Rust

Rust is a survival game that punishes CPUs with large worlds, physics simulation, and player-driven chaos, which makes an Intel Core i5-11400F paired with an AMD Radeon RX 7900 XT an interesting combination to examine: a modest six-core processor sitting in front of a high-end RDNA 3 graphics card. The database contains direct measurements for this pairing across three resolutions and four presets, and the results raise a few questions worth digging into, particularly why frame rates plateau in an unusual way at 1080p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1920x1080, the recorded averages are 175 FPS on Low, 150 FPS on Medium, 137 FPS on High, and 105 FPS on Ultra. The Medium run also logged a minimum of 128 FPS and a maximum of 173 FPS, a tight spread that indicates a stable experience rather than one propped up by a high average with severe dips. What stands out immediately is the gap between Low and Medium: only 25 FPS separate them. For most GPU-bound games, dropping from Medium to Low at 1080p buys a much larger jump. This suggests the RX 7900 XT is not being fully utilized at this resolution, and the i5-11400F is setting the pace.

At 2560x1440, the averages climb in the expected direction: 154 FPS on Low, 112 FPS on Medium, 95 FPS on High, and 72 FPS on Ultra. The Medium run recorded a minimum of 95 FPS and a maximum of 129 FPS. Note the striking pattern here: the 1440p Low average of 154 FPS is lower than the 1080p Medium average of 150 FPS is close to, and more tellingly, 1440p Low (154 FPS) sits only 21 FPS under 1080p Low (175 FPS). A quadrupling of the pixel count between 1080p and 1440p is not actually a quadrupling, but the point remains: the losses when moving up in resolution are modest, which is classic evidence of a CPU ceiling at the lower resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 99 FPS on Low, 66 FPS on Medium, 56 FPS on High, and 42 FPS on Ultra. The Medium run at 4K recorded a minimum of 56 FPS and a maximum of 76 FPS. The minimum of 56 is worth flagging: while the 66 FPS average clears the 60 FPS playable threshold, the recorded floor sits below it, meaning 4K Medium will occasionally dip under 60 even though the average holds. High at 4K averages 56 FPS, essentially at the Medium minimum, and Ultra at 42 FPS is not in contention.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For anyone wondering what other hardware would deliver a comparable Rust experience, the database's nearest-rival data offers clues, though with an important caveat: the CPU rivals and GPU rivals listed are based on overall average benchmark scores across the database, not Rust-specific runs.

On the CPU side, the Core i5-11400F carries an average benchmark score of 17177 and sits at the 71st percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rivals by aggregate score are the Intel Core i5-12450H at 17239 (0.4 percent ahead), the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G at 17278 (0.6 percent ahead), the AMD EPYC 7H12 at 17120 (0.3 percent behind), and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U at 17074 (0.6 percent behind). That is an eclectic neighborhood, spanning a laptop chip, a server part, and a modern efficiency-focused design, and it reflects the i5-11400F's position as a mid-range six-core, twelve-thread Rocket Lake part with a 2.60 base clock, a 4.40 boost clock, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache. Any of those processors would land within a fraction of a percent on aggregate CPU benchmarks, though Rust's tolerance for different core and thread layouts could shift results in either direction.

On the GPU side, the RX 7900 XT averages 13745 and sits at the 55th percentile of all GPUs, an interesting placement given its raw specifications: 5376 shading units, 20 GB of GDDR6 on a 320-bit bus with 800 GB/s of bandwidth, and 51.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. Its listed rivals are the AMD Radeon 660M at 13812, the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile at 13821, the AMD Radeon RX 570X at 13871, and the AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT at 13543, all within 1.5 percent on aggregate score. The mix of an integrated graphics solution, a mobile workstation card, an older mainstream card, and a newer RDNA part in the same scoring band is a reminder that aggregate percentile rankings blend many test types, including compute workloads like the Geekbench Vulkan score of 71068 and OpenCL score of 12756, and do not map one-to-one onto game frame rates.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling data tells a clear story about which component governs Rust on this pairing. Consider the Low preset progression: 175 FPS at 1080p, 154 FPS at 1440p, and 99 FPS at 4K. Moving from 1080p to 1440p costs only 21 FPS, roughly 12 percent, for 78 percent more pixels. That asymmetry points to a CPU limit at 1080p. The i5-11400F, with a single-thread Passmark score of 2981 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024, appears to be the gatekeeper at lower resolutions.

