Rust

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Rust reveals a clear and consistent pattern: this combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti is heavily GPU-limited at higher resolutions, while the CPU's capabilities become the defining factor only at 1080p with lower settings. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average frame rate drops from 112.9 FPS to 78.4 FPS, a 30.6% reduction. The scaling continues to 3840x2160, where the average falls to 44.7 FPS, representing a further 43% drop from the 1440p figure.

The most telling evidence of GPU limitation comes from the Low settings preset. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 196.6 FPS average, but this collapses to 131.4 FPS at 2560x1440 and then to 81.1 FPS at 3840x2160. The 4K Low result is barely half of the 1080p Low figure, which indicates that the RTX 3070 Ti's rendering throughput — not the CPU's processing power — is the bottleneck when pixel count rises. The GPU's 8 GB of GDDR6X memory and 608.3 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the 4K frame buffer, particularly in a game like Rust that features large, persistent worlds with many dynamic objects.

Conversely, the Ultra preset tells a different story. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 84, but at 1440p Ultra it falls to 58.6, and at 4K Ultra it reaches just 36.6 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at the same resolution is substantial: at 4K, Low delivers 81.1 FPS while Ultra delivers 36.6 FPS, a 44.7 FPS difference. This spread suggests that the higher presets introduce rendering effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's shader units and memory subsystem, rather than the CPU. The RTX 3070 Ti's 21.75 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is the primary engine here, and it scales predictably with resolution when settings are held constant.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings 6 cores and 12 threads to this pairing, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark profile shows a single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark and a multi-thread score of 5912 in 3DMark max threads, which positions it as a solid mid-range processor. In Rust, the data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor at most settings, given that the FPS scaling between resolutions tracks GPU load so closely. However, the 1080p Low result of 196.6 FPS average suggests that the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at high frame rates, as this is the only configuration where the GPU is not overburdened.

The CPU's 18 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 or DDR5) are relevant to Rust's performance, as the game frequently loads and unloads terrain and structure data. The benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518 and a single-core score of 2332, indicating that the 12 threads are capable of handling the game's simulation threads without becoming a bottleneck. The fact that the 4K Low result (81.1 FPS) is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result (84 FPS) — nearly equal — implies that even at 4K, the CPU is delivering enough frames to keep up with the GPU's rendering capacity.

The processor's percentile ranking against all CPUs is 77, and its average benchmark score of 19221 is within 0.1% of the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210) and 0.3% of the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167). This places the i5-12400F in a narrow performance band with those rivals, and the data in Rust reflects this: the CPU is never the primary constraint, even at the lowest resolution and settings where the frame rate reaches 196.6 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Rust?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 delivers the highest average FPS across all settings, ranging from 84 FPS at Ultra to 196.6 FPS at Low. At 2560x1440, the range is 58.6 to 131.4 FPS, while 3840x2160 yields only 36.6 to 81.1 FPS. For a balance of visual quality and smoothness, 1440p High at 78.4 FPS is a strong middle ground.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 Ti compare to its closest GPU rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 3070 Ti's average benchmark score is 30849, which is 0.3% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (30755) and 0.8% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (31112). In Rust specifically, the measured FPS at 1080p High (112.9) and 4K High (44.7) reflect the GPU's mid-range positioning.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Rust for this system?

A: Benchmark results indicate the GPU is the limiting component at 1440p and 4K across all settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 196.6 FPS, which suggests the CPU can deliver high frame rates. The resolution-dependent FPS scaling — from 196.6 at 1080p Low to 81.1 at 4K Low — confirms the GPU's dominance as the constraint.

Q: What FPS can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 54.7 FPS at 3840x2160 with Medium settings. This is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay but above the 36.6 FPS achieved at Ultra.

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

A: The i5-12400F's average benchmark score of 19221 is 0.1% above the Intel Core i7-8700K (19210), 0.3% above the Intel Core i5-1335U (19167), and 0.7% below the AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS (19364). Its percentile rank is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of all CPUs in the database.

Q: Does the 8 GB VRAM limit performance at 4K?

