Rust

# Rust with Intel Core i5-11400F + Intel Arc B390

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 delivers playable frame rates in Rust only at 1080p with Low settings, where it hits 76 FPS average. Beyond that configuration, performance degrades sharply: 4K Ultra produces just 13 FPS average, and even 1440p Medium only reaches 35 FPS. This combination ranks 2601st out of 2953 tested CPU/GPU pairs in Rust, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations. The data indicates a system that is heavily GPU-limited across all resolutions, with the Arc B390's integrated-class performance (9th percentile among all GPUs) bottlenecking the otherwise capable six-core processor.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a predictable but steep decline as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 23 FPS (76 to 53, a 30% reduction), and the further drop to 4K costs another 22 FPS (53 to 31, a 42% reduction from 1440p). This scaling pattern — where each resolution step costs roughly a third of the remaining performance — is characteristic of a GPU that is already near its limits at the lowest settings.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds but with lower absolute numbers: 51 FPS at 1080p, 35 FPS at 1440p, and 21 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are similar (31% from 1080p to 1440p, 40% from 1440p to 4K), confirming that resolution scaling is consistent regardless of quality preset. High settings show 43 FPS at 1080p, 30 FPS at 1440p, and 18 FPS at 4K, while Ultra settings bottom out at 33 FPS, 23 FPS, and 13 FPS respectively.

The pattern across all four settings presets is unambiguous: the Arc B390 cannot maintain playable frame rates above 1080p. Even at Low settings, 1440p produces 53 FPS which is technically playable but marginal, and 4K Low at 31 FPS falls below acceptable thresholds for a survival game where quick reactions matter. The scaling data points to the GPU as the limiting component — if the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller frame rate differences between resolutions as the GPU would be waiting on processor throughput. Instead, the consistent 30-40% drops per resolution step indicate the GPU's rendering throughput is the constraint.

FAQ

Q: Is this combination capable of running Rust at 1080p?

A: Yes, but only at Low settings where it averages 76 FPS. Medium drops to 51 FPS, High to 43 FPS, and Ultra to 33 FPS. For competitive play, Low settings at 1080p is the only configuration that reliably exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in terms of raw benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B390 scores 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% ahead of the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% ahead of the GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% ahead of the GT 710 (1443). These are all extremely low-end GPUs, confirming the Arc B390's position in the 9th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Low settings produce 53 FPS average, Medium produces 35 FPS (with a range of 30-41 FPS), High produces 30 FPS, and Ultra produces 23 FPS. Only Low settings approach playable territory at this resolution.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this processor and GPU combination in Rust?

A: No. At 4K, even Low settings only achieve 31 FPS average, while Medium, High, and Ultra produce 21, 18, and 13 FPS respectively. The minimum recorded frame rate at 4K Medium is 18 FPS, which would result in a stuttery, unresponsive experience in a survival game.

Q: How does the Core i5-11400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177, placing it 0.3% above the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120), 0.6% above the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074), 0.4% below the Intel Core i5-12450H (17239), and 0.6% below the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278). It sits in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, indicating solid mid-range processor performance.

Q: Does the CPU's single-thread performance matter for Rust?

A: The i5-11400F scores 868 in 3DMark single-thread, 204 in Cinebench R15 single-core, 850 in R20 single-core, and 2024 in R23 single-core. These scores are respectable for a desktop CPU, but given that the GPU is the bottleneck in nearly all tested configurations, the CPU's single-thread capabilities are unlikely to be the limiting factor in Rust gameplay.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the dominant performance constraint in this configuration. Its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are all legacy NVIDIA parts from over a decade ago — the GT 520MX, GeForce 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710. The benchmark data shows this GPU is fundamentally not designed for modern gaming workloads at high resolutions.

The Arc B390's specifications reveal why: it operates with system-shared memory, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM allocation. The base clock is 300 MHz with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and the memory bandwidth is listed as "System Dependent," which typically means it shares system RAM bandwidth rather than having dedicated high-speed VRAM. With 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, the GPU has the compute resources of a low-end integrated solution. The pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s are modest figures that explain the frame rate limitations observed in Rust.

The relationship between these specifications and the measured results is clear. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 76 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 31 FPS — a 59% reduction. This dramatic scaling with resolution strongly indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are insufficient for high-resolution rendering. The system-shared memory architecture means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, further limiting performance in a game like Rust that has large world maps and many entities to render.

