Rust

Rust is an unforgiving survival sandbox, and the benchmark data for the Intel Core i5-12400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 reveals a system that is perpetually walking a tightrope between playability and frustration. The measured frame rates show a configuration where the GPU is clearly the dominant constraint, yet the CPU's capabilities ensure that the experience degrades gracefully rather than catastrophically as settings escalate. This combo ranks 1620th out of 1717 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 6% of all systems tested, which sets a clear expectation for its performance ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data reveals a stark and predictable collapse as resolution increases, but the pattern of decline tells a compelling story about system balance. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 68.3 FPS, which is the only truly comfortable gaming threshold in the entire dataset. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 44.1 FPS, a reduction of 35.4% from the 1080p figure. Pushing to 4K Low brings the average down to 26 FPS, which is a 61.9% drop from the 1080p baseline. This scaling curve is remarkably steep, suggesting that the GTX 1650's 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are simply overwhelmed by the pixel count increase.

The High settings preset tells an even more cautionary tale. At 1080p High, the system manages 38.6 FPS, which drops to 26.6 FPS at 1440p (a 31.1% decline) and further to 17.1 FPS at 4K (a 55.7% decline from 1080p). The fact that the percentage drops are not uniform across settings presets indicates that the game's visual complexity at High settings introduces additional shader and texture work that disproportionately impacts the GPU. The data implies that this system is not resolution-limited in the traditional sense; rather, it is pixel-throughput-limited. The GPU's 128-bit memory bus and 4 GB of GDDR5 VRAM are the primary suspects, as Rust's large open-world textures likely exceed the 4 GB capacity at higher resolutions, forcing constant memory swapping that craters performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Rust?

A: The best measured result is 68.3 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low settings preset.

Q: Is this system capable of 4K gaming in Rust?

A: Technically yes, but not comfortably. The highest 4K result is 26 FPS at Low settings, while Ultra settings drop to 14.1 FPS, both well below smooth gameplay thresholds.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700 and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K, but 0.2% lower than the Intel Core i7-8700.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 sits at the 43rd percentile, meaning it outperforms 43% of all GPUs in the benchmark database.

Q: Which settings preset provides the largest performance headroom at 1080p?

A: The gap between Low (68.3 FPS) and Medium (45.2 FPS) is 23.1 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High (38.6 FPS) is only 6.6 FPS, suggesting diminishing returns after Medium.

Q: How does the GPU's average benchmark score compare to its closest competitor?

A: The GTX 1650 scores 8713 on average, which is 0.4% lower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile and 0.5% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100, but 0.5% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro P2200.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination ranks 1620th out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the bottom 5.6% of all systems evaluated. This is a sobering statistic that contextualizes every measured frame rate. The ranking suggests that the vast majority of tested systems deliver a superior Rust experience, which aligns with the low frame rates observed at higher resolutions. However, the rank does not tell the whole story. The CPU component, the Intel Core i5-12400, is a relatively strong performer with a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 77% of all processors in the database. This creates a significant imbalance: a capable processor hamstrung by a GPU that sits at the 43rd percentile. The data indicates that this combo is fundamentally GPU-bound in Rust, which is typical for a survival game with heavy draw distances and complex base-building physics, but the severity of the bottleneck is notable. The 1620th rank out of 1717 is a direct consequence of this mismatch, as the GPU's limitations prevent the CPU from ever reaching its potential in this specific title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the resolution most users will target, the data shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings deliver 68.3 FPS, which is playable for most genres, including survival games where reaction time matters during PvP encounters. Medium settings drop to 45.2 FPS, a 33.8% reduction that remains acceptable for solo play but may feel sluggish in combat. High settings yield 38.6 FPS, which is borderline, and Ultra settings bottom out at 30.7 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target that most competitive players prefer. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 37.6 FPS, indicating that the settings presets have a massive impact on performance.

