Rust

Rust presents an unusually punishing scenario for the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti pairing. The measured frame rates across all resolutions and settings place this combination in the bottom percentile of the database, with a rank of 1712 out of 1717 tested combos. The data reveals a system that is profoundly limited, yet the scaling patterns between resolutions and settings tell a distinct story about which component is the primary bottleneck in this survival title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a severe collapse in performance, but the shape of that collapse varies dramatically by settings preset. At Low settings, the drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is from 52.7 FPS down to 20.6 FPS, a reduction of roughly 61% of the original frame rate. This steep decline suggests that even at the lowest graphical fidelity, the GTX 1050 Ti is being overwhelmed by the pixel count, as the 4K resolution demands nearly four times the fill rate of 1080p.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling becomes even more brutal: 34.2 FPS at 1080p falls to 14.9 FPS at 4K. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is only 5.7 FPS, whereas at 1080p the same settings difference yields 18.5 FPS. This compression at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU's shading units and ROPs are saturated far earlier when pixel output increases. The fact that High settings at 1080p (32.8 FPS) and Low settings at 1440p (33.8 FPS) are nearly identical is a telling sign that the limiting factor is raw pixel throughput rather than specific game features.

The Ultra preset at 4K produces just 9.2 FPS, which is effectively unplayable, and even the 1080p Ultra result of 21.9 FPS is marginal. What the data implies is that this combo has a "resolution ceiling" around 1440p for Low settings, where it can maintain 33.8 FPS, but anything above that requires dropping to 1080p to stay in a playable range. The scaling pattern strongly suggests the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions above 1080p, as the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads have ample headroom for Rust's simulation logic.

GPU Role

The GTX 1050 Ti's specifications paint a clear picture of why it struggles so severely. With 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, the bandwidth of 112.1 GB/s is a critical constraint. Rust's large open-world environments and texture streaming demands often exceed this capacity, particularly at higher resolutions where memory pressure increases. The base clock of 1291 MHz and boost clock of 1392 MHz provide a modest compute foundation, but the 768 shading units and 32 ROPs are simply too few for modern rendering workloads at 1440p and above.

The GPU's FP32 throughput of 2.138 TFLOPS is indicative of its Pascal-era design, and its DirectX 12 score of just 26 in Passmark benchmarks reinforces its limited feature set for contemporary titles. The 14 nm process node from Samsung and the 3,300 million transistors on a 132 mm² die were competitive in 2016, but Rust's continued updates have outpaced this hardware. The measured results align with the GPU's percentile ranking of 30, meaning it outperforms only 30% of all GPUs in the database, placing it alongside the NVIDIA GeForce 940M in performance.

When the settings increase from Low to Ultra at any resolution, the FPS penalty is substantial, but the gap narrows as resolution rises. At 1080p, Ultra drops 58% below Low (21.9 vs 52.7 FPS), while at 4K, Ultra drops 55% below Low (9.2 vs 20.6 FPS). This relative consistency implies that the GPU is equally saturated by both settings complexity and pixel count, with neither factor dominating exclusively. The VRAM capacity of 4 GB is likely exceeded at 4K High and Ultra, explaining the single-digit frame rates that suggest memory swapping rather than pure compute limits.

Settings Recommendations

The measured rows offer a clear hierarchy for playability. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 52.7 FPS, which is the only configuration that reaches a smooth, responsive experience. The Medium preset at 1080p yields 34.2 FPS, which is playable for less demanding scenarios but may feel stuttery in Rust's intense firefights. High settings at 1080p produce 32.8 FPS, nearly identical to Medium, indicating diminishing returns from the extra graphical features.

For users who must use 1440p, the Low preset at 33.8 FPS is the only viable option, as Medium drops to 22.1 FPS and High to 20.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 17 FPS, which is below acceptable thresholds. At 4K, no settings are recommended, as even Low at 20.6 FPS is too low for real-time interaction, and the Ultra result of 9.2 FPS is a slideshow.

The data suggests that the "best experience" is 1080p Low, with 52.7 FPS providing the most headroom for Rust's dynamic world events. If visual fidelity must be improved, 1080p Medium at 34.2 FPS is the next best option, but the jump to High adds only a 1.4 FPS penalty, making High a reasonable alternative if the user values better textures. The 1440p Low setting is acceptable only if 1080p is unavailable, but the 18.9 FPS drop from 1080p Low is substantial.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Rust at 60 FPS at any setting?

A: No. The highest measured FPS is 52.7 at 1080p Low, which falls short of 60 FPS. All other settings and resolutions produce lower frame rates.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this hardware?

