Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a robust experience in Inside, a puzzle platformer from 2016. Benchmark data shows this combination produces high frame rates across all tested resolutions and settings, with the GPU frequently becoming the primary performance limiter only at 4K. The measured results indicate a system capable of well over 100 FPS at 1440p and 1080p on demanding presets, while even the most extreme 4K Ultra setting maintains playable smoothness.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 171 FPS. This indicates a very smooth experience, as the frame rate is well above the refresh rate of most standard monitors.

Q: How does the RX 7700's performance compare to its closest rival, the RTX 3060 Ti?

A: The RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, which is 1.7% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti's score of 16129. This places the RX 7700 slightly behind its nearest competitor in overall GPU compute benchmarks.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at 4K resolution with High settings?

A: At 3840x2160 with High settings, the average FPS is 80. When compared to the 171 FPS at 1080p High, the significant drop indicates the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, as the CPU workload does not scale with resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 199 FPS on Low settings to 121 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 78 FPS reduction, showing that the graphical preset has a substantial impact on performance.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations for this game?

A: The system ranks 1688 out of 2887 tested combinations in Inside. This places it in the top 58% of all tested hardware pairings for this specific title.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 7700 have?

A: The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. This large memory allocation provides ample headroom for high-resolution textures and future game requirements.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is the dominant component in this system for Inside. The GPU's 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth provide substantial resources for the game's rendering tasks, even at 4K resolution. The card operates at a base clock of 1900 MHz and a boost clock of 2459 MHz, with a game clock of 2041 MHz, which indicates a high level of processing throughput.

The GPU's architecture, RDNA 3.0, is built on a 5 nm process node and contains 28,100 million transistors. With 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, the RX 7700 has ample raw compute power. The pixel rate of 236.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 393.4 GTexel/s directly influence how quickly the card can fill the screen with rendered frames and apply textures, which is critical for a visually detailed game like Inside.

The GPU's benchmark scores are substantial. Its Passmark G3D score is 20974, and it achieves 106028 in Geekbench OpenCL, demonstrating strong general-purpose compute performance. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 further confirms its DirectX 12 capabilities, which is the primary API for Inside. This raw performance data correlates with the high frame rates observed in the measured FPS results.

The RX 7700's percentile rank of 58 against all GPUs shows it sits above the median, but its average benchmark score of 15852 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The data shows it is 1.7% behind the RTX 3060 Ti, 1% behind the RX 9060, and only 1.1% ahead of the Radeon Pro W5500. This suggests the GPU is a solid mid-to-high-range performer, but not a top-tier card. In the context of Inside, this performance level is more than sufficient to drive high refresh rates at 1080p and 1440p.

The GPU's memory configuration of 16 GB is particularly noteworthy. Even at 4K with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 76, which suggests the card is not running out of memory and is instead limited by its compute power. The high memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s ensures that the GPU can quickly access texture data, reducing potential stutters and frame time spikes, as evidenced by the min FPS of 108 at 4K Medium.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 provides a solid foundation for this gaming system. With 6 cores and 6 threads, it offers a baseline level of multi-threaded performance that is adequate for Inside. The CPU operates at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and can boost up to 4.10 GHz, which is beneficial for the game's single-threaded logic and physics calculations. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency for frequently accessed data.

The CPU's benchmark scores place it in a specific performance tier. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, and the single-core score is 935. In Geekbench, it scores 5141 multi-core and 1389 single-core. These scores, while not exceptional, are sufficient to feed the RX 7700 in most gaming scenarios, particularly at resolutions where the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2254 places it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% slower), the Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% faster), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% faster). These tiny delta percentages indicate that the i5-9400's CPU performance is highly comparable to these other mid-range processors, meaning the choice between them would have little impact on gaming performance.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor in Inside at lower resolutions. The frame rates at 1080p are extremely high, with 222 FPS on Low settings. At this resolution, the CPU must process more frames per second, and the data shows it can handle this load. However, the frame rate increase from 1080p to 1440p is not linear, suggesting that either the CPU or GPU is starting to reach its limits.

The CPU's memory support of DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth is standard for its generation. This provides sufficient data transfer rates to avoid bottlenecking the GPU. The 65W TDP indicates efficient power draw, and its end-of-life production status means it is a mature platform with stable drivers. Overall, the CPU provides a stable platform for the RX 7700 to operate without introducing significant frame pacing issues.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers excellent results across all presets. On Low settings, the average FPS is 222. Medium settings reduce this to 205 FPS, with a minimum of 174 FPS and a maximum of 235 FPS. High settings yield an average of 171 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 168 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 1080p is only 3 FPS, indicating a minor visual upgrade with a negligible performance cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more pronounced decrease. Low settings average 199 FPS. Medium settings drop to 183 FPS, with a min of 156 and max of 211. High settings average 127 FPS, and Ultra settings average 121 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution is 6 FPS, slightly larger than at 1080p, but still modest.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low settings still produce an average of 160 FPS, which is impressive for 4K. Medium settings drop significantly to 128 FPS, with a min of 108 and max of 147. High settings average 80 FPS, and Ultra settings average 76 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra at 4K is only 4 FPS, but the drop from Low to High is substantial, showing the impact of increased shading and texture complexity on the GPU.

