Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 combination delivers playable frame rates in Inside, but the data reveals a pairing that leans heavily on the GPU at higher resolutions while the CPU provides ample headroom. The measured results show a clear hierarchy: this combo ranks 1561 out of 1671 tested configurations, placing it in the lower portion of the database, yet the actual FPS figures at 1080p and 1440p are strong for this puzzle platformer. The bottleneck analysis is straightforward—the RX 580’s performance ceiling is reached before the i5-9400’s six cores become a limiting factor, especially when settings are dropped to Low or Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It belongs to the Coffee Lake Refresh generation, built on a 14 nm process, and features 9 MB of shared L3 cache. For a game like Inside, which is not typically demanding on multi-threaded workloads, this configuration is more than sufficient. The CPU’s benchmark scores—803 in Cinebench R15 multicore and 113 in single-core—suggest that its processing power is not the primary constraint in this pairing. The data confirms this: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 148.5 FPS, and at 1440p Low it reaches 107.7 FPS, numbers that indicate the i5-9400 is feeding frames well above what the GPU can render at higher settings.

The processor’s nearest rivals in the database include the Intel Core i3-10305 and Intel Core i3-1125G4, both with average scores around 2300, placing the i5-9400 within 0.2% of them. This proximity shows that the i5-9400’s performance is mid-pack among CPUs, but in Inside, the game’s low thread utilization means that even a modest 6-core design can prevent CPU-bound scenarios. The percentile rank of 50 for the CPU versus all other tested units reinforces that it sits at the median, yet the FPS results show no sign of a CPU bottleneck. When the GPU is stressed at 4K Ultra (33.9 FPS), the CPU is still not the limiting factor—the GPU’s rendering workload dictates the frame rate.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 580 is built on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, featuring 2304 shading units and 32 ROPs. It operates with a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz. The 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus provides 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is substantial for a card of this era. In Inside, the GPU is the dominant performance driver, as evidenced by the scaling from Low to Ultra settings. At 1080p, the RX 580 ranges from 148.5 FPS on Low to 69.1 FPS on Ultra—a drop of over 50%—demonstrating that the card’s raw fill rate and texture throughput are being taxed by higher presets.

The RX 580’s overall benchmark average is 13559, with a percentile rank of 53 among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 and GTX 950, with delta percentages of 0% and 0.1%, respectively. This places the RX 580 in a similar performance tier to those older NVIDIA cards, but its 8 GB VRAM capacity is a key advantage for higher resolutions. The memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s and the 6.175 TFLOPS FP32 throughput allow it to handle 1440p Medium at 88.9 FPS, but the 4K Ultra result of 33.9 FPS shows the card’s limits. The data indicates that the GPU is the component that determines the playable settings envelope, not the CPU.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of decline varies significantly by settings preset. From 1080p to 1440p, the High preset drops from 77 FPS to 51.4 FPS—a 33% reduction—while the Low preset falls from 148.5 FPS to 107.7 FPS, a 27% drop. This pattern suggests that at Low settings, the GPU is less saturated, allowing the CPU to maintain a higher frame rate ceiling, but the scaling is still GPU-bound. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the High preset falls to 32 FPS, a 38% drop, while Low falls to 67.7 FPS, a 37% drop. The consistency of these percentage declines across settings points to the GPU being the limiting component at all resolutions.

The 4K Ultra result of 33.9 FPS versus the 1080p Ultra result of 69.1 FPS represents a 51% performance loss, which is typical for a doubling of pixel count. However, the 4K Low figure of 67.7 FPS is nearly identical to the 1080p Ultra figure of 69.1 FPS, illustrating that resolution scaling is more forgiving than settings scaling for this game. The data reveals that at 4K, even Low settings cannot achieve a 60 FPS average, while at 1440p, Medium and High are the only presets that fall below 60 FPS. This indicates that the RX 580’s pixel fill rate is the primary constraint at 4K, while at 1080p, the settings preset has a larger impact on performance than resolution changes.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 580 achieves a rank of 1561 out of 1671 total combos, placing it in the bottom 7% of all configurations. This low rank is somewhat misleading given the game’s actual performance, as Inside is not a graphically intensive title, but the rank reflects the relative performance of this combo across all games in the database. The combo’s position suggests that many other CPU-GPU pairings outperform it, likely due to newer or higher-tier components. However, within this specific game, the measured results show that the combo is capable of smooth gameplay at most settings below 4K.

