Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT combination delivers exceptionally high frame rates in Inside, a 2016 puzzle platformer. The measured data shows that even at the most demanding settings and resolution, the pair maintains smooth performance, indicating that the game is far from a stress test for this hardware. The analysis below breaks down the benchmark results by settings, component role, and resolution scaling to characterize the experience.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data reveals a clear hierarchy across the four tested presets, with all delivering playable results. At 1080p, the Ultra preset produces an average of 138.9 FPS, while the High preset achieves 144.1 FPS, a marginal difference of 5.2 FPS. The Medium preset jumps to 205.7 FPS, and Low reaches 222.2 FPS. Given that the gap between Ultra and High is minimal, the High preset offers the best balance, capturing nearly all the visual fidelity of Ultra with a slight performance benefit.

At 1440p, the pattern shifts. The High preset delivers 106.0 FPS, while Ultra drops to 99.6 FPS. The Medium preset hits 170.8 FPS, and Low reaches 199.7 FPS. Here, High remains the recommended choice, as the 6.4 FPS loss from Ultra is negligible, but the step down to Medium provides a substantial 64.8 FPS uplift for users prioritizing refresh rate over detail.

At 4K, the High preset manages 66.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. Ultra falls to 61.9 FPS, still technically playable but with less headroom. The Medium preset jumps to 106.0 FPS, and Low reaches 135.1 FPS. For a consistent 4K experience, High is the optimal setting—it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while retaining the intended visual quality. The data suggests that Ultra's additional effects cost roughly 4.6 FPS over High at this resolution, which is not worth the potential for dips in more complex scenes.

Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset's performance penalty relative to High is consistently small (3.6% at 1080p, 6.0% at 1440p, 6.9% at 4K), but the High preset's slightly higher frame rates make it the more prudent default. For users with high-refresh-rate displays, the Medium preset at 1080p (205.7 FPS) or 1440p (170.8 FPS) provides a massive frame-rate advantage with only a moderate reduction in graphical settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125. This positions it as a mid-range performer, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i3-10305 (deltaPct 0.2%) and the Intel Core i7-8809G (deltaPct -0.6%).

In Inside, the CPU's role is relatively modest due to the game's lightweight nature. The measured frame rates at 1080p Low (222.2 FPS) and 1440p Low (199.7 FPS) suggest that the i5-9400 is not a bottleneck at standard settings. The processor's 6 cores and 6 threads are sufficient for the game's physics and logic, and its 9 MB of shared L3 cache provides adequate data locality. The single-core performance, evidenced by the R23 single-core score of 1125, is particularly relevant for a puzzle platformer that likely relies on a primary game thread.

The lack of hyper-threading means the CPU has a fixed 6 threads, but the benchmark results indicate this is not a limitation here. The 4.10 GHz boost clock ensures responsive frame pacing, and the 42.7 GB/s memory bandwidth is more than adequate for the game's data requirements. The CPU's overall percentile ranking of 50 suggests it is an average performer in the broader market, yet the data shows it handles Inside with substantial headroom, as even the highest frame rates (222.2 FPS at 1080p Low) are likely constrained by the GPU or game engine rather than the processor.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 280.3 GB/s. Its boost clock is 2635 MHz, with a game clock of 2410 MHz. The GPU features 2048 shading units, 128 texture mapping units, and 64 ROPs, delivering a pixel rate of 168.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 337.3 GTexel/s. Its FP32 performance is 10.79 TFLOPS, and it places in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 29024.

The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6800M (deltaPct 0%) and the Intel Arc A370M (deltaPct -0.5%), indicating it sits in a competitive mid-range tier. In Inside, the GPU's capabilities are the primary driver of performance scaling across settings. At 1080p, the GPU easily sustains over 138.9 FPS even at Ultra settings, demonstrating that the game is not GPU-bound at this resolution. The 8 GB VRAM is never stressed by a game of this era, and the 128-bit memory bus provides sufficient bandwidth for the game's textures.

