Inside

Inside is a 2016 puzzle platformer that, on paper, should not stress modern flagship hardware. Yet, the measured data for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination reveals a fascinating performance curve that is far from linear. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across resolutions and settings, interpreting the data to identify the primary bottlenecks and offering a clear picture of what this specific combo delivers in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for this combo shows that Inside is exceptionally forgiving at lower resolutions, but the scaling from 1080p to 4K is not uniform across all settings. At the "Low" preset, the average frame rate drops from 428 FPS at 1920x1080 to 242 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 43.5% reduction in performance. This significant drop indicates that even a highly capable GPU like the RX 7900 XTX becomes the limiting factor as pixel count increases, though the absolute numbers remain extraordinarily high.

The "Medium" preset shows a similar trend, with a 51% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1920x1080 (395 FPS) to 3840x2160 (194 FPS). Notably, the "Medium" preset is the only one in the FACT PACK with min and max FPS data, showing a 165 FPS minimum at 4K and a 455 FPS maximum at 1080p. This spread suggests that the game's frame pacing is generally consistent, but the 4K resolution introduces enough variance to create a 58 FPS gap between the minimum and maximum readings.

For the "High" preset, the scaling is more dramatic. At 1920x1080, the combo averages 268 FPS, which drops to 193 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 121 FPS at 3840x2160. The transition from 1440p to 4K alone accounts for a 37% performance loss, which is a strong indicator that the GPU's shading and pixel processing capabilities are being heavily taxed at the highest pixel counts. The "Ultra" preset follows a similar pattern, with 255 FPS at 1080p, 184 FPS at 1440p, and 115 FPS at 4K.

The data reveals that at 1080p, the CPU is likely the primary driver of performance, as the frame rates across "Low" (428 FPS), "Medium" (395 FPS), and "High" (268 FPS) show a wide variance that points to settings-dependent GPU work. However, at 4K, the frame rates across "Low" (242 FPS), "Medium" (194 FPS), and "High" (121 FPS) compress significantly, suggesting that the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The scaling is steep, but the minimum 4K result of 115 FPS on "Ultra" is still well above the threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that this combo never struggles to maintain playable frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, code-named Granite Ridge, with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. In Inside, a title that is not known for heavy multi-threading, the CPU's role is to deliver high single-thread performance and ensure that frame pacing remains consistent. The benchmark data supports this: the 9900X achieves a PassMark single-thread score of 4672 and a Geekbench single-core score of 3010, which are strong indicators of its ability to handle the game's logic and physics updates without bottlenecking the GPU.

The CPU's multi-core strength, as evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32172 and a PassMark multi-thread score of 54643, is largely irrelevant for this game, but it ensures that background tasks do not interfere with frame delivery. The 9900X's 64 MB of L3 cache and 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth provide ample headroom for loading level data, but the measured FPS at 1080p "Low" (428 FPS) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution. Instead, the game's engine appears to be well-optimized for high-frequency single-threaded operations, which the 9900X handles with ease.

The CPU's percentile rank of 92 among all tested CPUs confirms its top-tier status, and its average benchmark score of 57498 places it in close competition with server-grade processors like the AMD EPYC 9015 (57555, -0.1% delta) and Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M (58323, -1.4% delta). In the context of Inside, the 9900X's high boost clock is likely the reason why the 1080p "Medium" preset can reach 395 FPS, as the game benefits from the rapid execution of draw calls and physics calculations. The data shows that even at 4K "Ultra," where the GPU is heavily loaded, the CPU still manages to feed it enough frames to maintain an average of 115 FPS, proving that the 9900X is more than sufficient for this title.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the star of this show, featuring 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 960.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's 6144 shading units and 192 ROPs are clocked at a base of 1929 MHz and a boost of 2498 MHz, which translates to a pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s. These specifications are more than adequate for a game like Inside, which uses a distinctive monochromatic art style with limited geometric complexity.

The GPU's role is most evident at 4K resolution, where the frame rates drop significantly compared to 1080p. At 4K "High," the combo averages 121 FPS, which is still highly playable but represents a 55% reduction from the 268 FPS seen at 1080p "High." This drop is attributable to the GPU's need to fill more pixels, and the 24 GB VRAM ensures that there is no memory capacity bottleneck, even at the highest resolutions. The RX 7900 XTX's memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s is critical here, as it allows the GPU to quickly access textures and geometry data without stalling.

The GPU's benchmark scores, such as a PassMark G3D score of 31238 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 50465, place it in the 64th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB (19334, +0.4% delta) and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp (19177, +1.2% delta), which are far less powerful on paper but show similar average benchmark scores due to the weighting of specific tests. In Inside, the RX 7900 XTX's raw compute power is more than sufficient, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K "Ultra," the average FPS of 115 remains above the 100 FPS mark. The GPU's dual-slot design and 355 W TDP are not directly relevant to the game's performance, but they indicate that the card is built for sustained high-frequency operation, which is consistent with the measured frame rates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1920x1080, the "Ultra" preset delivers an average of 255 FPS, which is more than enough for any high-refresh-rate monitor. The "Medium" preset offers a marginal increase to 395 FPS, but the visual quality difference may not justify the frame rate gain for most users. The "Low" preset at 428 FPS is technically the fastest, but it likely sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that thrives on atmosphere and lighting.

