Rust

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded database measurements for Rust on this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti combination show a clear performance hierarchy across resolutions and presets. At 3840x2160, the average frame rates range from 46.2 FPS on Ultra to 103.9 FPS on Low, with Medium at 74.3 FPS and High at 64.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K falls below the 60 FPS playable threshold, making it the only unplayable configuration in this entire dataset. High at 4K sits barely above the threshold, while Low and Medium provide substantial headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, all four presets clear the 60 FPS mark. Low leads at 124 FPS, followed by High at 103 FPS, Medium at 110.7 FPS, and Ultra at 84.9 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 39.1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset sacrifices nearly one-third of the frame rate compared to Low. High and Medium sit close together, with High only 7.7 FPS behind Medium, which is a smaller difference than many games show between these two settings.

At 1920x1080, the spread tightens further. Low reaches 140.9 FPS, Medium hits 124 FPS, High produces 114.6 FPS, and Ultra delivers 101.6 FPS. Every preset at 1080p exceeds 100 FPS, which means the system has significant performance reserves even at the most demanding settings. The difference between Low and Ultra is 39.3 FPS, nearly identical in absolute terms to the 1440p gap but smaller in percentage terms.

The scaling pattern across resolutions reveals how the RTX 5070 Ti handles Rust's workload. From 1080p Low to 4K Low, the frame rate drops from 140.9 to 103.9, a 26.3% reduction. From 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra, the drop is from 101.6 to 46.2, a 54.5% reduction. This indicates that the Ultra preset at 4K imposes much more than a linear resolution penalty, likely due to increased shading and texture demands that stress the GPU more heavily at higher pixel counts.

Comparing presets at each resolution, the step from Medium to High costs 10 FPS at 1080p, 7.7 FPS at 1440p, and 10 FPS at 4K. The step from High to Ultra costs 13 FPS at 1080p, 18.1 FPS at 1440p, and 18.1 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset consistently exacts a larger penalty than the High preset does over Medium, and this penalty grows with resolution.

The data also shows that Rust scales well with the RTX 5070 Ti's capabilities. At 4K Low, the system produces over 100 FPS, which is a strong result for a survival game that often features large open-world environments with many dynamic objects. The minimum frame rate data is not recorded in the database, so the analysis relies on average FPS alone, but those averages are consistent across multiple runs per the measurement methodology.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Rust at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only on Low, Medium, or High presets. The database shows 4K Low at 103.9 FPS, 4K Medium at 74.3 FPS, and 4K High at 64.3 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K falls to 46.2 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Ultra preset is playable at 2560x1440 with an average of 84.9 FPS. This is the most demanding preset that stays above 60 FPS at this resolution, and it still provides over 20 FPS of headroom above the threshold.

Q: Does the Low preset provide a significantly higher frame rate than Ultra at 1080p?

A: Yes, Low averages 140.9 FPS while Ultra averages 101.6 FPS at 1920x1080. The difference is 39.3 FPS, meaning Low is about 38.7% faster than Ultra in this configuration.

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever unplayable with this hardware?

A: Only at 3840x2160. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 46.2, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. At both 1440p and 1080p, Ultra stays above 60 FPS, with 84.9 and 101.6 FPS respectively.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to similar CPUs in general benchmark performance?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, with a 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% faster), Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% faster), Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% slower), and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% slower). These differences are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the i5-9400 performs essentially on par with these alternatives.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p Medium settings?

A: The database records 124 FPS average at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This is the same average FPS as the Low preset at 1440p, showing how resolution and settings trade off against each other.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 3840x2160, the best settings that maintain at least 60 FPS are High, which delivers 64.3 FPS average. The Ultra preset is not viable at this resolution because it drops to 46.2 FPS. While Low and Medium also clear the threshold at 103.9 and 74.3 FPS respectively, High offers the best visual quality among the playable options.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are Ultra, with an average of 84.9 FPS. This is the most demanding preset at this resolution, and it still maintains a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS playable threshold. Low, Medium, and High are all playable as well, but Ultra provides the highest visual fidelity without sacrificing playability.

At 1920x1080, the best settings are also Ultra, achieving 101.6 FPS average. All four presets clear 60 FPS at this resolution, so the choice comes down to visual preference. Ultra at 1080p produces over 100 FPS, which is a strong result for a game like Rust that can have complex scenes with many players and structures.

The pattern across resolutions is that the RTX 5070 Ti has enough headroom to run Ultra at 1080p and 1440p, but not at 4K. For 4K users, High is the ceiling, and the 64.3 FPS average at that setting is close enough to the threshold that users with VRR displays may want to consider Medium at 74.3 FPS for extra stability.

Similar Performance Alternatives

Examining the nearest rivals from the CPU and GPU benchmark data provides context for what other hardware would behave similarly in this game.

For the Intel Core i5-9400, the closest alternatives are within 0.4% of its average benchmark score of 2254. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259, which is 0.2% higher. The Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264, 0.4% higher. The Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248, 0.3% lower. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, 0.4% lower. In practical terms, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Rust when paired with the RTX 5070 Ti, because the performance differences are smaller than normal run-to-run variance.

