Rust

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS for this combo at 1080p with Ultra settings?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers an average of 75 FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings. This is based on the measured data, which shows a significant drop from the 116 FPS average at Medium settings.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its closest rival?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 has an average benchmark score of 15852, which places it 0.2% above the Intel Xeon 6756E (avg score 14163) in the CPU's rival list, but for the GPU itself, it is 0.1% behind the AMD Radeon R9 370X (avg score 15862) and 1.7% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (avg score 16129). The GPU's percentile ranking is 58, meaning it outperforms 58% of all GPUs in the database.

Q: What is the best performing preset at 1440p based on the measured rows?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves the highest average FPS at 119, followed by High at 67 FPS, Medium at 80 FPS, and Ultra at 51 FPS. The data indicates that Low is the only preset that maintains a frame rate above 100 at this resolution.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations in Rust?

A: This specific combo (i5-10400F + RX 7700) ranks 1432 out of 2953 tested combinations in Rust. This places it in the 48.5th percentile, meaning it performs better than roughly half of all tested combos but still has room for improvement compared to higher-end configurations.

Q: How does the CPU's single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: The i5-10400F scores 688 in 3DMark single-thread and 4748 in 3DMark 16-thread tests. In Cinebench R23, it scores 1451 single-core and 10283 multi-core. This shows strong scaling from single to multi-threaded workloads, with the multi-core score being roughly 7.1 times the single-core score in Cinebench R23.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth and how does it affect high-resolution performance?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 has a memory bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus. This bandwidth is crucial for 4K performance, where the data shows a 40 FPS average at High settings, indicating the memory subsystem is sufficient to maintain playable frame rates even at the highest resolution tested.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 is built on the RDNA 3.0 architecture with a Navi 32 chip manufactured on a 5 nm process. It features a base clock of 1900 MHz, a boost clock of 2459 MHz, and a game clock of 2041 MHz. The memory runs at 2438 MHz with 19.5 Gbps effective speed, providing 624.1 GB/s of bandwidth across a 256-bit bus. This memory configuration is a key factor in the GPU's ability to handle Rust's large open-world environments, which require frequent texture streaming and asset loading.

In Rust, the GPU's role is particularly evident when examining the frame rate scaling across settings at a fixed resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (149 FPS) and Ultra (75 FPS) is 74 FPS, a 49.7% reduction. This indicates that the GPU is being pushed harder as settings increase, with the shading units (2560) and texture units (160) working to render more detailed geometry and lighting effects. The GPU's 96 ROPs handle pixel output, and the 25.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute power supports the game's physics and particle effects.

The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) is relevant for Rust's modern rendering features, and the data shows that the card handles the API efficiently. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is ample for Rust's large map textures, and the 624.1 GB/s bandwidth ensures that data can be fed to the processing units without bottlenecks. This is reflected in the 4K High setting achieving 40 FPS, which suggests that memory bandwidth is not the limiting factor at this resolution; rather, the compute and pixel throughput are the constraints.

The GPU's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. The PassMark G3D score of 20974 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 indicate solid DirectX 12 performance. The GPU's percentile ranking of 58 means it sits above the median GPU in the database, which aligns with the observed Rust performance that is playable at most settings but not top-tier at 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, which indicates how the workload shifts between CPU and GPU. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 149 at 1080p to 119 at 1440p (a 20.1% decrease) and further to 70 at 4K (a 53.0% decrease from 1080p). This scaling suggests that at Low settings, the game becomes increasingly GPU-bound as resolution rises, since the CPU's workload remains relatively constant while the GPU must process more pixels.

At High settings, the drop is more pronounced: 98 FPS at 1080p falls to 67 FPS at 1440p (a 31.6% decrease) and 40 FPS at 4K (a 59.2% decrease from 1080p). This steeper decline at higher settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as the additional shading and texture work at higher presets compounds with the increased pixel count. The CPU (6 cores, 12 threads, up to 4.30 GHz boost) has sufficient headroom to feed the GPU at these settings, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate drops align closely with the increase in pixel count.

The Medium preset shows intermediate scaling: 116 FPS at 1080p, 80 FPS at 1440p (a 31.0% decrease), and 47 FPS at 4K (a 59.5% decrease). The Ultra preset follows a similar trend with 75 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p (a 32.0% decrease), and 30 FPS at 4K (a 60.0% decrease). This consistent pattern across all settings suggests that the GPU's rendering pipeline is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU takes longer to render each frame.

The fact that the percentage drop from 1080p to 4K is nearly identical across all settings (ranging from 53.0% at Low to 60.0% at Ultra) indicates that the resolution scaling is largely independent of the preset. This is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, regardless of how demanding the settings are. The CPU's 12 threads and 12 MB of L3 cache are sufficient to maintain frame pacing, but they cannot compensate for the GPU's pixel throughput limits at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured data shows a wide range of performance across presets. Low settings deliver the highest average at 149 FPS, which is well above the threshold for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings drop to 116 FPS average, with a minimum of 99 FPS and maximum of 133 FPS, indicating consistent frame pacing. High settings average 98 FPS, while Ultra settings bring the average down to 75 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 74 FPS, representing a 49.7% reduction, which is typical for a game that scales well with graphics settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops are substantial. Low settings still achieve a comfortable 119 FPS average, which is playable on most displays. Medium settings average 80 FPS, with a minimum of 68 FPS and maximum of 92 FPS, showing some variance but remaining within acceptable bounds. High settings average 67 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 51 FPS. The 68 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at this resolution is proportionally similar to 1080p, but the absolute values are lower, making the lower presets more attractive for maintaining high frame rates.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly stressed. Low settings average 70 FPS, which is the only preset at 4K that approaches playable performance for fast-paced gameplay. Medium settings average 47 FPS, with a minimum of 40 FPS and maximum of 54 FPS, indicating that frame drops can occur in demanding scenes. High settings average 40 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 30 FPS. The data shows that 4K is only viable at Low or Medium settings, and even then, the frame rates are marginal for a game like Rust where responsiveness is important.

