Inside

# Inside on AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D + AMD Radeon RX 580

This combination of AMD's flagship 16-core Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the older Polaris-based Radeon RX 580 produces a curious pairing for a 2016 puzzle platformer. The combo ranks 1558 out of 1671 tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the bottom 7% of all tested systems. That ranking is striking given the CPU's position in the 96th percentile among all processors, suggesting the GPU is the primary constraint. The data reveals a system where a top-tier modern CPU is paired with an end-of-life GPU, creating a bottleneck dynamic that becomes increasingly clear across resolutions and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1558 out of 1671 places this system firmly in the lower tier of tested configurations for Inside. This ranking is particularly revealing when considering the components' individual standings. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D sits in the 96th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 71660. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 at 71056 (0.9% slower), the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X at 70420 (1.8% slower), and the Intel Core i7-14700KF at 70104 (2.2% slower). Only the Intel Xeon 6517P at 73050 edges it out by 1.9%. Meanwhile, the RX 580's average benchmark score of 13559 places it in the 53rd percentile among GPUs, with near-identical scores from the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13564 (0% delta) and GTX 950 at 13549 (0.1% delta). The wide gap between the CPU's elite standing and the GPU's mid-pack position explains why this combo underperforms—the graphics card is simply not in the same class as the processor driving it.

GPU Role

The Radeon RX 580 brings 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Polaris 20 chip, built on a 14 nm process at GlobalFoundries, contains 5,700 million transistors across a 232 mm² die. The GPU runs at a base clock of 1257 MHz with a boost clock of 1340 MHz, while memory operates at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). These specifications translate to 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs. The pixel rate of 42.88 GPixel/s and texture rate of 193.0 GTexel/s provide the raw throughput for rendering Inside's atmospheric side-scrolling environments. The GPU's FP32 performance of 6.175 TFLOPS, with FP16 at the same 6.175 TFLOPS (1:1 ratio), indicates this is a card designed for traditional rasterization rather than compute-heavy workloads. In Inside, which is not graphically demanding by modern standards, the RX 580's age shows primarily in its inability to maintain high frame rates at higher settings, as the measured FPS data demonstrates.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge codename), manufactured on a 4 nm process at TSMC with 16,630 million transistors across two 70.6 mm² dies. It operates with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and boosts up to 5.70 GHz, drawing 170 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1 MB L2 per core, and a substantial 128 MB shared L3 cache. Memory support includes DDR5 with dual-channel configuration and 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, plus ECC capability. The CPU's benchmark results show exceptional multi-threaded performance: Cinebench R23 multicore scores 59712, while single-core hits 8430. Geekbench multicore reaches 22515 with single-core at 3401. The 3DMark results scale from 1292 in single-thread to 17184 at max threads, demonstrating strong scaling across its 32 threads. For Inside, a game that likely uses only a fraction of these resources, the CPU is massively over-provisioned. The PassMark physics score of 5670 and single-thread score of 4737 indicate that even the most demanding game logic would not stress this processor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the resolution most likely to be CPU-limited, the system delivers 149.7 FPS on Low settings, 119.8 FPS on Medium, 73.1 FPS on High, and 70.8 FPS on Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, frame rates drop to 108.7 FPS on Low, 87.2 FPS on Medium, 52.1 FPS on High, and 49.7 FPS on Ultra. At 3840x2160, the results fall further: 70.1 FPS on Low, 51.4 FPS on Medium, 37.1 FPS on High, and 31.9 FPS on Ultra. The pattern across resolutions shows that Low settings at 1080p nearly achieve 150 FPS, while Ultra at 4K barely reaches 32 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at each resolution is significant: at 1080p, the difference is 78.9 FPS (149.7 vs 70.8); at 1440p, it's 59.0 FPS (108.7 vs 49.7); at 4K, it's 38.2 FPS (70.1 vs 31.9). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions suggests the GPU becomes the limiting factor more quickly as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals how the system scales under increasing pixel load. At Low settings, 1080p yields 149.7 FPS, dropping to 108.7 at 1440p (a 27.4% reduction) and further to 70.1 at 4K (a 53.2% reduction from 1080p). At Medium settings, the progression from 119.8 to 87.2 to 51.4 FPS represents drops of 27.2% and 57.1% respectively. High settings show 73.1 at 1080p, 52.1 at 1440p (28.7% drop), and 37.1 at 4K (49.2% drop from 1080p). Ultra settings go from 70.8 to 49.7 to 31.9, with reductions of 29.8% and 54.9%. The consistent 27-30% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings, followed by a 49-57% drop from 1080p to 4K, indicates that the GPU is the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions. The fact that even Low settings at 4K cannot maintain 60 FPS (70.1 FPS) while 1080p Low nearly hits 150 FPS strongly suggests that pixel throughput, not geometry or shading complexity, is the constraint.

Settings Recommendations

For a smooth 60 FPS experience, the data points to specific settings by resolution. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 119.8 FPS, which is more than sufficient for Inside's puzzle-platformer gameplay, while High offers 73.1 FPS and Ultra 70.8 FPS—both above 60. At 2560x1440, Medium provides 87.2 FPS, which is comfortable, but High drops to 52.1 FPS and Ultra to 49.7 FPS, both below the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, only Low settings achieve 70.1 FPS, while Medium falls to 51.4 FPS and High to 37.1 FPS. The recommendation depends on target resolution: for 1080p, High or even Ultra is viable; for 1440p, Medium is the best balance; for 4K, Low is the only option that maintains fluid motion. The steep performance cliff between Medium and High at 1440p (87.2 to 52.1 FPS) suggests that High settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU.

FAQ

Q: Why does this combo rank so low (1558 out of 1671) despite having a top-tier CPU?

A: The Ryzen 9 9950X3D is in the 96th percentile among CPUs with an average benchmark score of 71660, but the Radeon RX 580 sits in the 53rd percentile with an average score of 13559. The GPU's mid-pack performance relative to all graphics cards creates a severe bottleneck for this 2016 puzzle platformer.

Q: Can this system run Inside at 60 FPS at 1080p with maximum settings?

A: Yes. At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the measured average FPS is 70.8, which exceeds 60. High settings at 1080p produce 73.1 FPS. Even Medium reaches 119.8 FPS, so there is headroom at this resolution.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium settings at 2560x1440 deliver 87.2 FPS, which is the highest preset that maintains 60+ FPS. High drops to 52.1 FPS and Ultra to 49.7 FPS, both below the 60 FPS target.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this hardware for Inside?

A: Only at Low settings, which produce 70.1 FPS at 3840x2160. Medium drops to 51.4 FPS, High to 37.1 FPS, and Ultra to 31.9 FPS. Low settings are the sole option for smooth 4K performance.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in terms of average score?

A: The RX 580's average benchmark score of 13559 is essentially tied with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 at 13564 (0% delta) and GTX 950 at 13549 (0.1% delta). The AMD Radeon Pro 455 is 1.1% slower at 13416, while the NVIDIA P106-090 is 1.1% faster at 13716.

Q: Does this system show CPU or GPU limitation at 1080p Low settings?

A: The 149.7 FPS at 1920x1080 Low suggests the GPU is still the primary constraint, as even this high frame rate is below what the 9950X3D could theoretically push. The CPU's single-thread score of 4737 and 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 indicate it is not the limiting factor.