Rust

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT delivers a highly playable Rust experience at 1080p, but the data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution climbs. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 138.7 FPS, which drops to 94 FPS at Medium, 78.5 FPS at High, and 61.9 FPS at Ultra. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages fall to 90.8 FPS (Low), 64.9 FPS (Medium), 52.5 FPS (High), and 39.3 FPS (Ultra). At 3840x2160, the picture becomes challenging: Low settings yield 54.7 FPS, Medium drops to 36.7 FPS, High falls to 28.4 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 26.3 FPS. This pattern suggests that the RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p, but the GPU’s raw compute—9.754 TFLOPS FP32—becomes the limiting factor at 4K, where even Low settings cannot maintain a smooth 60 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and non-linear. At Low settings, the transition from 1920x1080 (138.7 FPS) to 2560x1440 (90.8 FPS) represents a 34.5% reduction in frame rate, while moving from 1440p to 3840x2160 (54.7 FPS) costs another 39.8%. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads at up to 4.40 GHz boost are unlikely to be saturated when the pixel count quadruples. At Ultra settings, the scaling is even harsher: 1080p delivers 61.9 FPS, 1440p drops to 39.3 FPS (a 36.5% loss), and 4K falls to 26.3 FPS (a 33.1% loss from 1440p). The data implies that Rust’s visual effects at Ultra—likely including shadows, reflections, and draw distances—place an outsized burden on the RDNA 1.0 architecture, whose 64 ROPs and 160 TMUs struggle to keep pace with 4K pixel throughput. Notably, the gap between Low and Ultra widens as resolution increases: at 1080p, Ultra is 55.4% slower than Low, but at 4K, Ultra is 51.9% slower, suggesting that the GPU’s memory subsystem, not just shading units, is being saturated.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience per the measured rows, the data strongly favors 1080p Medium as the sweet spot. At 94 FPS, Medium delivers a 51.7% improvement over High (78.5 FPS) while only sacrificing 36.7% of the frame rate compared to Low (138.7 FPS). This setting likely balances visual fidelity with responsiveness, making it ideal for Rust’s competitive survival gameplay where twitch reactions matter. At 1440p, the choice is more constrained: Medium at 64.9 FPS is playable, but High at 52.5 FPS may feel sluggish for fast-paced encounters. For 4K, the data suggests Low at 54.7 FPS is the only viable option, as Medium (36.7 FPS) and High (28.4 FPS) fall below the threshold for smooth gameplay. Interestingly, the jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 15.5 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 16.6 FPS, indicating that Ultra settings provide diminishing returns relative to their performance penalty. Players prioritizing frame rate over eye candy should stick to Low or Medium, as the 26.3 FPS at 4K Ultra is essentially unplayable.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos, this specific pairing ranks 1269th out of 1717 combinations, placing it in the 26th percentile of all systems evaluated. This rank reflects a mid-tier position, consistent with the CPU’s 75th percentile among all CPUs and the GPU’s 68th percentile among all GPUs. The combo’s performance in Rust aligns with these component-level percentiles, though the game’s demanding nature at high resolutions pulls the overall experience down. The CPU’s nearest rivals—the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (avgScore 17189, deltaPct 0), Intel Core i7-1260P (avgScore 17212, deltaPct -0.2), and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (avgScore 17215, deltaPct -0.2)—are all within 0.2% of the i5-11400F’s average benchmark score of 17181, indicating that the CPU is not a differentiator in this system. Similarly, the GPU’s nearest rivals—NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (avgScore 24763, deltaPct -0.1), Intel Arc A350M (avgScore 24647, deltaPct 0.3), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Mobile (avgScore 24592, deltaPct 0.6)—are all within 0.9% of the RX 5700 XT’s average score of 24731. This tight clustering suggests that the combo’s rank is driven more by the game’s specific workload than by raw component strength, as Rust appears to penalize the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM capacity at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Rust at 60 FPS on 1440p?

A: Yes, but only at Low (90.8 FPS) or Medium (64.9 FPS) settings. High (52.5 FPS) and Ultra (39.3 FPS) fall below 60 FPS, so users must compromise on visual quality to maintain smooth gameplay.

Q: What is the best resolution for this system?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the most consistent choice, with all settings exceeding 61.9 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium are viable, while 4K is limited to Low (54.7 FPS) for acceptable performance.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, which is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, deltaPct 0) and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212) and Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17215). This indicates no meaningful CPU bottleneck in Rust.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor at 4K?