A: The data shows a significant FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at every setting, with the largest absolute drop occurring at Low settings (from 131.4 to 81.1 FPS). The 8 GB GDDR6X capacity combined with 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is likely insufficient to maintain high frame rates at 4K in Rust's large open-world environment.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti ranks 625 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust. This places it in the 36.4th percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 63.6% of all tested system configurations for this game. The rank reflects a mid-to-upper-tier position, consistent with the CPU's 77th percentile ranking and the GPU's 74th percentile ranking among their respective components.

The FPS data corroborates this ranking. At 1080p High, the system achieves 112.9 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS playable threshold. At 1440p High, it maintains 78.4 FPS, still comfortable for most displays. The 4K High result of 44.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS mark, which explains why the combo does not rank higher — it cannot deliver a consistently smooth 4K experience in Rust at higher presets. The rank of 625 suggests that many combos with more powerful GPUs or CPUs achieve better 4K performance, while this pairing excels at 1080p and 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 112.9 FPS average, which is smooth for competitive play, while Ultra drops to 84 FPS — still playable but with diminishing returns for visual fidelity. For 1080p, High is the recommended preset, as it offers a 28.9 FPS advantage over Ultra while likely maintaining most visual features.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 78.4 FPS is the best balance, as it stays above 60 FPS and is only 12.2 FPS below the Medium preset's 90.6 FPS. The Ultra preset at 58.6 FPS falls just below the 60 FPS threshold, making it less desirable for consistent smoothness. For 3840x2160, the Medium preset at 54.7 FPS is the highest quality option that remains reasonably close to 60 FPS, while Low at 81.1 FPS is the only 4K preset that exceeds 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 36.6 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the frame rate is too low for a responsive experience in a survival game where quick reactions matter.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the average FPS ranges from 84 at Ultra to 196.6 at Low. The Medium preset achieves 129.6 FPS, and High reaches 112.9 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 67 FPS, while Medium to High is a 16.7 FPS drop, and High to Ultra is a 28.9 FPS drop. This shows that the Low preset provides a massive performance boost, while the step from Medium to High is relatively modest.

At 2560x1440, the results are 58.6 FPS at Ultra, 78.4 FPS at High, 90.6 FPS at Medium, and 131.4 FPS at Low. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by 30.6% at High (from 112.9 to 78.4) and 33.1% at Low (from 196.6 to 131.4). The Medium preset loses 39 FPS when moving from 1080p to 1440p, while Ultra loses 25.4 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 36.6 at Ultra, 44.7 at High, 54.7 at Medium, and 81.1 at Low. The transition from 1440p to 4K results in a 43% FPS reduction at High (from 78.4 to 44.7) and a 38.3% reduction at Low (from 131.4 to 81.1). The Ultra preset at 4K is the lowest measured value across all configurations, at 36.6 FPS. The largest absolute gap between Low and Ultra occurs at 1080p (112.6 FPS), while the smallest is at 4K (44.5 FPS), indicating that resolution scaling compresses the performance differences between presets as GPU load increases.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, built on the Ampere architecture with a GA104 chip on an 8 nm process, is the dominant component in this system's Rust performance. Its 6144 shading units, 192 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines provide the raw compute power, while 48 ray tracing cores and 192 tensor cores handle advanced effects. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1575 MHz and a boost clock of 1770 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivering 608.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's benchmark scores show a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3478, a Geekbench OpenCL score of 137518, and a Passmark G3D score of 23356. Its average benchmark score of 30849 places it in the 74th percentile of all GPUs. In Rust, the GPU's role is clearly evidenced by the resolution scaling: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 196.6 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 81.1 FPS. This 115.5 FPS reduction is almost entirely attributable to the GPU's rendering load, as the CPU is capable of sustaining higher frame rates.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 590 GME (avg score 30755, delta +0.3%), the AMD Radeon RX 6700 (avg score 31112, delta -0.8%), and the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 (avg score 31142, delta -0.9%). The RTX 3070 Ti sits between these cards in raw benchmark terms, and the Rust data reflects this mid-range positioning. The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a notable constraint at 4K Ultra, where the 36.6 FPS average suggests memory bandwidth or capacity limitations, as the 608.3 GB/s bandwidth is being stressed by the high-resolution frame buffer and texture loads typical of Rust's large, detailed environments.