Rust

The Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER delivers a high-refresh-rate experience in Rust across most settings, with the data showing this combo is firmly in playable territory at all tested resolutions. The measured results reveal a system that scales predictably: at 1920x1080, average frame rates range from 203.5 FPS on Low to 114.7 FPS on Ultra, while 2560x1440 drops to a still-strong 179.3 FPS on Low and 77.8 FPS on Ultra. Even 3840x2160 remains viable, with High settings producing 61 FPS average, though Ultra falls below the 60 FPS threshold at 49.1 FPS. The GPU is the dominant force here, but the quad-core i3-12100F proves sufficient to keep frame rates from collapsing at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combination shows excellent headroom. Low settings produce an average of 203.5 FPS, Medium hits 170.5 FPS, High reaches 149.6 FPS, and Ultra still maintains 114.7 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra is 88.8 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER has ample compute headroom even when the CPU is tasked with higher draw calls. The data shows no min or max FPS values recorded, so the averages alone suggest a smooth experience, but the gap between presets is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages remain comfortably above 60 FPS across the board. Low settings yield 179.3 FPS, Medium produces 125.3 FPS, High dips to 103.3 FPS, and Ultra settles at 77.8 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 101.5 FPS, a larger absolute drop than at 1080p, which is expected as pixel count increases. Notably, the step from Medium to High costs 22 FPS, while the step from High to Ultra costs 25.5 FPS, showing a relatively even degradation curve as settings intensify.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes. Low settings still deliver a robust 106.5 FPS average, Medium drops to 70.5 FPS, and High manages 61 FPS. Ultra, however, falls to 49.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playability threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 57.4 FPS, a steeper relative decline than at lower resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU's memory bandwidth and shader throughput become the limiting factor, particularly under Ultra's increased shadow and texture demands. The data suggests that High is the maximum preset for a locked 60 FPS experience at this resolution, with Medium providing some buffer at 70.5 FPS.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Based on the nearestRivals data for the CPU, the Intel Core i3-12100F's average benchmark score of 13494 places it alongside several processors with nearly identical performance. The Intel Core 3 N355 scores 13492, a delta of 0% — essentially a statistical tie. The Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452, which is 0.3% lower, while the Intel Core 5 120UL scores 13594, sitting 0.7% higher. The Intel Core i7-1250U completes the group at 13351, 1.1% lower. For Rust, which is known to favor single-thread performance, the i3-12100F's 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674 suggest that any of these rivals would deliver comparable CPU-bound frame rates, though the i5-9500's older architecture might show slightly different scaling in heavily populated servers.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's average benchmark score of 31087 puts it in close company with several professional and workstation cards. The NVIDIA Quadro M5000 scores 31206, a 0.4% delta, while the NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q scores 31220, also 0.4% higher. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell scores 31532, 1.4% higher, and the NVIDIA TITAN RTX leads the group at 31676, 1.9% higher. In practical terms for Rust, any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates at the same settings, though the TITAN RTX's marginally higher score might translate to 1-2 FPS extra at 4K Ultra. The Quadro M5000's older architecture lacks some modern features, but its raw compute is close enough that users swapping between these cards would see no perceptible difference in average FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals a clear division of labor between the i3-12100F and RTX 4070 Ti SUPER across resolutions. At 1920x1080, the GPU is not fully saturated, as evidenced by the 203.5 FPS on Low settings — a figure that likely approaches the CPU's practical limit for frame generation in Rust. The jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 33 FPS, and from Medium to High another 20.9 FPS, suggesting that the GPU still has headroom but the CPU begins to constrain the upper bound. The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU at these settings, but the 3DMark 16-thread score of 4051 indicates that multi-threaded workloads are not its strength.

At 2560x1440, the balance shifts. The 179.3 FPS on Low is still high, but the 77.8 FPS on Ultra shows the GPU taking on more of the load. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 101.5 FPS, compared to 88.8 FPS at 1080p, which indicates that the GPU's rendering cost per frame is increasing faster than the CPU's bottleneck. This is typical behavior: as resolution rises, pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth become more critical, and the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 672.3 GB/s bandwidth and 44.10 TFLOPS FP32 throughput are the primary drivers of frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is unequivocally the limiting factor. The 106.5 FPS on Low versus 49.1 FPS on Ultra shows a 57.4 FPS swing that is almost entirely attributable to GPU workload. The CPU's role diminishes further, as the i3-12100F's 12 MB L3 cache and 80 KB L1 per core are ample for the draw calls at this resolution. The data shows no scenario where the CPU would bottleneck the GPU at 4K, as even the lowest settings produce over 100 FPS, which is well above the point where a quad-core would struggle in most games. The verdict is clear: at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU matters for hitting the highest possible frame rates, but at 4K, the GPU is the sole determinant of playability.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 3723 tested combinations, this pairing of Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER ranks 505th in Rust. This places it in the top 13.6% of all tested combos, which is a strong showing given that the CPU is a budget-oriented quad-core. The GPU's percentileVsAllGpus of 76 indicates it outperforms 76% of all GPUs in the database, while the CPU's percentileVsAllCpus of 68 shows it beats 68% of all CPUs. The rank of 505 suggests that while the GPU is elite, the CPU drags the overall combo down slightly relative to pairings with higher-end processors.

In practical terms, this rank means that the combo outperforms the vast majority of systems tested, but there are 504 combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in Rust. Those would likely include pairings with Core i5 or i7 processors alongside similarly powerful GPUs, where the extra threads and higher cache sizes help in complex scenes with many entities. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is capable of pushing frame rates that rival top-tier setups, but the i3-12100F's 4-core limitation becomes apparent in Rust's most demanding moments, such as large bases with numerous light sources.

The Verdict

This PC can run Rust at playable frame rates at every tested resolution, provided the settings are chosen correctly. At 1920x1080, all four presets — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra producing 114.7 FPS average. At 2560x1440, the same is true: Low hits 179.3 FPS, Medium 125.3 FPS, High 103.3 FPS, and Ultra 77.8 FPS. At 3840x2160, the verdict is more nuanced. Low (106.5 FPS), Medium (70.5 FPS), and High (61 FPS) are all playable, but Ultra falls to 49.1 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold. The data indicates that High is the highest preset that reliably stays above 60 FPS at 4K, with only 1 FPS of margin. For users seeking a locked 60 FPS experience at 4K, Medium provides a more comfortable buffer.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the best settings are Ultra, delivering 114.7 FPS average. This is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS, and it offers a 54.7 FPS margin over the threshold, making it safe for most gameplay scenarios.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are Ultra, producing 77.8 FPS average. This clears the 60 FPS threshold with a 17.8 FPS buffer, which should be sufficient for typical Rust gameplay, though heavy firefights or dense bases might cause dips.

At 3840x2160, the best settings are High, averaging 61 FPS. This is a razor-thin margin of just 1 FPS above the playable threshold, so users who prefer headroom should consider Medium at 70.5 FPS. The verdict data lists High as the best setting, but the practical difference between 61 and 70.5 FPS is significant for consistency.