Rust

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1070 represents a mid-generation pairing in the Rust benchmark database. The CPU, a 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake-S part with a 2.50 GHz base and 4.40 GHz boost clock, sits in the 77th percentile of all tested processors. Its benchmark profile shows strong multithreaded capability, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 16518 and a Passmark multithread score of 19433, while single-thread performance is solid at 2332 in Cinebench R23 and 3481 in Passmark single-thread tests. The GPU, a Pascal-architecture GTX 1070 with 1920 shading units and 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, achieves a 51st percentile ranking among all GPUs, placing it squarely in the mid-range tier. Its Passmark G3D score of 13498 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1082 indicate a card that is capable but not exceptional by current standards.

CPU Role

In Rust, the i5-12400F’s 6 cores and 12 threads are heavily utilized, as the game’s simulation and entity-update loops benefit from additional threads. The data shows that the CPU’s multithreaded performance is a key factor: its 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 and max-thread score of 5912 are nearly identical, suggesting that scaling plateaus beyond 16 threads but that the 12-thread configuration extracts most of the available parallelism. This is critical in Rust, where large bases and many players create CPU-bound scenarios that can bottleneck lower-core-count parts. The CPU’s 18 MB shared L3 cache also plays a role, as Rust’s procedural map generation and item tracking frequently access memory-resident data; a larger cache reduces latency penalties in these workloads.

Comparing the i5-12400F to its nearest rivals in the database, the CPU’s average benchmark score of 19221 is statistically tied with the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210, deltaPct 0.1) and the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167, deltaPct 0.3). It trails the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS by a negligible 0.7% (19364) and leads the AMD EPYC 7773X by 1.3% (18979). This clustering indicates that the i5-12400F delivers performance equivalent to older flagship desktop parts and recent mobile chips, making it a balanced choice for Rust where neither CPU nor GPU is a clear standout. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and 2-thread score of 1699 show that the CPU’s light-thread performance is adequate for the game’s render thread, which is often the critical path at high frame rates.

The CPU’s role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the i5-12400F must feed the GTX 1070 quickly enough to avoid stalling the GPU. With a Passmark physics score of 1202 and data compression score of 233327, the CPU demonstrates the computational throughput needed to handle Rust’s physics interactions and terrain modifications without becoming the primary limiter. However, its TDP of 65 W and lock to the Intel Socket 1700 platform suggest that thermal and power headroom are modest; this is not a high-frequency part designed to brute-force frame rates, but rather a balanced mid-range CPU that pairs logically with a mid-range GPU.

FAQ

Q: How does the i5-12400F compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, in overall benchmarks?

A: The two processors are effectively tied in average benchmark score, with the i5-12400F at 19221 versus the i7-8700K at 19210, a difference of only 0.1%. This suggests that in CPU-heavy games like Rust, users upgrading from the older i7 should not expect a significant generational leap in raw processing power.

Q: What is the GTX 1070’s standing relative to other GPUs in the database?

A: The GTX 1070 sits at the 51st percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 12331. It is slightly outperformed by the GTX 1650 SUPER (12504, deltaPct -1.4) and the GTX 880M (12490, deltaPct -1.3), while it leads the Quadro K4200 by 0.7% (12241). This places it in the lower-middle tier of the GPU hierarchy.

Q: Which resolution yields the highest average frame rate for this combo in Rust?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 115.7, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is more than double the 4K Ultra result of 22.7 FPS, highlighting the significant impact of resolution and settings on performance.

Q: How does the combo’s FPS scale from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the combo averages 65.8 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 45.9 FPS, a reduction of approximately 30%. This suggests that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, as the CPU’s performance headroom is less relevant.

Q: Is the GTX 1070’s memory bandwidth sufficient for Rust’s requirements?

A: The GTX 1070 provides 256.3 GB/s of bandwidth from its 8 GB GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus. Given that Rust’s textures and world data are often large, this bandwidth is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, as evidenced by the measured FPS, but it becomes a bottleneck at 4K where the frame rates fall below 50 FPS even at Low settings.

Q: What does the combo’s rank of 1421 out of 1717 tested combos indicate?