The rank relative to other combos is more informative when considering the CPU and GPU individually. The i5-9400’s percentile rank of 50 places it at the median for CPUs, while the RX 580’s percentile of 53 is similarly mid-pack. The combination of two median components results in a lower-than-median combo rank, which indicates that the pairing does not synergize as well as some others. The nearest rival GPUs (GTX 570, GTX 950) have nearly identical average scores, so the RX 580 is not an outlier in performance, but its age and architecture limit its ability to push this combo higher in the rankings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 148.5 FPS, Medium achieves 118.7 FPS, High reaches 77 FPS, and Ultra drops to 69.1 FPS. These numbers show that 1080p is well within the RX 580’s comfort zone, with even Ultra settings maintaining a 69 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 107.7 FPS, Medium hits 88.9 FPS, High falls to 51.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 49.7 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that High and Ultra presets are borderline for 60 FPS gameplay, while Low and Medium are comfortably smooth.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops significantly: Low yields 67.7 FPS, Medium drops to 55.8 FPS, High falls to 32 FPS, and Ultra produces 33.9 FPS. The 4K data shows that only Low settings approach a playable 60 FPS, while Medium is marginal, and High/Ultra are not recommended for smooth gameplay. The minimal difference between High (32 FPS) and Ultra (33.9 FPS) at 4K suggests that the Ultra preset adds little visual benefit while taxing the GPU similarly. Across all resolutions, the step from Medium to High produces the largest FPS penalty, indicating that High settings introduce significant rendering costs.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate is the Medium preset at 2560x1440, which delivers 88.9 FPS. This setting provides a high frame rate that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold while still offering improved visuals over Low. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the best choice, as it achieves 69.1 FPS while maximizing visual fidelity—the data shows that the difference between High (77 FPS) and Ultra (69.1 FPS) is only 8 FPS, making Ultra the superior choice for 1080p displays. For 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 67.7 FPS, which is playable but requires sacrificing most graphical enhancements.

For users prioritizing a locked 60 FPS experience, the High preset at 1920x1080 (77 FPS) or Medium at 2560x1440 (88.9 FPS) are the safest choices. The 1440p Medium setting is particularly compelling because it offers a resolution upgrade over 1080p while maintaining a frame rate that is 15% higher than the 1080p High preset. The data does not support using High or Ultra at 4K, as both fall below 34 FPS, which would result in a stuttering experience for a game that benefits from smooth motion. The recommended path is to prioritize resolution over settings at 1440p, but at 4K, settings must be minimized to achieve playability.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60 FPS?

A: At 1920x1080, all presets exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra achieving 69.1 FPS. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS, with Medium at 88.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, at 67.7 FPS.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13559, placing it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 950 and 0% of the GTX 570. This means the RX 580’s performance in Inside is representative of that tier of GPUs.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RX 580?

A: The data shows no CPU bottleneck, as the i5-9400’s 6 cores and 4.10 GHz boost clock provide sufficient processing power. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are consistent with GPU limitations, not CPU constraints.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p?

A: The Low preset averages 148.5 FPS, while Ultra averages 69.1 FPS. This represents a 79.4 FPS difference, or about a 54% performance reduction when moving from Low to Ultra.

*Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Inside?*

A: Yes, but only at Low settings, which produce 67.7 FPS. Medium settings at 4K drop to 55.8 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 32 and 33.9 FPS, respectively, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 1561 out of 1671 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 7% of the database. Despite this low rank, the measured FPS in Inside is playable at most settings below 4K.