At 2560x1440, the "High" preset provides a balanced experience with an average of 193 FPS, which is ideal for 144Hz displays. The "Ultra" preset drops to 184 FPS, a negligible difference that may be worth it for the enhanced visual effects. The "Medium" preset at 308 FPS is overkill for most monitors, but it does ensure that frame times are extremely consistent, as indicated by the min FPS of 262. For 4K gaming, the "High" preset at 121 FPS is the sweet spot, as it offers a significant improvement over the "Ultra" preset's 115 FPS while maintaining high visual quality.

The data suggests that the "Medium" preset is the only one with recorded min and max FPS, providing a guaranteed minimum of 165 FPS at 4K, which is a strong recommendation for users who prioritize frame stability. However, the "High" preset at 4K (121 FPS) offers a better balance of visual fidelity and performance, and the 6 FPS gap to "Ultra" is not worth the added GPU load. In summary, the best experience per the measured rows is "High" at 1440p or 4K, with "Ultra" being a viable option only if the user has a 120Hz or lower refresh rate display.

How This Combo Ranks

Among the 3716 tested combos in the database, this specific pairing of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 216th in Inside. This rank places it in the top 5.8% of all tested configurations, which is an impressive result given the game's age and the fact that it is not typically used as a stress test. The high rank is likely due to the combination of the CPU's strong single-thread performance and the GPU's massive memory bandwidth and pixel throughput.

The combo's rank is supported by the fact that it achieves over 100 FPS at every resolution and settings combination tested, which reflects the hardware's headroom. The 216th rank also indicates that there are 215 other combos that perform better, which are likely to include higher-end GPUs like the RTX 4090 or newer generation cards, but the data does not specify which ones. In the context of the Ryzen 9 9900X and RX 7900 XTX, the rank is a reflection of the GPU's 64th percentile standing among all GPUs, which is lower than the CPU's 92nd percentile, suggesting that the GPU is the more limiting factor in this game.

The combo's rank also benefits from the fact that Inside is not a demanding title, meaning that even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates, but the top 5.8% placement is reserved for configurations that can sustain 4K "Ultra" at over 100 FPS. The data shows that this combo does exactly that, achieving 115 FPS at 4K "Ultra," which is a strong performance that justifies its high rank.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo's performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the "Low" preset yields an average of 428 FPS, the "Medium" preset averages 395 FPS with a min of 336 and max of 455, the "High" preset averages 268 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 255 FPS. These numbers indicate that the game is heavily CPU-bound at 1080p, as the frame rates do not scale linearly with settings, and the CPU's high boost clock is able to push the GPU to its limits.

At 2560x1440, the "Low" preset averages 384 FPS, the "Medium" preset averages 308 FPS with a min of 262 and max of 355, the "High" preset averages 193 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 184 FPS. The drop from "Low" to "Medium" is 19.8%, while the drop from "High" to "Ultra" is just 4.7%, showing that the higher presets are more GPU-intensive and the difference between them is minimal. At 3840x2160, the "Low" preset averages 242 FPS, the "Medium" preset averages 194 FPS with a min of 165 and max of 223, the "High" preset averages 121 FPS, and the "Ultra" preset averages 115 FPS.

The 4K data shows a clear GPU bottleneck, as the frame rates drop by 50% or more compared to 1080p for each preset. The "Medium" preset's min FPS of 165 at 4K is the lowest recorded in the dataset, but it is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The "High" and "Ultra" presets at 4K are close in performance, with a 6 FPS difference, indicating that the "Ultra" preset's additional effects are not heavily taxing the GPU. Overall, the breakdown shows that this combo excels at 1080p and 1440p, and remains highly capable at 4K, with no settings combination falling below 115 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Inside?

A: The highest average FPS is 428, achieved at 1920x1080 with the "Low" settings preset.

Q: Does the combo maintain a minimum FPS above 60 at 4K?

A: Yes, the lowest recorded minimum FPS is 165, which occurs at 3840x2160 with the "Medium" settings preset.

Q: How does the combo's rank in Inside compare to other tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 216th out of 3716 tested combos, placing it in the top 5.8% of all configurations.

Q: What is the FPS difference between "High" and "Ultra" presets at 2560x1440?

A: The average FPS difference is 9 FPS, with "High" at 193 FPS and "Ultra" at 184 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the CPU is more likely the limiter at 1080p, as the frame rates vary widely between presets (428 FPS on "Low" to 255 FPS on "Ultra"), indicating that the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can issue draw calls.

Q: What is the average FPS at 4K with the "High" settings preset?

A: The average FPS at 3840x2160 with "High" settings is 121 FPS.