Rust

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB delivers a mid-range 1080p experience in Rust, but the data reveals a system that scales predictably with resolution and settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 167.1 FPS, indicating a strong headroom for competitive play, yet the Ultra preset drops to 74.7 FPS, showing the graphical load’s impact. The combination ranks 870th out of 1717 tested combos, placing it just inside the top half of the database, a position that reflects its balanced but not exceptional performance profile.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent decline as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 97.4 FPS at 1080p to 68.6 FPS at 1440p, a reduction of 28.8 FPS, and then to 38.8 FPS at 4K, representing a further drop of 29.8 FPS. This pattern indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions; the workload scales heavily with pixel count, and the RX 9060 XT’s 8 GB GDDR6 memory and 128-bit bus width struggle to maintain frame rates as the resolution demands more memory bandwidth and fill rate.

The scaling from 1440p to 4K is particularly steep. At Medium settings, the frame rate goes from 81 FPS at 1440p to 44.8 FPS at 4K, a 44.7% decrease. This steep drop suggests that the GPU’s 322.3 GB/s bandwidth is saturated at 4K, especially with the game’s complex textures and draw distances. Conversely, the transition from 1080p to 1440p is less punishing, with a 29.6% drop at High settings (97.4 FPS to 68.6 FPS), implying that the CPU can still feed the GPU adequately at these resolutions, and the bottleneck shifts more gradually.

At Low settings, the resolution scaling is more linear. The combo produces 167.1 FPS at 1080p, 114.4 FPS at 1440p, and 69.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is notably higher than the High preset’s 4K result, showing that reducing graphical quality alleviates the GPU load significantly. This data suggests that for 4K gaming, the user must rely on Low settings to achieve a playable frame rate, while 1080p and 1440p offer more flexibility across the settings spectrum. The scaling behavior overall indicates a GPU-bound system at 4K, with the CPU’s 6 cores and 12 threads providing sufficient throughput at lower resolutions.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is the decisive component in this combo’s performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its boost clock of 3130 MHz and game clock of 2530 MHz are high, but the memory configuration—8 GB GDDR6 on a 128-bit bus with 322.3 GB/s bandwidth—appears to be a limiting factor. In Rust, which is known for heavy asset streaming and large world maps, the 8 GB capacity can become a constraint, especially at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS falls to 28.2. This low figure indicates that the GPU is not only bandwidth-limited but also possibly VRAM-limited, as the game tries to load more textures and geometry into memory.

The GPU’s raw compute capabilities, including 2048 shading units and 64 ROPs, are modest, but the architecture’s efficiency is demonstrated by the 1080p Low result of 167.1 FPS. The pixel rate of 200.3 GPixel/s and texture rate of 400.6 GTexel/s are sufficient for lower resolutions, but the 4K results show a clear ceiling. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K is substantial: 69.4 FPS versus 28.2 FPS, a 41.2 FPS difference. This indicates that the GPU’s fixed-function units, such as the 32 RT cores, are not heavily utilized in Rust at these settings, but the shading and memory subsystems are overwhelmed by the Ultra preset’s demands.

The GPU’s 150 W TDP and PCIe 5.0 x16 interface suggest a modern design, but the benchmark data shows it performs at the 50th percentile among all GPUs, meaning it is an average performer. The lack of nearest rivals in the fact pack for the GPU means we cannot compare it directly to other cards, but the FPS data alone illustrates its role: it provides a smooth 1080p experience at High and Medium settings, but 4K gaming requires significant compromises. The 8 GB memory size is a critical factor, as Rust’s memory footprint can exceed this capacity at higher settings, leading to potential stuttering or texture pop-in, though the average FPS figures do not capture those transient issues.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F, with 6 cores and 12 threads, plays a supporting role in this combo, and its influence is most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. The CPU’s base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with a 12 MB shared L3 cache, provide solid single-threaded performance, as evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2029. In Rust, which relies heavily on a single main thread for game logic and physics, this single-thread performance is crucial.

