Inside

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT delivers a thoroughly playable experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016 that is far more demanding on the CPU than its simple visuals might suggest. Measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets show a system that is rarely stressed, with the lowest average frame rate recorded at 63 FPS in 4K Ultra, while the highest reaches 295 FPS at 1080p Low. This combination of a flagship 16-core processor and a mid-range RDNA 3 graphics card produces a wide performance envelope, making it useful to examine where the bottleneck shifts as resolution and settings change.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that transitions from a CPU-bound state at lower resolutions to a more balanced, GPU-influenced state at higher ones. At 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate is 295 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 212 FPS, a reduction of 28.1%. The jump to 4K Low yields 133 FPS, which is a further 37.3% decrease from the 1440p figure. These substantial percentage drops indicate that the CPU is not the limiting factor at 1080p; the Ryzen 9 9950X3D has ample headroom, and the RX 7600 XT is doing most of the work even at Low settings.

The pattern intensifies when looking at High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 147 FPS. At 1440p High, it falls to 106 FPS, a 27.9% drop. At 4K High, the average is 67 FPS, which is a 36.8% reduction from the 1440p result. The consistency of these percentage drops—roughly 28% and then 37%—suggests that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across all resolution steps. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the frame rate to remain relatively flat as resolution increases, because the CPU workload (draw calls, physics, game logic) stays constant while the GPU workload (pixel shading, fill rate) grows.

The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with 140 FPS at 1080p, 101 FPS at 1440p (a 27.9% drop), and 63 FPS at 4K (a 37.6% drop from 1440p). The near-identical percentages across Low, High, and Ultra presets for the 1080p-to-1440p transition (28.1%, 27.9%, and 27.9%) strongly indicate that resolution scaling is purely a GPU function in this test. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, never becomes a constraint, even at the highest frame rates observed.

What this means for the limiting component is clear: the RX 7600 XT is the performance ceiling. The data shows that the GPU's 16 GB of VRAM and 288.0 GB/s memory bandwidth are sufficient for all tested configurations, but the raw compute throughput of 22.57 TFLOPS FP32 defines the frame rate at each resolution. The Ryzen 9 9950X3D, with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz and a massive 128 MB L3 cache, is effectively idle in comparison, leaving performance on the table at 1080p where the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's ability to feed it frames.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 33 chip, and its specifications directly influence the measured results in Inside. The GPU has a base clock of 1980 MHz, a game clock of 2470 MHz, and a boost clock of 2755 MHz. The game clock represents the expected frequency during sustained gaming workloads, and the boost clock provides a headroom that the card can utilize when thermal and power limits allow. The memory operates at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed, which, combined with a 128-bit bus, yields a total bandwidth of 288.0 GB/s.

For a game like Inside, which features a monochromatic art style with limited texture detail, the 16 GB GDDR6 memory is more than adequate. Even at 4K Ultra, the highest memory demand in this test, the frame rate only drops to 63 FPS, suggesting that VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor. The 128-bit memory bus might seem narrow for higher resolutions, but the game's modest bandwidth requirements are met by the 288.0 GB/s available. The GPU's 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 render output units provide a balanced configuration for this workload.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in context. Its Passmark G3D score is 17132, and its percentile ranking among all GPUs is 60th, meaning it outperforms 60% of the database's GPU entries. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, has an average score of 17208, which is 0.7% higher. In Inside, the RX 7600 XT's measured performance shows that it can handle 1080p Ultra at 140 FPS and 1440p Ultra at 101 FPS, both well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 4K Ultra result of 63 FPS is marginally above that threshold, indicating that the GPU is nearing its limits at this resolution and preset combination.

The GPU's FP32 performance of 22.57 TFLOPS is the key metric for understanding its behavior in Inside. This game is not graphically intensive by modern standards, but the pixel shading workload at 4K still requires significant compute. The transition from 1440p to 4K consistently results in a 36-37% frame rate drop across all presets, which aligns with the increase in total pixels (from 3.7 million to 8.3 million). The GPU's texture rate of 352.6 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 176.3 GPixel/s are sufficient for the game's simple geometry and effects, allowing the card to maintain playable frame rates even at the highest settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture (Granite Ridge), manufactured on a 4 nm process by TSMC. Its base clock is 4.30 GHz with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz, and it features 128 MB of L3 cache, which is a defining characteristic for gaming performance. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with dual-channel configuration, yielding a memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. In Inside, the CPU's role is minimal because the game is not heavily threaded, but the sheer single-thread and multi-thread performance ensures that no frame rate is left on the table.

The CPU's benchmark results demonstrate its capability. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 42018, and its single-core score is 2259. The Geekbench multicore score is 26736, with a single-core score of 3064. These numbers place the processor in the 95th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 75779. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755, has an average score of 75738, which is 0.1% lower, while the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 trails by 0.4% with a score of 75488. This indicates that the 9950X3D is at the top of the performance hierarchy.

In Inside, the CPU's high clock speeds and large cache allow it to process game logic and draw calls without becoming a bottleneck. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (295 FPS) and 1080p Medium (236 FPS) are far beyond what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions, proving that the CPU has significant headroom. The Passmark single-thread score of 4737 and the 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 show that even lightly threaded workloads are handled efficiently. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 16374 and max-thread score of 17184 indicate that the CPU scales well with additional threads, though Inside likely does not utilize more than a few.

