Rust

The Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination delivers a performance profile in Rust that is heavily dictated by resolution and graphics settings. The measured data reveals a system that can handle competitive frame rates at 1080p but struggles to maintain playability at 4K, with the scaling pattern pointing directly at the GPU as the primary bottleneck in this pairing.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate collapse from 1080p to 4K is stark and tells a clear story about where the limiting component lies. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 126.7 FPS, which drops to 86.3 FPS at 1440p — a 31.9% reduction — and then plummets to 48.6 FPS at 4K, representing a 61.6% decline from the 1080p baseline. This steep, consistent drop as pixel count rises is the classic signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

Examining the High preset tells a similar tale. The system manages 71.5 FPS at 1080p, falls to 50.7 FPS at 1440p (a 29.1% decrease), and then sinks to 30.3 FPS at 4K, which is a 57.6% reduction from 1080p. The pattern repeats across Medium and Ultra settings: every resolution step upward produces a proportionally large FPS loss, indicating that the RTX 2060's rendering throughput is the ceiling. The CPU is not the constraint here; if it were, the frame rate would remain relatively flat when lowering resolution, as the processor's workload would stay constant. Instead, the data shows FPS scaling almost directly with the number of pixels being rendered.

The most telling comparison is between the Low and Ultra presets at each resolution. At 1080p, the gap between Low (126.7 FPS) and Ultra (55.8 FPS) is 70.9 FPS, but at 4K that gap narrows to just 26.4 FPS (48.6 vs 22.2). This compression at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is saturated; when the pixel workload becomes extreme, even dropping from Ultra to Low cannot double the frame rate, because the graphics card is already operating at its maximum capacity. The data suggests that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this pairing if the goal is a smooth experience, while 4K is only viable for screenshot-style play or very undemanding scenes.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process. Its specifications include 1,920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 render output units, alongside 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores. The GPU has a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 336.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

These specifications directly explain the measured results. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Rust at 1080p and 1440p, as evidenced by the playable frame rates at those resolutions. However, at 4K, the combination of higher memory pressure and the sheer pixel fill rate required becomes overwhelming. The 22.2 FPS average at 4K Ultra is not just a matter of compute throughput; it also reflects the memory subsystem being pushed to its limit. The 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, while respectable for the era, is simply not enough to feed the render output units at 4K resolutions with high-detail textures.

The GPU's dual-slot design and 160 W TDP indicate a mid-range card that was never intended for 4K gaming, and the benchmark results align with that positioning. The RTX 2060's percentile ranking of 58 among all GPUs puts it slightly above the median, and its nearest rivals in the database are the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (0.5% higher average score) and the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (1.7% lower). This places it in a competitive but not dominant tier, which is consistent with a card that can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming but falls short at 4K. The data shows that the GPU's role in this system is to provide solid mid-range performance, with its 6 GB memory and 192-bit bus being the key limitations at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

In the broader context of all tested combinations in Rust, this pairing of the Core i5-11400F and RTX 2060 achieves a rank of 1,366 out of 1,717 combos. This places it in the bottom 20.5% of all systems tested, which is a notable finding given that the individual components each sit near the middle of their respective benchmarks. The CPU has a percentile rank of 75 among all processors, and the GPU has a percentile rank of 58, yet together they land in the lower quintile for this specific game.

This discrepancy suggests that Rust is particularly demanding on the combination as a whole, or that the game's optimization favors other hardware configurations. The rank implies that a significant majority of competing systems deliver higher frame rates in Rust, which is likely due to the game's heavy reliance on both CPU single-thread performance and sustained GPU throughput. The i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz are capable, but the data indicates that many other combos in the database outperform it in this title.

The gap between the component-level percentiles and the in-game rank is a useful investigative clue. It suggests that Rust may be more sensitive to GPU memory bandwidth or cache architecture than the raw benchmark scores capture. The RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, while adequate for many games, may be a limiting factor in Rust's open-world environments where texture streaming and draw distances are extensive. The 1,366th place ranking serves as a warning that this combo, while balanced on paper, does not translate to top-tier performance in this particular survival title.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset offers the best experience for this hardware. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 126.7 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play but sacrifices visual quality. The Medium preset at 85.3 FPS represents a strong middle ground, offering a 32.7% frame rate reduction from Low while significantly improving the visual presentation. High at 71.5 FPS is still smooth for most players, but Ultra at 55.8 FPS begins to approach the threshold where fast-paced combat may feel less responsive.

For 1440p, the analysis changes. Low produces 86.3 FPS, which is very playable, but Medium drops to 55.7 FPS, and High falls to 50.7 FPS. The step from Low to Medium at 1440p costs 30.6 FPS, which is a substantial sacrifice. Given that Rust is a game where situational awareness matters, the data suggests that Medium at 1440p is the sweet spot — it maintains a frame rate above 55 FPS while providing enough visual detail to spot distant threats. High at 1440p is borderline, and Ultra at 38.1 FPS is likely too choppy for active play.

