Inside

# Inside — AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers a benchmark dataset for Inside that spans from near-90 FPS at 4K Ultra to over 350 FPS at 1080p Low, making this combo one of the most capable configurations in the database. The measured results show a system that never drops below 91 FPS at any tested resolution or preset, with the limiting factor shifting clearly from GPU-bound at 4K to increasingly CPU-bound as resolution drops to 1080p.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo in Inside?*

A: Medium is the most balanced 4K preset, delivering 152 FPS average with a minimum of 130 FPS and maximum of 175 FPS. Ultra drops to 91 FPS while High sits at 95 FPS, making Medium the only 4K preset that combines high frame rates with consistent frame pacing.

Q: How much faster is 1080p Low compared to 4K Ultra?

A: 1080p Low produces 357 FPS average versus 91 FPS at 4K Ultra, a 266 FPS difference. This 3.9x increase in frame rate from a 4x reduction in pixel count indicates near-perfect scaling, suggesting the GPU remains the primary bottleneck even at lower resolutions.

*Q: Does this CPU bottleneck the RTX 4080 in Inside?*

A: The data suggests yes at 1080p. The RTX 4080 scores 34,457 in passmark_g3d (86th percentile), while the Ryzen 9 8945HX scores 51,405 in passmark_multithread and 3,907 in passmark_single_thread (95th percentile). The 1080p Low result of 357 FPS appears to hit a practical ceiling for this game engine, as the 1440p Low result of 303 FPS is only 18% lower despite a 2.25x pixel increase.

*Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations for Inside?*

A: This combo ranks 720th out of 2,887 tested combinations, placing it in the top 25% of all configurations in the database. This rank reflects the strong but not top-tier positioning of the RTX 4080, which sits below the RTX 4080 SUPER with a 0.1% delta in average benchmark score.

Q: Is there a significant difference between High and Ultra presets?

A: At 4K, High averages 95 FPS while Ultra averages 91 FPS — only a 4 FPS difference. At 1440p, High averages 152 FPS versus 144 FPS for Ultra. At 1080p, High averages 211 FPS versus 201 FPS for Ultra. The consistent single-digit FPS delta suggests Ultra adds minimal visual benefit for the performance cost.

*Q: Does the 16 GB VRAM capacity matter for Inside?*

A: Not in a limiting sense. The RTX 4080's 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth is far beyond what Inside requires, as evidenced by the game's 2016 release date and the fact that even the lowest 4K preset achieves 191 FPS. The memory subsystem is never the constraint in any measured configuration.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 serves as the primary performance driver in Inside, with its Ada Lovelace architecture and AD103 chip providing the rendering muscle. The GPU operates at a 2205 MHz base clock and 2505 MHz boost clock, with 9,728 shading units, 304 TMUs, and 112 ROPs. Memory runs at 1400 MHz with 22.4 Gbps effective throughput across a 256-bit bus, yielding 716.8 GB/s bandwidth. The 16 GB GDDR6X frame buffer is more than sufficient for this puzzle platformer, which launched in 2016 and has modest texture requirements.

The GPU's benchmark profile shows a passmark_g3d score of 34,457, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54,247 puts it within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209), essentially matching its nearest rival. The RTX 4080's FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s translate directly into the high frame rates observed in Inside's 2D side-scrolling environments, where geometry complexity is low but pixel fill and shader work still matter.

At 4K, the GPU's role is most apparent: High preset produces 95 FPS, Medium reaches 152 FPS, and Low jumps to 191 FPS. The progression from Ultra (91 FPS) to Low (191 FPS) at 4K shows a 2.1x performance range, indicating that Inside's preset levels meaningfully alter GPU workload. The RTX 4080's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are not directly stressed by this game, as Inside does not use ray tracing or DLSS, but the raw rasterization throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 ensures headroom at all settings.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals distinct scaling behavior across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 357 FPS; at 1440p Low, 303 FPS; and at 4K Low, 191 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p (2.25x pixels) reduces FPS by 15%, while 1440p to 4K (2.25x pixels) reduces FPS by 37%. This non-linear scaling indicates the system transitions from a partially CPU-limited state at 1080p to a fully GPU-limited state at 4K.

