Rust

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX produces a wide spread of frame rates in Rust, and the pattern across resolutions reveals a system that transitions from CPU-bound at 1080p to GPU-bound at 4K. The measured data provides a clear picture of where the bottleneck shifts as pixel count increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K is steep, indicating that the RX 7900 XTX is the primary scaling factor as resolution climbs. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 175 at 1920x1080 to 154 at 2560x1440, a decline of roughly 12%. Moving to 3840x2160, the average falls further to 107, which is a 39% reduction from the 1080p figure. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has ample headroom at lower resolutions but becomes increasingly taxed as the pixel workload multiplies.

For Medium settings, the same trend holds: 150 FPS at 1080p, 121 FPS at 1440p, and 72 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is particularly sharp at 40%, showing that the 4K resolution demands nearly double the GPU work per frame. High settings follow a similar trajectory, with averages of 141 FPS at 1080p, 102 FPS at 1440p, and 60 FPS at 4K. The percentage decline from 1080p to 4K for High is about 57%, which is the largest relative drop among the presets.

Ultra settings present the most constrained scenario, starting at 113 FPS at 1080p, dropping to 78 FPS at 1440p, and bottoming out at 46 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured point below 60 FPS, indicating that this combination cannot sustain a fluid experience at maximum quality on a 4K display. The scaling data suggests that at 1080p, the i5-11400F's six cores and 12 threads are likely the limiting factor, as the frame rates plateau around 175 FPS even at Low settings. At 4K, the RX 7900 XTX's 24 GB of GDDR6 memory and 960.0 GB/s bandwidth become the dominant constraint, as evidenced by the substantial FPS penalties across all presets.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings?

A: The measured average is 102 FPS at 2560x1440 on High settings, with no minimum or maximum frame data recorded for that configuration.

Q: How does the 4K Ultra preset compare to the 1080p Low preset?

A: The 4K Ultra preset averages 46 FPS, while the 1080p Low preset averages 175 FPS. This represents a 73.7% reduction in average frame rate, highlighting the extreme performance cost of combining the highest resolution with the highest quality preset.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination provides the highest average FPS?

A: The 1920x1080 Low preset delivers the highest measured average at 175 FPS, which is 25 FPS higher than the next best result of 150 FPS at 1920x1080 Medium.

Q: Are there any measured configurations that fail to reach 60 FPS?

A: Yes, the 3840x2160 Ultra preset averages 46 FPS, which is the only measured point below the 60 FPS threshold. The 4K High preset averages exactly 60 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for the 2560x1440 Medium preset?

A: The minimum FPS for the 2560x1440 Medium preset is 103 FPS, with a maximum of 139 FPS, providing a range of 36 FPS.

Q: How does the 1080p Medium preset's minimum FPS compare to its average?

A: The 1920x1080 Medium preset has a minimum FPS of 128 and an average of 150, meaning the minimum is 14.7% below the average, indicating some frame time variance despite a generally high performance level.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX plays a decisive role in the 4K results, where its specifications directly determine the frame rates. The GPU features 24 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 384-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 960.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is substantial, but the data shows that even this high-bandwidth setup cannot fully offset the rendering demands of Rust at 4K Ultra, which averages only 46 FPS. The GPU's boost clock is 2498 MHz, with a game clock of 2365 MHz, and its 6144 shading units are tasked with processing the game's draw calls and lighting calculations.

The RX 7900 XTX's 64th percentile ranking among all GPUs places it above the median, but its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are not modern high-end cards. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB has an average score that is only 0.4% lower, while the NVIDIA Quadro K5200 is 1% higher, and the AMD FirePro D300 is 1.2% higher. This scoring context suggests that the raw compute benchmarks do not fully capture the RX 7900 XTX's gaming performance, as the measured FPS in Rust at 4K High (60 FPS) is respectable but not exceptional for a card with 24 GB of VRAM.

The performance gap between 1440p and 4K across all presets underscores the GPU's role as the bottleneck at higher resolutions. For instance, the drop from 121 FPS at 1440p Medium to 72 FPS at 4K Medium is a 40.5% reduction, which aligns with the pixel count increase from 3.7 million to 8.3 million. The GPU's pixel rate of 479.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 959.2 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits, and the measured data shows that Rust approaches these limits at 4K, particularly with Ultra settings that increase shading and texture workloads.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 7900 XTX ranks 702nd out of 3723 tested combinations in Rust, placing it in the top 18.9% of all systems. This rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 71st percentile standing and the GPU's 64th percentile standing. The i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17177 places it near the AMD EPYC 7H12, which scores 17120 with a delta of 0.3%, and the Intel Core i5-12450H, which scores 17239 with a delta of -0.4%. On the GPU side, the RX 7900 XTX's average score of 19410 is close to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1060 3 GB's 19334, a delta of 0.4%, and the NVIDIA TITAN Xp's 19177, a delta of 1.2%.