The data shows that the most significant performance scaling occurs between Medium and High settings at 4K, where the average FPS drops from 128 to 80. This suggests that the High preset introduces a significant increase in shading work that the GPU must process. At 1080p and 1440p, the scaling from Low to Ultra is more linear, with a difference of 54 FPS at 1080p and 78 FPS at 1440p, indicating a balanced load between CPU and GPU at those resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates the shift in bottleneck from CPU to GPU. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 171 at 1080p to 127 at 1440p, a 44 FPS reduction. Further scaling to 4K results in a 47 FPS drop to 80 FPS. The percentage decrease from 1080p to 1440p is 25.7%, while from 1440p to 4K it is 37.0%. This increasing rate of decline as resolution increases is a classic indicator that the GPU is becoming the limiting component.

On Low settings, the scaling is even more telling. At 1080p, the system achieves 222 FPS. At 1440p, this drops to 199 FPS, a 10.4% decrease. At 4K, the frame rate is 160 FPS, a 19.6% decrease from 1440p. The relatively smaller percentage drop at 4K Low suggests that the CPU is still providing enough frames to keep the GPU busy, but the GPU's rendering load is increasing.

The Medium settings data provides the clearest picture of the bottleneck transition. At 1080p, the average FPS is 205. At 1440p, it is 183 FPS, a 10.7% drop. At 4K, it falls to 128 FPS, a 30.1% drop from 1440p. This disproportionate decrease at 4K Medium indicates that the GPU is reaching its capacity limits. The min FPS of 108 at 4K Medium is still above 60, ensuring smooth gameplay.

The Ultra settings show a similar trajectory to High, with 168 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 76 FPS at 4K. The resolution scaling data collectively suggests that the i5-9400 is capable of driving high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the RX 7700's compute resources become the primary constraint at 4K, especially on higher quality presets. The system is well-balanced for 1440p gaming, where the CPU and GPU loads are more evenly matched.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this system depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the recommended choice. The average FPS of 168 is exceptionally smooth, and the 3 FPS difference between High and Ultra is minimal, meaning players can enjoy the highest visual fidelity without a noticeable performance penalty. The Low preset at 222 FPS is only necessary for competitive play on very high refresh rate monitors.

For 2560x1440, the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance. The average FPS of 127 is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and is suitable for 120Hz monitors. While Ultra settings at 121 FPS are nearly identical, the High preset offers a slightly more stable performance buffer. The Medium preset at 183 FPS is overkill for most displays, but it could be used to maximize frame rates on a 144Hz or 165Hz monitor, though the visual quality reduction is noticeable.

At 3840x2160, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for the best experience. The average FPS of 128 is excellent for 4K, and the minimum FPS of 108 ensures minimal frame drops. The High preset at 80 FPS is also playable and provides better visuals, but the 48 FPS drop from Medium to High suggests a significant increase in rendering complexity that may not be worth the visual upgrade. The Ultra preset at 76 FPS is marginal, and the Low preset at 160 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for a frame rate that exceeds most 4K display capabilities.

For players prioritizing a consistent 60 FPS experience, the Ultra preset at 4K is viable, but the Medium preset offers a more comfortable margin. The data shows that the High preset at 1440p is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, delivering high frame rates with excellent visual detail. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is an easy recommendation due to the negligible performance cost.

How This Combo Ranks

In the context of all tested hardware combinations for Inside, this system ranks 1688 out of 2887 configurations. This places it in the 58.5th percentile of all tested combos, meaning it performs better than a majority of systems but is not in the top tier. This ranking confirms the RX 7700's ability to push high frame rates in this game, despite the i5-9400 being a mid-range CPU from an older generation.

The ranking suggests that while the GPU is capable of high performance, the CPU may be holding back the system from achieving even higher frame rates, particularly at 1080p where CPU load is higher. The fact that the system is in the top 58% of all combos indicates that many other pairings, likely with more powerful CPUs, have achieved better results in this title. However, the measured frame rates show that this limitation does not result in a poor experience.

The combo's rank of 1688 is a strong showing for a system with a CPU that has an average benchmark score in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. The GPU, which is in the 58th percentile, is clearly the driving force behind this ranking. The data indicates that the RX 7700 is a well-suited GPU for Inside, providing high frame rates that are only limited by the CPU at lower resolutions.

The ranking also demonstrates that the system is a capable gaming machine for this genre. While it may not be at the top of the charts, it provides a smooth and responsive experience that is more than adequate for a puzzle platformer. The high frame rates on Medium and High settings at 1440p and 4K confirm that the hardware is well-matched for this game's demands, and the overall ranking reflects a system that delivers solid, reliable performance without exceeding the needs of the title.