Rust

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER delivers a 1080p-first experience in Rust, with the data showing a clear performance cliff at higher resolutions. This combination ranks in the 15th percentile of all tested combos, placing it firmly in the entry-level segment for this demanding survival title, where achieving a smooth 60+ FPS requires specific settings and resolution trade-offs.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Rust?

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080. At this resolution, the combo achieves 106 FPS on Low settings and 60 FPS on High, while at 2560x1440 the average drops to 73 FPS on Low and 41 FPS on High. At 3840x2160, performance falls below playable thresholds, with only 43 FPS on Low and 24 FPS on High.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 SUPER compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 SUPER scores 12,986 in average benchmark score, placing it 0.4% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 580. It trails the NVIDIA Tesla M2090 by 0.7% but leads the AMD Radeon 740M by 0.9%. The GPU sits in the 53rd percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 7400F a bottleneck for the GTX 1660 SUPER in Rust?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the primary constraint at lower resolutions. The Ryzen 5 7400F scores 21,765 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 3,072 in single-core, placing it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 106 FPS, suggesting the GPU is the limiting factor; however, at 3840x2160, the 19-43 FPS range indicates the GPU is heavily saturated.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1920x1080?

A: The measured data shows a 60 FPS gap between the two extremes. Low settings produce an average of 106 FPS, while Ultra yields only 46 FPS. Medium settings sit in the middle at 71 FPS, and High achieves 60 FPS. This represents a 130% performance increase from Ultra to Low.

Q: Can this combo handle 2560x1440 gaming?

A: Yes, but with compromises. Low settings deliver a playable 73 FPS average, while Medium drops to 49 FPS and High to 41 FPS. Ultra is borderline unplayable at 31 FPS. For consistent smoothness, 2560x1440 requires Low settings, making 1920x1080 the recommended resolution for this pairing.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations in Rust?

A: This specific combination ranks 2520 out of 2953 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 15% of all configurations. This low ranking is primarily due to the GPU's 53rd percentile standing and the game's demanding nature, though the CPU's 83rd percentile position helps mitigate some performance losses.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with Medium settings. This configuration yields 71 FPS average with a minimum of 60 FPS and maximum of 82 FPS, providing the best balance between visual fidelity and smooth gameplay. The 60 FPS minimum is critical for Rust, where combat and building mechanics require consistent frame pacing.

For players prioritizing competitive performance, 1920x1080 Low settings deliver 106 FPS average, offering the highest headroom for action-heavy moments. This preset sacrifices visual detail but ensures the smoothest experience, which is often preferable in PvP scenarios common in Rust.

High settings at 1920x1080 provide exactly 60 FPS average, which is playable but leaves no margin for frame drops during intense moments like raiding or large-scale fights. The Medium preset's 60 FPS minimum makes it the safer choice over High, as it maintains that floor while offering better visuals than Low.

At 2560x1440, the data suggests only Low settings are viable, producing 73 FPS average. Medium at this resolution drops to 49 FPS, which may cause noticeable stuttering. Ultra settings should be avoided entirely at any resolution above 1080p, as the 31 FPS at 2560x1440 and 19 FPS at 3840x2160 render the game unresponsive.

The 3840x2160 resolution is not recommended for this combo. Even at Low settings, the 43 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS threshold typically required for smooth gameplay. The 24 FPS High and 19 FPS Ultra figures confirm that 4K is beyond the GTX 1660 SUPER's capabilities in Rust.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary performance limiter in this combination. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus providing 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, the GPU handles Rust's large textures and open-world assets adequately at 1080p but struggles as resolution increases. The memory configuration is sufficient for 1920x1080 Medium, where the 71 FPS average demonstrates solid bandwidth utilization.

The GPU's clock speeds of 1530 MHz base and 1785 MHz boost, combined with 1408 shading units, deliver 5.027 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This compute capability translates directly to the measured frame rates: the 106 FPS at 1080p Low shows the GPU's raw throughput, while the 46 FPS at 1080p Ultra reveals the limits of its 48 ROPs and 88 TMUs when handling higher graphical loads.

The 53rd percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 12,986 place this GPU in the mid-range category. Its nearest rivals show tight competition: the RTX 3050 Ti Mobile and RX 580 are within 0.4% of its performance, while the Radeon 740M is 0.9% slower. This suggests the GTX 1660 SUPER is a well-balanced entry-level card, but in Rust specifically, the 6 GB VRAM becomes a bottleneck at higher settings.

The GPU's 125 W TDP and PCIe 3.0 x16 interface are adequate for the measured performance, but the data indicates that the 336.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the key constraint at 2560x1440 and above. The 73 FPS at 1440p Low versus 106 FPS at 1080p Low represents a 31% performance drop, consistent with the increased pixel throughput demands outpacing memory bandwidth.

At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become severe. The 43 FPS at Low settings represents a 59% reduction from 1080p Low, and the 19 FPS at Ultra shows the GPU is completely saturated. The measured data suggests that the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM is insufficient for Rust's high-resolution texture sets, as even Medium settings at 4K only achieve 29 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 2520 out of 2953 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the bottom 14.6% of all configurations. This low ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's strong 83rd percentile standing, but it underscores how heavily Rust relies on GPU performance. The combo's ranking is more closely aligned with the GPU's 53rd percentile, indicating that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the decisive factor in overall performance.