At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 167.1 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can drive the GPU to high frame rates without bottlenecking. However, the CPU’s multi-threaded capabilities are also relevant, as Rust uses multiple threads for world generation and entity processing. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14372 and 3DMark max threads score of 5652 indicate that it can handle these parallel tasks adequately. The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181, places it in a competitive position, but it is not a top-tier processor.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17189 (0% delta), and the Intel Core i7-1260P, which scores 17212 (-0.2% delta). These comparisons show that the i5-11400F is on par with these mobile-oriented chips, suggesting that its desktop performance is respectable but not outstanding. In this game, the CPU’s role is to maintain a stable frame delivery, particularly at 1080p, where the data shows less variance between settings compared to 4K. For instance, at 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 92.4 FPS (167.1 to 74.7), while at 4K, the difference is 41.2 FPS (69.4 to 28.2). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU has more headroom to push frame rates, while at 4K, the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 870 out of 1717 tested combinations places it in the 49.3rd percentile, meaning it outperforms slightly less than half of all tested systems. This mid-pack position is consistent with the individual component profiles: the CPU is a 75th percentile performer, but the GPU sits at the 50th percentile, pulling the overall ranking down. The data suggests that this combo is well-balanced for 1080p gaming, but it does not excel in any particular area, making it a solid but unremarkable choice for Rust.

Compared to other combos in the database, this system’s performance is neither a standout nor a laggard. The rank indicates that many other configurations, likely with higher-end GPUs or CPUs, achieve better frame rates, but there are also many that perform worse. The combo’s performance is heavily dependent on the GPU, as evidenced by the resolution scaling, so users with this system should expect to prioritize 1080p or 1440p gaming for the best experience. The fact that it ranks 870th suggests that while it can handle Rust, it will not provide the highest-end experience, and users seeking 4K Ultra performance would need to look at higher-tier GPUs.

The ranking also reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU. If the CPU were significantly weaker, the 1080p results would likely be lower, but the i5-11400F’s strong single-thread performance ensures that the GPU is not starved at lower resolutions. Conversely, if the GPU were stronger, the 4K results would improve, but the RX 9060 XT’s memory and bandwidth limitations cap its potential. This combo, therefore, represents a typical mid-range pairing that is best suited for 1080p High or 1440p Medium settings, as the FPS data will show.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset yields an average of 167.1 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset, indicating a very playable and smooth experience for competitive or fast-paced play. The Medium preset drops to 112.4 FPS, still well above the 60 FPS threshold, while High produces 97.4 FPS, and Ultra falls to 74.7 FPS. This range shows that at 1080p, all settings are playable, with even the most demanding preset maintaining a comfortable frame rate.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance decreases noticeably. Low settings produce 114.4 FPS, which is still high, but Medium drops to 81 FPS, High to 68.6 FPS, and Ultra to 52.8 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is the first instance where the average frame rate falls below 60 FPS, indicating that this resolution and setting combination is borderline for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low settings achieve 69.4 FPS, which is playable, but Medium drops to 44.8 FPS, High to 38.8 FPS, and Ultra to 28.2 FPS. These figures clearly show that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, and even then, the frame rate is not exceptionally high.

The data also reveals the scaling efficiency of the GPU. From 1080p to 1440p at High settings, the frame rate drops by 28.8 FPS (97.4 to 68.6), and from 1440p to 4K, it drops by another 29.8 FPS (68.6 to 38.8). This consistent drop suggests a linear relationship with pixel count, but the actual percentages show a steeper decline at higher resolutions. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 52.7 FPS (167.1 to 114.4), and from 1440p to 4K is 45 FPS (114.4 to 69.4), indicating that the GPU’s memory bandwidth is a more significant constraint at 4K. Overall, the measured FPS breakdown confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for those willing to compromise on visual quality.