The CPU's 128 MB L3 cache is particularly relevant for gaming. While Inside does not have large data sets, the cache reduces memory latency, which helps maintain consistent frame times. The processor's 16 cores and 32 threads are overkill for this title, but they provide a safety margin that ensures no frame drops due to CPU stalls. The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s is also sufficient for the game's data transfer needs, especially since the GPU has its own dedicated 16 GB of VRAM. In this scenario, the CPU is the supporting cast, and the data confirms that it never limits the GPU's output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and AMD Radeon RX 7600 XT combination in Inside are as follows:

At 3840x2160 (4K), the Ultra preset delivers an average of 63 FPS, High yields 67 FPS, Medium produces 107 FPS with a minimum of 91 and maximum of 123, and Low achieves 133 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 70 FPS, which is substantial and indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. The Medium preset's min and max figures show a range of 32 FPS, suggesting some variability but still maintaining a playable experience. The 4K High result of 67 FPS is notable because it is only 4 FPS higher than Ultra, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds minimal extra load over High in this game.

At 2560x1440, the Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, High averages 106 FPS, Medium averages 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 and maximum of 195, and Low averages 212 FPS. The difference between Ultra and High is a mere 5 FPS, which is within the margin of measurement error. Medium provides a significant jump to 170 FPS, and Low pushes to 212 FPS. The 1440p Medium results show a min of 144 FPS, which is exactly at the threshold of many high-refresh monitors, and a max of 195 FPS, indicating that the game runs smoothly without major dips.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset averages 140 FPS, High averages 147 FPS, Medium averages 236 FPS with a minimum of 201 and maximum of 271, and Low averages 295 FPS. The 1080p results show the widest performance range, from 140 FPS at Ultra to 295 FPS at Low, a difference of 155 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 201 FPS and max of 271 FPS demonstrate excellent frame pacing, with no drops below 200 FPS. The Low preset at 295 FPS approaches the 300 FPS mark, which is well beyond the refresh rate of most displays.

The data reveals that the Ultra preset is only marginally more demanding than High across all resolutions. At 4K, Ultra is 4 FPS lower than High; at 1440p, they are 5 FPS apart; at 1080p, they are 7 FPS apart. This suggests that the visual difference between High and Ultra in Inside is minimal, or that the Ultra preset's additional effects do not meaningfully tax the GPU. Conversely, the Medium preset offers a substantial performance boost over High: at 4K, Medium is 40 FPS higher (107 vs 67); at 1440p, it is 64 FPS higher (170 vs 106); at 1080p, it is 89 FPS higher (236 vs 147). This indicates that the Medium preset removes a significant portion of the GPU workload while still delivering acceptable visuals.

FAQ

*Q: What is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combination in Inside?*

A: The highest average frame rate is 295 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low preset. The Medium preset at 1080p also delivers a strong 236 FPS average with a minimum of 201 FPS.

*Q: Is the RX 7600 XT capable of running Inside at 4K with playable frame rates?*

A: Yes, the data shows that at 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 133 FPS, Medium averages 107 FPS, High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra averages 63 FPS. All presets maintain an average above 60 FPS, making 4K playable even at the highest settings.

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9950X3D's performance compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Ryzen 9 9950X3D has an average benchmark score of 75779, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 (75738) and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D (75716). It also leads the Intel Core Ultra 9 285 (75488) by 0.4%.

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

A: At 2560x1440, the High preset averages 106 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 101 FPS. This is a difference of just 5 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset does not add significant graphical workload over High in this game.

*Q: Does the GPU or CPU limit performance in Inside at 1080p?*

A: The data indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the average is 295 FPS, which suggests the CPU can handle even higher frame rates. The consistent frame rate drops when moving to higher resolutions (28% from 1080p to 1440p and 37% from 1440p to 4K) confirm that the GPU is the bottleneck.

Q: What is the RX 7600 XT's benchmark percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The RX 7600 XT ranks in the 60th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 17083. Its Passmark G3D score is 17132, and it is 0.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070, which scores 17208.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal preset depends on the target resolution and desired performance. For users with a 60 Hz display at 4K, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 63 FPS, which is just above the refresh rate and provides the best visual quality without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 4K (67 FPS) is nearly identical in performance to Ultra (63 FPS), so choosing Ultra is recommended if visual fidelity is the priority, as the 4 FPS difference is negligible.

For 1440p users, the High preset at 106 FPS offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, especially for 100 Hz or 120 Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 101 FPS is also viable, but the 5 FPS difference makes High the better choice for those who want a slight performance margin. For gamers with high-refresh displays (144 Hz or higher), the Medium preset at 170 FPS with a minimum of 144 FPS is the best option, as it ensures the frame rate never drops below the monitor's refresh rate. The Low preset at 212 FPS is unnecessary unless chasing maximum frame rates for competitive play, which is unlikely for a puzzle platformer.

At 1080p, the Medium preset at 236 FPS with a minimum of 201 FPS is the recommended choice for any display, as it provides well over 200 FPS consistently and maintains a minimum above 200 FPS. The High preset at 147 FPS is sufficient for 144 Hz monitors, but Medium offers a significant performance advantage (89 FPS higher) with only a modest reduction in visual quality. The Ultra preset at 140 FPS is slightly slower than High (147 FPS) and provides no meaningful benefit, so it can be skipped. The Low preset at 295 FPS is only useful for benchmarking or for users with 300 Hz displays, which are rare.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset emerges as the best all-around choice for the RX 7600 XT in Inside. It delivers a 60% performance increase over High at 4K (107 vs 67 FPS), a 60% increase at 1440p (170 vs 106 FPS), and a 60% increase at 1080p (236 vs 147 FPS). The minimum frame rates for Medium are also solid: 91 FPS at 4K, 144 FPS at 1440p, and 201 FPS at 1080p. The data suggests that the Medium preset removes the most demanding post-processing or shadow effects that disproportionately impact the GPU, making it the sweet spot for this hardware combination. For a game like Inside, where the atmosphere is more important than raw fidelity, Medium provides the best experience in terms of smoothness and consistency.