Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle platformer from 2016, but the measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B580 combo reveal a title that scales aggressively with both resolution and settings. This is a game where the CPU is rarely the bottleneck, allowing the GPU to dictate performance in a very clear, predictable manner. The data shows a system that can deliver high refresh rates at 1080p and remains comfortably playable at 4K, though the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The most telling statistic in the dataset is the performance delta between 1080p and 4K at the same settings. At Low settings, the average frame rate drops from 271 FPS at 1920x1080 to 123 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 54.6% reduction in performance. At High settings, the drop is from 136 FPS to 61 FPS, a 55.1% decrease. This near-identical percentage drop across different quality presets indicates that the scaling is almost entirely resolution-bound, not settings-bound. The game is pushing more pixels, and the GPU is the component doing the heavy lifting.

The Medium settings data provides the only min/max frame rate information in the pack, which is useful for understanding frame pacing. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 217 FPS with a minimum of 185 FPS. At 2560x1440 Medium, the average is 156 FPS with a minimum of 133 FPS. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 FPS. The frame time consistency appears to hold up well, as the minimums are all roughly 85% of the average in each case. This suggests that even when the GPU is stressed at 4K, it does not produce erratic stutters; it simply delivers lower, but stable, frame rates.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep. At High settings, the move from 2560x1440 (98 FPS) to 3840x2160 (61 FPS) represents a 37.8% performance loss. This is a larger relative drop than from 1080p to 1440p, which at High settings goes from 136 FPS to 98 FPS, a 27.9% loss. This non-linear scaling is typical of a GPU that is running out of fillrate or memory bandwidth at higher resolutions. The Arc B580’s 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 213.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are being taxed heavily by the 4K resolution, which requires processing over 8 million pixels per frame.

The Ultra settings data reinforces this. At all three resolutions, Ultra is the most demanding preset. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 129 FPS, which is only 7 FPS lower than High. However, at 4K Ultra, the average drops to 58 FPS, which is 3 FPS lower than High. The gap between High and Ultra narrows as resolution increases, suggesting that the extra visual fidelity at Ultra is less impactful on the GPU than the raw pixel count. This is a classic sign that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, regardless of the quality preset chosen.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the primary driver of performance in this combo, and its specifications align with the observed scaling. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s. For a game like Inside, which is not texture-heavy by modern standards, 12 GB is more than sufficient, and the bandwidth is the more critical factor. The 4K resolution results, particularly the 98 FPS average at Medium and 61 FPS at High, show that the memory subsystem is being utilized effectively but is also the ceiling.

The GPU’s clocks are listed as a base and boost of 2670 MHz. This constant boost clock means the card is likely running at its maximum frequency consistently under load. The FP32 performance is rated at 13.67 TFLOPS, which is modest for a modern GPU but adequate for a 2D side-scroller. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s are the metrics that matter most for this game’s rendering style, which involves simple geometry but potentially complex post-processing effects. The data suggests that the B580 is not being held back by its compute capabilities but by its raw throughput limits at higher pixel counts.

Looking at the GPU’s benchmark context, the Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021 and sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (scoring 23061, a 0.2% difference), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (scoring 22895, a 0.6% difference), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (scoring 23172, a 0.7% difference). This is a strange grouping, as the RTX 3080 is a far more powerful card in real-world terms, yet the database places them within 1% of each other based on these specific tests. For Inside, the B580’s performance is consistent with a card that can handle 1080p and 1440p with ease but struggles to maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra, as evidenced by the 58 FPS average.

The GPU’s DirectX 12 Ultimate support and 20 ray tracing cores are irrelevant for this title, as Inside does not utilize ray tracing. The Vulkan 1.4 and OpenGL 4.6 API support are more relevant, and the measured data shows the card performs well in this game’s specific workload. The B580’s PassMark G3D score of 15748 and DirectX 11 score of 128 indicate it is a mid-range performer, and the frame rates in Inside align with that positioning.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Inside at 4K with high refresh rates?

A: No. At 3840x2160 High settings, the average frame rate is 61 FPS, and at Ultra it drops to 58 FPS. These are playable but not high-refresh-rate numbers. For a 60 Hz display, this is borderline adequate.

Q: What is the best resolution for this setup to maximize frame rates?

A: 1920x1080 is the sweet spot. At Low settings, the average is 271 FPS, and even at Ultra, it maintains 129 FPS. This allows for very high refresh rate monitors to be fully utilized.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: Very little. The frame rates scale almost entirely with resolution and GPU settings. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s 12 cores and 24 threads are not a bottleneck in this title, as even the highest frame rates at 1080p do not appear to be CPU-limited.