The minimum FPS data is only available for Medium settings at each resolution: 99 FPS at 1080p, 68 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. These minimums are not far from the averages, suggesting that the frame time variance is manageable at Medium settings, but the absolute values at 4K are low enough to cause noticeable stutter in busy environments.

How This Combo Ranks

This combo ranks 1432 out of 2953 tested combinations in Rust, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all configurations. With 2953 total combos, the 1432nd rank means that approximately 48.5% of tested systems perform better, while 51.5% perform worse. This is a median position, indicating that the i5-10400F + RX 7700 is a balanced mid-range pairing that does not excel in either CPU or GPU-bound scenarios.

The CPU's individual performance provides context for this ranking. The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14185, with a percentile ranking of 68, meaning it outperforms 68% of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Xeon 6756E (avg score 14163, delta 0.2%), Intel Core 7 160UL (avg score 14232, delta -0.3%), AMD EPYC 7552 (avg score 14115, delta 0.5%), and AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (avg score 14277, delta -0.6%). This shows that the CPU is competitive with its peers, with all deltas within 1% of each other.

The GPU's average benchmark score is 15852, with a percentile ranking of 58. Its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon R9 370X (avg score 15862, delta -0.1%), AMD Radeon RX 9060 (avg score 16014, delta -1.0%), AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (avg score 15679, delta 1.1%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (avg score 16129, delta -1.7%). The GPU is slightly below its closest competitors in raw score, but the deltas are small enough that real-world gaming performance is likely similar.

The median combo rank in Rust suggests that this pairing is neither overkill nor underpowered for the game's demands. The CPU's strong multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283) ensures that Rust's server-side and rendering threads are well-fed, while the GPU's 16 GB VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth handle the game's large textures. However, the 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS indicates that this combo is not intended for maximum settings at the highest resolution, which is consistent with its mid-pack ranking.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 memory in dual-channel configuration with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, which is adequate for feeding the GPU in most gaming scenarios. Its TDP is 65 W, making it an efficient choice for a mid-range gaming system.

In Rust, the CPU's role is evident from the benchmark data. The 3DMark multi-threaded scores show scaling from 1350 (2 threads) to 4748 (16 threads), indicating that the processor can utilize its 12 threads effectively. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 suggests that the CPU can handle Rust's physics and world simulation threads without becoming a bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the 149 FPS average indicates that the CPU is not limiting performance, as the GPU is capable of rendering frames faster than the game logic can update.

However, the CPU's single-thread performance is also important. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1451 show that the i5-10400F has reasonable single-thread capability, which is critical for Rust's main game loop and rendering thread. The PassMark single-thread score of 2541 places it in a competitive position for older games that rely heavily on single-core performance. In Rust, the combination of 6 cores and 12 threads provides a good balance between multi-threaded background tasks and single-threaded frame rendering.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is lower than the GPU's 624.1 GB/s, but this is expected since the CPU does not need to move as much data as the GPU. The 12 MB L3 cache is sufficient for Rust's working set, and the dual-channel DDR4 memory support ensures that memory latency is not a bottleneck. The data shows that at 4K Ultra (30 FPS), the CPU is not the limiting factor; the GPU's pixel throughput is the constraint. At 1080p Low (149 FPS), the CPU is still not the bottleneck, as higher frame rates would require a more powerful GPU to push beyond 149 FPS.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 149 FPS average, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or higher). However, for players who prefer visual quality, the High preset at 98 FPS is still well above 60 FPS and provides a more immersive experience. The Medium preset at 116 FPS offers a good balance, with a minimum of 99 FPS ensuring smooth gameplay even in busy scenes.

At 1440p, the Low preset at 119 FPS is the clear winner for competitive play, as it maintains a high frame rate that keeps the game responsive. The Medium preset at 80 FPS is viable for players who want better visuals while staying above 60 FPS, though the minimum of 68 FPS suggests that frame drops can occur in demanding areas. The High preset at 67 FPS is borderline, as it is close to the 60 FPS threshold, and the Ultra preset at 51 FPS is not recommended for gameplay that requires quick reactions.

At 4K, the only viable option is the Low preset at 70 FPS, which provides a playable experience for casual play. The Medium preset at 47 FPS is marginal, with a minimum of 40 FPS, indicating that frame pacing will be inconsistent. High (40 FPS) and Ultra (30 FPS) are not recommended for playable performance, as they fall below the 60 FPS standard and may cause discomfort during extended sessions.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1080p or Low at 1440p offers the highest frame rates with acceptable visual quality. The data shows that the jump from Low to Medium at 1080p costs 33 FPS (149 to 116), while the jump from Medium to High costs 18 FPS (116 to 98), and High to Ultra costs 23 FPS (98 to 75). This suggests that Medium provides the best return on visual quality per frame rate cost. At 1440p, the Medium preset at 80 FPS is the sweet spot for players with 1440p monitors who want a balance of quality and performance, while the Low preset is recommended for competitive players who prioritize frame rate.