Rust

Rust with the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is a combination that delivers playable frame rates across most settings, but the data reveals a system that is firmly GPU-limited at higher resolutions while becoming increasingly CPU-bound at 1080p. The measured results show this combo ranking in the 41st percentile (1543 out of 3723 tested combos), placing it in the lower-middle tier of all tested hardware pairings for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a steep performance cliff that clearly identifies the GPU as the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 107 at 1920x1080 to 74 at 2560x1440, a 31% reduction, and then falls further to 44 at 3840x2160, representing a 59% total drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern of performance degradation is characteristic of a graphics card being overwhelmed by pixel count, as the RTX 4060 Ti’s 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface struggle with the demands of 4K rendering.

The scaling behavior changes dramatically when examining the Low preset. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 175 FPS, which drops to 130 at 2560x1440 (a 26% reduction) and then to 77 at 3840x2160 (a further 41% reduction from the 1440p figure). The fact that Low settings still show substantial drops when moving to 4K indicates that even with reduced graphical complexity, the GPU remains the limiting factor at this resolution. However, the smaller percentage drops at lower settings suggest that the CPU begins to play a more significant role as the graphical load decreases.

Medium settings provide the most complete data set, with recorded minimum and maximum frames. At 1080p Medium, the average is 127 FPS with a range of 108 to 146. Moving to 1440p Medium yields 87 FPS average with a range of 74 to 100, and 4K Medium produces 52 FPS average with a range of 44 to 59. The tightness of these ranges relative to the averages indicates consistent frame pacing without severe stuttering, which is a positive sign for gameplay smoothness.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling penalty. From 82 FPS at 1080p, performance drops to 56 FPS at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and then to 33 FPS at 4K (a 41% reduction from 1440p). This 60% total drop from 1080p to 4K at Ultra settings is the steepest of any preset, confirming that the highest quality settings place an insurmountable load on this GPU at 4K resolution. The data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo is only viable at Low settings, where 77 FPS is achievable, while Medium and High presets fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1543 out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the 41st percentile of all tested hardware pairings for Rust. This positioning indicates that while this system is not a top-tier performer, it sits above a substantial portion of the tested combinations. The CPU itself holds a 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs tested, which is notably higher than the combo’s overall percentile, suggesting that the GPU is dragging down the combined performance relative to what the processor alone might suggest.

The Intel Core i5-11400F’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks show a tightly clustered group. The AMD EPYC 7H12 scores 0.3% higher, the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 0.6% higher, while the Intel Core i5-12450H scores 0.4% lower and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 0.6% lower. This clustering indicates that the i5-11400F’s processing power is essentially on par with these alternatives, with deltas of less than one percent separating all four contenders.

For the GPU, the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB’s nearest rivals paint a different picture. The NVIDIA RTX PRO 4000 Blackwell SFF scores 0.1% higher, the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB scores 0.2% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4010 scores 0.7% higher, while the NVIDIA Quadro P600 scores 0.3% lower. The RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB sits at the 19th percentile among all GPUs, which is a low positioning that explains why the combo’s overall rank is depressed relative to the CPU’s stronger percentile standing.

The gap between the CPU’s 71st percentile and the GPU’s 19th percentile is the defining characteristic of this combo. The data indicates that the i5-11400F has substantial headroom to drive a more powerful graphics card, and the RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB is the limiting factor in most scenarios. This imbalance is most evident at lower resolutions where the CPU’s capabilities are more fully utilized.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Ti 8 GB features 4352 shading units, 136 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units, with 34 RT cores and 136 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2310 MHz with a boost clock of 2535 MHz, and its memory runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective speed. The 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is configured on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU’s 22.06 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 121.7 GPixel/s pixel rate are modest figures for a modern graphics card, and the data shows this translates directly into the frame rates observed. The 19th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that this is a lower-tier performer, and the nearest rival data shows it trading blows with workstation and professional cards rather than competing with higher-end gaming GPUs.

The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a critical factor at 4K resolution. The measured results show that at 4K Ultra settings, the combo manages only 33 FPS average, while dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 77 FPS. This substantial difference suggests that the frame buffer capacity and memory bandwidth are being saturated at higher quality settings, forcing the GPU to work far beyond its comfortable operating range. The 288.0 GB/s bandwidth is relatively narrow for 4K workloads, and the data reflects this limitation.

