Rust

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 presents a clear picture for running Rust: the system is fully capable of exceeding the 60 FPS threshold at 1080p and 1440p, but it falls short of that target at 4K on higher presets. The measured data shows a consistent pattern where the combination excels at lower resolutions and scales down predictably as pixel count increases, with the most demanding 4K Ultra preset dropping to an average of 30 FPS.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160 (4K), the only preset that maintains an average at or above 60 FPS is Low, which delivers a measured average of 70 FPS. The Medium preset drops to an average of 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS, while High averages 40 FPS and Ultra averages just 30 FPS. This means 4K gaming is only viable with the lowest quality settings.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the High preset is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, achieving an average of 67 FPS. The Medium preset averages 80 FPS with a minimum of 68 FPS, and Low reaches 119 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below the threshold at an average of 51 FPS, so it is not recommended at this resolution.

At 1920x1080 (1080p), the Ultra preset is fully playable, averaging 75 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available in the data, and it clears the 60 FPS bar comfortably. The High preset averages 98 FPS, Medium averages 116 FPS with a minimum of 99 FPS, and Low reaches 173 FPS. This resolution offers the most headroom for visual quality.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets reveals how much each component contributes to performance in Rust. At 1080p, the system achieves 173 FPS on Low and 75 FPS on Ultra, a drop of 56.6% when moving from the lowest to the highest quality settings. At 1440p, the same preset change yields 119 FPS on Low and 51 FPS on Ultra, a drop of 57.1%. At 4K, the range is from 70 FPS on Low to 30 FPS on Ultra, a 57.1% reduction.

The consistency of this percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck when increasing visual quality. The CPU, an Intel Core i5-14400F with 10 cores and 16 threads, has enough headroom to keep up with the GPU at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p Low. However, the data shows that the GPU's workload scales directly with resolution and settings, while the CPU's role remains relatively constant.

Specifically, the transition from 1080p Ultra (75 FPS) to 1440p Ultra (51 FPS) represents a 32% performance drop, and the transition from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra (30 FPS) is a 41% drop. These steep declines point to the GPU being the limiting factor at higher resolutions. The CPU, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz and a passmark single-thread score of 3701, is not the constraint here; the RX 7700's rendering pipeline becomes saturated as pixel count and effects load increase.

At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra presets (173 FPS vs 75 FPS) shows that the GPU is still heavily utilized, but the CPU can feed it enough data to reach very high frame rates. At 4K, the CPU is almost certainly idle waiting on the GPU, since even the Low preset only yields 70 FPS. This means that for Rust, the GPU is the dominant factor at all resolutions, but the CPU's importance is masked because the GPU never becomes fast enough to expose a CPU bottleneck.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: Average 70 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Medium: Average 47 FPS, minimum 40 FPS, maximum 54 FPS.
• High: Average 40 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Ultra: Average 30 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.

The Medium preset at 4K is the only one with full min/max data, showing a narrow 14 FPS range from 40 to 54 FPS. This suggests that frame pacing is relatively stable even when the average is below the playable threshold.

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: Average 119 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Medium: Average 80 FPS, minimum 68 FPS, maximum 92 FPS.
• High: Average 67 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Ultra: Average 51 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.

At 1440p, the Medium preset shows a 24 FPS spread between minimum and maximum, indicating some fluctuation but with the minimum still above 60 FPS. The High preset's 67 FPS average is close to the threshold, meaning occasional dips below 60 could occur, though the data does not record them.

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: Average 173 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Medium: Average 116 FPS, minimum 99 FPS, maximum 133 FPS.
• High: Average 98 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.
• Ultra: Average 75 FPS, no minimum or maximum recorded.

The 1080p Medium preset has a 34 FPS range from 99 to 133 FPS, with the minimum well above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset averages 75 FPS, leaving a 15 FPS buffer above 60, which is adequate for most players.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Rust at 4K with High settings?

A: No. The measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with High settings is 40 FPS, which is 20 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold. Only the Low preset at 4K achieves playable performance, averaging 70 FPS.

Q: What is the best quality setting for 1440p gaming?

A: The High preset at 2560x1440 is the most demanding option that stays above 60 FPS, averaging 67 FPS. The Ultra preset falls below the threshold at 51 FPS, so High is the recommended maximum.

Q: How much performance is lost when switching from 1080p to 4K?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 98 at 1920x1080 to 40 at 3840x2160, a reduction of 59.2%. At the Ultra preset, the drop is from 75 to 30 FPS, a 60% reduction.

Q: Is the Ultra preset playable at any resolution?

A: Yes, at 1920x1080 the Ultra preset averages 75 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. At 2560x1440 it averages 51 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it averages 30 FPS, both below the threshold.

Q: Does the Medium preset ever drop below 60 FPS?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, the Medium preset has a minimum recorded FPS of 40. At 2560x1440, the minimum is 68 FPS, and at 1920x1080, the minimum is 99 FPS, so only the 4K Medium preset falls below the playable threshold.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems for Rust?

A: The combo ranks 1728 out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the 46.4th percentile of all systems. This means it performs better than roughly 46% of tested configurations.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination ranks 1728 out of 3723 tested systems for Rust. This places it slightly below the median of all tested combos, which is a reasonable outcome given that the GPU's percentile versus all GPUs is 58 and the CPU's percentile versus all CPUs is 83. The CPU is a strong performer, but the GPU, with a passmark G3D score of 20974, is only in the 58th percentile, which drags the overall ranking down.

In the context of Rust specifically, the ranking indicates that while this system can handle 1080p and 1440p comfortably, it does not compete with higher-end configurations that can push 4K Ultra at 60 FPS. The 46.4th percentile ranking means there are 1995 tested systems that perform better, which is expected given the mid-range nature of the GPU. However, the data shows that for the vast majority of players targeting 1080p or 1440p, this combo is more than sufficient.

The Verdict

Based on the verdictByResolution data, this PC can run Rust with playable performance at all three tested resolutions, but with important caveats. At 3840x2160, the system can only run the Low preset, which averages 70 FPS. The Medium, High, and Ultra presets all fail to reach 60 FPS, so 4K gaming is limited to the lowest quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the system is playable on Low, Medium, and High presets, with the best playable option being High at 67 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 51 FPS, so it is not recommended.

At 1920x1080, the system is playable on all four presets, including Ultra, which averages 75 FPS. This is the only resolution where the maximum quality setting is viable. The verdict is clear: this combo is a solid 1080p and 1440p performer, but it is not a 4K gaming solution beyond low settings.

Similar Performance Alternatives

For the CPU, the nearest rivals based on average benchmark score are all within a 0.5% performance delta. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 8840U scores 32233 on average, a 0.1% difference from the i5-14400F's 32279. The Intel Core i9-11900 scores 32226, a 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800HS scores 32354, which is 0.2% higher, and the Intel Core i7-12800H scores 32121, a 0.5% difference. Any of these CPUs would deliver nearly identical frame rates in Rust when paired with the same GPU.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a wider spread. The AMD Radeon R9 370X has an average score of 15862, just 0.1% below the RX 7700's 15852. The AMD Radeon RX 9060 scores 16014, which is 1% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15679, a 1.1% difference, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti scores 16129, which is 1.7% higher. The RTX 3060 Ti would be the strongest alternative, offering slightly better performance in Rust, while the R9 370X is the closest match in terms of raw benchmark score. Users considering alternative hardware should expect similar FPS results from any of these pairings, with the RTX 3060 Ti providing a marginal improvement and the R9 370X performing nearly identically.