Rust

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9070 ranks 513th out of 1,717 tested combinations in Rust, placing it in the upper-middle tier of the database. This position is respectable given the component mix, as the CPU sits at the 77th percentile against all processors while the GPU lands at the 79th percentile against all graphics cards. The pairing produces a system where neither component is dramatically holding back the other, though the benchmark data reveals that this equilibrium shifts depending on the resolution and quality preset selected.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s overall rank of 513 out of 1,717 in Rust indicates solid performance for this specific title, though it is not at the top of the charts. The Intel Core i5-12400F demonstrates strong synthetic benchmark results, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16,518 and a single-core score of 2,332. In the database’s aggregate scoring, this CPU averages 19,221 points, placing it within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19,210) and 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,167). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by 0.7% (19,364) but leads the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3% (18,979). These margins are tight, meaning the processor’s performance profile is competitive with several other mid-range options.

On the graphics side, the Radeon RX 9070 posts an average benchmark score of 34,780, which is 0.2% behind the NVIDIA A2 (34,866) and 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34,677). The GPU’s PassMark G3D score of 25,381 and its Geekbench Vulkan score of 165,532 indicate strong raw compute capabilities. The combination’s ranking in Rust specifically suggests that the game’s engine, which is known for heavy CPU utilisation in server-side logic, benefits from the six-core, twelve-thread configuration of the i5-12400F, while the RX 9070’s 16 GB of GDDR6 memory and 644.6 GB/s bandwidth handle the texture streaming demands at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-12400F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-12400F’s average benchmark score of 19,221 places it nearly identical to the Intel Core i7-8700K (19,210, delta 0.1%) and slightly ahead of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,167, delta 0.3%). It is marginally behind the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19,364, delta -0.7%) but outperforms the AMD EPYC 7773X (18,979, delta 1.3%). This indicates the processor is well-positioned among mainstream desktop and mobile chips.

Q: What is the performance gap between the RX 9070 and its closest GPU rivals?

A: The RX 9070’s average score of 34,780 is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA A2 (34,866) and 0.3% higher than the NVIDIA Quadro GV100 (34,677). It also leads the AMD Radeon HD 7970 (34,541) by 0.7% and the AMD Radeon PRO W6400 (34,511) by 0.8%. These deltas are minimal, showing that the GPU sits in a competitive band of similar-performing cards.

Q: What are the best and worst measured FPS results for this combo in Rust?

A: The highest average FPS recorded is 204.5 at 1920x1080 with Low settings, while the lowest is 39.3 at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. The data shows a clear progression where higher resolutions and quality presets reduce average frame rates, with the largest drop occurring between Low and Medium at each resolution.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p across different settings?

A: At 2560x1440, the combo achieves 147.9 FPS on Low, 96.1 FPS on Medium, 82.9 FPS on High, and 66.1 FPS on Ultra. These figures suggest that 1440p is a viable resolution for this pairing, with even Ultra settings maintaining playable frame rates above 60 FPS.

Q: Is this CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor in Rust?

A: The benchmark data indicates that the CPU becomes a constraint at lower resolutions and settings, as the frame rates scale significantly with GPU load. At 1080p Low (204.5 FPS) versus 4K Low (83.5 FPS), the gap of 121 FPS shows strong GPU scaling, but the relatively modest gains from Medium to High at 1440p (96.1 to 82.9) suggest the processor limits performance once GPU load decreases.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of the components in this combo?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has a launch MSRP of $174, while the AMD Radeon RX 9070 has a launch MSRP of 549 USD.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data shows that the optimal experience depends heavily on the target display resolution. For 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 120.6 FPS, which is a strong balance between visual quality and smoothness, while Medium at 140.8 FPS and Low at 204.5 FPS offer progressively higher frame rates but with diminishing visual returns. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 94.5 FPS, which is still playable but sacrifices 26.1 FPS compared to High for marginal graphical improvements.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset at 96.1 FPS provides the best balance, as it stays above the 90 FPS threshold while High drops to 82.9 FPS and Ultra falls to 66.1 FPS. The Low preset at 147.9 FPS is excellent for competitive play but may look sparse in a survival game where environmental awareness matters. For 3840x2160, only the Low preset (83.5 FPS) achieves frame rates above 60 FPS, making it the only viable option for smooth 4K gameplay, while Medium (55.3), High (48.9), and Ultra (39.3) all fall below that threshold.

The data suggests that players prioritising frame rate over visual fidelity should select Low at 4K, Medium at 1440p, and High at 1080p. Those who prefer maximum visual quality should stick to 1080p Ultra (94.5 FPS) or 1440p High (82.9 FPS), as these remain playable while offering the full graphical feature set.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces 204.5 FPS on Low settings, which is the highest recorded result in the dataset. Moving to Medium reduces performance to 140.8 FPS, a drop of 63.7 FPS, while High delivers 120.6 FPS and Ultra falls to 94.5 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a total reduction of 110 FPS, indicating that each quality tier imposes a significant GPU load increase.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 147.9 FPS, which is 56.6 FPS lower than the equivalent 1080p setting. Medium produces 96.1 FPS, High reaches 82.9 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 81.8 FPS, showing that resolution scaling compounds the effects of quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the results are considerably lower. Low settings yield 83.5 FPS, Medium drops to 55.3 FPS, High manages 48.9 FPS, and Ultra produces just 39.3 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 44.2 FPS, which is smaller in absolute terms than at lower resolutions but represents a larger percentage drop due to the lower starting point. The data shows that this combo is only suitable for 4K gaming at the lowest preset, and even then, frame rates are far below what the 1080p Low settings achieve.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals important insights about the limiting component in this system. At Low settings, performance drops from 204.5 FPS at 1080p to 147.9 FPS at 1440p (a 56.6 FPS reduction) and then to 83.5 FPS at 4K (a further 64.4 FPS reduction). The proportional decline from 1080p to 4K is approximately 59%, which indicates that the GPU is increasingly stressed as pixel count rises, but the CPU still has headroom at lower resolutions.

At Medium settings, the scaling is steeper: 140.8 FPS at 1080p falls to 96.1 FPS at 1440p and then 55.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K result represents a 61% reduction from 1080p, showing that the RX 9070’s rendering pipeline becomes the bottleneck as quality settings increase. At High settings, the pattern continues with 120.6 FPS at 1080p, 82.9 FPS at 1440p, and 48.9 FPS at 4K — a 59% total drop. Ultra settings show 94.5 FPS at 1080p, 66.1 FPS at 1440p, and 39.3 FPS at 4K, a 58% reduction.

The consistent percentage drops across settings suggest that the limiting component is primarily the GPU, as the RX 9070’s workload scales predictably with resolution. However, the fact that 1080p Low reaches 204.5 FPS while 4K Low only reaches 83.5 FPS indicates that the CPU is not preventing high frame rates at lower resolutions, but the GPU cannot maintain those rates as pixel count increases. The i5-12400F’s 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and multi-thread score of 5,912 suggest it has enough processing power to feed the GPU at 1080p, but the RX 9070’s 36.13 TFLOPS FP32 performance is the deciding factor at higher resolutions. This combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where it can deliver high frame rates, while 4K requires significant quality reductions to remain playable.