Rust

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 presents a striking generational mismatch in Rust. The data reveals a system where a modern, high-end GPU is often held back by a 2018-era six-core processor, yet the sheer throughput of the RTX 5090 still manages to deliver playable frame rates across all tested settings. This analysis examines the measured performance data, focusing on how the CPU and GPU interact at various resolutions and quality presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average frame rate achieved by this combo in Rust?

A: The highest average frame rate recorded is 131 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the dataset to exceed 130 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600's average benchmark score is 21484, placing it 0.2% above the Intel Core Ultra 5 228V and 0.5% above the Intel Core i9-11900H. It trails the Intel Xeon D-1746TER by 0.7% and the AMD EPYC 9454 by 1.2%.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average frame rate drops from 116 FPS on Low settings to 85 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 31 FPS decrease when moving from the lowest to the highest quality preset.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 have a significant performance lead over its closest competitor in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090 has an average benchmark score of 79842, which is only 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB. Its lead over the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT is 1.1%, and it is 1.4% behind the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 64X.

Q: In what scenario does this combo show its lowest average frame rate?

A: The lowest average frame rate is 57 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings. This is the only measured configuration where the average FPS falls below 60.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations for Rust?

A: The combo is ranked 1179 out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the 68th percentile of all systems tested for this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is the dominant component in this pairing. Its specifications are formidable, featuring 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, yielding a massive 1.79 TB/s of memory bandwidth. The GPU's boost clock is listed at 2407 MHz, and it houses 21,760 shading units. These specifications suggest an immense capacity for rendering complex scenes, which is reflected in the data.

The 32 GB VRAM pool is particularly relevant for Rust, a game known for large, persistent worlds and frequent updates. The data indicates that even at 4K resolution, the GPU's memory capacity is not a limiting factor, as frame rates are primarily dictated by the CPU and settings. The RTX 5090's raw compute power, with 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, ensures that at lower resolutions, the GPU is often idle, waiting for the CPU to feed it draw calls.

The GPU's benchmark scores further contextualize its role. Its Passmark G3D score of 39650 and Geekbench OpenCL score of 334370 show it is a top-tier performer. However, when paired with the Ryzen 5 2600, the GPU's potential is not fully realized. The data shows that the performance ceiling in Rust is not the GPU's rendering speed but the CPU's ability to process game logic and physics. The GPU is capable of far higher frame rates than the CPU can deliver, especially at 1080p. The role of the RTX 5090 here is to ensure that even with a slower CPU, the system can maintain high frame rates at high resolutions and settings, as the GPU is never the primary bottleneck.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear trend in how performance scales with resolution. At 1080p, the average frame rates across all settings are the highest, ranging from 96 FPS on Ultra to 131 FPS on Low. Moving to 1440p, these numbers decrease, with averages falling to between 85 FPS on Ultra and 116 FPS on Low. At 4K, the averages drop further to between 57 FPS on Ultra and 97 FPS on Low.

This scaling pattern is informative. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is modest, with a 15 FPS reduction on Low settings (131 to 116) and an 11 FPS reduction on Ultra (96 to 85). This suggests that at these resolutions, the system is still somewhat CPU-bound, as the increased GPU load does not proportionally reduce frame rates. The more significant drop occurs when moving to 4K. On Low settings, the frame rate falls from 116 FPS at 1440p to 97 FPS at 4K, a 19 FPS decrease. On Ultra settings, the drop is even more pronounced, from 85 FPS to 57 FPS, a 28 FPS decrease.

The data implies that at 4K Ultra, the system becomes more GPU-bound. The RTX 5090 is finally being taxed sufficiently by the higher pixel count and quality settings. The 57 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the only result below 60 FPS, indicating that this is the point where the GPU's workload becomes significant enough to slow down the entire system. The CPU is still a factor, but the GPU's rendering time is now a larger portion of the total frame time. This analysis suggests that for this specific combo, the CPU is the primary limiting component at 1080p and 1440p, while the GPU becomes a co-limiting factor at 4K, particularly with higher settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides average FPS for four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) across three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the frame rates are consistently high. The Low preset yields an average of 131 FPS. The Medium preset averages 113 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 130 FPS. The High preset averages 106 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 96 FPS. This shows a smooth, linear degradation of performance as settings increase, with a 35 FPS difference between the lowest and highest presets.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable. The Low preset averages 116 FPS. The Medium preset averages 99 FPS, with a minimum of 85 FPS and a maximum of 114 FPS. The High preset averages 94 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 85 FPS. The performance drop from 1080p is noticeable but not severe, with the Ultra preset still maintaining an average above 60 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is 31 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance begins to show strain. The Low preset averages 97 FPS, which is still a playable frame rate. The Medium preset averages 83 FPS, with a minimum of 71 FPS and a maximum of 96 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 57 FPS, which is the only average below 60 FPS in the entire dataset. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 40 FPS, indicating that the higher settings have a more pronounced impact at this resolution. The data shows a consistent pattern: the Medium preset provides a balanced point, with minimum FPS figures that are not too far from the average, suggesting a stable experience. The Low and High presets are the extremes, with High offering better visuals for a moderate FPS cost, and Low offering maximum performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 2000 series, based on the Zen+ architecture. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. Its cache configuration includes a 16 MB shared L3 cache. In general benchmarks, it scores 1248 points in Cinebench R15 multicore and 5648 in Geekbench multicore, with a Passmark multithread score of 13160. These scores place it at the 75th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is a mid-range performer by modern standards.

