Rust

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER lands at rank 1287 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust. This places the pairing in the lower half of the database, at the 75th percentile, meaning roughly a quarter of tested configurations deliver better performance. The combination of a high-end 12-core processor with a mid-range GPU from the previous generation creates a clear imbalance, with the graphics card acting as the limiting factor in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1287 out of 1717 reflects the GPU’s modest standing in the broader hardware landscape. The RTX 2060 SUPER sits at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706, 0.3% slower), the RTX 2070 (19680, 0.5% slower), the Quadro K5200 (19623, 0.8% slower), and the Tesla K40m (19519, 1.3% slower). These are extremely tight margins, indicating the GPU is performance-binned very closely with several other cards from different generations.

Meanwhile, the Ryzen 9 9900X is a far more capable component, ranking at the 94th percentile among all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 54450. Its nearest rivals are the Ryzen 9 9900X3D (54681, 0.4% faster), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (55304, 1.5% faster), and the Core Ultra 5 245KF (55421, 1.8% faster). The 9900X is also 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-14700F (54097). The processor’s raw compute capability dwarfs what the GPU can feed through, and the measured frame rates confirm that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck in this pairing.

FAQ

Q: How does the Ryzen 9 9900X compare to its closest processor rivals?

A: The 9900X scores 54450 on average, sitting 0.4% behind the 9900X3D (54681), 1.5% behind the Core Ultra 5 245K (55304), and 1.8% behind the Core Ultra 5 245KF (55421). It is 0.7% ahead of the Core i7-14700F (54097).

Q: What is the RTX 2060 SUPER’s standing relative to other GPUs?

A: It ranks at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs with an average score of 19774. Its closest competitor is the GTX TITAN at 19706, which is 0.3% slower; the RTX 2070 is 0.5% slower at 19680.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved at 1080p?

A: The highest average frame rate measured is 135.4 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only setting combination in the entire dataset that exceeds 100 FPS.

Q: What is the worst frame rate recorded?

A: The lowest average is 25.8 FPS, which occurs at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only measured configuration that falls below 30 FPS.

Q: Does the CPU’s 12-core configuration help in Rust?

A: The processor’s 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample compute headroom, but the data shows the GPU is the limiting factor. For example, at 1440p, dropping from High (52 FPS) to Low (92.3 FPS) nearly doubles performance, indicating GPU-bound behavior rather than a CPU constraint.

Q: How much of a drop is seen when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 78.9 FPS at 1080p to 52 FPS at 1440p, then further to 33.8 FPS at 4K. That represents a 57.2% reduction from 1080p to 4K.

Resolution Scaling

The measured data shows a consistent and steep performance decline as resolution increases, which strongly suggests the RTX 2060 SUPER is the primary bottleneck. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 78.9 FPS at 1920x1080, to 52 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 33.8 FPS at 3840x2160. The transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 26.9 FPS, while moving from 1440p to 4K costs another 18.2 FPS. This pattern is typical of a GPU that is running out of pixel throughput and memory bandwidth as resolution increases.

The scaling is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The 1080p result of 58.5 FPS drops to 43.1 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 25.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is below the playable threshold for most users, and the 25.8 FPS figure is the lowest in the entire dataset. At Low settings, the scaling remains steep but starts from a much higher baseline: 135.4 FPS at 1080p, 92.3 FPS at 1440p, and 53.8 FPS at 4K. Even at the lowest settings, the 4K frame rate cannot reach 60 FPS.

The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at higher resolutions. If the processor were the bottleneck, the frame rate would remain relatively flat across resolutions. Instead, the consistent drops at every setting level point directly at the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth being insufficient for the demands of 4K rendering in Rust.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2060 SUPER delivers playable performance across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 135.4 FPS, which is the highest number recorded for this combo. Medium settings yield 89.5 FPS, High settings drop to 78.9 FPS, and Ultra settings result in 58.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is 76.9 FPS, showing that the GPU has a significant performance range depending on the preset.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 92.3 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium settings produce 64.4 FPS, High settings yield 52 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 43.1 FPS. The relative ordering is consistent, but the gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 49.2 FPS. All 1440p configurations exceed 40 FPS, which is acceptable for a survival game where precise timing is less critical than in competitive shooters.

At 3840x2160, the performance falls off a cliff. Low settings average 53.8 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration that approaches playability. Medium settings drop to 35.5 FPS, High settings to 33.8 FPS, and Ultra to 25.8 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is 28 FPS, and neither High nor Ultra achieves 60 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU’s 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 8 GB VRAM are insufficient for demanding settings at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with High settings, which delivers 78.9 FPS. This provides a solid balance between visual fidelity and smoothness, more than doubling the 33.8 FPS seen at 4K High. For users with 1440p monitors, Low settings at 92.3 FPS is the best choice to maintain a high refresh rate experience, as High settings at 1440p drop to 52 FPS.

At 4K, the data suggests that Low settings are the only viable option, averaging 53.8 FPS. Medium settings at 35.5 FPS and High at 33.8 FPS are marginal, while Ultra at 25.8 FPS is not recommended for any gameplay scenario. For users prioritizing visual quality over frame rate, 1080p Ultra at 58.5 FPS is acceptable, but it is only slightly better than 1440p Low in terms of frame rate while offering more detail.

The biggest performance jump comes from switching from Ultra to Low at any resolution. At 1080p, this change yields an additional 76.9 FPS; at 1440p, it adds 49.2 FPS; at 4K, it adds 28 FPS. The data shows diminishing returns from High to Ultra, with only a 20.4 FPS difference at 1080p, suggesting that Ultra is not worth the performance cost on this GPU.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X is a 12-core, 24-thread processor based on the Zen 5 architecture, codenamed Granite Ridge. It has a base clock of 4.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 64 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are exceptional: it achieves 46438 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 6555 in single-core, alongside a Geekbench multicore score of 19827 and a single-core score of 3341. These results place it at the 94th percentile among all CPUs.

In the context of Rust, the measured frame rates show that the CPU is not the limiting factor. The 9900X’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Passmark single-thread score of 4672, is more than sufficient for Rust’s game logic and simulation. The dramatic frame rate swings between settings at the same resolution—for example, 135.4 FPS at 1080p Low versus 58.5 FPS at 1080p Ultra—are entirely attributable to GPU workload, not CPU capability.

The processor’s 12 cores and 24 threads are far more than Rust requires, as the game is not heavily multithreaded in its rendering path. The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 2519 (2 threads) to 13929 (max threads), but the game’s actual usage is unlikely to exceed 8 cores. The 9900X’s performance headroom means it could easily support a much more powerful GPU than the RTX 2060 SUPER; the current pairing leaves significant CPU potential untapped, as evidenced by the low GPU-bound frame rates at higher resolutions.