Rust

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400 brings six physical cores and twelve threads to Rust, running at a 2.50 GHz base clock with a 4.40 GHz boost. This Alder Lake-S chip, built on Intel's 10 nm process, carries 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core. In synthetic benchmarks, the processor posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15,935 and a single-core score of 2,249, with a PassMark multithread result of 18,747 and a single-thread result of 3,456.

Rust is a survival title that heavily taxes CPU resources, particularly in populated server environments where physics, entity updates, and network handling converge. The i5-12400's six-core, twelve-thread layout provides a solid foundation for these workloads. The 3dmark results show scaling from 910 in single-thread to 5,890 at max threads, indicating that the chip gains meaningful performance when all cores are engaged. This scaling pattern matters because Rust's simulation logic can spread across multiple threads, though single-thread performance remains critical for frame pacing.

The processor sits at the 77th percentile against all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,850. Its nearest rivals in the database are tightly clustered: the Intel Core i7-9700 scores 19,831 (0.1% behind), the Intel Core i7-8700 scores 19,894 (0.2% ahead), and the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 5995WX scores 19,928 (0.4% ahead). The Intel Core i5-11600K trails at 19,771 (0.4% behind). This clustering shows that the i5-12400 delivers compute performance essentially on par with older eight-core parts, which is notable for a six-core chip.

In Rust's measured results, the CPU's role becomes evident when looking at the frame rate differential between low and ultra settings at the same resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 168.1 FPS, while at 1080p Ultra it drops to 71.3 FPS. The large gap between these two settings suggests that at low settings, where GPU load is minimal, the CPU is capable of pushing well over 160 frames per second. However, the actual CPU bottleneck manifests differently across resolutions, as the resolution scaling analysis will show.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB is built on the Navi 44 chip with RDNA 4.0 architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 4 nm process. It packs 29,700 million transistors across a 199 mm² die. The GPU operates at a 1,700 MHz base clock, a 2,530 MHz game clock, and a 3,130 MHz boost clock. Memory runs at 2,518 MHz with 20.1 Gbps effective speed across a 128-bit bus, delivering 322.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The 8 GB GDDR6 frame buffer is paired with 2,048 shading units, 128 TMUs, and 64 ROPs, plus 32 ray tracing cores. Compute throughput reaches 25.64 TFLOPS FP32 and 51.28 TFLOPS FP16.

Rust's visual demands scale with the GPU's capabilities. The card's 64 ROPs handle pixel output at 200.3 GPixel/s, which becomes relevant at higher resolutions where fill rate matters. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for Rust's textures at 1440p and 4K, but the memory bandwidth of 322.3 GB/s may become a limiting factor in scenes with heavy texture streaming or high draw distances.

The GPU's percentile ranking sits at 50th among all GPUs, placing it in the middle of the database. In Rust, the GPU's influence on frame rates is most pronounced when moving between settings presets. At 4K, the spread between Low (68.0 FPS) and Ultra (29.7 FPS) is 38.3 FPS, showing that the GPU struggles to maintain playable frame rates at the highest preset in 4K. At 1440p, the spread between Low (114.8 FPS) and Ultra (52.3 FPS) widens to 62.5 FPS, and at 1080p, the spread between Low (168.1 FPS) and Ultra (71.3 FPS) is 96.8 FPS.

The GPU's boost clock of 3,130 MHz is relatively high, which helps at lower resolutions where the card can sustain higher utilization. However, the 8 GB VRAM and 128-bit memory bus create a bottleneck pattern: at 4K Ultra, the game demands more memory bandwidth and capacity than the card can comfortably provide, resulting in the sub-30 FPS result.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data reveals a clear resolution scaling pattern across all settings. At Low settings, frame rates drop from 168.1 FPS at 1080p to 114.8 FPS at 1440p (a 31.7% reduction) and then to 68.0 FPS at 4K (a 40.8% further reduction from 1440p). This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the GPU becomes increasingly taxed as pixel count rises. The 1080p Low result of 168.1 FPS is nearly three times the 4K Low result of 68.0 FPS, showing that the RX 9060 XT cannot sustain its performance headroom at higher resolutions.