The RT cores (12) and DirectX 12 Ultimate support indicate the GPU is architecturally modern, but the actual rendering throughput is what matters in practice. Rust does not heavily utilize ray tracing, so the RT core count is largely irrelevant to the measured performance. What matters is the raw rasterization performance, and the 24 ROPs and 48 TMUs are simply insufficient for 4K rendering in a game with Rust's draw distance and object density.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the only configuration that delivers a consistently playable experience is 1080p with Low settings, producing 76 FPS average. This is the recommended setup for this hardware combination. The 1080p Medium preset at 51 FPS average is the fallback option if visual quality is prioritized over frame rate, but the 44 FPS minimum recorded at this setting could cause noticeable stuttering during intense moments.

At 1080p High (43 FPS) and Ultra (33 FPS), the frame rates fall below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider ideal for a survival game where combat and resource gathering require responsive controls. The 1440p and 4K configurations are not recommended — even at Low settings, 1440p only achieves 53 FPS, and the 4K Low result of 31 FPS is below playable standards.

The data suggests that players should prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity with this combination. Rust's gameplay mechanics — including player versus player combat, building mechanics, and environmental hazards — benefit significantly from higher frame rates. The 76 FPS at 1080p Low versus 43 FPS at 1080p High represents a 77% performance improvement for what is likely a modest visual difference in a game with Rust's art style. If the system must run at higher settings, 1080p Medium at 51 FPS is the maximum recommended quality preset, accepting that the minimum frame rate of 44 FPS may occasionally dip below ideal levels.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings produces a clear hierarchy: Low settings achieve 76 FPS average, Medium produces 51 FPS (with minimum 44 and maximum 59), High produces 43 FPS, and Ultra produces 33 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium is 25 FPS (49% improvement from Medium to Low), while the gap between Medium and High is 8 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 10 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that Low settings remove specific rendering features that have outsized performance costs.

At 2560x1440, performance drops across all settings: Low produces 53 FPS, Medium produces 35 FPS (minimum 30, maximum 41), High produces 30 FPS, and Ultra produces 23 FPS. The difference between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings is 23 FPS (76 to 53), representing a 30% reduction. At Medium, the drop is 16 FPS (51 to 35, a 31% reduction), and at High and Ultra the drops are 13 FPS and 10 FPS respectively.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely unplayable: Low produces 31 FPS, Medium produces 21 FPS (minimum 18, maximum 24), High produces 18 FPS, and Ultra produces 13 FPS. The transition from 1440p to 4K costs 22 FPS at Low (53 to 31, a 42% reduction), 14 FPS at Medium (35 to 21, a 40% reduction), 12 FPS at High (30 to 18, a 40% reduction), and 10 FPS at Ultra (23 to 13, a 43% reduction). The consistency of these percentage reductions across settings confirms that resolution scaling is the primary performance factor, independent of quality preset.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F provides more than sufficient processing power for Rust, and the benchmark data indicates the CPU is rarely the bottleneck. With 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, this processor delivers strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and single-core score of 2024 place it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17177.

Rust is known to be a CPU-intensive game due to its large persistent worlds, entity tracking, and physics calculations. However, the measured FPS data in this configuration shows that the GPU is the limiting factor. Evidence for this comes from the resolution scaling: if the CPU were the bottleneck, frame rates would remain relatively constant across resolutions as the GPU would be waiting for CPU calculations. Instead, we observe consistent 30-40% performance drops when moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K, which is the signature of GPU limitation.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120, 0.3% lower), Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074, 0.6% lower), Intel Core i5-12450H (17239, 0.4% higher), and AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278, 0.6% higher). These comparisons show the i5-11400F is squarely in mid-range territory for overall CPU performance. Its 3DMark results show strong scaling from 2 threads (1691) to 4 threads (3171) to 8 threads (4691) and up to max threads (5652), indicating good multi-threading efficiency.

The CPU's cache configuration — 80 KB L1 per core, 512 KB L2 per core, and 12 MB shared L3 — is adequate for Rust's working set. The 51.2 GB/s dual-channel DDR4 memory bandwidth may become a factor in scenarios with many entities on screen, but the observed frame rates are far more consistent with GPU limitations. The PassMark multi-thread score of 16908 and single-thread score of 2981 further confirm that the processor can handle the game's logic, but it cannot compensate for the Arc B390's rendering constraints. Players seeking higher frame rates in Rust should prioritize GPU upgrades over CPU changes, as the i5-11400F has headroom that the current GPU cannot utilize.