Q: Is there a big difference between Medium and High settings?

A: Yes, but it varies by resolution. At 1080p, Medium is 217 FPS and High is 136 FPS, a 81 FPS difference. At 4K, Medium is 98 FPS and High is 61 FPS, a 37 FPS difference. The gap narrows as resolution increases.

Q: What does the minimum frame rate data tell us?

A: The only min/max data is for Medium settings. At all resolutions, the minimum FPS is roughly 85% of the average (e.g., 185 min vs 217 avg at 1080p). This indicates stable frame pacing without major stutters.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2139 out of 2887 tested combos for this game. This places it in the lower-middle tier of all tested systems, which is surprising given the high frame rates, but it reflects the fact that many other combos may achieve even higher numbers at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset for this combo shows a clear hierarchy of performance. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low averages 271 FPS, Medium averages 217 FPS (with a minimum of 185 and maximum of 250), High averages 136 FPS, and Ultra averages 129 FPS. The 1080p results are all above 120 FPS, making this resolution ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low averages 195 FPS, Medium averages 156 FPS (minimum 133, maximum 180), High averages 98 FPS, and Ultra averages 93 FPS. The 1440p results show that High and Ultra are still very playable, but they are getting closer to the 60-90 FPS range where some users might prefer lower settings for smoother motion.

At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low averages 123 FPS, Medium averages 98 FPS (minimum 83, maximum 113), High averages 61 FPS, and Ultra averages 58 FPS. The 4K results show that Low and Medium are the only presets that consistently stay above 60 FPS. High and Ultra are playable but will require a VRR display to avoid tearing, as they hover right around the 60 FPS mark.

The progression from Low to Ultra at each resolution is consistent: Low is always the fastest, followed by Medium, then High, with Ultra being the slowest. The only anomaly is the small gap between High and Ultra at 1080p (136 vs 129 FPS), which suggests that Ultra’s additional effects are less demanding at lower pixel counts. At 4K, the gap between Low and Ultra is massive (123 vs 58 FPS), showing that the GPU is the definitive limiting factor at this resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2139 out of 2887 tested combos for Inside. This places it in the 26th percentile of all tested systems (calculated as 1 - 2139/2887). This is a low ranking for a system that can hit 271 FPS at 1080p Low, but it must be interpreted carefully. The ranking likely reflects that many other combos in the database include much more powerful GPUs that achieve even higher frame rates at 4K, or that the database weights 4K performance heavily.

In the context of the CPU’s own benchmarks, the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a top-tier processor. It has an average benchmark score of 54762 and sits in the 91st percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (scoring 55093, a 0.6% difference), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (scoring 54053, a 1.3% difference), and the Intel Xeon 6505P (scoring 53701, a 2% difference). This CPU is clearly not the reason for the low combo rank.

The GPU, however, is only in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals include the RTX 3080, which is a much more capable card for 4K gaming. The B580’s 12 GB of memory and 192-bit bus are adequate but not exceptional for high-resolution gaming. The combo rank is therefore a reflection of the GPU’s mid-range positioning, combined with the fact that Inside is a title where high frame rates are easily achievable but the database ranking likely favors combos that push 4K Ultra to 120+ FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D 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 5.50 GHz, with a total of 128 MB of L3 cache. For a game like Inside, which is a 2D puzzle platformer, this CPU is massively over-provisioned. The game’s logic and physics are simple, and the frame rates at 1080p (up to 271 FPS) do not appear to be limited by CPU throughput.

The CPU’s benchmark scores confirm its strength: it achieves 47737 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6739 in single-core. It scores 22884 in Geekbench multi-core and 3041 in single-core. These are excellent numbers, but they are irrelevant to Inside’s performance. The game is likely only using a few threads, and the single-core performance of 6739 in Cinebench R23 is more than sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the GPU.

The 128 MB of L3 cache, which is a key feature of the X3D series, provides no tangible benefit in this title. Inside does not have large data sets that need to be cached. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support are also more than adequate. The data shows that the CPU is essentially idle in this scenario, allowing the GPU to be the sole determinant of frame rates.

In summary, the CPU’s role is to stay out of the way, and it succeeds. The measured frame rates are a pure reflection of the Intel Arc B580’s capabilities at each resolution and settings combination. The 12-core, 24-thread processor is a high-end component that will excel in multi-threaded workloads, but for Inside, it is a silent partner. The bottleneck is entirely on the GPU side, as evidenced by the steep performance drops at 4K.