Rust

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB ranks 3274th out of 3723 tested combinations in Rust. This places the combo in the lower 12th percentile of all tested systems, indicating that while the configuration is capable of running the game, it does so with significant compromises at higher settings and resolutions. The ranking reflects the hardware's overall positioning: the CPU is a solid mid-range performer (73rd percentile among all CPUs), while the GPU is an entry-level option (50th percentile among all GPUs). The combination of a capable six-core processor and a constrained 4 GB graphics card results in a system that is heavily GPU-bound in most scenarios, with the data confirming that frame rates scale more aggressively with resolution and settings than with CPU headroom.

How This Combo Ranks

The measured data places this combination at rank 3274 out of 3723 tested combos, slotting it squarely in the lower band of the database. With 87.9% of tested combinations performing better, this system is not positioned for high-refresh gaming or 4K play at anything beyond minimal settings. The ranking reflects the RTX 3050 4 GB's role as the primary limiting factor: while the CPU holds a 73rd percentile standing among all processors, the GPU sits at the 50th percentile, and its modest specs (4 GB VRAM, 192.0 GB/s bandwidth) struggle with Rust's demanding rendering. The i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19039 is nearly identical to its nearest rivals — within 0.3% of the AMD EPYC 7773X — showing the processor is not a performance outlier, but rather a steady middle-tier unit that keeps pace with its peers. This rank reflects the whole system's 4K low 40 fps and 1080p low 97 fps, which are playable but far from the 100+ fps thresholds typical of higher-end builds.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in terms of playable frame rates?

A: The data shows that 1080p is the most viable resolution. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 97 fps, and at Medium it averages 65 fps. Moving to 1440p drops the Low average to 67 fps, and 4K Low drops to 40 fps, making 1080p the clear choice for smoother gameplay.

Q: Can this system handle Rust at 4K?

A: At 4K, the system is severely frame-limited. The highest average at 4K is 40 fps on Low settings, and High settings drop to 22 fps, Medium to 27 fps, and Ultra to 17 fps. These numbers indicate that 4K is only feasible at Low settings, and even then, the experience is not ideal.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to its rivals?

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19039, nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047) and the Intel Core 3 201E (19056). Its single-core score of 1964 and multi-core of 9472 in Geekbench are solid, but they don't lift the system's rank due to the GPU's constraints.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM size, and why does it matter?

A: The RTX 3050 4 GB has 4 GB of GDDR6 VRAM, a 128-bit bus, and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth. This is a low VRAM capacity for modern games, and it is likely the main reason the High and Ultra presets at higher resolutions (1440p and 4K) produce sub-45 fps averages, as the GPU must manage memory more aggressively.

Q: What is the CPU's core and thread configuration?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F has 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 18 MB shared L3 cache and 10 nm process are adequate for gaming, but the CPU's performance is not the bottleneck; the GPU is.

Q: Is the GPU's clock speed a factor in Rust performance?

A: The GPU's base clock is 1545 MHz and boost clock is 1740 MHz, with a texture rate of 111.4 GTexel/s and a pixel rate of 55.68 GPixel/s. These figures are on the lower end for modern GPUs, and they contribute to the 4K frame rates being so low, but the VRAM capacity is the more significant constraint.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and dramatic scaling pattern across resolutions. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS at High drops from 55 to 38, a 11% decrease; from 1080p to 4K, it drops to 22, a 60% decrease. At Low settings, the scaling is less steep but still substantial: 97 fps at 1080p, 67 fps at 1440p, and 40 fps at 4K, representing a 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 59% drop to 4K. The pattern is consistent across all settings, but the relative drop from 1440p to 4K is larger than from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is the primary limitation at higher resolutions.

The 4K Ultra setting yields only 17 fps, a 25% drop from 4K High's 27 fps, showing that the GPU cannot maintain playable rates even on the lowest preset at the highest resolution. The data strongly suggests the RTX 3050 4 GB is the limiting component: the CPU, with 6 cores and 12 threads, has enough multi-threading capability to keep up, but the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are the bottleneck. The frame drop from 1080p Low (97 fps) to 1080p Ultra (42 fps) is also notable — a 57% reduction — showing that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are overwhelmed by higher settings, not just higher resolutions.

The Limiting component is clearly the GPU. The CPU's performance (73rd percentile among CPUs) is not reflected in the game's frame rates; instead, the combo rank (3274) is dominated by the GPU's 50th percentile rank. At 1080p, the CPU can feed enough frames to hit 97 fps on Low, but the GPU cannot maintain that at higher settings, as evidenced by the 42 fps Ultra average. The scaling data is a textbook case of GPU saturation, where the RTX 3050 4 GB's 4 GB VRAM and low bandwidth (192.0 GB/s) become the primary drivers of the frame rate ceiling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

Measured FPS data is available for three resolutions and four settings each, with the following average frame rates (avg FPS) and, where recorded, minimum and maximum values.