The CPU's contribution to this ranking is positive but insufficient to overcome the GPU's limitations. The Ryzen 5 7400F's 21,765 Cinebench R23 multi-core score and 3,072 single-core score place it well above average, and in CPU-bound scenarios like 1080p Low, the combo achieves 106 FPS. However, the GPU's inability to maintain high frame rates at higher resolutions drags the overall rank down.

Compared to other combos in the database, this pairing sits in the lower quartile, meaning roughly 85% of tested configurations outperform it in Rust. This is expected for a mid-range GPU from 2019 paired with a 2025 CPU, and the data shows that the modern CPU cannot compensate for the older GPU's architectural limitations in this specific title.

The ranking suggests that players using this combo should focus on optimizing settings rather than expecting high-end performance. The 1920x1080 Medium configuration, with its 71 FPS average, represents the best-case scenario for this hardware pairing. At this setting, the combo likely outperforms many lower-ranked configurations that may have weaker CPUs but similar GPUs.

The gap between this combo's rank and the CPU's percentile is notable. The Ryzen 5 7400F outperforms the Intel Core i5-14600T by 0.1%, the Intel Core Ultra 7 155H by 0.2%, and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 by 0.3% in average benchmark score. Yet these CPU advantages do not translate to Rust performance because the GPU becomes the bottleneck above 1080p Low settings.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7400F provides a strong foundation for this combo, with 6 cores and 12 threads based on the Zen 4 architecture. Running at 3.70 GHz base and 4.70 GHz boost clocks, the CPU delivers excellent single-thread performance that Rust's game logic heavily utilizes. The 3,072 Cinebench R23 single-core score confirms this capability, placing the CPU in the 83rd percentile overall.

The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 cache per core help maintain consistent frame times, particularly in Rust's procedurally generated worlds where asset streaming is constant. The 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth from dual-channel DDR5 support ensures the GPU receives data without starvation, though the GTX 1660 SUPER's PCIe 3.0 interface may limit transfer speeds compared to newer GPUs.

In CPU-bound scenarios, the Ryzen 5 7400F demonstrates its strength. The 106 FPS at 1080p Low suggests the CPU can push frame rates well above what the GPU can sustain at higher settings. The 21,765 Cinebench R23 multi-core score indicates the CPU handles Rust's background simulation tasks—such as AI, resource gathering, and physics—without becoming a bottleneck.

The CPU's 65 W TDP and 5 nm process node from TSMC make it an efficient choice, though this efficiency is somewhat wasted when paired with the GPU's 125 W TDP. The CPU's nearest rivals show similar performance: it matches the Intel Core i5-14600T within 0.1%, trails the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 6850H by 0.2%, and leads the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 360 by 0.3% in average benchmark score.

The PassMark multithread score of 25,645 and single-thread score of 3,689 corroborate the Cinebench results, showing balanced performance across workloads. In Rust, this means the CPU can handle both the main game thread and auxiliary tasks like server communication and entity updates. The 289,999 PassMark data compression score suggests the CPU excels at handling Rust's save/load operations, which can cause hitches on weaker processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a clear progression across settings. Low settings achieve 106 FPS average, representing the highest performance point. Medium settings drop to 71 FPS with a minimum of 60 and maximum of 82, providing the best playable balance. High settings hit exactly 60 FPS, while Ultra falls to 46 FPS. The 60 FPS gap between Low and Ultra demonstrates the GPU's sensitivity to graphical complexity at this resolution.

The 2560x1440 results show a significant performance drop across all settings. Low settings produce 73 FPS, a 31% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings yield 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 and maximum of 56, which remains playable but with noticeable frame dips. High settings drop to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 31 FPS, making the latter two presets unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal. Low settings achieve 43 FPS, Medium drops to 29 FPS with a minimum of 25 and maximum of 33, High falls to 24 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 19 FPS. These figures indicate that 4K resolution is not viable for this combo, even at the lowest settings. The 43 FPS at Low represents a 59% reduction from the 106 FPS at 1080p Low.

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 1440p to 4K shows consistent degradation. At Low settings, the frame rates progress 106 → 73 → 43 FPS. At Medium settings, the progression is 71 → 49 → 29 FPS. This linear decline suggests the GPU's memory bandwidth and pixel throughput are the limiting factors, rather than any specific setting causing disproportionate drops.

The minimum FPS data points, available only for Medium settings, provide insight into frame pacing. At 1080p, the 60 FPS minimum shows stable performance. At 1440p, the 42 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips that may be noticeable. At 4K, the 25 FPS minimum makes the game feel stuttery. These minimums are critical for Rust, where sudden frame drops can affect combat accuracy.

Comparing settings across resolutions, Low settings at 1440p (73 FPS) outperform High settings at 1080p (60 FPS) and Medium at 1440p (49 FPS). This suggests that players should prioritize resolution over visual quality when possible. The data supports the recommendation of 1080p Medium as the optimal balance, as it provides the highest minimum FPS (60) among all playable configurations while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity.