Rust

# Rust with AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060

This combo sits at rank 1756 out of 2953 tested combinations in Rust, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the database. That ranking is somewhat surprising given the hardware involved — a 16-core Zen 4 mobile flagship paired with a dedicated Ada Lovelace GPU — but the measured frame rates reveal a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics card at higher resolutions while showing strong CPU headroom at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

At position 1756 of 2953 combos, this pairing lands in the 41st percentile of all tested systems for Rust. The ranking suggests that while this hardware is far from the bottom of the pile, it is not delivering the kind of top-tier performance one might expect from a Ryzen 9-class processor. The CPU itself ranks in the 95th percentile against all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 76212 — a figure that puts it within 0.1% of the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (76155) and 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (75779). This tells us the processor is not the bottleneck in this equation.

The GPU, meanwhile, ranks in the 61st percentile of all GPUs with an average benchmark score of 17639. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon HD 7790 at 17666 (0.2% faster) and the AMD Radeon 780M at 17588 (0.3% slower). These are not exactly heavyweight competitors — the HD 7790 is a decade-old desktop part and the 780M is an integrated GPU. The RTX 4060's position here suggests it is performing near the bottom of what its architecture is capable of, or that Rust's specific rendering workload does not favor this GPU's feature set. The gap between the CPU's elite standing and the GPU's middling percentile explains why the overall combo rank is so much lower than the processor's individual standing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 2125 MHz, which translates to 17 Gbps effective. The GPU's base clock is 1830 MHz with a boost of 2460 MHz, built around the AD107 chip with 3072 shading units, 96 texture mapping units, and 48 ROPs. It also includes 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores, though Rust does not heavily leverage ray tracing or DLSS in the measured scenarios.

In Rust, the data shows this GPU struggling to maintain high frame rates at 4K. At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the combo manages only 25 FPS average — a figure that would be borderline unplayable for most users. Dropping to High settings at 4K yields 33 FPS, and Medium produces 40 FPS. Even Low settings at 4K only reach 59 FPS. The pattern is clear: the RTX 4060's 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface are simply not sufficient for smooth 4K gameplay in Rust, regardless of settings. The GPU's pixel rate of 118.1 GPixel/s and texture rate of 236.2 GTexel/s are respectable for a mobile part, but they do not translate into playable 4K performance in this title.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 19545 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2302 reinforce the picture of a mid-range part. Its DirectX 11 score of 175 and DirectX 12 score of 76 in PassMark are notably low, which may explain why Rust — a game that has historically leaned on older DirectX paths — does not extract maximum performance from this card.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scaling pattern. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 145 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 100 FPS, a 31% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 59 FPS, which is 59% lower than the 1080p figure. This steep decline with resolution indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor — if the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate would stay relatively flat as resolution increases.

The same pattern holds across all settings. At High settings, 1080p produces 82 FPS, 1440p drops to 57 FPS, and 4K falls to 33 FPS — a 60% reduction from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the numbers are 63, 43, and 25 FPS respectively, with the 4K figure representing a 60% drop from 1080p. This consistency across settings strongly suggests that the RTX 4060's rendering throughput is the dominant constraint at higher resolutions.

However, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe than from 1440p to 4K. At Low settings, 1080p to 1440p is a 31% drop, while 1440p to 4K is a 41% drop. This non-linear behavior hints that at 4K, the GPU is not just working harder — it may be hitting memory bandwidth or frame buffer limits that cause disproportionate performance loss. The 8 GB VRAM capacity at 4K could also be forcing texture swapping or compression that further degrades performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce 145 FPS average, which is smooth for any display. Medium settings yield 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112 — a tight range suggesting consistent frame pacing. High settings drop to 82 FPS, and Ultra falls to 63 FPS. All of these are playable, with even the Ultra figure being acceptable for a survival game where reaction times matter less than in competitive shooters.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers become more mixed. Low settings still deliver a strong 100 FPS. Medium settings produce 67 FPS with a range of 57 to 77, which is workable but starts to show strain. High settings drop to 57 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43 FPS. At this resolution, players would likely need to choose between visual quality and smoothness, with Medium being the sweet spot.

At 3840x2160, the picture is grim. Low settings manage 59 FPS — just barely playable. Medium settings produce 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 and maximum of 46, which would feel stuttery in fast-paced moments. High settings drop to 33 FPS, and Ultra is essentially unplayable at 25 FPS. The data is clear: 4K is not a viable option for this combo in Rust, regardless of settings.

The Medium settings rows are the only ones with min/max data, and they show consistent frame ranges across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the 83-112 range represents a 35% spread, while at 1440p the 57-77 range is also about 35%, and at 4K the 34-46 range is again roughly 35%. This consistency suggests the frame pacing issues are uniform across resolutions, pointing to a systemic limitation rather than a resolution-specific problem.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on Zen 4 architecture on TSMC's 5 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with 64 MB of L3 cache and 1 MB of L2 per core. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 83.2 GB/s of bandwidth. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 place it among the top mobile processors available.

In Rust, the CPU's role appears to be largely supportive rather than limiting. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 145 FPS, which is likely near the upper bound of what Rust's engine can produce with this GPU. The CPU's PassMark single-thread score of 3907 and multi-thread score of 51405 indicate it has ample headroom for the game's simulation and physics workloads. The PassMark physics score of 2168 and integer math score of 195180 suggest strong computational throughput.

The fact that frame rates drop so dramatically with resolution — from 145 FPS at 1080p Low to 59 FPS at 4K Low — while the CPU remains the same proves the processor is not the bottleneck. If the CPU were limiting, we would see similar frame rates across resolutions. Instead, the GPU's workload scales with pixel count, and the RTX 4060 simply cannot keep up at higher resolutions. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads are more than sufficient for Rust's server-side and client-side simulation, and the 64 MB L3 cache likely helps with the game's world streaming and entity management.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data points toward 1080p as the optimal resolution for this combo, with Medium settings providing the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 98 FPS average with a minimum of 83 FPS — well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings at 1080p still manage 82 FPS, which is also acceptable, but the jump from Medium to High costs 16 FPS (16%) for what is typically a modest visual upgrade in Rust.

For players with 1440p displays, Medium settings at 67 FPS is the recommended starting point. The frame range of 57-77 means there will be occasional dips below 60 FPS, but the experience should remain playable. High settings at 1440p drop to 57 FPS average, which is borderline, and Ultra at 43 FPS is likely to feel sluggish. Low settings at 1440p produce 100 FPS, but the visual compromise may not be worth the frame rate gain for most players.

4K is not recommended for this combo in Rust. Even Low settings at 59 FPS are marginal, and Medium at 40 FPS with a minimum of 34 FPS will produce noticeable stutter. The data suggests players with 4K displays should either drop to 1440p or accept that they cannot run Rust at playable frame rates with this hardware. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus are simply insufficient for 4K in this title.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of running Rust at 1440p?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 1440p Medium, the combo achieves 67 FPS average with a range of 57-77. Low settings produce 100 FPS, while High drops to 57 FPS and Ultra to 43 FPS. Medium is the recommended setting for 1440p play.

Q: Why does the combo rank so low (1756 of 2953) if the CPU is in the 95th percentile?

A: The GPU ranks in only the 61st percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon HD 7790 and the integrated Radeon 780M. The GPU's mid-range standing drags down the overall combo rank despite the CPU's elite performance.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1080p with this hardware?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 145 FPS average. Medium produces 98 FPS with a minimum of 83 and maximum of 112. High settings yield 82 FPS, and Ultra drops to 63 FPS. All 1080p settings are playable.

Q: Is 4K viable with the RTX 4060 in Rust?

A: No. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 25 FPS average. High settings produce 33 FPS, Medium 40 FPS, and even Low only reaches 59 FPS. The GPU's 8 GB VRAM and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: How does the RTX 4060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 4060 has an average benchmark score of 17639. The AMD Radeon HD 7790 scores 17666 (0.2% faster), the AMD Radeon 780M scores 17588 (0.3% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro 560 scores 17551 (0.5% slower). The differences are minimal.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Rust?

A: The GPU is clearly the limiting factor. Frame rates drop by 60% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, while the CPU's performance remains constant. The Ryzen 9 8945HX's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 indicates it has substantial headroom that the RTX 4060 cannot utilize at higher resolutions.