Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6600 delivers a playable experience in Inside, but the data reveals a clear performance ceiling dictated by the graphics card. This combination, ranking 2869th out of 3716 tested combos, shows that while the CPU is a top-tier performer, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings, making it a system that excels at high-refresh 1080p gaming but struggles to maintain consistent 4K frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic and predictable drop as resolution increases, confirming that the Radeon RX 6600 is the limiting factor in this pairing. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces an average of 129 FPS, but this falls to 92 FPS at 1440p and further down to 58 FPS at 4K. This scaling pattern—a roughly 29% performance hit from 1080p to 1440p, and another 37% drop from 1440p to 4K—is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the render resolution overwhelms the rasterization capabilities of the graphics card.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the difference between Low (257 FPS) and Ultra (122 FPS) is 135 FPS, a 2.1x performance span. At 4K, this delta compresses to 61 FPS (116 FPS on Low versus 55 FPS on Ultra), indicating that at 4K, even dropping to Low settings cannot fully compensate for the GPU's limited pixel throughput. The 4K Ultra result of 55 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, while 4K High at 58 FPS is only marginally better, suggesting that 4K gaming on this setup requires significant settings compromises.

Interesting note: the 4K Medium preset delivers 93 FPS, which is substantially higher than 4K High (58 FPS) and 4K Ultra (55 FPS). This non-linear jump suggests that the Medium preset reduces specific GPU-intensive effects that disproportionately impact the RX 6600's 8 GB VRAM buffer or shader throughput. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Medium (148 FPS) is 60% faster than High (92 FPS), while at 1080p, Medium (206 FPS) is 60% faster than High (129 FPS). The scaling is consistent across resolutions, pointing to a specific setting tier that enables a large performance unlock.

FAQ

*Q: Can this combination handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Barely, and only with compromises. The 4K Ultra preset averages 55 FPS, and 4K High averages 58 FPS—both below the 60 FPS threshold. However, dropping to 4K Medium raises the average to 93 FPS, making it the only viable 4K option that exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for high refresh rate play?

A: 1080p is the clear winner. At Low settings, the combo achieves 257 FPS, and even at Ultra it maintains 122 FPS. 1440p is also viable, with 185 FPS on Low and 88 FPS on Ultra, but 1080p offers the most headroom for above-120Hz displays.

*Q: How does the CPU's 12-core / 24-thread configuration impact Inside?*

A: The Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads are far beyond what Inside requires. With a boost clock of 5.60 GHz and a single-thread Geekbench score of 3010, the CPU is never a bottleneck. The game's performance scales with GPU load, confirming that the processor is not limiting frame rates in any resolution or settings combination.

Q: Is the RX 6600's 8 GB of VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: Yes. The largest memory pressure occurs at 4K Ultra, where the GPU still delivers 55 FPS. While the 8 GB GDDR6 buffer (with 224.0 GB/s bandwidth) is not directly measured here, the absence of catastrophic frame drops or stutter—such as the min FPS of 79 at 4K Medium—indicates that VRAM capacity is not causing texture thrashing or performance cliffs in Inside.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 2869th out of 3716 combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier of the database. This is expected given that the RX 6600 sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 9 9900X is at the 92nd percentile among CPUs. The pairing is CPU-heavy, but the game's frame rates are dictated by the GPU.

Q: What are the minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the combo records a minimum of 175 FPS and a maximum of 237 FPS, with an average of 206 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 126 to 170 FPS (average 148 FPS), and at 4K Medium, it spans 79 to 107 FPS (average 93 FPS). These tight ranges indicate stable frame pacing without severe dips.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is an overqualified partner for this GPU in Inside, a game that does not stress modern multi-core processors. With 12 cores, 24 threads, a base clock of 4.40 GHz, and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, this Zen 5 architecture chip (codename Granite Ridge) provides immense compute headroom. The benchmark data confirms its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a single-core score of 2253 place it in the top tier, with a 92nd percentile ranking among all CPUs.

However, Inside is a puzzle platformer with modest CPU demands. The fact that the combo's FPS scales inversely with resolution—higher resolution yields lower FPS—proves the CPU is not the limiting component. At 1080p Low, the system pushes 257 FPS, but at 4K Ultra it drops to 55 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would remain flat across resolutions. Instead, the GPU's workload dictates performance.

The Ryzen 9 9900X's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database reinforce its position. It scores 0.1% below the AMD EPYC 9015 (deltaPct -0.1) and 0.2% above the AMD EPYC 7313 (deltaPct 0.2). Against Intel's Core i9-14900, it trails by 1.1%, and it is 1.4% behind the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M. These are marginal differences, indicating that the 9900X delivers workstation-class processing power that is entirely wasted on Inside's light computational load.

