Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti pairing in Inside produces a profoundly GPU-limited experience, where the 12-core, 24-thread processor is rendered almost entirely irrelevant by the graphics card's age and memory capacity. The data shows a combo ranked 1644 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 2% of all systems, with performance that collapses at higher resolutions and settings due to the GTX 1050 Ti's 4 GB VRAM and Pascal architecture rather than any CPU bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9900X is an overwhelmingly powerful processor that has no meaningful impact on Inside's frame rates. With 12 cores and 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) is built for multi-threaded workloads like Cinebench R23 multi-core scoring 46438, but Inside is a puzzle platformer that simply doesn't demand that kind of throughput. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 1286 and multi-thread score of 13929 indicate strong per-core performance, yet the measured FPS data reveals no scenario where the CPU becomes the limiting factor.

The processor's 64 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth are irrelevant here because the GPU is the bottleneck in every single measured configuration. Even at 1080p Low, where the CPU would typically be most stressed, the system hits 108.6 FPS — a figure that, while respectable, is far below what this processor could theoretically push if paired with a modern graphics card. The 9900X's percentile ranking of 94 versus all CPUs confirms its elite status, but in this combination, that power is wasted. The nearest rivals — the Ryzen 9 9900X3D at -0.4% delta, the Intel Core i7-14700F at +0.7%, and the Core Ultra 5 245K at -1.5% — all show nearly identical average scores, reinforcing that CPU choice makes virtually no difference in this game when the GPU is this weak.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is the definitive performance limiter in this system. This Pascal architecture GPU, built on a 14 nm process with 3,300 million transistors, features 768 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock of 1291 MHz and boost clock of 1392 MHz, combined with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus delivering 112.1 GB/s bandwidth, are simply not enough for Inside at higher quality settings. The GPU's percentile ranking of 30 versus all GPUs places it in the bottom third of all graphics cards, and its passmark G3D score of 6340 confirms its entry-level status.

The most telling evidence of GPU limitation comes from the VRAM pressure. At 4K Ultra, the system manages only 25 FPS, while dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 48.8 FPS — a 95% improvement that points directly to memory bandwidth and fill rate constraints rather than compute limitations. The GPU's nearest rivals — the GeForce 930A at 0% delta, the GeForce 940M at +0.4%, and the Radeon R7 240 at +0.7% — are all similarly weak parts, indicating this GPU sits at the very bottom of the performance hierarchy. The 7 Gbps effective memory speed and 44.54 GPixel/s pixel rate are the hard ceilings that prevent this system from achieving playable frame rates at higher settings.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook GPU-bound scenario where the CPU has zero influence on the outcome. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 108.6 FPS, but moving to 1440p Low drops that to 75.4 FPS, and 4K Low falls further to 48.8 FPS. This scaling pattern — roughly 30% slower from 1080p to 1440p, and another 35% slower from 1440p to 4K — is exactly what you'd expect from a GPU that's running out of memory bandwidth and pixel throughput. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is particularly problematic at 4K, where textures and buffer requirements exceed what the card can efficiently handle.

The High settings tell an even more dramatic story. At 1080p High, the system manages 52.4 FPS, but 1440p High drops to 40 FPS, and 4K High collapses to 22.1 FPS. The step from 1440p to 4K at High settings represents a 45% performance loss, which is severe even for a weak GPU. This non-linear degradation indicates that the 1050 Ti is not just compute-limited but also VRAM-limited at higher resolutions. The Ultra settings show a similar pattern: 53.2 FPS at 1080p, 38.5 FPS at 1440p, and 25 FPS at 4K. The only interpretation is that the GPU is the sole limiting component across all tested configurations, with the Ryzen 9 9900X never approaching a bottleneck.

FAQ

*Q: Why does the system perform so poorly in Inside despite having a high-end CPU?*

A: The GTX 1050 Ti is the bottleneck in every scenario. The GPU's 4 GB GDDR5 memory and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for higher resolutions and settings, while the Ryzen 9 9900X's 12 cores and 24 threads remain largely idle. The measured FPS shows the GPU's percentile ranking of 30 versus all GPUs, confirming it's the limiting factor.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo?

A: At 1080p Low, the system achieves 108.6 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate. Even at 1080p Medium, it drops to 87.9 FPS, and 1080p High falls to 52.4 FPS. For 4K, only Low settings produce playable results at 48.8 FPS, while Ultra drops to 25 FPS.