In Rust, the CPU's role is critical, as the game is known for its demanding simulation and physics calculations. The data strongly suggests that the Ryzen 5 2600 is the primary bottleneck in this system, especially at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the RTX 5090 is more than capable of rendering frames much faster than the CPU can issue draw calls. This is evidenced by the relatively small difference in frame rates between 1080p and 1440p. For example, the High preset only drops from 106 FPS at 1080p to 94 FPS at 1440p. If the GPU were the bottleneck, this drop would be much larger, as the GPU's workload increases significantly with resolution.

The CPU's single-thread performance is also a factor. Its Geekbench single-core score is 1154, and its Passmark single-thread score is 2239. Rust often relies on a few main threads for game logic, so this single-thread performance is crucial. The data suggests that the CPU's limited single-thread performance is what caps the maximum frame rate. Even at 1080p Low, the system only achieves 131 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's limit for this game. The performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p is 35 FPS, which is a smaller margin than would be expected if the GPU were the main constraint. This indicates that the CPU is holding the system back from reaching even higher frame rates, regardless of the GPU's capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's priority and resolution. For players seeking the highest possible frame rates at 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 131 FPS, providing a competitive advantage in a game where responsiveness is key. However, this comes at the cost of visual fidelity.

For a balanced experience at 1080p or 1440p, the Medium preset is the most compelling choice. At 1080p, it averages 113 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS, ensuring a smooth and stable experience. At 1440p, it averages 99 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS, which is still highly playable. The Medium preset offers a significant visual upgrade over Low while maintaining frame rates well above 60 FPS. The High preset is also viable at these resolutions, with averages of 106 FPS at 1080p and 94 FPS at 1440p, but the incremental visual gains over Medium may not justify the slight FPS loss for all users.

At 4K resolution, the recommendations change. The Low preset is the safest choice for maintaining high performance, with an average of 97 FPS. The Medium preset also performs well, averaging 83 FPS with a minimum of 71 FPS, which provides a good visual experience without dropping below 60 FPS. The High preset averages 75 FPS, which is acceptable, but the Ultra preset is not recommended, as its 57 FPS average falls below the generally accepted 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that for 4K gaming with this combo, Medium settings offer the best balance of visual quality and performance, while Low settings are ideal for maximizing frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 2600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 is ranked 1179 out of 3723 tested combinations for Rust. This places it in the upper third of all systems, indicating that despite the CPU bottleneck, the system is still a strong performer overall. This ranking confirms the raw power of the RTX 5090, which can compensate for the older CPU's limitations to a significant degree.

The ranking is more impressive than the CPU's individual percentile rank of 75% would suggest. This is because the GPU's immense power allows the system to maintain high frame rates even when the CPU is struggling. The data shows that the system is capable of exceeding 100 FPS in many configurations, which is a solid result for a demanding game like Rust. The ranking of 1179 out of 3723 also implies that a large number of tested combos are slower, likely featuring less powerful GPUs or CPUs.

However, the ranking also highlights the potential untapped performance. The significant gap between the GPU's capabilities and the CPU's limitations means that this combo is likely ranked lower than a system with a more modern, higher-clocked CPU paired with the same RTX 5090. The data suggests that while this combo is a competent performer, it is not maximizing the GPU's potential. The 1179th rank is a good result, but it is a clear indication that the CPU is preventing the system from reaching the top tiers of performance. In summary, this combo offers a strong, playable experience in Rust, but the data clearly shows that the CPU is the limiting factor, and a newer processor would unlock significantly more performance from the RTX 5090.