A: Yes. At 3840x2160, even Low settings only reach 54.7 FPS, while Ultra drops to 26.3 FPS. The RX 5700 XT’s 8 GB VRAM and 9.754 TFLOPS FP32 performance are insufficient for 4K Ultra, as evidenced by the steep FPS drop from 1440p.

Q: What settings provide the best frame rate per visual quality?

A: At 1080p, Medium (94 FPS) offers the best balance, being 51.7% faster than High while retaining most visual features. At 1440p, Medium (64.9 FPS) is the recommended choice, as Low (90.8 FPS) sacrifices too much detail.

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

A: It ranks 1269th out of 1717 combos, placing it in the lower-middle tier. This is consistent with the GPU’s 68th percentile standing, suggesting the RX 5700 XT holds the combo back in Rust’s demanding scenes.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured FPS patterns. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, the GPU has ample memory throughput for 1080p and 1440p, but 4K textures and effects can exceed this capacity. The GPU’s 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 64 ROPs are configured for 1440p-class gaming, as evidenced by the 90.8 FPS at 1440p Low. However, the base clock of 1605 MHz and boost clock of 1905 MHz (with a game clock of 1755 MHz) are modest by modern standards, and the 7 nm RDNA 1.0 architecture lacks the efficiency of newer designs. The GPU’s passmark G3D score of 16277 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 2134 place it at the 68th percentile, but Rust’s open-world rendering appears to stress the GPU’s fill rate. At 4K Ultra, the 26.3 FPS average suggests the GPU is completely saturated, likely due to the 121.9 GPixel/s pixel rate being insufficient for 8.3 million pixels per frame. The GPU’s nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A5000 Mobile (avgScore 24763, deltaPct -0.1), is virtually identical in synthetic benchmarks, yet the RX 5700 XT’s driver overhead in Rust may contribute to the steep 4K performance drop.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides a solid foundation for Rust, though its role is secondary to the GPU. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the CPU leverages its 12 MB of shared L3 cache to handle Rust’s world simulation and entity tracking. The base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz are adequate for maintaining frame pacing, as evidenced by the 138.7 FPS at 1080p Low, which is likely CPU-bound in certain scenes. The CPU’s 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth (dual-channel DDR4) matches the GPU’s 448.0 GB/s VRAM bandwidth, preventing a memory subsystem bottleneck. Synthetic benchmarks reinforce this: the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14372 and single-core score of 2029 place the CPU in the 75th percentile, and its Passmark multithread score of 16908 indicates strong multi-threaded performance for Rust’s server-side simulation. However, the CPU’s nearest rivals are all within 0.2% in average score, meaning that swapping to a Ryzen 7 5700U or Core i7-1260P would yield negligible FPS changes. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and 14 nm process node are modest, but the data shows no thermal throttling impact, as FPS scales consistently with resolution changes. At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes further, as the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck, explaining why 4K Low (54.7 FPS) is still far below 1080p Low (138.7 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results: Low settings average 138.7 FPS, Medium averages 94 FPS, High averages 78.5 FPS, and Ultra averages 61.9 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 44.7 FPS, while Medium to High costs 15.5 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 16.6 FPS, showing diminishing returns at higher presets. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages are 90.8 FPS (Low), 64.9 FPS (Medium), 52.5 FPS (High), and 39.3 FPS (Ultra). The resolution increase from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by 34.5% at Low, 31.0% at Medium, 33.1% at High, and 36.5% at Ultra, indicating a consistent ~33% penalty across settings. At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 54.7 FPS (Low), 36.7 FPS (Medium), 28.4 FPS (High), and 26.3 FPS (Ultra). The 4K to 1440p drop is 39.8% at Low, 43.5% at Medium, 45.9% at High, and 33.1% at Ultra, showing that the GPU’s compute limits are hit hardest at Medium and High. Across all resolutions, the Ultra preset at 4K (26.3 FPS) is 81.0% slower than the Low preset at 1080p (138.7 FPS), underscoring the GPU-bound nature of this combo. The data reveals that the RX 5700 XT can handle 1080p Ultra (61.9 FPS) comfortably, but 4K requires Low settings for playability, and even then, the 54.7 FPS average is barely above the 50 FPS threshold for smooth survival gameplay.