At 4K, none of the presets deliver a consistently smooth experience. Low at 48.6 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but even this will feel inconsistent during busy scenes. Medium at 36.1 FPS and High at 30.3 FPS are marginal, while Ultra at 22.2 FPS is effectively a slideshow. The recommendation is clear: if the display is 4K, the user should either lower the resolution or accept the Low preset as the only viable option. For 1080p and 1440p displays, Medium offers the best balance of visual fidelity and frame rate, with High being a reasonable alternative for those who prioritize graphics over responsiveness.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Rust?

A: The data shows 1080p is the strongest resolution, with all presets except Ultra exceeding 70 FPS. At 1440p, only the Low preset exceeds 80 FPS, while Medium and High stay in the 50-56 FPS range. 4K is not recommended as even Low only reaches 48.6 FPS.

Q: How much does the Ultra preset cost in frame rate compared to Low?

A: At 1080p, Ultra produces 55.8 FPS versus 126.7 FPS for Low, a difference of 70.9 FPS. At 1440p, the gap narrows to 48.2 FPS (38.1 vs 86.3), and at 4K it shrinks to 26.4 FPS (22.2 vs 48.6).

Q: Is the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM sufficient for Rust?

A: The measured results indicate that 6 GB is enough for playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across all presets. At 4K, the combination of VRAM capacity and bandwidth appears to be a limiting factor, as the highest FPS at that resolution is 48.6 on Low settings.

Q: How does this combo rank against all other tested systems in Rust?

A: This pairing of the Core i5-11400F and RTX 2060 ranks 1,366th out of 1,717 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 20.5% of systems for this specific game.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, Medium averages 55.7 FPS while High averages 50.7 FPS, a difference of 5.0 FPS. This is a smaller gap than at 1080p, where Medium (85.3 FPS) trails High (71.5 FPS) by 13.8 FPS.

Q: Does lowering the resolution from 1080p to 4K scale linearly in performance?

A: No. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 40.4 FPS, and from 1440p to 4K is 37.7 FPS. The scaling is roughly linear in absolute terms, but the percentage loss is steeper at the higher resolution step, indicating increasing GPU saturation.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 512 KB of L2 cache per core. Its benchmark scores show solid single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,029.

In Rust, the CPU's role is to handle game logic, physics, and entity updates, which are often single-thread heavy. The i5-11400F's boost clock of 4.40 GHz is well-suited for this type of workload, and the measured frame rates at 1080p Low (126.7 FPS) suggest that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at lower resolutions. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 1,691 and 4-thread score of 3,171 indicate strong dual and quad-core performance, which is relevant for a game that may not fully utilize all 12 threads.

However, the combo's overall rank of 1,366 out of 1,717 suggests that the CPU's performance, while solid, is not exceptional in this title. The CPU's percentile rank of 75 among all processors is higher than the GPU's rank of 58, yet the in-game performance is in the bottom 20%. This could indicate that Rust's engine is more sensitive to certain CPU characteristics, such as cache latency or memory bandwidth, than to raw core count. The i5-11400F supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth, which is standard for the platform but may be a limiting factor in a game that streams large amounts of world data.

The data implies that while the CPU is capable, it is not the component that boosts this combo's standing in Rust. The processor's Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14,372 shows it can handle heavy multithreaded workloads, but the game's performance is likely gated by the GPU at higher resolutions and by a mix of CPU and GPU at lower settings. For users considering this CPU, the benchmark results suggest it provides a balanced foundation, but the overall system performance in Rust is constrained more by the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in Rust is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 126.7 FPS, the Medium preset delivers 85.3 FPS, the High preset delivers 71.5 FPS, and the Ultra preset delivers 55.8 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 70.9 FPS, with each step up in quality costing roughly 14 to 15 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 86.3 FPS, Medium averages 55.7 FPS, High averages 50.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 38.1 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 30.6 FPS, which is the largest single-step decline at this resolution, while the difference between Medium and High is just 5.0 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 48.6 FPS, Medium averages 36.1 FPS, High averages 30.3 FPS, and Ultra averages 22.2 FPS. The scaling here is more compressed, with the total range from Low to Ultra being 26.4 FPS. The step from High to Ultra costs 8.1 FPS, which is proportionally larger than the 5.0 FPS difference seen at 1440p.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset shows the most significant absolute drops: from 126.7 at 1080p to 86.3 at 1440p (a 40.4 FPS loss), and then to 48.6 at 4K (a 37.7 FPS loss). The Ultra preset follows a similar pattern with drops of 17.7 FPS (55.8 to 38.1) and 15.9 FPS (38.1 to 22.2). These numbers together paint a picture of a system that performs admirably at 1080p, acceptably at 1440p with lower settings, and marginally at 4K regardless of settings. The data is measured and consistent, providing a reliable reference for what this hardware combination can achieve in Rust.