Rust

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER occupies the 2262nd position out of 3723 tested combinations in Rust. This places the combo in the lower-middle portion of the database, meaning roughly 39% of tested configurations deliver higher average frame rates in this title. The ranking reflects a balanced pairing where neither component completely dominates the other, but the data indicates the system is not optimized for maximum competitive performance in Rust's demanding survival environment.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2262 out of 3723 combinations places this system in the 39th percentile of all tested hardware pairings for Rust. This is a modest result for a CPU that sits at the 68th percentile against all CPUs and a GPU at the 65th percentile against all GPUs. The slight discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo ranking suggests that Rust's specific workload characteristics penalize this pairing more than average, likely due to the game's heavy reliance on both single-threaded performance and sustained multi-core throughput.

When examining the CPU's performance context, the Core i5-10400F's average benchmark score of 14185 places it nearly exactly between several rivals. It sits 0.2% above the Intel Xeon 6756E and 0.5% above the AMD EPYC 7552, while trailing the Intel Core 7 160UL by 0.3% and the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C by 0.6%. These negligible differences confirm that the i5-10400F is thoroughly average for its generation, and in Rust, this translates to a system that can maintain playable frame rates but will not excel in CPU-heavy scenarios like large player bases or complex construction sites.

The GPU's percentile of 65 places it similarly in the mid-range, with its average benchmark score of 20282 trailing the nearest listed rivals by small margins. The RTX 2070 SUPER sits 1% below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, 1.2% below the RTX 3070 Mobile, 1.3% below the Intel Arc B570, and 1.5% below the Intel Arc A750. These are tight margins, indicating that the GPU is competitive with its direct peers, but the combo ranking in Rust suggests the game's optimization favors other architectures or configurations.

GPU Role

The RTX 2070 SUPER brings 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory operates at 1750 MHz with 14 Gbps effective speed, while the core runs at a base clock of 1605 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz. These specifications place the GPU in a position where it can handle Rust's moderate VRAM requirements at 1080p and 1440p without hitting memory capacity limits, though the 8 GB frame buffer becomes a consideration at 4K where texture detail and draw distances demand more capacity.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units, producing a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance of 9.062 TFLOPS provides adequate raw throughput for Rust's rendering workload, which involves large open-world environments with dynamic lighting and shadow calculations. The 40 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores are present but largely unused in Rust, as the game does not implement hardware ray tracing, meaning the GPU's Turing architecture advantages are not fully exploited in this title.

In the measured data, the GPU demonstrates its scaling behavior across settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 149 FPS, but this drops to 86 FPS at High settings, a 42% reduction. The Medium preset at 102 FPS shows that the GPU handles moderate settings well, but Ultra at 65 FPS reveals the performance cost of maximum effects. At 4K, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck, with Low settings producing only 62 FPS and Ultra falling to 27 FPS, confirming that 8 GB of VRAM and the TU104 chip's bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution Rust play.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where the system maintains consistently high frame rates across all settings, with Low hitting 149 FPS and High at 86 FPS. At 2560x1440, the system drops to 104 FPS on Low and 59 FPS on High, while 3840x2160 falls below 62 FPS even on Low settings.

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

A: The RTX 2070 SUPER's average benchmark score of 20282 places it 1% below the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, 1.2% below the RTX 3070 Mobile, 1.3% below the Intel Arc B570, and 1.5% below the Intel Arc A750. These are all sub-2% differences, indicating near-parity performance with these competing cards.

Q: Is the Core i5-10400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 149 FPS, but the frame rate drops to 86 FPS at High settings. The CPU's single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1451 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can keep up with the GPU at lower settings, but the 42% drop from Low to High indicates the GPU becomes the limiting factor as graphical load increases.

Q: What settings preset offers the best balance of performance and quality?

A: The Medium preset at 1080p delivers 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS, providing a solid experience without the steep performance penalty of Ultra settings. At 1440p, Medium drops to 70 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum, which remains playable for most users.

Q: How does this combo rank against all tested systems?

A: The combination ranks 2262 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 39th percentile. This means approximately 61% of tested systems achieve higher frame rates in this game, reflecting the mid-range positioning of both components.

Q: Does the GPU's VRAM capacity limit performance at 4K?