A: 1920x1080 is the only resolution where any preset exceeds 30 FPS. At 1080p, Low achieves 52.7 FPS, while Medium and High both stay above 32 FPS.

Q: How does the GTX 1050 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 5316 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce 930A at 5317, with a delta of 0%. It is 0.4% ahead of the 940M and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon R7 240.

Q: Is the CPU holding back the GPU in Rust?

A: The data suggests no. The i5-12400 has a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU sits at the 30th percentile. The FPS collapses with resolution increases, which is characteristic of a GPU bottleneck.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 1440p with High settings?

A: The measured average is 20.5 FPS, which is below playable thresholds. Even Low at 1440p only reaches 33.8 FPS.

Q: Does the Ultra preset ever become playable?

A: No. The best Ultra result is 21.9 FPS at 1080p, and it drops to 9.2 FPS at 4K. Ultra is not recommended for any resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a stark contrast to the GPU's limitations. With 6 cores and 12 threads, this Alder Lake processor has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, making it a strong modern performer. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 15935 and single-core score of 2249 place it in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, far ahead of the GPU's relative standing. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample bandwidth for Rust's simulation threads.

The nearest rival data shows the i5-12400 is essentially tied with the Intel Core i7-9700, with a delta of 0.1%, and is 0.2% behind the Intel Core i7-8700. Its 3DMark scores, including 5890 for max threads and 910 for single thread, indicate a balanced architecture that can handle both single-threaded game logic and multi-threaded background tasks. The 65 W TDP and 10 nm process node suggest efficient power delivery, but the benchmark results confirm the CPU is not the limiting factor.

In Rust specifically, the measured FPS patterns support this conclusion. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to remain relatively constant across resolutions, as the CPU work is resolution-independent. Instead, the FPS drops by 61% from 1080p Low to 4K Low, which is a GPU-driven decline. The i5-12400's Passmark multi-thread score of 18747 and single-thread score of 3456 demonstrate it has the computational headroom to keep up with the GTX 1050 Ti's output, but that output is simply too low to translate into playable frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset reveals a consistent pattern of degradation. At 1920x1080, the four presets produce averages of 52.7 FPS (Low), 34.2 FPS (Medium), 32.8 FPS (High), and 21.9 FPS (Ultra). The jump from Low to Medium costs 18.5 FPS, while Medium to High costs only 1.4 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 10.9 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the Medium preset includes a major rendering feature that the Low preset omits, while High adds minimal overhead.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 33.8 FPS (Low), 22.1 FPS (Medium), 20.5 FPS (High), and 17 FPS (Ultra). The gap between Low and Medium narrows to 11.7 FPS, and the difference between High and Ultra is just 3.5 FPS. The 1440p Low result is nearly identical to 1080p High, indicating that the resolution increase consumes the same GPU headroom as the settings increase.

At 3840x2160, the averages plummet to 20.6 FPS (Low), 14.9 FPS (Medium), 9.5 FPS (High), and 9.2 FPS (Ultra). The High and Ultra results are almost indistinguishable, with a difference of only 0.3 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is so saturated that additional settings have no measurable impact. The 4K Low result is 6.9 FPS higher than 1440p High, which further emphasizes that resolution is a more significant factor than settings for this combo.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame places this pairing at 1712 out of 1717 tested combinations, meaning it outperforms only 5 other combos in the entire database. This ranking is a direct consequence of the GTX 1050 Ti's age and limited capabilities, as the GPU's percentile ranking of 30 and average benchmark score of 5316 are among the lowest recorded. The CPU's strong performance cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to render Rust's environments.

The nearest rivals for the GPU include the NVIDIA GeForce 930A with a delta of 0%, the NVIDIA GeForce 940M at 0.4% ahead, and the AMD Radeon R7 240 at 0.7% ahead. These deltas are negligible, meaning the GTX 1050 Ti is functionally equivalent to these older mobile and entry-level parts. In contrast, the CPU's nearest rivals show a much tighter grouping, with deltas ranging from -0.4% to 0.4%, indicating that the i5-12400 is in a crowded field of high-performing processors.

The rank of 1712 is a stark verdict: this combo is not suited for Rust at any playable setting. The data shows a system where the CPU has 12 threads ready to process game logic, but the GPU can only deliver 52.7 FPS at the lowest settings and resolution. For users with this hardware, the measured numbers suggest that Rust should be played at 1080p Low, with an acceptance that performance will be below 60 FPS, or the hardware should be upgraded to achieve a meaningful experience. The rank, combined with the resolution scaling data, leaves no ambiguity about which component needs replacement.