At Medium settings, the pattern continues: 113.4 FPS at 1080p, 78.3 FPS at 1440p, and 47.5 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31.0%, and from 1440p to 4K is 39.3%. These percentages are remarkably consistent with the Low settings scaling, suggesting that the GPU is the primary scaling factor across these presets rather than the CPU.

High settings show 93.7 FPS at 1080p, 65.2 FPS at 1440p, and 39.3 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 30.4%, while the 1440p to 4K drop is 39.7%. Ultra settings produce 71.3 FPS at 1080p, 52.3 FPS at 1440p, and 29.7 FPS at 4K, with drops of 26.6% and 43.2% respectively.

The consistent ~30% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and ~40% reduction from 1440p to 4K across all settings points to GPU-bound scaling. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the percentage drops would compress at higher settings where GPU load increases. Instead, the near-uniform scaling indicates that the RX 9060 XT's performance envelope defines the frame rates at each resolution, with the i5-12400 providing sufficient headroom to avoid becoming the bottleneck in most scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This Intel Core i5-12400 + AMD Radeon RX 9060 XT 8 GB combination ranks 893rd out of 1,717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 52nd percentile of all configurations in the database. The middle-of-the-pack ranking reflects a balanced pairing: the CPU's 77th percentile standing is partially offset by the GPU's 50th percentile position, resulting in a combo that lands near the median.

The ranking suggests that while this system can handle Rust at playable frame rates in many scenarios, it does not break into the upper echelon of tested configurations. The 893rd rank out of 1,717 means roughly 52% of tested combos perform better, placing this setup in the slightly-above-average range. Given that the GPU sits at the 50th percentile of all GPUs, the combo's ranking is largely consistent with what the GPU alone would predict. The CPU's higher percentile does not boost the combination significantly, further confirming that the GPU constrains overall performance in Rust.

In practical terms, the combo delivers 168.1 FPS at 1080p Low and 71.3 FPS at 1080p Ultra, which are respectable numbers for a median-tier configuration. The 4K Ultra result of 29.7 FPS, however, shows that this pairing is not suited for maximum settings at the highest resolution, aligning with its mid-pack ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

1920x1080 (1080p)

At Low settings, the combo produces 168.1 FPS average. Medium settings yield 113.4 FPS, High settings deliver 93.7 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 71.3 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a 96.8 FPS range, with each step up in settings costing roughly 20-30 FPS. The 1080p Low result exceeds 60 FPS by a wide margin, making this resolution and preset combination ideal for high-refresh monitors.

2560x1440 (1440p)

Low settings produce 114.8 FPS average at 1440p. Medium settings deliver 78.3 FPS, High settings yield 65.2 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 52.3 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra is 62.5 FPS. The 114.8 FPS Low result remains above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra at 52.3 FPS falls below it. This indicates that 1440p Ultra is playable but not smooth, while 1440p High at 65.2 FPS approaches the 60 FPS line.

3840x2160 (4K)

At 4K, Low settings yield 68.0 FPS average. Medium settings deliver 47.5 FPS, High settings produce 39.3 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 29.7 FPS. The range from Low to Ultra is 38.3 FPS, the narrowest of all resolutions. Only the Low preset at 4K exceeds the 60 FPS threshold, and the Ultra result falls well below it. The 4K data clearly shows that this combo is only viable at Low settings for smooth gameplay, with Medium, High, and Ultra all requiring compromises.

Across all resolutions, the data shows that the i5-12400 + RX 9060 XT combo can achieve playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p across most settings, while 4K requires Low settings to stay above 60 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM capacity and 322.3 GB/s bandwidth of the RX 9060 XT appear to be the limiting factors at higher resolutions, as the frame rate scaling follows a consistent GPU-bound pattern.