Inside

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 828th out of 1,671 tested combinations in Inside, placing it squarely in the middle of the database’s combo leaderboard. This mid-pack position is striking given the GPU’s high-end pedigree, and it signals that the pairing is not delivering the top-tier performance its components suggest. The rank reflects a system that is capable of high frame rates but is ultimately held back by its processor in a title that is not particularly demanding. Benchmark results indicate this combo is a study in imbalance: a flagship graphics card working alongside a six-core CPU that sits at the 50th percentile among all tested processors.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX is the dominant force in this configuration, and the data shows it is doing the heavy lifting. This GPU uses the Navi 31 chip on the RDNA 3.0 architecture, built on a 5 nm process. It features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. The card’s boost clock is rated at 2498 MHz, with a game clock of 2365 MHz, and it houses 6144 shading units alongside 384 texture mapping units and 192 render output units.

In Inside, the GPU’s raw power translates to exceptionally high frame rates across all settings. At 1080p, the RX 7900 XTX pushes an average of 223.2 FPS on Low settings, and even at the demanding Ultra preset, it still delivers 170.5 FPS. The card’s performance is so robust that it appears to be operating well below its limits in this game. Its average benchmark score of 44,019 places it at the 85th percentile among all GPUs, and it is a close rival to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti, which scores 44,900, a 2% difference. The RX 7900 XTX is clearly not the bottleneck in this system; its capabilities are far beyond the requirements of a puzzle platformer, allowing it to maintain high frame rates even when the CPU struggles to keep up.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is the limiting factor in this combination. This processor has 6 cores and 6 threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It is built on the Coffee Lake architecture using a 14 nm process and has 9 MB of shared L3 cache. Its average benchmark score is 2305, which is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2300, a mere 0.2% difference. The i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range part.

In Inside, the CPU’s limitations become apparent when comparing frame rates across resolutions. While the GPU can handle the graphical load easily, the CPU must process the game’s physics and logic. The data shows that frame rates scale down as resolution increases, which is typical, but the magnitude of the drop is telling. At 1080p with Ultra settings, the combo achieves 170.5 FPS. At 4K with the same settings, it drops to 116.8 FPS, a significant reduction. This scaling suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU is the primary constraint, preventing the GPU from reaching even higher frame rates. The i5-9400’s six threads are sufficient for this game, but they do not provide the headroom that a more powerful processor would, leaving performance on the table.

FAQ

*Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Inside?*

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX combination ranks 828th out of 1,671 tested combos, placing it in the middle of the performance spectrum.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration and how does it affect performance?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus with 960.0 GB/s bandwidth. This large memory pool and high bandwidth ensure that the GPU never runs out of memory or bandwidth in Inside, allowing it to maintain high frame rates even at 4K.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes, benchmark results indicate the CPU is the limiting component. The i5-9400 has 6 cores and 6 threads with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its average benchmark score of 2305 is at the 50th percentile, and frame rate scaling suggests the CPU holds back performance at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the GPU’s average benchmark score compared to its closest rival?

A: The RX 7900 XTX has an average benchmark score of 44,019, which is 2% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti’s score of 44,900. It is also 0.8% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 Mobile’s score of 43,667.

Q: What is the GPU’s launch MSRP?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX had a launch MSRP of 999 USD.

Q: How does the CPU’s score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The i5-9400’s average score of 2305 is 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i3-10305’s score of 2300, making them effectively equivalent in performance.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a clear pattern of scaling from 1080p to 4K, with the most significant drops occurring at the highest resolution. At 1080p with High settings, the combo achieves 171.8 FPS. Moving to 1440p, the frame rate drops to 154.6 FPS, a decrease of approximately 10%. At 4K, the frame rate falls to 121.8 FPS, a further 21% reduction from the 1440p result. This scaling indicates that the GPU is becoming more of a factor at higher resolutions, but the CPU still plays a role.

The pattern is similar across all settings. At Low settings, the combo hits 223.2 FPS at 1080p, 200.2 FPS at 1440p, and 170.7 FPS at 4K. The difference between 1080p and 4K is 52.5 FPS, which is a substantial 23.5% drop. This suggests that even with the GPU under more load at 4K, the CPU’s limitations are still present, preventing the system from achieving the same relative performance as it would with a stronger processor. The data shows that the i5-9400 is the primary limiting factor at 1080p, where the GPU is barely stressed, and it continues to constrain performance at higher resolutions, though to a lesser degree.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the High settings preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo in Inside. At 1080p, High settings deliver 171.8 FPS, which is only 1.3 FPS less than the Ultra preset’s 170.5 FPS but provides a more stable experience. At 1440p, High settings achieve 154.6 FPS, while Ultra drops to 152.4 FPS, a negligible difference. At 4K, High settings yield 121.8 FPS, compared to Ultra’s 116.8 FPS, showing that High is consistently faster.

The Medium preset is also a viable option, offering higher frame rates than High at every resolution. At 1080p, Medium achieves 207.8 FPS, and at 4K, it reaches 159.2 FPS. However, the visual quality difference between Medium and High is likely more noticeable than the frame rate difference, especially at higher resolutions. The data suggests that High is the sweet spot, as it provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates well above 120 FPS at all resolutions. The Ultra preset offers the highest visual fidelity but comes at a performance cost that is not justified given the marginal visual improvements in this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its highest frame rates, with Low settings hitting 223.2 FPS, Medium at 207.8 FPS, High at 171.8 FPS, and Ultra at 170.5 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is minimal, indicating that the Ultra preset’s additional effects have little impact on this hardware.

At 2560x1440, frame rates remain high but show a broader spread. Low settings deliver 200.2 FPS, Medium achieves 183.6 FPS, High reaches 154.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 152.4 FPS. The gap between Medium and High widens to 29 FPS, suggesting that the High preset introduces more demanding visual features.

At 3840x2160, the 4K resolution tests the system more thoroughly. Low settings still manage 170.7 FPS, while Medium achieves 159.2 FPS. High settings deliver 121.8 FPS, and Ultra drops to 116.8 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 53.9 FPS difference, indicating that the GPU is now more heavily utilized, but the system still maintains playable frame rates across all settings. The data confirms that this combo is capable of running Inside at high frame rates in any configuration, with the CPU being the primary constraint at lower resolutions.