Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer that places minimal strain on modern hardware, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D combined with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 reflects this. The measured frame rates are exceptionally high across all tested configurations, indicating that this pairing is vastly overqualified for the game's visual demands. The analysis below interprets the measured FPS data to provide guidance on optimal settings, component roles, and scaling behavior.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four available presets, with a significant performance gap between the lower and upper tiers. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 434 FPS, while the Medium preset delivers 401 FPS. The High preset drops to 294 FPS, and the Ultra preset yields 280 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal, with only a 14 FPS average gap, whereas the step from Medium to High costs 107 FPS on average.

For the best experience per the measured rows, the Medium preset stands out as the optimal choice. At 1920x1080, it provides 401 FPS average with a minimum of 341 FPS, which is still far beyond the refresh rate of any commercially available display. The Medium preset also offers the only complete FPS range data in the pack, with a recorded minimum and maximum at every resolution, suggesting it provides a stable and consistent frame delivery. The jump from Medium to High yields diminishing returns in visual quality relative to the substantial frame rate penalty.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset maintains an average of 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS, which remains exceptionally smooth. Even at 3840x2160, Medium sustains 212 FPS average with a minimum of 181 FPS, which is still well above typical high-refresh targets. The Ultra preset, while offering the highest visual fidelity, reduces the average to 126 FPS at 4K, which is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. Given that the game is a 2D puzzle platformer where visual clarity is less critical than in fast-paced 3D titles, the Medium preset provides the best balance of high frame rates and acceptable visual quality without the steep performance cost associated with the higher presets.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.30 GHz and a boost clock of 5.70 GHz. It features a substantial 128 MB L3 cache, which is a defining characteristic of the X3D series. The CPU's benchmark results show exceptional multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018 and a 3DMark max threads score of 17184. However, the single-thread score of 1292 in 3DMark and 2259 in Cinebench R23 is where the processor's gaming performance is typically anchored.

For a game like Inside, which is a side-scrolling puzzle platformer with relatively simple physics and logic, the CPU load is minimal. The data shows that at 1920x1080 Low, the average FPS reaches 434, which is likely near the engine's or the CPU's single-thread limit. The single-thread performance of the 9950X3D, while strong, is not the primary bottleneck in this scenario. The 3DMark single-thread score of 1292 places it in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D, both with average scores within 0.1% of the 9950X3D.

The CPU's multi-threaded capability is largely irrelevant for this game, as the workload does not scale across 16 cores. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2549 and 4-thread score of 4963 suggest that even a fraction of the CPU's cores can handle the game's demands. The boost clock of 5.70 GHz is likely the more important factor, as higher single-core frequencies directly translate to higher FPS in CPU-bound scenarios. The 128 MB L3 cache may help with data locality, but the game's footprint is small enough that this advantage is minimal. In essence, the CPU is far more powerful than required, and the measured FPS at lower resolutions points to the CPU being the limiting factor only when the GPU is underutilized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is a high-end graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus with a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2505 MHz, and it has 9728 shading units. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 34457 places it in the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the RTX 4080 SUPER, which is only 0.1% faster in average benchmark score.

The GPU's role in Inside is primarily to handle the rendering of the game's atmospheric lighting, shadows, and post-processing effects. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck at higher resolutions and settings. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 126, which is a 55% reduction from the 280 FPS at 1920x1080 Ultra. This scaling is typical of a GPU-bound scenario, where the increased pixel count directly impacts the fill rate and shading load.

The 16 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for this game, as the maximum memory usage is unlikely to exceed even a fraction of this capacity. The memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s is also excessive for the game's texture and geometry data. The GPU's 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores are not utilized by this title, as it does not support ray tracing or DLSS. The raw rasterization performance, as indicated by the FP32 throughput of 48.74 TFLOPS, is what drives the frame rates.

The data reveals that the RTX 4080 is powerful enough to maintain over 200 FPS at 1440p Medium, but the Ultra preset at 4K brings it down to 126 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at higher settings, while the CPU takes over as the limiter at lower settings and resolutions. The GPU's PassMark DirectX 11 score of 314 and DirectX 12 score of 132 are relatively low compared to other tests, but this is likely due to the game's API usage rather than the hardware's capability.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo in Inside?

A: The highest average FPS is 434, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the peak performance point in the entire dataset.

Q: How does the Ultra preset at 4K compare to the Low preset at 1080p?

A: The Ultra preset at 3840x2160 averages 126 FPS, while the Low preset at 1920x1080 averages 434 FPS. This represents a 308 FPS difference, or approximately 71% lower performance at the higher resolution and settings.

Q: Which preset provides the most stable frame delivery according to the data?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max FPS data at all three resolutions. At 1080p, it ranges from 341 to 461 FPS; at 1440p, from 287 to 389 FPS; and at 4K, from 181 to 244 FPS. This suggests consistent frame pacing.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the 434 FPS average is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU has very little work to do. The CPU's single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 1292, becomes the primary constraint.