For High settings, the scaling is more consistent: 1080p High produces 211 FPS, 1440p High produces 152 FPS (28% drop), and 4K High produces 95 FPS (37% drop). The Medium preset shows similar patterns: 330 FPS at 1080p, 243 FPS at 1440p (26% drop), and 152 FPS at 4K (37% drop). Ultra settings follow: 201 FPS at 1080p, 144 FPS at 1440p (28% drop), and 91 FPS at 4K (37% drop).

The consistent 37% drop from 1440p to 4K across all presets confirms the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor at 4K. The smaller 26-28% drops from 1080p to 1440p suggest the CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads, running at 2.50 GHz base and 5.40 GHz boost, can keep up with frame generation demands at 1080p but begin to show limitations as pixel count increases. The Ryzen 9 8945HX's passmark_single_thread score of 3,907 indicates strong per-core performance, yet the 357 FPS ceiling at 1080p Low hints at an engine-level frame cap or CPU bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the four presets deliver a clear hierarchy. Low settings produce 191 FPS average, Medium delivers 152 FPS with a 130-175 FPS range, High reaches 95 FPS, and Ultra drops to 91 FPS. The gap between Medium and High (57 FPS) is far larger than between High and Ultra (4 FPS), suggesting High and Ultra share similar rendering workloads while Medium represents a distinct quality tier.

At 2560x1440, Low achieves 303 FPS, Medium averages 243 FPS with a 206-279 FPS range, High hits 152 FPS, and Ultra produces 144 FPS. The 1440p Medium result demonstrates excellent frame pacing with a 73 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating stable performance under varying scene complexity. The 1440p Low result of 303 FPS is notable for being 59% higher than 4K Low, reinforcing that resolution scaling is the dominant factor.

At 1920x1080, the data shows the system's peak capabilities. Low reaches 357 FPS, Medium averages 330 FPS with a 280-379 FPS range, High produces 211 FPS, and Ultra delivers 201 FPS. The 1080p Medium spread of 99 FPS between minimum and maximum is the widest in the dataset, suggesting occasional heavy scenes can cause noticeable frame dips even at this resolution. The 1080p High result of 211 FPS is 4.7% lower than Ultra's 201 FPS, a smaller relative gap than at other resolutions.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best FPS-to-setting ratio, with minimum FPS recorded only for Medium presets. Low presets show no minimum values, indicating they may have been capped or unmonitored, while High and Ultra presets also lack min/max data. The Medium preset's documented 130 FPS minimum at 4K confirms that even the most demanding scenes in Inside remain well above playable thresholds.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread mobile processor from the 8000 series, built on Zen 4 architecture with a 5 nm process. It operates at 2.50 GHz base and 5.40 GHz boost clocks, with 64 MB of L3 cache distributed across the chip. The CPU's benchmark results are impressive: cinebench_r23_multicore scores 42,713, passmark_multithread scores 51,405, and passmark_single_thread scores 3,907. These place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76,212 — essentially tied with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76,155, +0.1% delta) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75,779, +0.6% delta).

In Inside, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p where frame rates exceed 300 FPS. The 357 FPS result at 1080p Low likely approaches the game engine's physics and logic update ceiling, as the GPU could theoretically render more frames given its 280.6 GPixel/s pixel rate. The CPU's 16 cores handle the game's single-threaded puzzle logic easily, but the 5.40 GHz boost clock is the more relevant specification for Inside's gameplay, which relies on deterministic physics and collision detection rather than multi-threaded simulation.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s via dual-channel DDR5 provides sufficient data throughput for the game's assets, though the 64 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed game data. The CPU's 5 nm process and 55 W TDP indicate efficient operation, though the mobile form factor means sustained boost clocks may vary compared to desktop counterparts. The cinebench_r15_singlecore score of 607 and r20_singlecore score of 2,532 confirm strong per-core performance, which is what Inside's engine primarily utilizes.