The 702nd rank out of 3723 indicates that this combo performs better than the majority of tested systems, but it is not near the top. The high rank is likely driven by the 1080p and 1440p results, where the i5-11400F's six cores can keep up with the GPU's output. At 4K, the combo's rank would be lower if evaluated in isolation, as the 46 FPS Ultra result is below what many other high-end combos would achieve. The data suggests that the RX 7900 XTX is somewhat underutilized at 1080p, where the CPU becomes the limiting factor, capping performance at 175 FPS on Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset at 141 FPS is the best choice for most users, as it provides a 27 FPS improvement over Ultra's 113 FPS while still maintaining a high level of graphical fidelity. The Medium preset at 150 FPS offers a marginal 6.4% gain over High, but the visual difference between Medium and High is typically more noticeable than the frame rate gap, making High the preferred option for a smooth experience.

For 2560x1440, the High preset at 102 FPS is the recommended setting, as it stays above 100 FPS and provides a solid experience. The Medium preset at 121 FPS is faster but may show reduced texture and shadow quality, while the Ultra preset at 78 FPS is still playable but begins to approach the 60 FPS threshold. At 3840x2160, the Low preset at 107 FPS is the only configuration that delivers a high refresh rate experience, while the Medium preset at 72 FPS and High preset at 60 FPS are acceptable for 60 Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 46 FPS should be avoided unless the user prioritizes visual fidelity over playability.

The data indicates that the i5-11400F can handle the game's CPU demands at lower resolutions, but the RX 7900 XTX's performance at 4K Ultra suggests that settings must be tuned down to maintain fluid frame rates. For users with high refresh rate monitors at 1080p, the High preset is the sweet spot, while 4K users should stick to Low or Medium presets to stay above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frames per second span a wide range across presets. Low settings average 175 FPS, Medium averages 150 FPS with a minimum of 128 and a maximum of 173, High averages 141 FPS, and Ultra averages 113 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 62 FPS, a 35.4% reduction, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a significant cost. The Medium preset's minimum of 128 FPS indicates that even the lower bound remains above 120 FPS, making it a strong choice for competitive play.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop across all presets. Low averages 154 FPS, Medium averages 121 FPS with a minimum of 103 and a maximum of 139, High averages 102 FPS, and Ultra averages 78 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 76 FPS, a 49.4% reduction. The Medium preset's minimum of 103 FPS is still above 100, but the High preset's average of 102 FPS is close to that threshold, suggesting that frame dips below 100 are possible on High.

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens considerably. Low averages 107 FPS, Medium averages 72 FPS with a minimum of 61 and a maximum of 82, High averages 60 FPS, and Ultra averages 46 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 61 FPS is just above the 60 FPS target, but the High preset's average of 60 FPS means that any frame time spike could drop below 60. The Ultra preset's 46 FPS average is 23.3% below the 60 FPS target, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay on a 4K display. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 57% reduction in average FPS, from 107 to 46, illustrating the dramatic impact of the Ultra preset at this resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a six-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are adequate for gaming workloads, but the data suggests that the CPU becomes a bottleneck at 1080p. The 175 FPS average at 1080p Low is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game, as the frame rate does not increase substantially when settings are lowered further. The CPU's 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates it is above average, but its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7H12 and Intel Core i5-12450H, both of which have similar average scores within 0.6%.

The CPU's single-thread performance, as measured by benchmarks like Cinebench R23 single-core at 2024 and Geekbench single-core at 1777, is sufficient to drive high frame rates in Rust, which relies heavily on single-threaded physics and entity updates. However, the 4K results show that the CPU's role diminishes as the GPU becomes the limiting factor. At 4K Ultra, the 46 FPS average is entirely GPU-bound, as the CPU's 12 threads are not fully utilized at such low frame rates. The CPU's 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP indicate a modest power envelope, but the performance data shows that it can feed the RX 7900 XTX adequately at 1080p and 1440p, with the GPU taking over as the primary constraint at 4K. The lack of integrated graphics on this CPU means all rendering is handled by the discrete GPU, which is appropriate for this pairing.