At 3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 40 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 27 fps average, 23 fps minimum, 31 fps maximum
• High: 22 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 17 fps average (no min/max recorded)

At 2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 67 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 45 fps average, 38 fps minimum, 52 fps maximum
• High: 38 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 29 fps average (no min/max recorded)

At 1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 97 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Medium: 65 fps average, 55 fps minimum, 75 fps maximum
• High: 55 fps average (no min/max recorded)
• Ultra: 42 fps average (no min/max recorded)

The trend is clear: 1080p is the only resolution where the system can maintain a 60+ fps average, and that only on Low settings. The 1080p Medium average of 65 fps is just above the 60 fps threshold, but the 55 fps minimum suggests occasional dips below, making 1080p Low the most stable option. At 1440p, even Low settings only achieve 67 fps, which is playable but not smooth, and Ultra drops to 29 fps. At 4K, all settings are below 40 fps, with Ultra at 17 fps, rendering the resolution effectively unplayable for competitive play.

The difference between 1440p Medium (45 fps) and 1080p Medium (65 fps) is the largest single-resolution jump, a 44% improvement, showing the GPU's scaling with pixel count. In contrast, the CPU's contribution is more consistent: the 6-core/12-thread i5-12400F with a 12,380 Cinebench R23 multi-core score is not the bottleneck, as frame rates drop with resolution despite the CPU's solid performance.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 4 GB is an entry-level Ampere GPU with 2048 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It features a base clock of 1545 MHz and a boost clock of 1740 MHz, with a memory speed of 1500 MHz (12 Gbps effective), delivering a bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s via a 128-bit GDDR6 bus. Its pixel rate is 55.68 GPixel/s and texture rate is 111.4 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance of 7.127 TFLOPS. The GPU has 16 RT cores and 64 tensor cores, supporting DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. It's a dual-slot card with a 90 W TDP and requires a 1x 6-pin power connector.

In Rust, these specs result in a GPU-bound performance. The 4 GB VRAM is the most critical factor: at 4K, the frame rates are 17-40 fps across all settings, and even at 1440p, the Ultra preset yields only 29 fps. The GPU's 50th percentile ranking is modest, reflecting the lack of headroom for high-resolution, high-quality rendering. The 4 GB VRAM is particularly limiting in a survival game like Rust, which has large, open-world environments that require significant texture memory. This is evidenced by the 4K Ultra setting hitting 17 fps, a 60% drop from 1080p Low's 97 fps, showing that the GPU is at its limits when rendering at high resolution and detail.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 192.0 GB/s is also a bottleneck at high settings, as the 4K Ultra preset's 17 fps shows. The 128-bit bus width limits the data transfer rate, which is critical in games like Rust that stream assets constantly. The 4 GB VRAM is less than the 8 GB typically found in modern GPUs, and this is the primary reason the GPU cannot handle 4K Ultra or even 1440p Ultra well. The benchmark results at 4K (17-40 fps) and 1440p (29-67 fps) are all below the 60 fps threshold, confirming the GPU's role as the limiting factor.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread Alder Lake processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It has 80 KB L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel, with a 10 nm process node. Its benchmark scores are solid: Cinebench R23 multi-core 12380, single-core 1680, and Geekbench multi-core 9472, single-core 1964. With a 73rd percentile across all CPUs, it is a competent mid-range processor.

In Rust, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU. The measured FPS data shows that even at 1080p Low, the system only reaches 97 fps, while at 1440p High it drops to 38 fps. This indicates the CPU is not the bottleneck; the GPU is. The i5-12400F can feed the GPU more frames than the GPU can render, as evidenced by the 1080p Low 97 fps vs. 1440p High 38 fps gap. The CPU's multi-threading (12 threads) helps with Rust's game logic and physics, but the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and limited bandwidth hold back the system's performance.

The CPU's performance in synthetic benchmarks is impressive: a 12380 Cinebench R23 multi-core score puts it in the upper echelon of mid-range processors, and its 1680 single-core score is adequate for gaming. However, the combination with a GPU that's 7.127 TFLOPS leads to a system where the CPU is underutilized. The rank of 3274 out of 3723 combos is more about the GPU than the CPU. The CPU's nearly identical score to the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (19047) and Intel Core 3 201E (19056) shows it's not a performance outlier, it's a solid chip that's let down by the GPU in this specific pairing.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo are at 1080p with Low or Medium presets. At 1080p Low, the system averages 97 fps, which is the highest frame rate of any preset and allows for smooth, responsive gameplay. The 1080p Medium preset averages 65 fps, still above the 60 fps threshold, but the minimum of 55 fps suggests occasional dips below 60, which may be noticeable. For a balance between visuals and performance, 1080p Medium is the highest setting that keeps the frame rate above 60 fps on average.

At 1440p, even Low settings only average 67 fps, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 45 fps, and High drops to 38 fps, making these settings better suited for slower-paced exploration rather than fast action. The 4K resolution is not recommended for this combo, as even Low averages 40 fps and Ultra drops to 17 fps, which is unplayable. The data suggests the best experience is at 1080p Medium, where the GPU's 4 GB VRAM and 192.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient to maintain a stable frame rate, and the CPU's 6 cores can handle the game's physics without bottlenecking.

Given the GPU's 4 GB VRAM, the Medium preset is likely to be the most balanced choice, as it avoids the extreme VRAM pressure of High and Ultra, which cause the frame rate to drop below 55 fps at 1080p. The 1080p Low preset is the safest for constant 60+ FPS, but the Medium preset at 65 fps is a good trade-off for those who want better visuals without sacrificing smoothness. The data shows that the CPU's 65-watt TDP and the GPU's 90-watt TDP are both low power draws, making this a power-efficient setup for a lower-end gaming PC, though the GPU's 250W suggested PSU is always a consideration.