The jump from 1080p to 1440p at High settings shows a performance drop from 144.1 FPS to 106.0 FPS, a 26.5% reduction, which is consistent with the GPU becoming more load-bearing as pixel count increases. At 4K High, the GPU manages 66.5 FPS, indicating that the RX 6650 XT is approaching its limits at this resolution but still delivers playable performance. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking suggests it is a capable mid-range part, and the data confirms it can handle Inside at high settings across all tested resolutions, with the 4K Ultra preset (61.9 FPS) representing the only scenario where performance dips close to the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT ranks 1261 out of 1671 tested combos in Inside, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. This ranking is somewhat surprising given the high absolute frame rates, but it reflects the fact that many other combinations in the database include higher-end CPUs and GPUs that push frame rates even further. The combo's rank is influenced by the CPU's 50th percentile standing and the GPU's 72nd percentile, which together produce a system that is capable but not top-tier.

The ranking context is important: while 1261 of 1671 may sound low, the measured data shows the combo delivers over 138.9 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which is well above the requirements for smooth gameplay. The low rank likely stems from the CPU's mid-range status, as many combos with higher-ranked processors achieve even greater frame rates in this lightly-threaded game. The GPU's performance is solid, but the CPU's 6-core, 6-thread configuration may limit maximum frame rates in scenarios where the game is CPU-bound, such as at 1080p Low where the combo reaches 222.2 FPS—likely near the engine's upper limit.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.6%, indicating that the i5-9400 is interchangeable with several other processors in terms of average benchmark score. This suggests that swapping to a marginally different CPU would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in Inside. The GPU's nearest rivals also show negligible differences (0.5% or less), reinforcing that this combo is part of a dense cluster of similarly performing hardware.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component at each stage. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 144.1 at 1080p to 106.0 at 1440p (a 26.5% reduction) and then to 66.5 at 4K (a 37.3% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly dominant as resolution increases. The 1080p to 1440p drop is significant, suggesting the GPU is already the primary bottleneck at 1440p, while the 1440p to 4K drop is even steeper, confirming the GPU is heavily taxed at 4K.

At Low settings, the scaling is slightly different: 222.2 FPS at 1080p drops to 199.7 FPS at 1440p (a 10.1% reduction) and then to 135.1 FPS at 4K (a 32.3% reduction from 1440p). The smaller 1080p to 1440p drop at Low settings suggests the CPU has more influence at lower graphical loads, but the larger 1440p to 4K drop again points to the GPU as the limiting factor at high pixel counts. The difference between Low and High at 4K is 68.6 FPS, highlighting how much the GPU struggles with higher settings at this resolution.

The data indicates that at 1080p, the combo is likely CPU-limited at Low and Medium settings, as the GPU has ample headroom (222.2 FPS and 205.7 FPS respectively), but becomes GPU-limited at High and Ultra. At 1440p, the GPU is the clear bottleneck across all settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra narrowing to 100.1 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is overwhelmingly the limiting component, with even Low settings (135.1 FPS) requiring significant GPU resources. The overall trend shows a system where the CPU provides sufficient power for the game's logic, but the GPU's rasterization throughput determines the final frame rate at higher resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best settings preset for the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6650 XT in Inside?*

A: The High preset is recommended across all resolutions. At 1080p it delivers 144.1 FPS, at 1440p it achieves 106.0 FPS, and at 4K it maintains 66.5 FPS. The Ultra preset offers only marginal visual gains (138.9 FPS at 1080p, 99.6 FPS at 1440p, 61.9 FPS at 4K) with a small performance cost.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more important for this game with this combo?

A: The GPU is more important at higher resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the CPU may limit performance (222.2 FPS), but at 1440p and 4K, the GPU's load is the primary factor. The GPU's 72nd percentile ranking versus the CPU's 50th percentile confirms the GPU has more performance headroom.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, at High settings the combo averages 66.5 FPS at 4K, and at Ultra it averages 61.9 FPS. Both are above the 60 FPS threshold, though High provides a safer margin. At Medium settings, the frame rate jumps to 106.0 FPS.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals in overall CPU performance?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, which is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299). It is 0.4% higher than the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295) and 0.6% lower than the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319).

*Q: What is the GPU's performance percentile, and what does that mean for Inside?*

A: The RX 6650 XT is in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, indicating it performs better than 72% of GPUs in the database. This aligns with its measured performance in Inside, where it delivers over 138.9 FPS at 1080p Ultra and 66.5 FPS at 4K High.

Q: Does the combo's rank of 1261 out of 1671 mean it is a poor performer?

A: No, the rank reflects the large number of higher-end combos in the database. The measured frame rates are consistently high, with the lowest result being 61.9 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank is more indicative of the CPU's mid-range status than a lack of playable performance.