Rust

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti produces a distinctive performance curve in Rust, one that clearly illustrates the balance between CPU and GPU workload at different resolutions. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 147.1 FPS on Low settings, but this drops significantly as resolution increases, reaching 106.1 FPS at 3840x2160 on the same preset. This scaling pattern reveals that the RTX 4070 Ti becomes the primary performance bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the i5-10400F is capable of keeping pace at 1080p. The data indicates a well-matched pairing for high-refresh-rate 1440p gaming, but the GPU’s strength is somewhat constrained by the CPU’s six-core architecture in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frames per second across the three tested resolutions show a clear, predictable degradation as pixel count rises. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings, the average FPS drops from 123.7 to 106.0, a reduction of approximately 14%. The transition to 3840x2160 on the same preset yields 63.0 FPS, which is roughly 41% lower than the 1440p result. This steep decline at 4K strongly suggests that the RTX 4070 Ti’s rendering capabilities are the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are being fully utilized.

The Low preset provides the most illuminating data for understanding the CPU’s role. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 147.1 FPS, which drops to 132.2 FPS at 2560x1440 and 106.1 FPS at 3840x2160. The relatively modest decline between 1080p and 1440p (about 10%) indicates that the i5-10400F is still supplying enough frames to keep the GPU busy, but the larger drop to 4K shows the GPU’s pixel throughput becoming the dominant constraint. Interestingly, the Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute spread across resolutions: 110.4 FPS at 1080p, 78.0 FPS at 1440p, and 43.6 FPS at 4K. This 60% reduction from 1080p to 4K on Ultra highlights how demanding Rust’s highest quality settings are on the GPU, overwhelming even this high-end card.

The scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited, especially on lower presets where the GPU has more headroom. The i5-10400F’s 4.30 GHz boost clock and 12 MB of shared L3 cache provide adequate single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 688. However, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (147.1 versus 110.4 FPS) suggests that even at this resolution, the GPU is still doing meaningful work. At 4K, the GPU is definitively the bottleneck, with the RTX 4070 Ti’s 40.09 TFLOPS FP32 throughput being stretched by the higher pixel count. Players targeting 4K will need to accept either the 106.1 FPS of Low settings or the 43.6 FPS of Ultra, with no middle ground offering a comfortable 60 FPS experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Rust?

A: The highest measured average is 147.1 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. The next highest is 132.2 FPS at 2560x1440 with Low, and 130.2 FPS at 1080p with Medium.

Q: How does the i5-10400F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-10400F has an average benchmark score of 14168, which is 0.4% higher than the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115), 0.8% lower than the AMD Ryzen 3 7320C (14277), and 1.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-8500 (14332). It ranks in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti strong enough for 4K gaming in Rust?

A: At 3840x2160, the combo achieves 106.1 FPS on Low, 72.5 FPS on Medium, 63.0 FPS on High, and 43.6 FPS on Ultra. This indicates that 4K is playable at lower presets, but Ultra settings will result in sub-60 FPS performance.

Q: What is the GPU’s percentile ranking among all GPUs?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 44900. Its closest rival, the RTX 5090 Mobile, scores 45152, which is 0.6% higher.

Q: Does the CPU’s core count impact Rust performance?

A: The i5-10400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its passmark multithread score is 12115 and single-thread score is 2541. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 147.1 FPS, suggesting the CPU can handle high frame rates, but the 4K results indicate GPU limitations rather than CPU constraints.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: This specific pairing ranks 440th out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 25.6% of all systems tested for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide a solid foundation for gaming workloads. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 256 KB of L2 per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache, which helps reduce memory latency in game scenarios. In synthetic tests, the processor achieves a 3dmark 16-thread score of 4748 and a max-thread score of 4735, indicating consistent scaling across all available threads.

Rust’s performance characteristics are revealed when examining the measured FPS data alongside CPU benchmarks. At 1920x1080, the difference between Low (147.1 FPS) and Ultra (110.4 FPS) is 36.7 FPS, or about 25%. This gap suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at 1080p, as the GPU’s workload increases with higher settings. The i5-10400F’s single-thread performance, measured at 688 in 3dmark single-thread and 1453 in cinebench r23 single-core, appears sufficient to feed the RTX 4070 Ti at this resolution.

However, the CPU’s limitations become apparent when looking at the 4K results. At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 106.1 FPS, which is 72% of the 1080p Low result. This relatively high retention suggests that the CPU is still capable of providing frames, but the GPU’s rendering load is the limiting factor. The 3dmark 2-thread score of 1350 and 4-thread score of 2560 indicate that Rust may not be fully utilizing all 12 threads, as the game’s performance scaling with resolution is more pronounced than what a heavily-threaded workload would show. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support provide adequate data throughput for this pairing, but the 12 MB L3 cache is modest by modern standards.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti achieves a rank of 440 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 74.4th percentile of all systems tested. This ranking reflects the overall balance of the pairing, where the GPU’s high-end performance (85th percentile among all GPUs) is partially offset by the CPU’s mid-range positioning (73rd percentile among all CPUs). The system’s average FPS across all measured settings and resolutions is approximately 102.2, which is competitive for a 1440p-focused build.

Comparing the GPU to its nearest rivals provides context for this ranking. The RTX 4070 Ti scores 44900 on average, which is 0.6% lower than the RTX 5090 Mobile (45152) and 1.5% lower than the Intel Arc A730M (45592). It outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 580 (44195) by 1.6% and the Radeon Pro 5500 XT (45642) by 1.6%. These small deltas indicate that the RTX 4070 Ti is tightly clustered with other high-performance GPUs, and the overall combo ranking is more influenced by the CPU’s position relative to its peers.

The CPU’s nearest rivals show similar tight clustering. The i5-10400F’s average score of 14168 is just 0.4% above the AMD EPYC 7552 (14115) and 0.8% below the Ryzen 3 7320C (14277). This suggests that the processor holds its own against server and mobile parts in synthetic benchmarks, but in a gaming context, the 6-core/12-thread configuration may not provide the same headroom as higher-core-count alternatives. The combo’s rank of 440 likely reflects this CPU constraint, as systems with stronger processors but similar GPUs would rank higher in Rust’s CPU-sensitive scenes.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear hierarchy of performance across presets and resolutions. For players seeking the highest frame rates at 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 147.1 FPS, which is 12% higher than Medium (130.2 FPS) and 19% higher than High (123.7 FPS). However, the Ultra preset still achieves 110.4 FPS, which is playable for competitive scenarios. At 2560x1440, the Low preset drops to 132.2 FPS, while Medium and High deliver 113.6 and 106.0 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 78.0 FPS, which provides a smooth experience for most players.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. The Low preset yields 106.1 FPS, which is the only 4K option above 100 FPS. Medium drops to 72.5 FPS, High to 63.0 FPS, and Ultra falls to 43.6 FPS. For a consistent 60 FPS experience at 4K, the High preset is the highest quality option that meets this threshold, albeit narrowly. The Medium preset offers a better safety margin at 72.5 FPS, but the visual difference between Medium and High in Rust can be significant for texture detail and draw distance.

The optimal configuration depends on the target resolution. For 1080p players, the High preset at 123.7 FPS provides a strong balance between visual quality and performance, with the option to drop to Medium (130.2 FPS) for a small gain. At 1440p, Medium (113.6 FPS) or High (106.0 FPS) are both excellent choices, offering near-identical frame rates with High providing better visuals. For 4K, the Low preset (106.1 FPS) is the only option that maintains high frame rates, but players prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate can use High (63.0 FPS) for a playable experience. The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p users who prioritize image quality over frame rate, given the 110.4 FPS result at that resolution.