Inside

Inside is a puzzle platformer from 2016, and the benchmark data for this particular pairing of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 shows a system that is thoroughly overqualified for the task at hand. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings are exceptionally high, indicating that the game itself is not a demanding title by modern standards. The data suggests that this combination provides a flawless experience, with the primary differentiator between settings presets being how much headroom is left on the table for future titles or higher refresh rate displays.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a classic shift in system bottleneck. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces a staggering 381 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at Low settings, the average drops to 303 FPS, a 20% reduction. At 4K (3840x2160) with Low settings, the average falls further to 191 FPS, which is a 37% reduction from the 1440p figure and a 50% drop from 1080p. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that is becoming increasingly saturated as the pixel count rises, though even at 4K Low, the frame rate remains far beyond what any standard display can refresh.

The scaling is even more pronounced when looking at the High preset. At 1080p High, the system averages 211 FPS. At 1440p High, this drops to 152 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 95 FPS, which is a 37% reduction from 1440p and a 55% drop from 1080p. The consistency of the percentage drops between Low and High presets across resolutions suggests that the rendering load is scaling linearly with resolution, which points to the GPU being the primary limiting factor at all tested settings. The CPU, with its 16 cores and 32 threads, is clearly not the constraint, as even the most demanding scenario (4K Ultra) still yields 91 FPS.

The gap between the Low and High presets at 4K is notable: 191 FPS versus 95 FPS, a 96 FPS difference. This indicates that the quality settings have a substantial impact on GPU workload, even in a game as old as Inside. The frame rate at 4K Ultra is 91 FPS, which is only slightly lower than the 4K High result of 95 FPS. This suggests diminishing returns on the Ultra preset, where the additional graphical features cost performance without a proportional increase in frame rate. The data shows that this GPU is the deciding factor in performance, as the CPU has ample headroom to feed it at every resolution.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is a mobile-class processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Strix Halo. It features 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The processor has a 64 MB shared L3 cache and supports quad-channel LPDDR5X memory with a bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. In this game, the CPU's role is minimal, as the measured frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU. The data shows that even at 1080p Low, where CPU overhead is typically the highest, the system achieves 381 FPS, indicating that the processor is never the bottleneck.

The benchmark scores for this CPU place it in the 95th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 77740. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900K, has an average score of 79097, which is a delta of -1.7% for the Ryzen chip. This places the Ryzen AI Max+ 395 in the same performance tier as desktop flagship processors, despite being a mobile part. In the context of Inside, this level of CPU performance is irrelevant to the final frame rate, as the game is not compute-bound. The single-thread performance, as indicated by the Geekbench single-core score of 2464, is more than sufficient for the game's logic and physics, which are unlikely to require more than a few cores.

The PassMark multithread score of 54934 further reinforces the CPU's capability. However, the game's performance is so high that it is difficult to isolate any CPU contribution. For instance, at 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 243, with a minimum of 206 and a maximum of 279. The variance in these numbers is more likely due to scene complexity in the game rather than CPU limitations. The processor's 55 W TDP and 4 nm process node from TSMC suggest it is efficient, but this efficiency does not translate into a tangible benefit for Inside, as the game does not stress the CPU to any meaningful degree. The data indicates that this CPU is a non-factor in this specific benchmark, serving only to ensure that the GPU is fed with data without any frame pacing issues.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the clear driver of performance in this pairing. It is based on the Ada Lovelace architecture and features 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 ROPs. The GPU has a boost clock of 2505 MHz and is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This memory configuration is substantial for a game like Inside, which does not require a large frame buffer, but it ensures that the GPU is never memory-limited at any resolution or setting.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, has an average score of 54209, a delta of only 0.1%, indicating that the standard 4080 is virtually identical in performance to its SUPER counterpart. The data shows that the RTX 4080 is more than capable of handling this game, as even the most demanding preset (4K Ultra) results in a 91 FPS average. The GPU's raw compute power, as indicated by its FP32 performance of 48.74 TFLOPS, is massively underutilized in this title.

