Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a 2D puzzle-platformer that is far more demanding on the CPU than the GPU at most settings. The data shows that this pairing is heavily CPU-bound at lower resolutions, with GPU limitations only becoming apparent at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops to the 90s. This is a top-tier combo for the game, ranking in the 81st percentile of all tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a system that is overwhelmingly limited by the CPU's processing power rather than the GPU's rendering capabilities. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 428 FPS, which is an extraordinarily high figure that saturates most display refresh rates. Moving to 1440p Low only drops this to 317 FPS, a 26% reduction that is surprisingly small, indicating that the CPU is still the primary bottleneck at this point. Even at 4K Low, the system maintains a playable 199 FPS, which is still more than double the 60 FPS target.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically when looking at the higher graphics presets. At High settings, the frame rate drops from 220 FPS at 1080p to 158 FPS at 1440p (a 28% decrease) and then to 99 FPS at 4K (a 37% decrease from 1440p). This steeper decline at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is beginning to take on a more significant role, though even at 4K High, the RTX 3080 is not fully taxed, as the frame rate remains far above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset shows a similar pattern: 210 FPS at 1080p, 151 FPS at 1440p, and 95 FPS at 4K.

The most telling data point is the transition from High to Ultra at 4K. At High, the average is 99 FPS, while at Ultra it drops to 95 FPS, a negligible 4 FPS difference. This suggests that the Ultra preset does not add a significant rendering burden over High in this title, and the system's performance is still largely dictated by CPU throughput. The overall picture is clear: for a game like Inside with simple 2D visuals, the Ryzen 9 9900X's single-thread performance is the limiting factor, and the RTX 3080 has ample headroom to handle any resolution up to 4K without becoming a major constraint.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data strongly suggests that the Ultra preset provides the best experience for most users, as it delivers frame rates that are nearly identical to the High preset while presumably offering the highest visual fidelity. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 95 FPS, which is only 4% lower than the 99 FPS seen at 4K High. This minimal performance cost for maximum visual quality makes Ultra the clear choice at this resolution. The 1440p Ultra preset achieves an average of 151 FPS, which is more than enough for high-refresh-rate monitors, while 1080p Ultra produces 210 FPS.

The Medium preset offers a substantial performance boost over High, but the visual improvement from Medium to High appears to be worth the modest frame rate hit. At 4K, Medium averages 159 FPS, which is 60% higher than High's 99 FPS, but the jump to High only costs 60 FPS. For competitive play or for users with 240Hz displays, the Medium preset at 1440p provides 253 FPS, which is a 60% increase over the High preset's 158 FPS. The Low preset, while delivering the highest frame rates (428 FPS at 1080p), is unlikely to be necessary given the undemanding nature of the game, unless one is targeting extreme refresh rates.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data indicates that the High preset is the sweet spot at 4K, offering 99 FPS and remaining comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. At 1440p, the Ultra preset is recommended, as it delivers 151 FPS and provides a marginal performance difference compared to High. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the clear winner at 210 FPS, as the GPU is not stressed enough to warrant lower settings. The Medium preset does offer a 4K average of 159 FPS, which is useful for those with 144Hz 4K displays, but for the vast majority of users, the quality gains of Ultra or High will be preferable.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 achieves a combo rank of 707 out of 3716 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the top 19% of all tested systems, which is an impressive result for a game that is not particularly demanding on the GPU. The ranking is likely driven more by the CPU's strong single-threaded performance, as the game's simple 2D graphics are not heavily reliant on the graphics card.

The CPU's benchmark data reinforces this assessment. The Ryzen 9 9900X has an average benchmark score of 57498, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 9015, which scores 57555 (a 0.1% difference), and the AMD EPYC 7313, which scores 57399 (a 0.2% difference). The Intel Core i9-14900 scores 58115, which is 1.1% higher, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8260M scores 58323, which is 1.4% higher. These tiny margins show that the 9900X is at the top of the heap for general compute tasks, which translates directly to high frame rates in CPU-bound titles like Inside.

In contrast, the RTX 3080's overall ranking is less impressive, sitting in the 68th percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA P106-100 and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16, score within 0.4% of it. However, this game does not stress the GPU, so the 3080's lower relative standing does not negatively impact the combo's overall rank. The high combo rank is a direct result of the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with enough data to maintain high frame rates, even at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo provide a comprehensive view of its performance across all settings and resolutions. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves an average of 428 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 352 FPS (with a minimum of 299 and a maximum of 405), the High preset achieves 220 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 210 FPS. These numbers indicate a clear performance hierarchy, with Low being the fastest and Ultra being the slowest, but all are far beyond playable thresholds.

At 1440p, the frame rates drop but remain exceptionally high. The Low preset averages 317 FPS, the Medium preset averages 253 FPS (with a minimum of 215 and a maximum of 291), the High preset averages 158 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 151 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 64 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 7 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset is not significantly more demanding than High.

At 4K, the system continues to deliver solid performance. The Low preset averages 199 FPS, the Medium preset averages 159 FPS (with a minimum of 135 and a maximum of 183), the High preset averages 99 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 95 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is just 4 FPS, which is negligible and confirms that the Ultra preset is a viable option for this resolution. The Medium preset's minimum of 135 FPS at 4K is still well above the 60 FPS target, demonstrating the combo's ability to handle this game with ease.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, with its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, provides a memory bandwidth of 760.3 GB/s. The GPU's base clock is 1440 MHz, which boosts to 1710 MHz. For a game like Inside, which features a monochromatic palette and simple 2D sprites, this level of memory bandwidth and VRAM capacity is more than sufficient. The RTX 3080's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are also largely idle in this title, as there is no ray tracing or DLSS implementation in the game.

The GPU's role in this combo is primarily to handle the rendering of the game's relatively simple scenes, which it does with significant headroom. The data shows that the GPU is not the bottleneck until the highest resolutions and presets, and even then, it barely breaks a sweat. The RTX 3080's 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 performance is more than capable of handling the pixel shading required by Inside, and its 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate ensures that fill-rate is not an issue.

The fact that the RTX 3080 is end-of-life and was released in 2020 does not diminish its performance in this specific title. The bottleneck is clearly the CPU, and the 3080's specifications are far beyond what this game requires. This is a case where the GPU's raw power is underutilized, but the high frame rates achieved are evidence of the well-balanced nature of the system as a whole.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo can achieve in Inside?

A: The highest average frame rate is 428 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset.

Q: Is the RTX 3080 a bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the combo averages 95 FPS, which is only 4 FPS lower than at 4K High. This indicates that the GPU is not the primary bottleneck, as the frame rate remains high and the difference between High and Ultra is minimal.

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

A: This combo ranks 707 out of 3716 tested combinations, placing it in the top 19% of all systems tested for this game.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the Medium preset averages 253 FPS, while the High preset averages 158 FPS, a difference of 95 FPS in favor of Medium.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the limiting factor for performance in this game?

A: The benchmark results indicate that the CPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 428 FPS, and moving to 4K Low only reduces this to 199 FPS, showing that the GPU has significant headroom and the CPU's processing speed is the primary constraint.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings?

A: The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium settings is 135 FPS, with an average of 159 FPS and a maximum of 183 FPS.