Inside

# Inside — AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 delivers a playable but constrained experience in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. Across the measured configurations, the combo achieves its best performance at 1080p Low with an average of 132.1 FPS, while 4K Ultra drops to 29 FPS. The pairing ranks 1632nd out of 1671 tested combos in this game, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems. This reflects a significant bottleneck: the GTX 1650's modest graphics capabilities limit the Ryzen 9 9900X's substantial processing headroom, making the GPU the primary constraint in nearly every scenario.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread desktop processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge) using a 4 nm process at TSMC. It operates with a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with a TDP of 120 W on the AMD Socket AM5 platform. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s, and it includes 64 MB of shared L3 cache alongside 1 MB of L2 and 80 KB of L1 per core.

In benchmark terms, the 9900X posts a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 46438 and a single-core score of 6555, with a Geekbench multicore result of 19827 and single-core of 3341. Its PassMark multithread score reaches 54643, with a single-thread score of 4672. The CPU's percentile rank among all processors is 94, indicating it outperforms the vast majority of CPUs. However, Inside is not a demanding title for modern processors; its puzzle-platformer design relies more on GPU rendering than CPU compute. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (132.1 FPS) versus 1080p Ultra (61.6 FPS) show a 70.5 FPS gap, suggesting the CPU is not the limiting factor even at lower settings.

The nearest rivals to the 9900X — the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D (avg score 54681, -0.4% delta), Intel Core i7-14700F (54097, +0.7% delta), Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (55304, -1.5% delta), and Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55421, -1.8% delta) — all perform within 2% of each other. This tight clustering means the 9900X's 12-core configuration offers no meaningful advantage over these alternatives in Inside, where frame rates are dictated by graphics settings rather than core count. The data indicates that even a significantly weaker CPU would produce nearly identical results in this title, as the GPU saturates well before the processor's capabilities are exhausted.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is a Turing-architecture GPU from the GeForce 10-series, built on a 12 nm process at TSMC with 4,700 million transistors. It features 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with a bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s, operating at a base clock of 1485 MHz and a boost clock of 1665 MHz, with memory running at 2001 MHz (8 Gbps effective). The GPU includes 896 shading units, 56 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, delivering a pixel rate of 53.28 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 93.24 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 2.984 TFLOPS, with a TDP of 75 W and no external power connectors required.

The GTX 1650's benchmark results place it at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, with a PassMark G3D score of 7880 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 39112. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (avg score 8746, -0.4% delta), AMD Radeon 550X (8749, -0.4% delta), NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671, +0.5% delta), and AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761, -0.5% delta). These competitors all score within 0.5% of the GTX 1650, confirming its position as a low-end graphics solution.

In Inside, the GPU's limitations become apparent at higher resolutions. At 4K, the average FPS drops from 58.3 at Low settings to 28.6 at High and 29 at Ultra — a nearly identical result, suggesting the GPU is fully saturated and unable to differentiate between these presets. At 1440p, the range is wider: 95.6 FPS at Low, 79.3 at Medium, 46.5 at High, and 43.3 at Ultra. The 1080p results show the most headroom, with 132.1 FPS at Low, 109.8 at Medium, 68.3 at High, and 61.6 at Ultra. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a likely contributor to the 4K performance collapse, as the memory bandwidth of 128.1 GB/s cannot sustain higher-resolution textures and effects.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how this combo behaves across settings and resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset yields 132.1 FPS, which is more than double the 61.6 FPS at Ultra. The Medium setting at 109.8 FPS offers a strong balance, delivering smooth gameplay while retaining moderate visual quality. For a puzzle platformer like Inside, where precise timing and atmospheric presentation matter, the Medium preset at 1080p is the recommended choice — it provides a 78% higher frame rate than Ultra while likely maintaining acceptable visual fidelity.

At 1440p, the situation changes. The Low preset achieves 95.6 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 79.3 FPS and High falls to 46.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 43.3 FPS is borderline, dipping below the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. For 1440p, the Low preset is the safest option, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Medium setting is viable for players prioritizing visuals, but the 79.3 FPS result is still above the playability threshold.

At 4K, the GPU struggles universally. The Low preset yields 58.3 FPS — just below 60 — while Medium drops to 47.6 FPS, and both High (28.6) and Ultra (29) are effectively unplayable. Given the minimal difference between High and Ultra (0.4 FPS), neither preset offers a playable experience. Players with 4K displays should either use the Low preset for a near-playable frame rate or reduce the resolution to 1440p or 1080p. The data shows no scenario where the High or Ultra presets provide a smooth experience at any resolution above 1080p, making Low or Medium the only sensible choices for this combination.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X + NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 combination ranks 1632nd out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the bottom 2.3% of all systems. This rank reflects the GPU's severe limitation relative to the CPU's capability. The 9900X alone ranks in the 94th percentile among all CPUs, but the GTX 1650 sits in the 43rd percentile among GPUs — a massive disparity that drags the overall combo performance down.

The benchmark results illustrate this bottleneck clearly. At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 61.6 FPS, which is respectable for a 2016 title, but the GPU's nearest rivals — the RTX 3050 A Mobile, Radeon 550X, Quadro P2200, and Radeon Pro WX 5100 — all score within 0.5% of the GTX 1650 in synthetic benchmarks. This means swapping the GPU for any of these alternatives would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside. Conversely, upgrading the GPU while keeping the 9900X would yield dramatic improvements, as the CPU has substantial headroom that the GTX 1650 cannot utilize.

The low combo rank is not a reflection of the CPU's inadequacy but rather the GPU's age and entry-level positioning. The GTX 1650 was released in April 2019 with a launch MSRP of 149 USD, and it is now end-of-life. Its 4 GB VRAM and 128.1 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for modern high-resolution gaming, even in a relatively undemanding title like Inside. The measured data confirms this: the 4K Ultra result of 29 FPS is identical to the 4K High result of 28.6 FPS, suggesting the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling regardless of settings.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Inside?*

A: The data shows that 1080p provides the most playable experience, with all settings yielding at least 61.6 FPS. At 1440p, only Low (95.6 FPS) and Medium (79.3 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while 4K is only playable at Low (58.3 FPS).

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the Ultra preset averages 29 FPS while High averages 28.6 FPS — a difference of only 0.4 FPS. Both are effectively unplayable, indicating the GPU has reached its performance ceiling regardless of settings.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this system?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Ryzen 9 9900X ranks in the 94th percentile among CPUs, while the GTX 1650 ranks in the 43rd percentile among GPUs. The frame rate differences between settings and resolutions are driven entirely by GPU load, not CPU performance.

Q: How does this combo compare to the GTX 1650's closest GPU rivals?

A: The GTX 1650's nearest rivals — the RTX 3050 A Mobile, Radeon 550X, Quadro P2200, and Radeon Pro WX 5100 — all score within 0.5% of each other in synthetic benchmarks. This means any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Inside.

Q: What is the expected frame rate at 1080p Medium?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 109.8 FPS. This is the recommended setting for a balance between visual quality and smooth gameplay, as it is 48.2 FPS higher than the Ultra preset.

Q: Why is the 4K performance so poor despite the strong CPU?

A: The GTX 1650 has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus with 128.1 GB/s bandwidth. At 4K, this memory configuration is insufficient, causing the GPU to saturate. The data shows that 4K High (28.6 FPS) and Ultra (29 FPS) produce nearly identical results, confirming the GPU is the limiting factor.