The Ultra preset tells the complementary story: 105 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. Here the drops are steep and proportionate to the growing pixel counts, which is the signature of GPU-bound behavior. The RX 7900 XT, with a Passmark G3D score of 29009, is doing the heavy lifting at high settings.

The crossover is easy to locate. At 1080p, the gap between Low and Ultra is 70 FPS, and the Low average of 175 suggests the GPU still has headroom the CPU cannot feed at that resolution. At 1440p, the Low-to-Ultra spread is 82 FPS, wider than at 1080p, confirming the GPU is now the primary constraint at the top of the preset range. At 4K, everything is GPU-limited: even Low only reaches 99 FPS, well under the 154 seen at 1440p Low. In practical terms, lowering settings at 1080p yields diminishing returns past Medium, while at 1440p and 4K the graphics card is fully in charge and preset selection matters greatly.

The Verdict

Yes, this PC can run Rust, with one qualification at 4K. The recorded verdicts show that at 1920x1080, every preset clears the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra leading the way at 105 FPS. At 2560x1440, the situation is equally strong: all four presets are playable, and even Ultra averages 72 FPS. At 3840x2160, only Low at 99 FPS and Medium at 66 FPS clear the bar, while High at 56 FPS and Ultra at 42 FPS fall short. A 4K player should also note the Medium minimum of 56 FPS, which dips below the threshold even though the average holds above it. For the vast majority of players at 1080p or 1440p, this pairing handles Rust comfortably at maximum settings.

Best Settings per Resolution

• 1920x1080: Ultra, at 105 FPS average. There is no reason to go lower; the next step down, High, only reaches 137 FPS, and no competitive 1080p player needs more than the 105 FPS Ultra already provides, though those chasing higher frame rates can drop to Low for 175 FPS, likely constrained by the CPU rather than the GPU.
• 2560x1440: Ultra, at 72 FPS average. This is the sweet spot for the pairing. All presets are playable, and Ultra still holds a 12 FPS cushion over the 60 FPS threshold.
• 3840x2160: Medium, at 66 FPS average. High at 56 FPS misses the cutoff, so Medium is the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS, though its recorded minimum of 56 FPS means brief sub-60 moments will occur. Players sensitive to dips can fall back to Low at 99 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database's Rust leaderboard, the Core i5-11400F plus RX 7900 XT combination ranks 788 out of 3723 tested pairings. That places it in the top quarter of all tested systems, which aligns with the measured results: strong at 1080p and 1440p across every preset, and viable at 4K with settings turned down. The rank also hints at something interesting. The GPU sits at the 55th percentile of all GPUs and the CPU at the 71st percentile of all CPUs, yet the combo outperforms roughly four-fifths of the field in this specific game. Rust's demanding open-world simulation evidently rewards raw GPU throughput more than the aggregate percentile numbers would suggest, or perhaps the ranking pool is weighted toward pairings where the graphics card is the weaker link. Either way, this mismatch between component percentiles and in-game rank is one of the more curious findings in the data.

FAQ

Q: Can the i5-11400F + RX 7900 XT run Rust at 4K?

A: Partly. Low (99 FPS) and Medium (66 FPS) clear the 60 FPS threshold, but High (56 FPS) and Ultra (42 FPS) do not. Medium is the best viable 4K preset.

Q: What is the highest frame rate recorded for this pairing in Rust?

A: 175 FPS average at 1920x1080 on the Low preset. The highest single-frame figure in the data is a 173 FPS maximum during the 1080p Medium run, indicating the Low average may itself be capped by the processor.

Q: Is the CPU or the GPU the bottleneck?

A: It depends on resolution. At 1080p, the small FPS gap between Low and Medium (175 versus 150) points to a CPU limit from the i5-11400F. At 1440p and especially 4K, the steep drops at higher presets indicate the RX 7900 XT is the limiting factor.

Q: Does Rust stay above 60 FPS at 1440p on Ultra?

A: Yes. The recorded average at 2560x1440 Ultra is 72 FPS, a comfortable margin, and every other 1440p preset is higher still, topping out at 154 FPS on Low.

Q: How does this combination compare to other tested systems in Rust?

A: It ranks 788 out of 3723 tested combos, placing it in the top quarter of the database for this game.

Q: Are there frame-time dips to worry about at 4K Medium?

A: Slightly. The 4K Medium average is 66 FPS, but the recorded minimum is 56 FPS, so brief drops below the 60 FPS threshold should be expected even though the average holds.