Rust

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Rust with the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti shows a clear performance curve across three resolutions and four presets. At 3840x2160, the combination delivers 105 FPS on Low, 72 FPS on Medium, 61 FPS on High, and 46 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset includes the only complete frame-time set at this resolution, with a minimum of 61 FPS and a maximum of 83 FPS, indicating that even the lows stay within playable range. High and Ultra lack min/max values in the database, so only averages are available for those settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same hardware produces 125 FPS on Low, 108 FPS on Medium, 101 FPS on High, and 78 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset again provides full min/max data, showing a minimum of 92 FPS and a maximum of 124 FPS. This resolution shows a tighter spread between presets, with the gap from Low to Ultra amounting to 47 FPS. The data suggests that the GPU has ample headroom at 1440p, as even the most demanding preset stays well above the 60 FPS threshold.

At 1920x1080, the performance ceiling becomes apparent. Low settings hit 142 FPS, Medium reaches 122 FPS, High produces 115 FPS, and Ultra still manages 104 FPS. The Medium preset records a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 140 FPS, meaning the lowest frame in that run never dips below the playable threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 38 FPS, smaller than the 59 FPS gap seen at 4K, which indicates that the CPU begins to exert more influence as resolution drops.

Across all resolutions, the pattern holds: Ultra is the only preset that falls below 60 FPS, and it does so exclusively at 3840x2160. Every other combination of resolution and preset clears 60 FPS by a comfortable margin. The data also shows that Low settings at 4K (105 FPS) outperform Ultra settings at 1440p (78 FPS) and nearly match High at 1080p (115 FPS), which suggests that visual fidelity at lower resolutions may offer a better balance for players who prioritize frame rate over image quality.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is High, with an average of 61 FPS. This is a narrow margin, just 1 FPS above the playable threshold, so the data does not indicate significant headroom for sustained drops. Medium at 4K averages 72 FPS and would be a safer choice for maintaining smooth gameplay, but the question is about the most demanding preset that qualifies, and that designation belongs to High. Ultra at 4K falls to 46 FPS, which is 14 FPS below the threshold and therefore not viable.

For 2560x1440, the best settings preset is Ultra, averaging 78 FPS. This is 18 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a moderate buffer for frame-time spikes. The full min/max data is only available for Medium (92 to 124 FPS), but the Ultra average of 78 FPS suggests that even the heaviest scenes in Rust remain playable at this resolution. High at 1440p averages 101 FPS, and Low reaches 125 FPS, but Ultra represents the highest visual quality that still clears the bar.

At 1920x1080, the best settings preset is also Ultra, with an average of 104 FPS. This is 44 FPS above the playable threshold, offering substantial headroom. The Medium preset records a minimum of 104 FPS, which coincidentally matches the Ultra average, and the maximum of 140 FPS shows that the hardware can push considerably higher in less demanding scenes. Low at 1080p reaches 142 FPS, but there is no need to drop below Ultra when it already delivers over 100 FPS on average.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database places the Intel Core i5-9400 at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 and is 0.2% slower, and the Intel Core i7-10710U, which scores 2248 and is 0.3% faster. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, also 0.3% faster, while the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 and is 0.4% slower. These deltas are negligible, meaning any of these processors would behave nearly identically in Rust when paired with the same GPU.

On the graphics side, the RTX 4070 Ti sits at the 84th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44795. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile, which scores 45152 and is 0.8% slower, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT, which scores 45384 and is 1.3% slower. The NVIDIA RTX A6000 scores 44075 and is 1.6% faster, while the Intel Arc A730M scores 45592 and is 1.7% slower. Again, the performance differences are small enough that a system using any of these GPUs alongside the i5-9400 would produce similar frame rates in Rust, though the RTX A6000 would sit slightly above and the Arc A730M slightly below the 4070 Ti.

For a player considering an upgrade or a prebuilt alternative, the data suggests that swapping the i5-9400 for any of its rivals would not meaningfully change the FPS results shown here. The same applies to replacing the RTX 4070 Ti with its near neighbors. The bottleneck characteristics, as revealed by the resolution scaling, would remain largely unchanged.

