Rust

Rust’s benchmark results for the AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the CPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU takes over as the primary bottleneck at 4K. The measured frames per second show a distinct pattern: at 1080p, the average FPS ranges from 134.1 (Ultra) to 180.8 (Low), while at 4K, the same settings yield between 57.5 (Ultra) and 131.1 (Low). This spread indicates that the RTX 4090 is capable of massive frame rates, but the Ryzen 5 5500’s six Zen 3 cores limit how fast those frames can be delivered when resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a significant FPS drop across all presets, but the magnitude varies sharply depending on the graphics load. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 180.8 at 1920x1080 to 131.1 at 3840x2160, a decline of roughly 27%. At High settings, the drop is steeper: from 146.9 at 1080p to 74.1 at 4K, a 50% reduction. The Ultra preset shows the largest relative loss, dropping from 134.1 at 1080p to 57.5 at 4K, which is a 57% decrease.

These numbers tell a clear story about the limiting component. At 1080p, the gap between Low (180.8) and Ultra (134.1) is only 46.7 FPS, suggesting that the CPU is holding the system back — even the lowest preset cannot push past 181 FPS. At 4K, the gap widens dramatically: Low hits 131.1 while Ultra drops to 57.5, a difference of 73.6 FPS. This widening gap indicates that the GPU is becoming the bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the RTX 4090’s raw compute is taxed by the increased pixel count. The data suggests that at 1080p, the Ryzen 5 5500’s 16 MB of L3 cache and 3.60 GHz base clock are insufficient to feed the RTX 4090, while at 4K, the GPU’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth become the deciding factors.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows provide a clear hierarchy for optimizing the experience. At 4K, the Medium preset delivers 90.1 FPS, which is 35% higher than High (74.1) and 57% higher than Ultra (57.5). This makes Medium the best choice for 4K play, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that stays above the 60 FPS threshold. Low at 4K hits 131.1 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for a game like Rust, where visibility of distant objects matters.

At 1440p, the situation improves. High achieves 123.4 FPS, while Medium reaches 136.4 FPS and Low hits 159.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p yields 95.4 FPS, which is still playable but represents a noticeable drop from Medium. For 1440p, the data recommends Medium or High, as both remain well above 120 FPS while preserving more detail than Low. At 1080p, every preset exceeds 134 FPS, but the CPU limitation becomes evident: Low (180.8) versus High (146.9) shows only a 34 FPS spread, meaning players can opt for High without sacrificing much performance. The Ultra preset at 1080p (134.1) is still smooth, but given the minimal gain over High, High is the pragmatic choice for 1080p displays.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product with a launch MSRP of 1,599 USD, and its benchmark data reflects its status as a top-tier card. Its 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which directly explains its 4K performance. The GPU’s boost clock of 2520 MHz and base clock of 2235 MHz, combined with 16,384 shading units, allow it to process the heavy pixel loads at 3840x2160. The PassMark G3D score of 38194 and the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 place it in the 91st percentile of all GPUs, indicating that it outperforms the vast majority of alternatives.

However, the GPU’s role in Rust is tempered by the CPU. At 1080p, the RTX 4090 is underutilized, as the Ryzen 5 5500 cannot generate enough draw calls to keep it busy. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system only manages 180.8 FPS, which is far below what the RTX 4090 could deliver if paired with a stronger processor. At 4K, the GPU takes over, and the FPS scales with preset complexity: 131.1 (Low), 90.1 (Medium), 74.1 (High), and 57.5 (Ultra). This scaling is consistent with the GPU’s transistor count of 76,300 million on a 5 nm process, which gives it the raw throughput to handle 4K rendering. The card’s nearest rivals include the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (deltaPct -0.4), Tesla P40 (deltaPct 0.5), and Quadro P6000 (deltaPct -1.3), which are all data-center or workstation cards, underscoring the RTX 4090’s dominance in gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Ryzen 5 5500 and RTX 4090 ranks 132nd out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 8% of all configurations. This rank reflects the GPU’s strength, but the CPU holds the combo back from the very top. The Ryzen 5 5500’s average benchmark score of 20875 puts it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-12500 (deltaPct -0.1) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 4655GE (deltaPct -0.1). These rivals are nearly identical in CPU performance, but the RTX 4090’s 91st percentile GPU standing means the combo’s overall rank is driven by the graphics card.

In the context of Rust specifically, the rank of 132 suggests that while the RTX 4090 is a top-tier card, the Ryzen 5 5500 is a mid-range processor that cannot fully exploit it. The data shows that at 1080p, the combo’s FPS is limited to 180.8 (Low) and 134.1 (Ultra), which is respectable but not exceptional for a system with this GPU. At 4K, the combo reaches 74.1 FPS on High, which is playable, but the Ultra preset drops to 57.5 FPS, indicating that the RTX 4090’s power is not enough to overcome the CPU’s limitations in CPU-bound scenarios. The combo’s rank of 132 out of 1717 is solid, but it falls short of the top-tier positions that would be expected if the CPU were more capable.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the 5000 series, based on the Zen 3 architecture (codenamed Cezanne) and manufactured on a 7 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz, paired with a 16 MB L3 cache, define its performance ceiling. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16429 and single-core score of 2319 show that it is a competent mid-range chip, but not a high-end one. Its PassMark multithread score of 19330 and single-thread score of 3058 place it in the 79th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20875.

In Rust, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the FPS caps out at 180.8 (Low) and 146.9 (High). These numbers indicate that the Ryzen 5 5500 is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the RTX 4090 would otherwise produce much higher frame rates. The 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Rust’s multi-threaded nature, but the 3.60 GHz base clock and 4.20 GHz boost clock are not high enough to keep pace with the GPU’s demands. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s (DDR4 dual-channel) also constrains how quickly data can be fed to the GPU, particularly in a game like Rust that relies on frequent world updates. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes, and the GPU becomes the dominant factor, but the data shows that the Ryzen 5 5500 still prevents the system from achieving the highest possible frame rates even at 4K Low, where 131.1 FPS is the ceiling.