Rust

Rust presents a demanding workload that shifts between CPU and GPU limitations depending on resolution and quality settings. For the AMD Ryzen 5 4600G paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti, the measured FPS data reveals a system that is highly responsive at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain fluid frame rates at 4K Ultra. The GTX 1080 Ti, with its 11 GB of GDDR5X memory and 484.4 GB/s bandwidth, provides a strong foundation, yet the game's engine and the CPU's Zen 2 architecture create a noticeable scaling curve. The data shows a clear trajectory from excellent playability at 1080p to marginal performance at 2160p, with the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads becoming a limiting factor in specific scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is sharp and consistent across all settings, indicating that GPU load scales predictably with pixel count. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 155.6 at 1920x1080 to 105.3 at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 32%. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average drops to 62.8, which is a 60% decrease from the 1080p figure. This steep decline at Low settings suggests that even with minimal graphical demands, the 1080 Ti is the primary driver of performance, as the CPU has headroom to spare.

However, the scaling pattern changes dramatically at higher quality presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 87.2 at 1080p to 58.5 at 1440p, and then to 38.8 at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is roughly 55%, which is less severe than at Low settings, implying that the GPU is becoming saturated and the CPU's role in frame generation is relatively smaller. The Ultra preset tells a similar story, with averages of 66.5, 45.8, and 27.3 across the three resolutions. The 4K Ultra result of 27.3 FPS is below the threshold for smooth gameplay, highlighting that this combination is not suited for maximum quality at high pixel densities.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 4600G's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GTX 1080 Ti, as the Low preset achieves 155.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 89.1 FPS, which is a wide margin that points to the GPU being the bottleneck when settings increase. At 4K, the gap between Low (62.8) and Ultra (27.3) narrows to 35.5 FPS, further confirming that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. The CPU's boost clock of 4.20 GHz and 8 MB of shared L3 cache appear adequate for maintaining consistent frame pacing in most scenarios, but the data indicates that resolution scaling is governed by the graphics card's raw throughput.

How This Combo Ranks

In the benchmark database, this specific CPU-GPU pairing ranks 1008 out of 1717 tested combinations for Rust. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the rankings, which is a notable position given the hardware involved. The GTX 1080 Ti, while an older Pascal architecture GPU, still holds a percentile of 61 versus all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 19402 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780, which scores 19405 with a deltaPct of 0. This suggests that in synthetic tests, the 1080 Ti is performing at a level comparable to much older hardware, which may explain its mid-pack ranking in Rust.

The Ryzen 5 4600G, on the other hand, scores in the 75th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17489. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 5355GE, scores 17482 with a deltaPct of 0, indicating they are statistically tied. The CPU's strong showing in general benchmarks does not translate into a top-tier gaming rank for this combo, as Rust's performance is heavily influenced by the GPU at higher settings. The 1008 rank out of 1717 combos means that roughly 41% of tested pairings outperform this one, which is a significant portion.

This ranking suggests that while the CPU is capable, the GPU is not delivering the expected performance boost in Rust compared to other pairings. The GTX 1080 Ti's nearest rival, the AMD Radeon Pro 560X, scores 19426 with a deltaPct of -0.1, showing that the 1080 Ti is barely ahead of a mobile workstation card in synthetic benchmarks. This data implies that the combination is balanced but not exceptional for this specific game, and users seeking higher rankings would likely need a more modern GPU with better driver optimization for Rust's unique engine.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings for this combo?

A: The measured average FPS is 87.2 at 1920x1080 with High settings.

Q: How does the GTX 1080 Ti compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GTX 1080 Ti has an average benchmark score of 19402, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 780's score of 19405, resulting in a deltaPct of 0.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS is 27.3, which is quite low. The GPU is the limiting factor, as the CPU's strong single-thread performance cannot compensate for the graphics card's inability to handle the pixel load.

Q: What is the combo's rank in the database for Rust?

A: This pairing ranks 1008 out of 1717 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle range.

Q: How much FPS is gained by switching from Ultra to Low at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS increases from 45.8 on Ultra to 105.3 on Low, a gain of 59.5 FPS.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the GTX 1080 Ti?

A: The launch MSRP is 699 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this combo performs across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 155.6 FPS, which is the highest recorded figure for this combo. Medium settings reduce this to 102.8 FPS, while High averages 87.2 FPS. The Ultra preset, which is the most demanding, still manages 66.5 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where all settings are playable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 105.3 FPS, which is still smooth, but Medium falls to 73 FPS. High settings produce 58.5 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play, and Ultra drops further to 45.8 FPS. The data shows that 1440p is playable but requires tuning down from Ultra to maintain a consistent 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low settings average 62.8 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 41 FPS, and High averages 38.8 FPS. Ultra settings produce a disappointing 27.3 FPS, which is not smooth for most users. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a consistent pattern where each resolution step costs roughly 30-40% performance, regardless of the settings preset, confirming that the GPU's 11 GB of memory and 352-bit bus are insufficient for 4K Ultra in Rust.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti is a Pascal architecture GPU built on a 16 nm process, with 11,800 million transistors and a die size of 471 mm². Its base clock is 1481 MHz, with a boost clock of 1582 MHz, and the memory runs at 1376 MHz with 11 Gbps effective speed. The 11 GB of GDDR5X memory on a 352-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 484.4 GB/s, which is substantial for its era but shows limitations in Rust's 4K Ultra settings.

The GPU's shading units number 3584, with 224 texture mapping units and 88 raster operation units. This hardware configuration yields a pixel rate of 139.2 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 354.4 GTexel/s, with a FP32 performance of 11.34 TFLOPS. These specifications explain why the card performs well at 1080p and 1440p, where the pixel fill rate is sufficient, but struggles at 4K where the demand on the ROPS and memory bandwidth increases exponentially.

In Rust, the data shows that the GPU's role is critical at higher resolutions. The average FPS at 4K Ultra is 27.3, which is below the 30 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for playability. The card's FP16 performance is 177.2 GFLOPS (1:64), which is negligible, indicating that the GPU is not optimized for compute-heavy tasks in this game. The GTX 1080 Ti's production status is end-of-life, and its percentile rank of 61 versus all GPUs reflects its age. The measured results suggest that while the 11 GB of VRAM is ample for Rust's textures, the card's compute throughput is the limiting factor for high-resolution gaming.