The Verdict

This combination can run Rust at 60 FPS or above in nearly every scenario. At 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra averaging 104 FPS. At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable, with Ultra averaging 78 FPS. At 3840x2160, three presets clear the threshold: Low at 105 FPS, Medium at 72 FPS, and High at 61 FPS. The only non-playable configuration is Ultra at 4K, which averages 46 FPS.

The verdict by resolution is clear. For 1080p and 1440p, players can max out the settings without concern. For 4K, High is the most demanding preset that maintains playability, and the 61 FPS average leaves little room for error. Medium at 4K offers a more comfortable 72 FPS average, and Low provides 105 FPS for those who prioritize smoothness above all else. The data does not indicate any reason to doubt the playability of the 1080p and 1440p configurations, as even the lowest recorded minimum (92 FPS at 1440p Medium) stays well above the threshold.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Rust at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: No. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS is 46, which is 14 FPS below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the highest preset that maintains 60 FPS at 1440p?

A: Ultra at 2560x1440 averages 78 FPS, making it the most demanding playable preset at that resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 scores 2254 on average, with rivals ranging from 2246 (AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500) to 2264 (Intel Core i3-10305). The largest delta is 0.4%, meaning performance is effectively identical.

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Low settings?

A: The recorded average is 142 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: Does the GPU have any direct competition in this performance class?

A: The RTX 4070 Ti scores 44795 on average, while the nearest rival, the RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152 (0.8% lower). The RTX A6000 scores 44075, which is 1.6% higher.

Q: Is there any preset that falls below 60 FPS at 1080p or 1440p?

A: No. All presets at both 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 average above 60 FPS, with the lowest being 78 FPS at 1440p Ultra.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti combination ranks 1094 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust. This places it in the upper third of all systems in the database. The rank reflects the overall capability of the pairing across all tested settings and resolutions, not just the peak FPS. Given that the CPU sits at the 47th percentile while the GPU sits at the 84th percentile, the combo rank of 1094 suggests that the i5-9400 holds the system back somewhat, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU load is higher. However, the absolute performance remains strong, as evidenced by the playable settings at all three resolutions.

The gap between the 4K Ultra result (46 FPS) and the 1080p Ultra result (104 FPS) shows that the combination is more GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the relatively small difference between 1080p Low (142 FPS) and 1440p Low (125 FPS) indicates that the CPU starts to limit performance below 1440p. A higher-ranked combo would likely feature a stronger CPU, but within this specific pairing, the RTX 4070 Ti provides enough graphics power to keep most scenarios well above the playable threshold.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals distinct scaling patterns that clarify which component matters more at each resolution. At 3840x2160, dropping from Ultra to Low improves the average FPS from 46 to 105, a gain of 59 FPS. This large swing indicates that the GPU is the dominant factor at 4K, as the rendering load increases dramatically with resolution and preset complexity. The RTX 4070 Ti, with its 84th percentile standing, is the component being stressed here, and the i5-9400 has enough headroom to feed it at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the spread from Ultra (78 FPS) to Low (125 FPS) is 47 FPS, still substantial but narrower than at 4K. This suggests that the GPU remains the primary driver, but the CPU begins to play a more noticeable role as the resolution drops. At 1920x1080, the spread from Ultra (104 FPS) to Low (142 FPS) shrinks to 38 FPS. The absolute FPS values are higher, but the relative differences are smaller, which points to the i5-9400 becoming a more significant constraint at 1080p.

The CPU's six cores and six threads, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost of 4.10 GHz, are sufficient to maintain high frame rates in Rust, but the data suggests that the i5-9400 caps performance around 142 FPS at Low settings and 115 FPS at High settings at 1080p. The RTX 4070 Ti, by contrast, shows no such ceiling, as evidenced by the 105 FPS result at 4K Low, which is only 37 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. This indicates that the GPU is capable of far more than the CPU can deliver at lower resolutions, making the i5-9400 the limiting factor in CPU-bound scenarios. At 4K, the GPU takes over as the bottleneck, and the combination performs as expected given the graphics card's high percentile ranking.