For the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti, the nearest rivals show more variance. The AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 scores 50001, just 0.1% higher than the RTX 5070 Ti's average of 49957. The Intel Arc A550M scores 49737, 0.4% lower. The AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT scores 50951, which is 2% higher. The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT scores 48477, which is 3.1% lower. In Rust specifically, the RX 6900 XT would likely deliver slightly higher frame rates, while the RX 6800 XT would deliver slightly lower ones, but all four GPUs fall within a 3.1% band of each other.

The practical takeaway is that this system's performance in Rust would be nearly identical if the CPU were swapped for any of its four nearest rivals. Similarly, swapping the GPU for an RX Vega 64 or Arc A550M would produce almost the same results, while an RX 6900 XT would give a small boost and an RX 6800 XT would give a small reduction. None of these alternatives would change the verdict about which presets are playable at each resolution.

The CPU's 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it is a mid-range processor in the overall market, but for Rust specifically, the database shows that this pairing still achieves high frame rates. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking places it well above average, and that is the dominant factor in the measured FPS results.

CPU and GPU Roles

The measured data reveals how the CPU and GPU contributions shift across resolutions and presets in Rust. At 1920x1080, the frame rates range from 101.6 FPS on Ultra to 140.9 FPS on Low. At 2560x1440, the range is 84.9 to 124 FPS. At 3840x2160, the range drops to 46.2 to 103.9 FPS.

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a frame rate reduction of about 16% to 18% across most presets. For example, High goes from 114.6 to 103 FPS, a 10.1% drop. Medium goes from 124 to 110.7 FPS, a 10.7% drop. Low goes from 140.9 to 124 FPS, a 12% drop. Ultra goes from 101.6 to 84.9 FPS, a 16.4% drop. These relatively modest reductions indicate that the GPU still has plenty of capacity at 1440p, and the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at these settings.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is much steeper. High drops from 103 to 64.3 FPS, a 37.6% reduction. Medium drops from 110.7 to 74.3 FPS, a 32.9% reduction. Low drops from 124 to 103.9 FPS, a 16.2% reduction. Ultra drops from 84.9 to 46.2 FPS, a 45.6% reduction. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration where the GPU becomes clearly overwhelmed, falling well below the playable threshold.

At 1080p and 1440p, the preset scaling from Low to Ultra costs roughly 39 FPS at both resolutions. This consistency suggests that the GPU is handling the increased graphical load proportionally, and the CPU is keeping up with the game logic and draw calls without becoming a limiting factor. At 4K, the preset scaling from Low to Ultra costs 57.7 FPS, showing that the GPU's pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint at that resolution.

The CPU's role is more apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU has spare capacity. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 140.9 FPS, which is a high frame rate for any CPU to sustain in a game like Rust. The i5-9400 with 6 cores and 6 threads, base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz, appears sufficient to feed the RTX 5070 Ti at these settings. The 47th percentile CPU ranking does not prevent high frame rates in this title.

At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, especially on Ultra where the 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth are still not enough to maintain 60 FPS. The GPU's 86th percentile ranking and 43.94 TFLOPS of FP32 performance are substantial, but Rust's Ultra preset at 4K demands even more.

The data suggests that for this game, the RTX 5070 Ti is the performance ceiling at 4K, while the i5-9400 is adequate at all resolutions but may limit the absolute maximum frame rate at 1080p. Users targeting 144Hz or higher refresh rates at 1080p would likely benefit from a stronger CPU, but for 60 FPS gaming, the current pairing is balanced.

The Verdict

This PC can run Rust, and it does so well across most configurations. The verdict by resolution is clear: at 1920x1080, all four presets are playable, with Ultra delivering 101.6 FPS average. At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable, with Ultra at 84.9 FPS. At 3840x2160, three of four presets are playable: High at 64.3 FPS, Medium at 74.3 FPS, and Low at 103.9 FPS. The only unplayable configuration is 4K Ultra at 46.2 FPS.

The practical recommendation from the database is straightforward. For 1080p users, enable Ultra settings and enjoy over 100 FPS. For 1440p users, Ultra is also the best choice, with 84.9 FPS providing good headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. For 4K users, High settings are the maximum playable option, and even then, the 64.3 FPS average is close enough to 60 FPS that Medium at 74.3 FPS might be preferable for consistent performance.

The system's overall rank in the database is 1047 out of 3723 combinations, placing it in the upper third of tested configurations for Rust. The RTX 5070 Ti, with its 86th percentile GPU ranking, is the driving force behind these results. The i5-9400, while only in the 47th percentile among CPUs, does not hold the system back at the tested settings.

The data shows no minimum or maximum FPS values, so the analysis relies on averages. However, the consistency of the scaling patterns across resolutions and presets suggests that the system behaves predictably. Users who prioritize visual quality at 4K should note that Ultra is not viable, and those who prioritize maximum frame rates at 1080p will find the Low preset at 140.9 FPS to be the fastest option. For the majority of players, the best balance of visual fidelity and performance is Ultra at 1440p or High at 4K, depending on their display's native resolution.