At 2560x1440, the story becomes more difficult. Low settings produce 44.1 FPS, which is the only 1440p preset that approaches playability. Medium drops to 31.4 FPS, High to 26.6 FPS, and Ultra to 17.7 FPS. The 1440p Low result is only 5.5 FPS higher than the 1080p Ultra result, suggesting that the resolution increase is nearly as taxing as the settings increase. At 3840x2160, the results are largely academic. Low settings yield 26 FPS, Medium 19.6 FPS, High 17.1 FPS, and Ultra 14.1 FPS. None of these are playable for a fast-paced survival game, and even the best 4K result (26 FPS) is 38.1% lower than the 1080p Medium result (45.2 FPS). The data shows that this combo is effectively a 1080p gaming solution, with 1440p only viable at Low settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is the clear performance limiter in this configuration. With a 4 GB GDDR5 memory buffer and a 128-bit memory bus delivering 128.1 GB/s, the GPU is architecturally constrained for modern titles like Rust. The benchmark results confirm this: the GPU's average score of 8713 places it at the 43rd percentile, and its closest rivals in the database are the RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746, -0.4% delta) and the Quadro P2200 (8671, +0.5% delta). The GTX 1650's 896 shading units and 32 ROPs, combined with a boost clock of 1665 MHz, provide 2.984 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput. In Rust, these specifications translate to the steep frame rate drops observed when moving from 1080p to 1440p.

The memory subsystem is particularly problematic. The 4 GB VRAM capacity is likely exceeded at 1440p High and 4K settings, forcing the game to stream assets from system memory, which explains the disproportionate performance collapse at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 68.3 FPS, but at 1440p Low, it drops to 44.1 FPS—a 35.4% decline that cannot be attributed solely to pixel count. The 128.1 GB/s bandwidth is insufficient for the texture-heavy environments Rust presents, especially when considering that the GPU is rated for a 75 W TDP and uses no external power connectors. The data strongly suggests that the GPU is the sole reason this combo ranks 1620th, as its compute and memory capabilities are fundamentally mismatched with the demands of a modern survival game at resolutions above 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data points to a clear recommendation: use the Low preset at 1080p for the best balance of visual fidelity and playability. The 68.3 FPS at 1080p Low is the only setting that approaches the 60 FPS target, and it does so while maintaining a stable experience that is suitable for the game's competitive elements. Medium settings at 1080p (45.2 FPS) are a viable alternative for players who prioritize visuals over frame rate, but the 23.1 FPS sacrifice is substantial. High settings at 1080p (38.6 FPS) are not recommended, as the additional 6.6 FPS drop from Medium is not justified by the marginal visual improvement. Ultra settings at 1080p (30.7 FPS) should be avoided entirely, as the 14.5 FPS drop from High pushes the experience below playable thresholds.

For players with 1440p monitors, the only sensible choice is Low settings, which deliver 44.1 FPS. This is playable but not ideal, and the data shows that any settings increase at 1440p results in a dramatic frame rate collapse. The recommendation is unambiguous: this system is a 1080p Low-to-Medium gaming rig for Rust. The 4K resolution is not viable under any settings preset, as even the best result (26 FPS at Low) is below 30 FPS. The data implies that users should prioritize resolution over settings, as the 1080p Low experience (68.3 FPS) is significantly better than the 1440p Medium experience (31.4 FPS), despite both representing compromises in visual quality.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and support for DDR4 and DDR5 memory make it a solid mid-range CPU. The benchmark data confirms its capability: the 3dmark max threads score is 5890, and the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 15935. The CPU's percentile ranking of 77th among all processors indicates that it is not the bottleneck in this configuration. However, the CPU's role in Rust is complex. The game's simulation of persistent worlds, including player-built structures and server-side entity tracking, can be CPU-intensive, but the measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor.

At 1080p Low, the system achieves 68.3 FPS, which is below the CPU's potential. The 3dmark single-thread score of 910 and the Passmark single-thread score of 3456 indicate that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI calculations without issue. The fact that the FPS drops by 35.4% when moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low, while the CPU's workload remains relatively constant, proves that the GPU is the bottleneck. The CPU's performance relative to its nearest rivals—being 0.1% faster than the i7-9700 and 0.2% slower than the i7-8700—suggests that it is more than adequate for this game. The data implies that upgrading the GPU would yield significant FPS gains, while upgrading the CPU would provide negligible benefits for Rust at these settings. The CPU is not the issue; the GTX 1650 is.