustain high frame rates at 4K Ultra (61 FPS) and its moderate 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2994 contribute to the lower rank.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7800M is a mobile GPU based on the Navi 32 chip with RDNA 3.0 architecture. It features 3840 shading units, 240 texture mapping units, and 96 render output units, with a boost clock of 2335 MHz and a game clock of 2145 MHz. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 432.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for Inside's textures and effects.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a mixed picture. The PassMark G3D score of 17613 places it in the 73rd percentile, but its DirectX 12 score of 89 and DirectX 11 score of 176 are relatively low compared to other GPUs in the database. This suggests that the GPU excels in compute-heavy tasks (PassMark GPU compute score of 9342) but may not be optimized for all gaming workloads.

In Inside, the GPU's performance is the primary driver of frame rates across all settings. At 1080p High, the 143 FPS average shows that the GPU can handle the game's rendering demands with ease. At 4K High, the 65 FPS average reveals the GPU's limitations, as the pixel fill rate of 224.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 560.4 GTexel/s are not enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with advanced settings.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s is a critical factor at higher resolutions. At 4K, the game requires more memory bandwidth to stream textures and geometry, and the 192-bit bus may become a bottleneck. The 12 GB capacity is ample, but the bandwidth is moderate compared to higher-end parts, which explains the significant drop from 1440p High (103 FPS) to 4K High (65 FPS).

The GPU's ray tracing cores (60) and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate do not appear to impact Inside, as the game likely does not use ray tracing. The FP32 performance of 35.87 TFLOPS is adequate for the game's shader work, but the GPU's overall architecture, with a 5 nm process and 28,100 million transistors, is designed for efficiency rather than raw throughput.

The nearest GPU rivals, including the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti with a delta of -0.5%, show that the RX 7800M performs similarly to a high-end GPU from a decade ago. This is reflected in the measured FPS, where the GPU delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p but struggles at 4K with Ultra settings. The GPU's TDP of 180 W and IGP slot width suggest it is a power-efficient mobile part, but it cannot compete with desktop-class GPUs in absolute performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings is 103 FPS, which provides a smooth experience for most gameplay scenarios.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to 4K High in terms of performance?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 61 FPS, while the High preset delivers 65 FPS. The performance difference is only 4 FPS, indicating that Ultra does not significantly tax the hardware beyond High.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the average FPS is 286, which is likely CPU-bound. The GPU has enough headroom to render frames faster than the CPU can process game logic, making the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX the primary limiter in this scenario.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 1440p Medium?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum FPS is 140, with an average of 164 FPS and a maximum of 189 FPS. This indicates stable frame pacing without severe dips.

*Q: How does this combo rank against all tested combinations in Inside?*

A: The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and AMD Radeon RX 7800M ranks 1877 out of 2887 tested combos, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database for this game.

Q: What is the GPU's DirectX 12 benchmark score?

A: The GPU's PassMark DirectX 12 score is 89, which is relatively low compared to its G3D score of 17613. This suggests that the GPU may not be optimized for the latest DirectX 12 features in all titles, though Inside still performs adequately.