Rust

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 lands at rank 774 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. This percentile positioning—roughly the 45th percentile—is notable given that both components sit at the 75th and 72nd percentile respectively when compared against all CPUs and GPUs. The gap between component-level percentiles and the in-game ranking suggests Rust's engine does not fully reward the raw compute strengths of this pairing.

The RTX 3070's average benchmark score of 28238 places it within 1% of the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (27985, deltaPct 0.9) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (27956, deltaPct 1). Meanwhile, the i5-11400F's average score of 17181 is virtually identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, deltaPct 0), a mobile-focused chip. This near-parity in synthetic benchmarks does not translate to identical gaming behavior, as the desktop i5's higher sustained clocks and the discrete GPU's dedicated memory bandwidth likely influence Rust's demanding simulation and rendering loops differently.

The ranking data implies that while this combo is not a top-tier contender in Rust, it is far from underpowered. The 774th position out of 1717 means the majority of tested combos—about 943—deliver higher average FPS. However, the measured FPS at 1080p High (106.4) and 1440p High (69.9) suggests the combo is well above playable thresholds for most survival-game scenarios. The question becomes whether the CPU or GPU is the limiting factor at various resolutions, which the resolution scaling data helps answer.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy: Low settings always deliver the highest frame rates, while Ultra consistently drops below the 60 FPS threshold at every resolution except 1080p. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 174.5 FPS, Medium reaches 122.8, High hits 106.4, and Ultra falls to 79.9. For players prioritizing smoothness in Rust's fast-paced PvP encounters, the Medium preset at 1080p offers a strong balance—122.8 FPS is nearly double the Ultra result and still 15% above the High preset.

At 1440p, the recommendation shifts. Low delivers 129.8 FPS, but Medium drops to 84.3 and High to 69.9. The High preset at 1440p remains comfortably above 60 FPS, making it the sensible choice for visual fidelity without sacrificing responsiveness. Ultra at 1440p (52.8 FPS) dips below the 60 FPS line, which could cause noticeable stutter in a game where split-second reactions matter.

For 4K, the data suggests avoiding anything above Medium. Low hits 74.1 FPS, Medium falls to 50.8, High to 45.2, and Ultra to 33.9. The 4K Medium result is borderline playable, but the 1440p High experience is smoother and visually superior to 4K Low. The best overall experience per the measured rows appears to be 1440p High, which combines 69.9 FPS with much higher graphical fidelity than the Low preset, while staying well clear of the sub-60 FPS territory that Ultra occupies at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a consistent pattern across all settings, but the magnitude of the drop varies significantly. At Low settings, the frame rate falls from 174.5 at 1080p to 129.8 at 1440p (a 25.6% reduction) and then to 74.1 at 4K (a 42.9% reduction from 1440p). This steep decline—more than halving from 1080p to 4K—indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU is becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases.

At High settings, the scaling is steeper in percentage terms: 106.4 at 1080p, 69.9 at 1440p (a 34.3% drop), and 45.2 at 4K (a 35.3% drop from 1440p). The near-linear relationship between resolution and FPS at High settings suggests the RTX 3070's 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are working near their limits. The 256-bit bus and GDDR6 memory are likely saturated by Rust's high-detail textures and draw distances at 4K.

The Ultra preset shows the most severe scaling: 79.9 at 1080p, 52.8 at 1440p (a 33.9% drop), and 33.9 at 4K (a 35.8% drop). This pattern indicates that Ultra settings push both the GPU's shading units (5888) and its 96 ROPs to their limits. The fact that even 1080p Ultra cannot reach 80 FPS suggests the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions when maximum settings are applied, while the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU at lower presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings yields playable results across the board. Low delivers 174.5 FPS, Medium 122.8, High 106.4, and Ultra 79.9. The spread between Low and Ultra—94.6 FPS—demonstrates that Rust's settings have a massive impact on GPU workload. The 1080p Ultra result of 79.9 FPS is the only Ultra row at any resolution that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the sole configuration where maximum quality is viable.

