Rust

The Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a robust Rust experience, but the playable ceiling varies sharply by resolution. At 1080p and 1440p, this combo runs the game at maximum settings with substantial headroom above the 60 FPS threshold. At 4K, the system falls short of Ultra settings, requiring a drop to Medium for a smooth frame rate. The data indicates a well-balanced pairing where the CPU provides ample headroom for high-refresh 1440p gaming, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The Intel Core i7-13700K sits in a tight performance cluster based on average benchmark scores. Its closest rival is the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, which scores 46,971 versus the i7-13700K's 46,881, a negligible 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 trails by a similar margin at 47,022 (0.3% ahead), while the AMD Ryzen 9 7845HX and Intel Xeon w3-2535 both score 46,654, placing them 0.5% behind the i7-13700K. For gaming, any of these CPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Rust, meaning the choice between them comes down to platform features rather than raw performance.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 43,223 places it alongside several professional and mobile parts. The NVIDIA Quadro M6000 24 GB scores 43,262 (0.1% ahead), and the GeForce RTX 5050 Mobile scores 43,268 (0.1% ahead). The Quadro M6000 matches at 43,301 (0.2% ahead), while the RTX 4090 Mobile leads by 1% with 43,667. These deltas are within noise for real-world gaming, so a system with the RTX 4070 SUPER would deliver essentially identical Rust performance to one with any of these GPUs, assuming the CPU remains constant.

The practical implication is that users with the i7-13700K should expect no meaningful difference when swapping to a Ryzen 9 5900 or Ryzen 9 7845HX. Similarly, the RTX 4070 SUPER's frame rates in Rust would be indistinguishable from those of an RTX 4090 Mobile, despite the latter's higher tier in NVIDIA's lineup. The measured FPS data for this specific combo therefore generalizes well to any of these near-identical alternatives.

CPU and GPU Roles

The benchmark data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance at higher resolutions, with the CPU becoming relatively less important as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the scaling from Low to Ultra settings shows a 140.1 FPS spread (250.9 down to 110.8), indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to be the primary driver of frame rate changes. The CPU's 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample processing power for Rust's simulation and physics at this resolution, as evidenced by the high Low-setting frame rate of 250.9 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the spread between Low and Ultra narrows to 93.9 FPS (170.5 down to 76.6). This reduction suggests that the GPU is beginning to take on more of the workload, but the CPU still has significant headroom. The i7-13700K's single-thread score of 1,136 in 3DMark and its 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs indicate it is not the bottleneck here. The RTX 4070 SUPER's 83rd percentile ranking among GPUs aligns with this interpretation, as the GPU's rendering load scales with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the frame rate spread between Low and Ultra compresses further to 59.8 FPS (103.4 down to 43.6). This compression is the signature of a GPU-bound scenario: as resolution climbs, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and settings changes have a proportionally smaller absolute impact. The Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS at 43.6, while Low stays at 103.4, demonstrating that the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lower settings but not for maximum quality at 4K.

The data shows that for this game, the CPU matters most at 1080p where high frame rates demand strong single-thread performance. The i7-13700K's 3DMark single-thread score of 1,136 and its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,116 support this, as they are among the highest in the pack. At 1440p and 4K, the GPU's role dominates, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 35.48 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becomes the determining factor for whether Ultra settings are playable.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its highest frame rates across all presets. Low settings produce an average of 250.9 FPS, Medium drops to 168.3 FPS, High yields 143.4 FPS, and Ultra maintains 110.8 FPS. All four presets exceed the 60 FPS playable threshold by a wide margin, with Ultra still providing 84.7% more performance than the minimum requirement.

The 2560x1440 results show a similar pattern with reduced absolute numbers. Low settings average 170.5 FPS, Medium reaches 117.8 FPS, High sustains 99.2 FPS, and Ultra holds 76.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium represents a 52.7 FPS drop, while the step from High to Ultra costs 22.6 FPS. Every preset remains comfortably above 60 FPS, making 1440p the resolution where this combo offers the best balance of visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the system begins to struggle at higher presets. Low settings average 103.4 FPS, Medium drops to 67.9 FPS, High falls to 57.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 43.6 FPS. The transition from Low to Medium costs 35.5 FPS, and from Medium to High another 10.5 FPS. High and Ultra both fall below the 60 FPS threshold, with High missing it by 2.6 FPS and Ultra by 16.4 FPS. The data shows no min or max FPS values recorded, so the averages represent the full picture of performance.

The Verdict

This PC can run Rust at playable frame rates across all three tested resolutions, but not at every preset. At 1920x1080, all four settings — Low, Medium, High, and Ultra — clear the 60 FPS threshold, with Ultra averaging 110.8 FPS. This makes 1080p the most forgiving resolution for this combo, offering maximum visual quality with nearly double the required frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the system also clears 60 FPS on every preset. Ultra settings average 76.6 FPS, providing a 27.7% margin above the playable threshold. This resolution is the sweet spot for the RTX 4070 SUPER, as it allows for the highest quality settings without compromising smoothness. The data confirms that all four presets are playable, with High at 99.2 FPS and Medium at 117.8 FPS offering even more headroom.

At 3840x2160, the verdict is mixed. Low and Medium settings are playable, averaging 103.4 FPS and 67.9 FPS respectively. High settings fall short at 57.4 FPS, and Ultra is not playable at 43.6 FPS. The system can handle 4K Rust, but only with reduced graphical fidelity. The 60 FPS threshold is crossed between Medium and High, making Medium the highest playable preset at this resolution.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, which averages 110.8 FPS. This delivers the full visual experience with a 50.8 FPS buffer above the threshold. The gap between Ultra and High is 32.6 FPS, so users preferring higher frame rates could opt for High at 143.4 FPS, but Ultra remains the best choice for image quality.

At 2560x1440, Ultra is also the best settings choice, averaging 76.6 FPS. This provides a 16.6 FPS margin above 60 FPS, which is sufficient for smooth gameplay in most scenarios. The step down to High at 99.2 FPS offers a 22.6 FPS improvement, but the visual differences between High and Ultra in Rust are typically minor, making Ultra the recommended preset for those prioritizing fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the best playable preset is Medium, which averages 67.9 FPS. This is the only preset above 60 FPS that still offers moderate visual quality, with Low at 103.4 FPS as the alternative for higher performance. High at 57.4 FPS is not recommended as it falls below the threshold, and Ultra at 43.6 FPS is unsuitable for smooth play. The 7.9 FPS margin at Medium is tight, so users sensitive to frame drops may prefer Low.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-13700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination ranks 509th out of 3,723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 13.7% of all systems. This percentile reflects the strong performance of both components, with the CPU ranking in the 89th percentile of all CPUs and the GPU in the 83rd percentile of all GPUs. The rank suggests that this system outperforms the vast majority of configurations tested for this game.

The ranking is consistent with the measured FPS data, which shows the combo delivering playable performance at all resolutions up to 1440p and partial playability at 4K. The 509th position indicates that while there are faster systems, this combo sits in a strong upper tier. The delta between this rank and the top is not specified, but the high percentile rankings of both components suggest the system is well above average.

For context, the CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5900, would likely produce a similar rank if paired with the same GPU, given the 0.2% performance delta. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4090 Mobile, would also behave nearly identically, as its 1% lead in average benchmark score translates to a negligible frame rate difference in real-world gaming. This combo's rank of 509 is therefore representative of a broad class of hardware configurations, not just this exact pairing.