Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and Radeon RX 7800 XT combination delivers a masterclass in high-refresh-rate gaming for Inside, a Puzzle Platformer from 2016. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at lower resolutions, yet still provides exceptional headroom for demanding visual settings. This pairing ranks 441st out of 1671 tested combos, placing it comfortably in the top quarter of all configurations for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 411.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 299.1 FPS, a 27.4% reduction. At 3840x2160, the frame rate falls to 184.9 FPS, which is 55.1% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline indicates that the RX 7800 XT is the primary bottleneck; the CPU has ample headroom to feed frames, but the GPU's rendering workload increases exponentially with pixel count.

The pattern persists across all settings presets. With High settings, the transition from 1080p (204.8 FPS) to 1440p (148.4 FPS) is a 27.5% drop, and to 4K (96.1 FPS) it is a 53.1% drop. Ultra settings show similar scaling: 195 FPS at 1080p, 140.8 FPS at 1440p (a 27.8% decrease), and 89.9 FPS at 4K (a 53.9% decrease). These consistent ratios confirm that resolution, not scene complexity, is the dominant factor limiting performance. The 12-core, 24-thread Ryzen 9 9900X is never the limiting component; even at 1080p Low, the frame rate is capped by what the GPU can physically render.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 7800 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with the Navi 32 chip, manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC. It carries 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is more than sufficient for Inside's art style, which does not demand massive texture pools. The GPU's boost clock is rated at 2430 MHz, with a game clock of 2124 MHz and a base clock of 1295 MHz.

The benchmark results for this GPU show a Passmark G3D score of 24176 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 4157. Its percentile ranking against all GPUs is 76, indicating it outperforms the majority of available graphics cards. In terms of raw compute, the card delivers 37.32 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. For a game like Inside, which is not graphically intensive by modern standards, this GPU is overkill at 1080p and 1440p, but it still manages to hold above 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, with an average of 89.9 FPS. The GPU's 96 ROPs and 240 TMUs ensure that pixel fill and texture filtering are not bottlenecks, even at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 441 out of 1671 places this configuration in the 73.6th percentile of all tested combinations for Inside. This is a strong result, especially considering the game's age and low system requirements. The ranking suggests that while there are 440 faster combos, the vast majority (1230) of tested systems perform worse. This position is largely due to the GPU's high benchmark scores relative to its rivals. The RX 7800 XT's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD FirePro S9300 X2, which is 0.2% slower, and the NVIDIA P104-100, which is 0.4% faster. The NVIDIA T600 Mobile is 0.7% faster, and the AMD FirePro S10000 is 0.7% slower. These are all extremely close margins, indicating that the 7800 XT sits at a performance plateau where minor architectural differences dictate rankings.

For the CPU, the Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 54450, placing it at the 94th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D, scores 54681, a mere 0.4% difference. The Intel Core i7-14700F is 0.7% slower, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K and 245KF are 1.5% and 1.8% faster, respectively. This CPU performance is far beyond what Inside requires, so the combo's ranking is almost entirely dictated by GPU capabilities. The data indicates that pairing this CPU with a faster GPU would likely yield a much higher rank, as the processor would not constrain performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are spectacular across the board. Low settings produce an average of 411.8 FPS, Medium yields 328.5 FPS, High drops to 204.8 FPS, and Ultra maintains 195 FPS. These numbers are all far beyond the refresh rate of any standard monitor, making the game feel incredibly fluid. The difference between Low and Ultra is 216.8 FPS, which is a massive 52.6% reduction, but the absolute values remain high.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance is still excellent. Low settings average 299.1 FPS, Medium drops to 239.7 FPS, High produces 148.4 FPS, and Ultra yields 140.8 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with a roughly 27% reduction across all presets. At this resolution, even Ultra settings provide frame rates well above 140 FPS, ensuring a smooth experience on high-refresh-rate 1440p panels.

At 3840x2160, the GPU starts to feel the pressure. Low settings still manage an impressive 184.9 FPS, and Medium delivers 146.4 FPS. High settings fall to 96.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 89.9 FPS. While these are still playable numbers, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 95 FPS, representing a 51.4% performance penalty. The data shows that 4K Ultra is the only configuration where the frame rate approaches the 60 FPS threshold, though it stays comfortably above it.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W. The CPU's L3 cache is 64 MB shared, and it supports dual-channel DDR5 memory with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. This is a high-end desktop part designed for productivity and gaming alike.

In Inside, the CPU's role is minimal due to the game's lightweight logic and linear progression. The benchmark results for the CPU show exceptional single-threaded performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6555. Multi-threaded performance is equally strong, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438 and a Passmark multi-thread score of 54643. These scores are entirely irrelevant to the game's frame rates, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor well before the CPU's capacity is challenged. The data confirms that the Ryzen 9 9900X provides zero bottleneck, allowing the RX 7800 XT to operate at its maximum potential. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would typically be stressed to feed frames, the system does not show signs of CPU limitation.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured data, the optimal settings depend entirely on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p users with a 144 Hz or 240 Hz monitor, Ultra settings are the clear choice, as the 195 FPS average far exceeds any display's refresh rate. There is no reason to lower settings to High (204.8 FPS) or Medium (328.5 FPS) because the visual fidelity increase from Ultra is free in practical terms.

For 1440p, Ultra settings provide 140.8 FPS, which is perfect for 144 Hz monitors. If the display is a 165 Hz or 240 Hz panel, dropping to High (148.4 FPS) offers only a marginal 7.6 FPS gain, which is not worth the visual downgrade. Medium (239.7 FPS) is only recommended for competitive play on very high refresh rate displays, though the visual sacrifice is significant relative to the frame rate gain.

At 4K, the recommendation is more nuanced. For a 60 Hz display, Ultra settings provide 89.9 FPS, which is well above the refresh rate, making it the ideal choice for maximum visual quality. For a 120 Hz display, High settings at 96.1 FPS are close to the cap, but Ultra at 89.9 FPS is still a smooth experience. If the user prioritizes frame rate, Medium settings (146.4 FPS) offer a substantial boost, but the visual difference between Medium and Ultra in a game like Inside is noticeable due to lighting and shadow effects. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot for 4K high-refresh displays, balancing the 96.1 FPS average with good visual fidelity. Low settings are never recommended at any resolution, as the frame rate gains do not justify the loss of atmosphere in this puzzle platformer.