The 64 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel DDR5 memory support (89.6 GB/s bandwidth) further ensure that memory bandwidth is not a constraint. The 4 nm process node and 16,630 million transistors provide excellent efficiency, but these attributes do not translate to higher frame rates in this title. For Inside, the CPU's role is purely to feed the GPU without introducing any frame pacing issues, which it accomplishes effortlessly.

How This Combo Ranks

Positioned at 2869th out of 3716 tested combos, this configuration sits in the 23rd percentile of all pairings in the database. This ranking is primarily dragged down by the GPU, as the RX 6600 holds a 63rd percentile position among all GPUs, while the CPU sits at the 92nd percentile. The mismatch between a high-end processor and a mid-range graphics card creates a system that is far more capable at 1080p than at higher resolutions.

In the context of Inside specifically, this ranking reflects the game's GPU-bound nature. A combo ranked in the bottom quarter suggests that many other pairings—likely those with stronger GPUs—achieve higher frame rates, especially at 4K. The measured data supports this: the 4K Ultra average of 55 FPS is below the 60 FPS target that many higher-ranked combos would exceed. At 1080p, however, this combo's 122 FPS on Ultra puts it in a respectable position, though still behind high-end GPU pairings.

The ranking also highlights a potential upgrade path. Swapping the RX 6600 for a higher-tier GPU would dramatically improve the combo's rank, as the CPU has ample headroom to support faster graphics cards without becoming a bottleneck. The 9900X's 3DMark max-thread score of 13929 and Geekbench multi-core score of 22174 indicate that it can drive much more powerful GPUs in GPU-bound titles like Inside.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6600, based on the Navi 23 chip with RDNA 2.0 architecture, is the performance gatekeeper for this system. With 1792 shading units, 112 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, it delivers 8.928 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. Its boost clock of 2491 MHz (with a game clock of 2044 MHz) allows it to push decent frame rates at 1080p, but the 128-bit memory bus and 8 GB GDDR6 buffer (224.0 GB/s bandwidth) limit its high-resolution potential.

The GPU's benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. It holds a 63rd percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19036. Its nearest rivals in the database are the NVIDIA Quadro K6000 (deltaPct 0), the GeForce RTX 4050 Mobile (deltaPct -0.1), and the Tesla K20m (deltaPct -0.3). The RX 6600 also edges out the RTX 2000 Ada Generation by 0.4%. These close scores confirm it as a solid but not exceptional performer.

In Inside, the GPU's VRAM and bandwidth are not exposed as critical weaknesses, as evidenced by the 4K Medium result of 93 FPS. However, the significant drop from 4K Medium to 4K High (58 FPS) suggests that High settings introduce shader or texture complexity that the GPU cannot handle efficiently. The 79 FPS minimum at 4K Medium indicates that even at lower settings, there are moments of higher load, but the GPU recovers without severe stuttering.

The RX 6600's 28 ray tracing cores are irrelevant for Inside, which does not utilize ray-traced effects. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) ensures compatibility, but the game's simpler rendering requirements mean that raw rasterization performance is what matters. The 159.4 GPixel/s pixel rate and 279.0 GTexel/s texture rate are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but insufficient for consistent 4K play at high quality settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers excellent performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 257 FPS, which drops to 206 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 175 FPS and maximum of 237 FPS). High settings yield 129 FPS, and Ultra maintains 122 FPS. This resolution is clearly where the RX 6600 shines, providing more than enough headroom for 144Hz or even 240Hz monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but begins to show GPU strain. Low settings average 185 FPS, Medium hits 148 FPS (min 126 FPS, max 170 FPS), High drops to 92 FPS, and Ultra falls to 88 FPS. The gap between Medium and High is 56 FPS, signaling that High settings introduce a significant load increase. For 1440p gamers, Medium or Low settings are recommended to maintain high refresh rates, while Ultra is still playable at 88 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become pronounced. Low settings average 116 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 93 FPS (min 79 FPS, max 107 FPS). High settings plummet to 58 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 55 FPS. The 4K performance profile shows a cliff between Medium and High, where the GPU cannot sustain the increased shading complexity. For 4K gaming, only Low or Medium settings are viable, with Medium offering the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate at 93 FPS.

Across all resolutions, the measured FPS data shows no min or max values for Low, High, and Ultra settings, indicating that the benchmark tool only captured frame time variance for Medium presets. The Medium preset's min-to-max spread is consistent—roughly 30% above and below the average—suggesting stable performance without major spikes or drops. The overall pattern is clear: this combo is a 1080p champion, a capable 1440p performer, and a 4K compromise.