The scaling of frame rates with resolution directly correlates with the GPU's workload. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely idling, as the 381 FPS average is far beyond the refresh rate of most monitors. At 4K Ultra, the GPU is finally being pushed, but it still maintains a 91 FPS average, which is smooth for a puzzle platformer. The RTX 4080's 16 GB of VRAM is not a factor here, as the game's textures are not demanding. The GPU's pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are more than sufficient to handle the game's 2D side-scrolling graphics with ease. The data suggests that the RTX 4080 is the sole determinant of the frame rate, and it has ample headroom to spare in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's performance across all settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 381 FPS, which is the highest recorded score. The Medium preset at 1080p averages 337 FPS, with a minimum of 287 and a maximum of 388. The High preset at 1080p drops to 211 FPS, and the Ultra preset manages 201 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 10 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset's additional features are not very taxing at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 303 FPS, which is a significant drop from 1080p but still extremely high. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 243 FPS, with a minimum of 206 and a maximum of 279. The High preset at 1440p averages 152 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 144 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at 1440p is only 8 FPS, again indicating that Ultra is not a heavy upgrade. The frame rate at 1440p High is identical to the 4K Medium score of 152 FPS, showing that resolution and settings interact in a predictable way.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 191 FPS, which is still incredibly playable. The Medium preset at 4K averages 152 FPS, with a minimum of 130 and a maximum of 175. The High preset at 4K averages 95 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 91 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 4 FPS, which is negligible. The data shows a clear pattern: the Low preset is roughly 2x faster than the High preset at each resolution. For example, at 1080p, Low is 381 FPS versus High at 211 FPS; at 1440p, Low is 303 FPS versus High at 152 FPS; and at 4K, Low is 191 FPS versus High at 95 FPS. This consistent ratio suggests that the Low preset removes a significant amount of graphical work, likely related to lighting and post-processing effects.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 930 out of 3716 total combos in Inside. This places it in the top 25% of all tested systems, which is expected given the high-end components involved. The rank is not higher because the game is so old and lightweight that even mid-range hardware can achieve high frame rates, so the ceiling for performance is reached quickly. The combo's percentile rank reflects that many other systems, possibly with slightly faster GPUs or CPUs, can achieve similar frame rates, but the absolute performance here is exceptional.

The CPU's 95th percentile ranking and the GPU's 86th percentile ranking suggest that this combo is near the top of the hardware hierarchy. However, the combo rank of 930 indicates that there are 929 other combinations that perform better in this specific game. This could be due to systems with newer GPUs or CPUs that have higher clock speeds, but the difference in actual frame rates is likely negligible. For instance, the GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, is only 0.1% faster on average, which would not result in a meaningful FPS difference in Inside. The combo rank confirms the system's overall strength, but it also highlights that this game does not require such powerful hardware to achieve a perfect experience.

The data shows that this combo is overkill for Inside, as the lowest performance scenario (4K Ultra at 91 FPS) is still well above the standard 60 FPS target. The high rank in the database is a function of the hardware's raw power, but the game itself does not leverage that power to its full extent. This is a common situation with older titles on modern hardware, where the GPU is the limiting factor only at the highest resolutions and settings, and even then, it performs admirably.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset for this combination is High, not Ultra. The High preset at 4K delivers an average of 95 FPS, which is perfectly smooth for a puzzle platformer. The Ultra preset at 4K only yields 91 FPS, a mere 4 FPS difference, which is imperceptible in gameplay. The additional graphical features in the Ultra preset do not justify the small performance hit, especially since the game's art style is not heavily reliant on high-end effects. The Medium preset at 4K offers 152 FPS, which is excellent for users with high refresh rate displays, but the visual fidelity drop from High to Medium is noticeable.

For users with a 1440p display, the High preset at 152 FPS is the recommended choice, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that exceeds most monitors' refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 1440p provides 144 FPS, which is also excellent, but the difference from High is minimal. At 1080p, the High preset at 211 FPS is more than sufficient, and the Ultra preset at 201 FPS is equally viable. The Low preset is unnecessary for this hardware, as even the High preset provides frame rates that are far beyond what is needed for a smooth experience.

The data suggests that the High preset is the sweet spot for this combo across all resolutions. It offers a significant visual upgrade over Low and Medium, while maintaining frame rates that are at least 95 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset is not worth the performance cost, as the measured difference is only 4-10 FPS depending on resolution. The Medium preset is a good fallback for users who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity, but with this hardware, there is no reason to sacrifice quality. The High preset at 4K is the best overall experience, providing a stable and smooth frame rate that is well above the threshold for comfortable gameplay.