Inside

Inside is a 2D puzzle-platformer from 2016, and its measured performance on this Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Radeon RX 7900M combo reveals a title that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions but becomes increasingly CPU-sensitive as resolution drops. The data shows a platform that is exceptionally fast, capable of delivering well over 300 FPS at 1080p on low settings, yet still demanding enough at 4K Ultra to keep average framerates below 100. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across all tested configurations, examining the distinct roles the CPU and GPU play in shaping the final results.

Resolution Scaling

The framerate scaling from 1080p to 4K in this combo demonstrates a classic pattern of GPU saturation. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the system produces an average of 377 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 Low, that figure drops to 271 FPS, a reduction of roughly 28%. At 3840x2160 Low, the average falls to 170 FPS, which is a further 37% decrease from the 1440p result. This steep drop-off at higher resolutions indicates that the rendering load on the AMD Radeon RX 7900M is increasing significantly, and the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck.

The scaling pattern for High settings tells a similar story. At 1080p High, the average is 189 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 136 FPS, a 28% reduction. At 4K High, the average is 85 FPS, representing another 37.5% decrease from the 1440p number. This consistent scaling suggests that the game's visual complexity at higher resolutions is directly taxing the GPU's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth.

The disparity between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution highlights the GPU's workload. At 1080p, the gap between Low (377 FPS) and Ultra (180 FPS) is 197 FPS. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 142 FPS (271 vs 129). At 4K, the gap shrinks further to 89 FPS (170 vs 81). This indicates that while the GPU is still the limiting factor, the CPU's ability to feed it becomes more critical at lower resolutions where the GPU can complete frames faster. The fact that the 4K Ultra average of 81 FPS is only slightly above the 4K High average of 85 FPS shows that the most demanding settings are pushing the GPU to its limits, with diminishing returns in performance.

The data suggests that this combination is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can easily push past the 144Hz mark on medium settings. At 4K, the system is still capable, but the framerates drop to a range more appropriate for 60Hz displays or for gamers who prioritize visual fidelity over extreme smoothness. The scaling from 1440p to 4K on Medium settings (217 to 136 FPS) shows a 37% performance hit, which is consistent with the other settings and confirms that resolution is the dominant factor in performance variance.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900M is the clear workhorse in this configuration, and its specifications explain the observed framerates. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, it offers 576.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This high bandwidth is crucial for a game like Inside, which, while not a AAA 3D title, still requires substantial texture and framebuffer throughput at 4K resolutions. The GPU's 4608 shading units and 192 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 2090 MHz, provide the raw compute and pixel-fill capacity needed to drive the pixel rates seen in the benchmarks.

The GPU's performance percentile is 94, meaning it outperforms 94% of all GPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 97487 places it in close competition with professional workstation cards. For instance, it is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro VII, 4.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000, 5.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon Instinct MI60, and 6.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A4500. This context shows that the 7900M is not just a gaming part; its compute capabilities are on par with professional visualization hardware, which explains its ability to maintain high framerates even at 4K.

The GPU's clock speeds are a key factor in its scaling behavior. The base clock of 1825 MHz and boost clock of 2090 MHz are relatively high for a mobile part, allowing it to sustain performance under load. The 2:1 FP16 ratio (77.05 TFLOPS) and 38.52 TFLOPS FP32 performance are indicative of a powerful chip, but for Inside, the game's engine likely relies more on pixel shading and memory throughput than on raw compute. The 72 RT cores are present but likely underutilized in this title, which has no ray-traced effects. The 5 nm process node and 57,700 million transistors on a 529 mm² die (Navi 31) allow for this level of performance within a 180 W TDP, which is a reasonable power envelope for a mobile IGP.

The fact that the GPU's benchmark scores are so high relative to its rivals suggests that the silicon is well-binned and capable of maintaining its boost clocks consistently. However, the framerate data indicates that even this powerful GPU is the bottleneck at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 81. This is not a sign of weakness but rather proof of the increasing pixel count that must be processed. The GPU is fully utilized, and the CPU is waiting on it, which is the ideal scenario for a balanced gaming system.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H plays a supporting role in this analysis, but its performance is still critical, especially at lower resolutions. This CPU features 16 cores and 16 threads, based on the Panther Lake architecture on a 3 nm process node. Its base clock is 2.10 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, which is a significant turbo range. The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for gaming workloads that are sensitive to cache hits.

The CPU's benchmark scores position it as a top-tier mobile processor. It achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 18911 and a single-core score of 2200.5. Its average benchmark score of 44466 places it in the 88th percentile of all CPUs. Compared to its nearest rivals, it is virtually tied with the AMD Ryzen 5 7500X3D (0.2% slower), the Intel Core i9-13950HX (0.3% faster), the AMD Ryzen AI Max 385 (0.4% faster), and the Intel Core i5-13600 (0.5% faster). This indicates that the CPU is not a limiting factor in most scenarios, as its performance is competitive with the best desktop and mobile chips.