The GPU’s power characteristics show a 160 W TDP with a suggested PSU of 450 W, and it uses a single 16-pin power connector. The dual-slot design and 240 mm length are standard for this performance class. The PCIe 4.0 x8 interface provides adequate bandwidth for the GPU’s capabilities, though the x8 configuration (rather than x16) could theoretically limit performance in some scenarios, though the measured data does not show obvious signs of interface bottlenecking.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Rust with this combo?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 is the optimal resolution, with all four presets achieving at least 82 FPS average. The 2560x1440 resolution is also viable at Low settings (130 FPS) and Medium settings (87 FPS), but 3840x2160 only produces playable frame rates at Low settings (77 FPS).

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F scores within 0.6% of all four nearest rivals. The AMD EPYC 7H12 is 0.3% faster, the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U is 0.6% faster, while the Intel Core i5-12450H is 0.4% slower and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G is 0.6% slower.

Q: Is the GPU the limiting factor in this system?

A: Yes, the data strongly indicates this. The GPU ranks at the 19th percentile among all GPUs while the CPU ranks at the 71st percentile among all CPUs. The combo’s overall rank of 1543 out of 3723 combinations is much closer to the GPU’s percentile than the CPU’s, confirming the GPU as the primary bottleneck.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 87 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with minimum and maximum frames of 74 and 100 respectively. This provides a smooth experience with good visual quality.

Q: How does the GPU compare to the RTX 4060 Ti 16 GB version?

A: The 8 GB version scores 0.2% lower than the 16 GB version in the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark (2913 vs 2907). This negligible difference suggests the extra VRAM does not significantly impact raw performance in this specific benchmark.

Q: Is 4K gaming feasible with this hardware?

A: Only at Low settings, where the combo achieves 77 FPS average at 3840x2160. Medium settings drop to 52 FPS, High to 44 FPS, and Ultra to 33 FPS, making only the Low preset viable for smooth gameplay at 4K.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience with this combo. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 82 FPS average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, but the Medium preset at 127 FPS offers a substantially better experience with only a modest visual compromise. The jump from Medium to Ultra costs 45 FPS (a 35% reduction) at 1080p, which is a significant price to pay for the additional visual fidelity.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 87 FPS represents the sweet spot for this resolution. The High preset drops to 74 FPS, which is still playable, but the Ultra preset falls to 56 FPS, dipping below the 60 FPS target. The Low preset at 130 FPS provides maximum smoothness but sacrifices most visual quality. Given the data, Medium at 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with the 74 to 100 frame range indicating consistent delivery.

At 3840x2160, the options are severely constrained. Low settings at 77 FPS is the only preset that maintains playable frame rates. Medium at 52 FPS is borderline, while High at 44 FPS and Ultra at 33 FPS are too slow for a responsive experience. For 4K users, the data recommends sticking with Low settings or dropping to a lower resolution for better quality.

The overall best experience according to the measured rows is 1920x1080 with Medium settings, delivering 127 FPS average with a range of 108 to 146. This provides excellent smoothness with moderate visual quality. For users prioritizing visual quality, 1440p Medium at 87 FPS is a strong alternative that still maintains good performance. The Ultra preset is only recommended at 1080p, where the 82 FPS average remains playable, though the 35% performance penalty versus Medium suggests it should be used selectively.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel’s 14 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 512 KB of L2 cache per core, and 12 MB of shared L3 cache, with dual-channel DDR4 memory support providing 51.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth.

The synthetic benchmark data shows a processor that performs strongly in multi-threaded workloads. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 14340 and the 3DMark max threads score of 5652 indicate solid multi-core capability. The single-thread performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2024 and a 3DMark single thread score of 868. The PassMark multithread score of 16908 and the 3dmark_16_threads score of 5619 confirm consistent scaling across thread counts.

The CPU’s 71st percentile ranking among all CPUs indicates that it outperforms a substantial majority of processors in the database. This is reflected in the measured Rust performance at 1080p, where the combo achieves 175 FPS at Low settings. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU effectively at lower resolutions, and the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases.

The nearest rival data shows the i5-11400F is essentially tied with several other processors, with all deltas under one percent. The AMD EPYC 7H12, a server-class processor, scores 0.3% higher, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 0.6% higher. The Intel Core i5-12450H scores 0.4% lower and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G scores 0.6% lower. This clustering indicates that the i5-11400F provides competitive processing power for its class.

The CPU’s 12 MB of L3 cache and 51.2 GB/s memory bandwidth are modest by modern standards, but the measured results show they are sufficient for Rust at 1080p and 1440p. The processor’s ability to maintain high frame rates at 1080p Low (175 FPS) demonstrates that it is not the limiting factor at this resolution, and the data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield significant performance gains before the CPU becomes a bottleneck.