Moving to 2560x1440, the data shows a noticeable compression of the FPS range. Low achieves 129.8 FPS, Medium 84.3, High 69.9, and Ultra 52.8. The delta from Low to Ultra shrinks to 77 FPS, as the higher pixel count begins to dominate. The 1440p Medium result of 84.3 FPS is the second-highest Medium score in the entire dataset, trailing only 1080p Medium by 38.5 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the measured FPS values become more clustered. Low hits 74.1, Medium 50.8, High 45.2, and Ultra 33.9. The Low-to-Ultra spread narrows to 40.2 FPS, indicating that at 4K, even the Low preset is heavily GPU-bound. The 4K Low result of 74.1 FPS is the only 4K row above 60 FPS, and it comes at the cost of significantly reduced visual quality. The 4K Medium result of 50.8 FPS sits just below the typically desired 60 FPS threshold, while 4K High and Ultra fall well short.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070's memory configuration—8 GB of GDDR6 on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth—plays a critical role in Rust's performance. The game's large, persistent world with many player-built structures likely consumes significant memory bandwidth, which explains why the 4K results drop so steeply regardless of settings. The 8 GB capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K with High or Ultra settings, the memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s appears to be a limiting factor.

The GPU's clock behavior—1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost—combined with its 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units, produces the measured frame rates. The 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial, yet Rust's CPU-heavy simulation (building physics, entity updates) means the GPU is not always the sole bottleneck. The 96 ROPs and 165.6 GPixel/s pixel rate are adequate for 1080p and 1440p but struggle at 4K, as evidenced by the 33.9 FPS Ultra result.

The RTX 3070's 72nd percentile ranking among all GPUs places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (deltaPct 0.9) and slightly ahead of the GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct 1). This suggests the GPU is a mid-to-high-tier part, but not at the absolute top. In Rust, where draw distances and object counts can be extreme, the 8 GB memory size may become a constraint in heavily populated servers, even if the raw compute power is not fully taxed.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads, with base and boost clocks of 2.60 GHz and 4.40 GHz respectively. Its Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process, provides 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 80 KB of L1 per core. The CPU's 75th percentile ranking is notable, but its synthetic scores—such as 14372 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2029 in single-core—suggest a balanced performer that should not bottleneck a mid-range GPU in most scenarios.

In Rust, the CPU's role is complex. The game's server-side simulation and client-side entity management can be demanding, but the measured FPS data indicates that at 1080p Low (174.5 FPS), the CPU is still able to feed the GPU effectively. The 3dmark single-thread score of 868 and the passmark single-thread score of 2981 suggest adequate single-core performance for Rust's primary game thread. However, the 12 threads may not be fully utilized, as Rust's engine is historically not highly parallel.

The i5-11400F's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, has an identical average score (17189 vs 17181), yet the desktop i5's higher boost clock of 4.40 GHz versus the mobile chip's lower sustained clocks likely gives it an edge in sustained gaming loads. The 65 W TDP and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are typical for this class, but the lack of integrated graphics means the RTX 3070 handles all rendering tasks. At 1080p Ultra, the 79.9 FPS result suggests the CPU is not the primary limiter, as the GPU's workload at maximum settings dominates.

FAQ

Q: Is the i5-11400F + RTX 3070 combo suitable for 1440p gaming in Rust?

A: Yes. The measured data shows 1440p High achieves 69.9 FPS and Medium reaches 84.3 FPS, both above the 60 FPS threshold. Even 1440p Ultra (52.8 FPS) is close to playable, though the High preset is the better choice for smoothness.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 4K on this combo?

A: Low settings at 4K deliver 74.1 FPS, which is the only 4K row above 60 FPS. Medium drops to 50.8 FPS, and High/Ultra fall to 45.2 and 33.9 FPS respectively, so Low is the only recommended 4K preset.

Q: How does this combo rank against other tested configurations?

A: It ranks 774th out of 1717 combos (roughly the 45th percentile). This is lower than the individual component percentiles (CPU 75th, GPU 72nd), indicating Rust's engine does not fully reward this pairing's strengths.

Q: Does the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM cause issues in Rust?

A: The 8 GB GDDR6 memory with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, as all settings at these resolutions achieve playable frame rates. At 4K, the steep FPS drops suggest memory bandwidth may be a limiting factor.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low (174.5 FPS), the CPU is likely near its limit, but at 1080p Ultra (79.9 FPS), the GPU becomes the primary constraint. The 6-core/12-thread CPU with 4.40 GHz boost is sufficient to drive the GPU at lower settings.

Q: How does this combo compare to the closest rival components?

A: The CPU's average score (17181) is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212, deltaPct -0.2) and identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17189, deltaPct 0). The GPU's score (28238) is within 1% of the RX 6600 XT (27985, deltaPct 0.9) and GTX 980 Ti (27956, deltaPct 1).