The data shows the CPU is not a bottleneck at 4K, where GPU load dominates. However, the 1080p results suggest the CPU caps performance around 357 FPS, as the 1440p Low result of 303 FPS is only 15% lower despite a 2.25x pixel increase — if the GPU were the sole limiter, the drop would be closer to 55%. This indicates the CPU's frame generation capability, not the GPU's rendering speed, sets the upper bound for Inside at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the Medium preset provides the best experience across all resolutions for this combo. At 4K, Medium delivers 152 FPS with a 130 FPS minimum, which is 60% faster than High's 95 FPS and 67% faster than Ultra's 91 FPS. The visual difference between Medium and High in a puzzle platformer like Inside is minimal given the game's monochromatic art style and simple geometry, making the 57 FPS performance gain a clear win.

At 1440p, Medium achieves 243 FPS with a 206 FPS minimum, providing a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. The 91 FPS gap between Medium and High (152 FPS) is substantial, while Ultra (144 FPS) offers no meaningful advantage over High. For users with 144 Hz displays, Medium at 1440p provides enough headroom to avoid drops below the refresh rate, whereas High and Ultra both sit dangerously close to 144 FPS and could dip below during intense scenes.

At 1080p, Medium's 330 FPS average with 280 FPS minimum is the safest choice for competitive play or motion clarity. Low produces 357 FPS, but the 27 FPS gain over Medium is unlikely to be perceptible on most displays, while High at 211 FPS and Ultra at 201 FPS represent significant performance sacrifices for marginal visual improvements. The Medium preset's documented minimum FPS values at all three resolutions (130 at 4K, 206 at 1440p, 280 at 1080p) provide confidence in frame pacing, whereas High and Ultra lack such documentation.

For maximum visual fidelity, Ultra at 1080p (201 FPS) or 1440p (144 FPS) remains viable, but the data shows diminishing returns. The jump from Medium to High costs 57 FPS at 4K, 91 FPS at 1440p, and 119 FPS at 1080p — all for visual changes that are difficult to discern in Inside's atmospheric 2D environments. The recommendation is clear: Medium preset at any resolution, with 1440p Medium (243 FPS) offering the best balance of image quality and performance for most users.

How This Combo Ranks

This AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 720th out of 2,887 tested combos for Inside, placing it in the 75th percentile of all configurations. This ranking reflects the RTX 4080's position as a high-end but not flagship GPU — its average benchmark score of 54,247 is within 0.1% of the RTX 4080 SUPER (54,209) but trails the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, +2.6%) and AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757, +2.7%) in raw GPU benchmarks, despite delivering superior real-world performance in Inside due to driver optimization and game-specific factors.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking (avg score 76,212) is notably stronger than the GPU's 86th percentile (avg score 54,247), meaning the processor has more headroom relative to its peers than the graphics card does. This asymmetry is reflected in the game's performance: at 1080p, the CPU's strength allows frame rates above 300 FPS, but at 4K, the GPU's mid-pack positioning relative to top-tier cards becomes the limiting factor, with Ultra settings dropping to 91 FPS.

Compared to other combos in the database, this configuration sits in the upper quartile, outperforming the majority of tested systems. The 720th rank out of 2,887 means roughly 2,167 combos perform worse, while 719 perform better — likely those featuring RTX 4090-class GPUs or newer flagship parts. The RTX 4080's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER with a 0.1% higher average score, would presumably rank slightly higher in Inside, but the delta is negligible in practice.

The combo's performance profile shows no weak points: 4K Ultra remains above 90 FPS, 1440p exceeds 144 FPS on all presets, and 1080p never drops below 201 FPS. The ranking of 720th, while not top-tier, represents a configuration that can drive Inside at maximum settings on any resolution without compromise, making it a strong choice for players who prioritize smooth gameplay over absolute visual fidelity at 4K.