A: The 8 GB frame buffer appears to constrain performance at 3840x2160, where the system only achieves 62 FPS on Low settings and 27 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results show a dramatic drop from 1440p, suggesting the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s and capacity are insufficient for high-resolution textures.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the most balanced experience for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 102 FPS average with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS, representing a 18% improvement over High settings while maintaining visual quality that is acceptable for Rust's gameplay. The Low preset at 1080p achieves 149 FPS, but this sacrifices too much visual detail for a game where spotting distant players and environmental cues matters.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the highest playable option, producing 70 FPS average with a 60 FPS minimum. This is a significant drop from 1080p but remains viable for gamers with 1440p monitors who prioritize resolution over maximum frame rates. The High preset at 1440p falls to 59 FPS, which approaches the threshold where competitive play becomes compromised, and Ultra at 45 FPS is not recommended for anything beyond casual exploration.

The 3840x2160 resolution should be avoided entirely for this combo. Even the Low preset at 62 FPS struggles to maintain smooth gameplay, and the Medium preset drops to 41 FPS with a 35 FPS minimum, which is below acceptable standards for a survival game requiring quick reactions. The Ultra preset at 27 FPS is effectively unplayable. Users with 4K displays should run the game at 1440p resolution with Medium settings to achieve the best visual-to-performance trade-off.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Starting at 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its strongest performance across all settings. The Low preset produces an average of 149 FPS, representing the highest measured frame rate for this combo in any configuration. Medium settings yield 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS, showing good frame pacing with only a 15 FPS spread between minimum and maximum. High settings drop to 86 FPS, and Ultra falls to 65 FPS, representing a 56% reduction from Low to Ultra at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance impact of increased pixel count becomes evident. Low settings produce 104 FPS, a 30% reduction from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 70 FPS with a 60 FPS minimum and 81 FPS maximum, maintaining a consistent 20 FPS spread. High settings drop to 59 FPS, and Ultra falls to 45 FPS, showing that the GPU's rendering load increases substantially with resolution. The 1440p results confirm that this resolution is the practical ceiling for the combo, with only Low and Medium presets remaining above 60 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system's limitations are fully exposed. Low settings produce 62 FPS, which barely maintains playability, while Medium drops to 41 FPS with a 35 FPS minimum and 48 FPS maximum. High settings fall to 35 FPS, and Ultra reaches only 27 FPS. The 4K data shows a consistent degradation pattern, with each settings tier reducing performance by roughly 15-20%, confirming that the RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K gaming in Rust.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, operating at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. This Comet Lake architecture chip features a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. The CPU's benchmark results show a single-thread score of 688 in 3DMark and 1451 in Cinebench R23, while multi-thread scores reach 4735 in 3DMark max threads and 10283 in Cinebench R23.

In Rust, the CPU's role is significant due to the game's simulation-heavy nature, which includes physics calculations, server-side entity management, and building structure integrity checks. The CPU's multi-threaded performance, measured at 4318 in Cinebench R20 and 12115 in Passmark multithread, provides adequate headroom for these workloads. However, the single-thread performance of 609 in Cinebench R20 and 2541 in Passmark single-thread indicates that the CPU may become the limiting factor in scenarios where a single core is heavily taxed, such as when many players are in close proximity.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 14185 places it at the 68th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals show it is statistically indistinguishable from the Xeon 6756E and EPYC 7552. The 65W TDP and PCIe Gen 3 interface are standard for the era, but the lack of an unlocked multiplier limits overclocking potential, meaning users cannot compensate for any CPU-bound scenarios through manual tuning.

Resolution Scaling

Analyzing the frame rate drops across resolutions reveals the scaling behavior of this combo. At Low settings, the system achieves 149 FPS at 1080p, 104 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K. This represents a 30% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 58% reduction from 1440p to 4K. At Medium settings, the progression is 102 FPS to 70 FPS to 41 FPS, showing reductions of 31% and 41% respectively. High settings follow a similar pattern: 86 FPS to 59 FPS to 35 FPS, with reductions of 31% and 41%.

The scaling pattern indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more dominant as the limiting component at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU's single-thread performance can keep pace with the GPU, allowing the system to reach 149 FPS on Low. However, the 58% drop from 1440p to 4K at Low settings demonstrates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are severely constrained at higher pixel counts. The 4K Low result of 62 FPS is only slightly above the 1440p High result of 59 FPS, showing that the GPU's workload scales nearly linearly with resolution.

The data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution above 1080p. The consistent 30% penalty from 1080p to 1440p across all settings indicates GPU-bound behavior, as the CPU would show less scaling if it were the limiting factor. At 4K, the GPU's limitations are so pronounced that the CPU is effectively idle, with the system failing to exceed 62 FPS even on the lowest settings. This confirms that users seeking higher frame rates should prioritize GPU upgrades over CPU upgrades for this combo in Rust.