In the context of Inside, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, physics, and draw calls. At 1080p Low, the system hits 377 FPS, which is a framerate that often becomes CPU-bound. The fact that the CPU can sustain this framerate without dropping below the GPU's output suggests that its single-threaded performance is excellent. The Passmark single-thread score of 4280 is a strong indicator of this capability. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz is likely the reason this CPU can keep up with the GPU's rapid frame generation at lower resolutions.

The CPU's memory support for LPDDR5X with 153.6 GB/s of bandwidth is also relevant. While this is lower than the GPU's dedicated bandwidth, it is more than sufficient for the CPU's needs in this game. The lack of an unlocked multiplier and the 25 W TDP (though boost clocks likely push it higher) suggest that this is a power-efficient part designed for thin-and-light gaming laptops. Despite the modest TDP, the benchmark data confirms that it punches well above its weight class, ensuring that the GPU is never starved for data. In short, the CPU is an enabler, not a bottleneck, in this configuration.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across 12 different configurations. At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. On Low settings, it averages 377 FPS. On Medium, it averages 302 FPS, with a minimum of 257 and a maximum of 347. High settings yield an average of 189 FPS. Ultra settings reduce the average to 180 FPS. This shows that at 1080p, the game is easily playable on any settings, with even Ultra settings maintaining a framerate far above the refresh rate of most monitors.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains robust. Low settings average 271 FPS. Medium settings average 217 FPS, with a minimum of 184 and a maximum of 250. High settings average 136 FPS. Ultra settings average 129 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra is only 7 FPS, suggesting that the Ultra preset adds minimal graphical fidelity for the performance cost at this resolution. This is a good sweet spot for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, as even Ultra settings stay above 120 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits. Low settings average 170 FPS. Medium settings average 136 FPS, with a minimum of 116 and a maximum of 157. High settings average 85 FPS. Ultra settings average 81 FPS. The difference between High and Ultra is miniscule (4 FPS), indicating that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling. The minimum framerate of 116 FPS at 4K Medium is still respectable, but the drop to the 80s at High and Ultra shows that gamers seeking 4K will need to compromise on settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

The data reveals a consistent pattern: the game scales almost linearly with resolution, and the GPU is the dominant factor. The CPU's influence is most noticeable at 1080p Low, where the 377 FPS average reflects the balance of this combo. For users with high-refresh-rate 1080p or 1440p displays, this system provides headroom for future titles. For 4K, it is a capable performer, but users should expect to use Medium or High settings to stay above 120 FPS, or accept 60 FPS on Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Inside, this Intel Core Ultra X9 388H and AMD Radeon RX 7900M pairing ranks 998th out of 2887 total combos. This places it in the top 34.6% of all tested systems, which is a solid result for a mobile platform. The rank is likely influenced by the fact that Inside is an older, less demanding title, where even mid-range desktop GPUs can achieve high framerates. The mobile nature of this combo, while powerful, is still constrained by its thermal and power limits compared to full-size desktop components.

The rank of 998 is a reflection of the GPU's performance percentile (94th) and the CPU's percentile (88th). While both components are in the top 12% of their respective categories, the combination does not crack the top 1000, which suggests that there are many desktop combos with higher absolute performance. However, within the context of mobile gaming systems, this rank is likely much higher. The data shows that this combo is a high-end offering that outperforms the vast majority of laptops, but it is not the absolute fastest configuration in the database.

The fact that the combo ranks in the 998th position out of 2887 also speaks to the game's engine. Inside is a 2D title with relatively simple geometry, so the performance ceiling is lower than in a 3D AAA game. A more demanding title would likely see this combo rank higher, as the GPU and CPU would have more room to differentiate themselves from lower-end parts. For this specific game, the combo is in the upper third of all systems, which is a strong showing for a mobile platform. The data confirms that this is a high-performance pairing that will handle Inside with ease, even at 4K resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the average framerate at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average framerate at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 302 FPS, with a minimum of 257 FPS and a maximum of 347 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU compare to the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7900M has an average benchmark score of 97487, which is 4.3% lower than the NVIDIA Quadro RTX 6000's score of 101872.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 4K resolution?

A: At 4K, the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The framerate drops from 170 FPS on Low to 81 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the GPU's rendering capabilities are the limiting factor.

Q: What is the CPU's single-core performance score in Cinebench R23?

A: The Intel Core Ultra X9 388H achieves a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2200.5.

Q: What is the minimum framerate recorded at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the minimum framerate recorded is 184 FPS, with an average of 217 FPS.

Q: How many total combos were tested for this game, and where does this one rank?

A: This combo ranks 998th out of 2887 total tested combinations for Inside, placing it in the top 34.6% of all systems.