Rust

AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D paired with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER in Rust delivers a distinctive performance profile that shifts dramatically based on settings and resolution. The measured rows show a system that can comfortably handle competitive frame rates at 1080p but struggles to maintain playability at 4K Ultra. Across all resolutions, the Low preset consistently delivers the highest average FPS, with a 152 FPS average at 1080p that drops to 104 FPS at 1440p and 62 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly as resolution increases, indicating a complex interaction between the CPU's 3D V-Cache and the GPU's 8 GB VRAM capacity.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data strongly favors the Low preset for the best balance of frame rate and responsiveness. At 1080p, Low settings produce a 152 FPS average, which is 50 FPS higher than the High preset's 86 FPS and 87 FPS higher than Ultra's 65 FPS. This substantial margin suggests that Rust's visual enhancements at higher presets impose a heavy cost on this particular combination. The Medium preset at 102 FPS offers a middle ground, but the Low preset's 152 FPS average at 1080p is nearly 50% higher, making it the clear choice for competitive play.

At 1440p, the Low preset maintains a 104 FPS average, which remains comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The High preset drops to 59 FPS, just below that threshold, while Ultra falls to 45 FPS. For 1440p users, Low is the only preset that consistently delivers high refresh rate performance, though Medium at 70 FPS still provides a playable experience for those prioritizing visual quality over frame rate.

The 4K results tell a more constrained story. Low settings produce a 62 FPS average, which is playable, but Medium drops to 41 FPS and High falls to 35 FPS. Ultra at 27 FPS is effectively unplayable for most users. The data indicates that even at 4K, Low settings are necessary to maintain reasonable fluidity, as the jump from Low to Medium costs 21 FPS, a 34% reduction. This pattern suggests that Rust's higher presets introduce effects like ambient occlusion and shadow quality that disproportionately impact performance on this hardware.

The Medium preset merits consideration for users with variable refresh rate monitors. At 1080p, it produces 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS, showing a tighter frame time distribution compared to Low. At 1440p, Medium delivers 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, exactly at the threshold for many displays. However, the Low preset's raw headroom makes it the recommended default, as it provides the largest safety margin against frame drops during intense moments like raids or large-scale building destruction.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, plays a critical role in Rust's performance scaling. The GPU's base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 2560 shading units, deliver a 9.062 TFLOPS fp32 throughput. The measured FPS data reveals that this GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K, even the Low preset only achieves 62 FPS, while at 1080p the same preset hits 152 FPS, a 145% increase. This scaling pattern indicates that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth are insufficient to feed the rendering pipeline efficiently at 4K resolution.

The GPU's compute capabilities, reflected in its 7557 passmark_gpu_compute score and 18169 passmark_g3d score, position it in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (1.2% higher average score) and Intel Arc B570 (1.3% higher), placing it in a competitive tier. However, Rust's performance degradation from High to Ultra settings at each resolution suggests that the GPU's 40 RT cores and 320 tensor cores are not being leveraged effectively, as Rust's traditional rasterization pipeline primarily stresses the 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs.

The VRAM capacity becomes particularly relevant when examining the 4K results. The drop from Low (62 FPS) to Medium (41 FPS) represents a 34% performance loss, while the drop from Medium to High (35 FPS) is only 15%. This non-linear scaling hints at memory pressure, where the 8 GB buffer fills up at 4K Medium settings, forcing texture streaming that impacts frame times. The measured minimum FPS of 35 at 4K Medium and 60 at 1440p Medium confirms that the GPU's memory subsystem is a limiting factor, as these minimums are significantly below their respective averages.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 152 at 1080p to 104 at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and then to 62 at 4K (a 59% reduction from 1440p). This consistent scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 2070 SUPER is the performance limiter as pixel count increases, since the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache should maintain consistent game logic performance across resolutions. The data shows that doubling the pixel count from 1080p to 4K reduces FPS by roughly 60%, which aligns with the GPU's bandwidth constraints.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more severe. The average FPS drops from 65 at 1080p to 45 at 1440p (31% reduction) and then to 27 at 4K (40% reduction from 1440p). The percentage drop between 1440p and 4K is smaller for Ultra than for Low, suggesting that at Ultra settings, the GPU is already so saturated that additional pixel count has diminishing relative impact. This indicates that at 1080p Ultra, the system is already approaching GPU limits, whereas at 1080p Low, there is headroom that gets consumed as resolution increases.

The Medium preset provides the most complete data with minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the range spans 87 to 117 FPS, a 30 FPS spread. At 1440p Medium, the range tightens to 60 to 81 FPS, a 21 FPS spread. At 4K Medium, the range is 35 to 48 FPS, a 13 FPS spread. This narrowing range at higher resolutions further confirms that GPU saturation reduces frame time variance, as the rendering pipeline becomes consistently bottlenecked rather than intermittently limited by CPU or game logic. The minimum FPS values at each resolution (87, 60, and 35) all represent approximately 85% of their respective averages, indicating stable frame pacing despite the resolution increase.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its strongest performance across all presets. The Low preset achieves a 152 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium produces 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and maximum of 117 FPS, while High reaches 86 FPS and Ultra drops to 65 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a 57% performance reduction, demonstrating that Rust's Ultra preset is significantly more demanding than Low. For 1080p users, even the Ultra preset's 65 FPS average is playable, but the Low preset's 152 FPS provides ample headroom for high refresh rate displays.