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

A: The combo ranks 1644 out of 1671 total combinations, placing it in the bottom 2% of all systems tested. This is consistent with the GPU's weak benchmark scores, including a passmark G3D score of 6340 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more responsible for the frame rate drops?

A: The GPU is entirely responsible. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a 55% FPS drop at Low settings (108.6 to 48.8 FPS) and a 58% drop at High settings (52.4 to 22.1 FPS), which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's single-thread score of 1286 in 3DMark is far above what Inside requires.

Q: What settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance?

A: At 1080p, Medium settings at 87.9 FPS is the best combination of quality and smoothness. At 1440p, Low settings at 75.4 FPS is necessary for playable frame rates. At 4K, even Low settings at 48.8 FPS is marginal, and Ultra at 25 FPS is not viable.

Q: Does the GPU support modern graphics APIs?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. However, its benchmark scores in DirectX 12 (passmark score 26) and DirectX 11 (score 45) are very low, indicating it struggles with modern rendering workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 9 9900X and GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1644 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 1.6% of all systems. This ranking is almost entirely determined by the GPU, which has a percentile of 30 versus all GPUs and an average benchmark score of 5316. The CPU's percentile of 94 versus all CPUs is completely neutralized by the graphics card's inability to keep up with even moderate settings.

The performance gap between this combo and better systems is stark. The GTX 1050 Ti's nearest rivals — the GeForce 930A (0% delta), GeForce 940M (+0.4%), and Radeon R7 240 (+0.7%) — are all similarly weak parts, confirming that this GPU sits at the entry-level tier. The 1050 Ti's passmark scores tell the story: DirectX 11 at 45, DirectX 12 at 26, and GPU compute at 2652. These numbers are so low that no CPU, regardless of its 3DMark multi-thread score of 13929 or Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 46438, can compensate. This pairing is fundamentally mismatched, with the CPU's capabilities far exceeding what the GPU can utilize in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system's performance ranges from a playable 108.6 FPS at Low settings to 87.9 FPS at Medium, 52.4 FPS at High, and 53.2 FPS at Ultra. The Ultra setting actually performs slightly better than High (53.2 vs 52.4 FPS), which is unusual but likely due to the game's optimization at that preset. At 1440p, the numbers drop significantly: 75.4 FPS at Low, 61.7 FPS at Medium, 40 FPS at High, and 38.5 FPS at Ultra. The 1440p Medium to High step represents a 35% performance loss, indicating the GPU's memory bandwidth is being saturated.

At 4K, performance becomes marginal at best. Low settings yield 48.8 FPS, Medium drops to 40.2 FPS, High falls to 22.1 FPS, and Ultra manages just 25 FPS. The 4K Ultra to Low difference is 95% (25 to 48.8 FPS), which is an enormous gap that highlights how setting reductions can partially mitigate the GPU's limitations. However, even at 4K Low, the frame rate barely crosses the 50 FPS threshold, and the experience would be inconsistent. The data shows a clear pattern: the GTX 1050 Ti is only capable of smooth performance at 1080p with lower settings, and any attempt to push higher resolutions or quality presets results in a significant compromise.

Settings Recommendations

For this combination, the data clearly indicates that 1080p is the only resolution where acceptable performance is achievable. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 87.9 FPS, which is smooth and responsive, while 1080p Low at 108.6 FPS is even better but sacrifices visual quality. The 1080p High setting at 52.4 FPS is borderline, and Ultra at 53.2 FPS is nearly identical, suggesting that the Ultra preset is not meaningfully more demanding in this game but offers no additional benefit over High.

At 1440p, the recommendation is to use Low settings at 75.4 FPS for a playable experience, but Medium at 61.7 FPS is also viable if you prioritize visual fidelity. The 1440p High and Ultra settings at 40 FPS and 38.5 FPS respectively are not recommended for consistent gameplay. At 4K, only Low settings at 48.8 FPS approach playability, and even then, the experience will be inconsistent. The best overall recommendation based on the measured rows is 1080p Medium, which provides the highest quality-to-performance ratio — 87.9 FPS is well above the 60 FPS threshold, and the Medium preset retains enough visual detail to appreciate Inside's atmospheric art style without the GPU struggling. For players who prioritize frame rate above all else, 1080p Low at 108.6 FPS is the optimal choice, but 4K and 1440p should be avoided except for screenshots or non-interactive viewing.