Q: What is the largest single-step FPS drop between presets?

A: The largest drop is from Medium to High at 1080p, where the average FPS falls from 401 to 294, a difference of 107 FPS. This is a 26.7% reduction in performance.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4080 have, and is it sufficient for this game?

A: The RTX 4080 has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory. For Inside, this is more than sufficient, as the game's textures and assets are unlikely to use even a small portion of this capacity.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound behavior at higher settings and CPU-bound behavior at lower settings. At the Low preset, the average FPS goes from 434 at 1080p to 389 at 1440p, a 10.4% drop, and then to 265 at 4K, a 38.9% drop from 1440p. This relatively modest scaling at Low suggests that the CPU is the primary limiter, as the GPU has enough headroom to handle the increased resolution without a proportional FPS loss.

At the Medium preset, the scaling is more pronounced: 401 FPS at 1080p drops to 338 FPS at 1440p (15.7% loss) and then to 212 FPS at 4K (37.3% loss from 1440p). This indicates a gradual shift toward GPU limitation as the resolution increases. The High preset shows even steeper scaling: 294 FPS at 1080p, 211 FPS at 1440p (28.2% loss), and 133 FPS at 4K (37.0% loss from 1440p).

The Ultra preset exhibits the most severe scaling, with 280 FPS at 1080p dropping to 201 FPS at 1440p (28.2% loss) and then to 126 FPS at 4K (37.3% loss). The consistent 37% drop from 1440p to 4K across Medium, High, and Ultra presets indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at these settings, as the pixel count quadruples from 1440p (3.7 million pixels) to 4K (8.3 million pixels), requiring roughly 2.25 times the fill rate. The fact that the FPS does not drop by the full 55% expected from pixel count alone suggests that the game's rendering is not purely fill-rate bound, and other factors like memory bandwidth and shading complexity play a role.

The data shows that the transition from 1080p to 1440p is relatively gentle, with an average FPS loss of about 15-28% depending on the preset. The transition from 1440p to 4K is steeper, with a consistent ~37% loss. This indicates that the RTX 4080 retains sufficient performance headroom at 1440p, but 4K pushes it closer to its limits, especially on the Ultra preset where it averages just 126 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured FPS values are as follows: Low averages 434 FPS, Medium averages 401 FPS with a minimum of 341 FPS and maximum of 461 FPS, High averages 294 FPS, and Ultra averages 280 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 33 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is only 14 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset offers marginal improvements over High at a relatively small performance cost.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 389 FPS, Medium averages 338 FPS with a minimum of 287 FPS and maximum of 389 FPS, High averages 211 FPS, and Ultra averages 201 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra narrows to just 10 FPS, indicating that these two presets are nearly identical in performance at this resolution. The Medium preset still maintains a substantial lead over High, with a 127 FPS advantage.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 265 FPS, Medium averages 212 FPS with a minimum of 181 FPS and maximum of 244 FPS, High averages 133 FPS, and Ultra averages 126 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is a mere 7 FPS, making them effectively indistinguishable in performance at 4K. The Low preset at 4K still delivers more than double the frame rate of the Ultra preset, highlighting the significant performance cost of higher visual settings.

The minimum FPS values are only recorded for the Medium preset. At 1080p, the minimum is 341 FPS, which is 85% of the average. At 1440p, the minimum is 287 FPS, which is 85% of the average. At 4K, the minimum is 181 FPS, which is 85% of the average. This consistent 85% ratio suggests that the Medium preset provides predictable frame delivery without severe drops, making it the most reliable option for consistent gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 ranks 95th out of 3716 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the top 2.6% of all tested combos, indicating that it is a high-performing pairing for this game. The rank of 95 is notable given the game's age and low hardware demands, as many less powerful combinations would also achieve high frame rates.

The CPU's individual performance, with a percentile rank of 95 among all CPUs, is a strong contributor to this overall ranking. The GPU's percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs is slightly lower, but still well above average. The combination of a top-tier CPU and a high-end GPU results in a system that can handle Inside with ease, as evidenced by the measured FPS data.

The nearest rival CPUs, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 and the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D, have average benchmark scores within 0.1% of the 9950X3D. This suggests that the CPU's specific model has little impact on the game's performance, as the workload is not demanding enough to differentiate between these high-end processors. Similarly, the GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% faster on average, which would translate to a negligible difference in this game.

The high ranking of this combo is primarily driven by the sheer performance headroom both components possess, which ensures that even the most demanding preset at 4K maintains a playable frame rate. The rank of 95 out of 3716 places this combo in the upper echelon of tested systems, confirming that it is an excellent choice for playing Inside at high refresh rates and resolutions. The data indicates that there is no meaningful performance bottleneck for this game, and the combo delivers a smooth experience across all tested configurations.