At 2560x1440, the performance envelope shifts downward. Low settings maintain a 104 FPS average, which is still excellent for 1440p gaming. Medium delivers 70 FPS with a minimum of 60 FPS, making it the entry point for 60 FPS gaming. High drops to 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra falls to 45 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 59 FPS, a 57% reduction from Low to Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum of 60 FPS suggests that this is the highest preset that can guarantee consistent 60 FPS gameplay at 1440p, though the average of 70 FPS provides a modest buffer.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations become apparent. Low settings produce a 62 FPS average, which is the only preset that achieves playable frame rates. Medium drops to 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, High falls to 35 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27 FPS. The 4K results show that this combination is not suitable for high-fidelity 4K gaming, as even Low settings barely clear the 60 FPS threshold. The data suggests that 4K users would need to accept either Low settings for playable frame rates or higher presets with significant compromises in smoothness. The minimum FPS of 35 at 4K Medium indicates that frame drops can be severe, potentially impacting gameplay during intense scenes.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming with this combo?

A: The Low preset delivers the highest average FPS at 152, which is 50 FPS higher than High and 87 FPS higher than Ultra. For users prioritizing frame rate, Low is the clear choice, though Medium at 102 FPS offers a good balance with a minimum of 87 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Rust?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset achieves a playable average of 62 FPS. Medium drops to 41 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 27 FPS. The data indicates that 4K gaming is limited to Low settings for acceptable performance.

Q: How does the RTX 2070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 20282 places it in the 65th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, scores 20480 (1% higher), while the RTX 3070 Mobile scores 20534 (1.2% higher) and the Intel Arc B570 scores 20556 (1.3% higher).

Q: What is the performance impact of switching from Medium to High settings?

A: At 1080p, the drop from Medium (102 FPS) to High (86 FPS) is 16 FPS, a 16% reduction. At 1440p, the drop is 11 FPS (from 70 to 59), and at 4K, the drop is 6 FPS (from 41 to 35). The impact is proportionally larger at lower resolutions.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this game?

A: The resolution scaling data shows that FPS drops significantly from 1080p to 4K, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the CPU's 96 MB L3 cache may provide headroom, but the GPU's 8 GB VRAM limits performance as resolution increases.

Q: What is the minimum FPS at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum FPS at 1440p Medium is 60, with an average of 70 FPS and a maximum of 81 FPS. This makes Medium the highest preset that maintains a 60 FPS minimum at 1440p.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D brings a distinctive configuration to this pairing, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 3.00 GHz and boost clock of 4.00 GHz. Its defining characteristic is the 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is substantially larger than typical desktop processors, thanks to the Zen 3 Vermeer architecture on a 7 nm process. The CPU's passmark_multithread score of 20363 and passmark_single_thread score of 2941 position it in the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37018. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0.2% higher score) and AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (0.2% lower), indicating tight competition in its performance tier.

In Rust, the CPU's role is most evident in the resolution scaling patterns. At 1080p Low, the 152 FPS average suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, where the 96 MB L3 cache helps maintain consistent game logic and entity updates. However, as resolution increases to 1440p and 4K, the FPS drops indicate that the GPU becomes the limiting factor, not the CPU. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient for Rust's multithreaded rendering and physics, but the data implies that the GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth constrain performance at higher pixel counts.

The CPU's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. The passmark_data_compression score of 230392 and passmark_integer_math score of 60033 indicate strong computational throughput, which benefits Rust's server-side simulation and building mechanics. The passmark_physics score of 2282 suggests adequate physics processing capability, while the passmark_find_prime_numbers score of 170 is notably low but irrelevant to gaming. The CPU's 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth on a dual-channel DDR4 interface is modest by modern standards, but the 96 MB L3 cache compensates by reducing memory access latency for frequently accessed game data.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1650 out of 2953 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 44th percentile. This ranking reflects a system that is capable but not exceptional for this specific game. The rank of 1650 suggests that while the CPU's large L3 cache provides benefits in CPU-bound scenarios, the GPU's age and 8 GB VRAM limit the overall performance ceiling, particularly at higher resolutions and settings.

The ranking context becomes clearer when examining the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the 152 FPS average is competitive with many modern systems, but at 4K Ultra, the 27 FPS average is among the lower end of tested configurations. The 44th percentile ranking indicates that roughly 1300 tested combos outperform this pairing in Rust, likely featuring newer GPUs with more VRAM and higher memory bandwidth. However, the ranking also suggests that this combo outperforms about 1300 other tested combinations, which includes systems with older GPUs or CPUs lacking the 3D V-Cache advantage.

The data implies that this combo's ranking is heavily influenced by settings and resolution choices. At 1080p with Low settings, the system performs admirably, potentially ranking much higher than 1650. At 4K with Ultra settings, the performance drops to levels that would rank significantly lower. The 1650 rank represents an average across all tested scenarios, but users who prioritize lower resolutions and settings can achieve performance that exceeds the typical expectation for this rank. Conversely, users attempting 4K Ultra will find this combo underperforms relative to its mid-pack ranking, highlighting the importance of matching settings to hardware capabilities.