A: This rank places the i5-12400F + GTX 1070 pairing in the 17th percentile of all tested combos in Rust. It is a lower-mid-tier configuration, indicating that while it can handle the game, it will not deliver top-tier performance compared to newer hardware.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 1421 out of 1717 tested configurations in Rust places it in the lower third of all pairings. This is a direct consequence of the GPU’s mid-range standing; the GTX 1070’s 51st percentile ranking drags the overall combo down despite the CPU’s stronger 77th percentile position. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary limiter in this pairing, as the CPU has sufficient headroom to drive higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful graphics card. For context, the combo’s performance is likely competitive with systems using similar-tier GPUs but falls well short of configurations with high-end cards.

In Rust specifically, the combo’s rank reflects the game’s demanding nature. Rust’s rendering and simulation loads are heavy, and a GPU at the 51st percentile will struggle to maintain high frame rates at higher settings. The measured FPS data confirms this: even at 1080p Ultra, the combo only achieves 50.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider playable. The rank of 1421 suggests that most other tested combos offer better performance, likely due to more recent GPU architectures with higher raw throughput and better driver optimization for modern game engines.

The delta between CPU and GPU percentiles (77 vs 51) creates an imbalance. In CPU-bound scenarios, such as large multiplayer servers with many entities, the i5-12400F can maintain its end of the bargain, but the GTX 1070 will cap the maximum frame rate. Conversely, at 4K where the GPU is heavily taxed, the CPU’s performance becomes less relevant, and the combo’s frame rates drop to 22.7 FPS at Ultra settings. This rank serves as a warning that the GTX 1070 is the bottleneck for achieving higher frame rates in Rust, and users should prioritize GPU upgrades before CPU upgrades.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this combo in Rust shows a clear pattern across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates are 115.7 FPS (Low), 77.5 FPS (Medium), 65.8 FPS (High), and 50.8 FPS (Ultra). This shows a steady decline as settings increase, with the jump from Low to Medium representing a 33% drop in performance, indicating that medium settings introduce significant graphical effects that tax the GPU. The 1080p results are the only ones where the combo consistently exceeds 60 FPS, and only at Low and Medium settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop to 75.8 FPS (Low), 54.9 FPS (Medium), 45.9 FPS (High), and 32.9 FPS (Ultra). The 1440p results show that the combo cannot maintain 60 FPS at any setting above Low, with the High setting producing a 45.9 FPS average that is playable but not smooth. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 42.9 FPS, a 57% reduction, highlighting the GPU’s struggle with higher pixel counts and detail levels.

At 3840x2160, the performance is marginal: 47.5 FPS (Low), 33.5 FPS (Medium), 25.6 FPS (High), and 22.7 FPS (Ultra). Even at Low settings, the combo fails to reach 50 FPS, making 4K gaming impractical for a smooth experience. The difference between 1080p Low (115.7 FPS) and 4K Low (47.5 FPS) is 68.2 FPS, a 59% reduction, which underscores how resolution impacts the GTX 1070’s fill rate and memory bandwidth. Overall, the data shows that this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming, with 1440p being feasible only at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component clearly. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 115.7 at 1080p to 75.8 at 1440p (a 34.5% decrease) and then to 47.5 at 4K (a 37.3% decrease from 1440p). This consistent decline across resolutions indicates that the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as the CPU’s workload does not scale linearly with pixel count; the GTX 1070’s pixel rate of 107.7 GPixel/s and texture rate of 202.0 GTexel/s become saturated at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more severe: 50.8 FPS at 1080p, 32.9 FPS at 1440p (a 35.2% drop), and 22.7 FPS at 4K (a 31.0% drop from 1440p). The percentage drops are relatively consistent across settings, suggesting that the GPU’s compute and memory subsystems are uniformly stressed by increasing resolution, rather than a specific setting causing a disproportionate impact. The GTX 1070’s 256.3 GB/s memory bandwidth becomes a limiting factor at 4K, as the larger frame buffer and texture fetches require more data throughput than the card can provide.

The data suggests that the i5-12400F is not the limiting factor in resolution scaling. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at higher resolutions, as the GPU would have more time to render each frame. Instead, the FPS continues to drop, confirming that the GTX 1070 is the constraint. At 1080p Low, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach 115.7 FPS, but at 4K, the GPU’s raw performance ceiling prevents it from exceeding 47.5 FPS. This indicates that for users wanting to play Rust at 1440p or 4K, the GPU must be upgraded, while the CPU has sufficient headroom to support a faster graphics card without becoming a bottleneck.