Rust

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for Rust with the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 shows a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and frame rate across four presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 205 FPS average, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. Medium drops to 145 FPS average, High to 122 FPS, and Ultra to 93 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p is substantial, with Ultra producing 112 FPS less than Low.

For players prioritizing smoothness on high-refresh-rate monitors, the Low preset at 1080p is the only configuration that exceeds 200 FPS, making it the best choice for competitive scenarios. The Medium preset still provides 145 FPS average, which comfortably exceeds 120 FPS, and its minimum frame rate of 123 FPS at 1080p suggests consistent delivery. High at 1080p averages 122 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom above typical 120Hz display refresh rates.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 148 FPS, which is the only 1440p configuration to surpass 144 FPS. Medium at 1440p averages 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS, while High averages 84 FPS and Ultra drops to 64 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and playability, as its 100 FPS average remains above 90 FPS while providing improved rendering over Low.

At 3840x2160, no preset achieves 100 FPS. Low averages 88 FPS, Medium averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS, High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra drops to 38 FPS. Given that Medium at 4K provides a 9 FPS advantage over High and a 21 FPS advantage over Ultra, the Medium preset is the recommended choice for 4K gaming on this hardware. The minimum frame rate of 50 FPS at 4K Medium indicates that even the lowest frames remain above 48 FPS, which is generally considered the threshold for smooth console-like experiences.

The data suggests that the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, Medium or High provides a strong experience without sacrificing too much visual quality. For 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot. For 4K, Medium is the only viable preset that maintains an average above 55 FPS. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as its highest average across all resolutions is 93 FPS at 1080p, which represents a significant performance cost for marginal visual gains.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock runs at 1188 MHz with 19 Gbps effective speed. The GPU's base clock is 1440 MHz with a boost clock of 1710 MHz. This memory configuration is central to understanding Rust's performance scaling, as the game's open-world environments and texture streaming can be memory-intensive.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rival in the benchmark database is the NVIDIA P106-100, which scores 23249, representing a 0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 also scores 23250, another 0.3% difference. These rivals are extremely close in aggregate benchmarks, but the RTX 3080's performance in Rust is distinct from what these aggregate scores suggest.

In Rust, the RTX 3080's frame rates scale predictably with resolution. At 1080p Low, the GPU produces 205 FPS, but at 4K Low, it drops to 88 FPS. This 117 FPS reduction across a 4x pixel count increase indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The 10 GB VRAM capacity may be sufficient for most Rust scenarios, but the 4K Ultra preset's 38 FPS average suggests that the combination of high resolution and maximum settings stresses both the memory subsystem and the compute units.

The GPU's compute capabilities are notable: 8704 shading units, 272 texture mapping units, and 96 raster output pipelines. The pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s and texture rate of 465.1 GTexel/s are high figures, but Rust's performance at 4K Ultra (38 FPS) versus 4K Low (88 FPS) shows that the rendering workload at Ultra settings exceeds what the GPU can sustain at high frame rates. The 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance is substantial, yet the game's physics and world simulation may not scale perfectly with raw compute throughput.

The boost clock of 1710 MHz is relatively modest compared to some other high-end GPUs, but the RTX 3080 compensates with a wide memory bus and high bandwidth. The 320-bit bus width and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are critical for handling Rust's large textures and draw distances, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU must fetch more data per frame.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals how the hardware combination scales under increasing pixel loads. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 205 at 1080p to 148 at 1440p (a 57 FPS reduction) and then to 88 at 4K (another 60 FPS reduction). The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is approximately 28%, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is approximately 41%. This accelerating decline indicates that the GPU becomes progressively more strained as resolution increases.

At Medium settings, the average FPS moves from 145 at 1080p to 100 at 1440p and 59 at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 45 FPS (31%), and the 1440p to 4K drop is 41 FPS (41%). The consistent pattern of larger percentage drops at higher resolutions suggests that the RTX 3080's fill rate and memory bandwidth are not sufficient to maintain linear scaling at 4K.

High settings show a similar trend: 122 FPS at 1080p, 84 FPS at 1440p, and 50 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p reduction is 38 FPS (31%), and the 1440p to 4K reduction is 34 FPS (40%). Ultra settings follow the same trajectory: 93 FPS at 1080p, 64 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K, with reductions of 29 FPS (31%) and 26 FPS (41%) respectively.

The consistent 31% drop from 1080p to 1440p across all settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in this range. The 40-41% drop from 1440p to 4K is steeper, suggesting that the 10 GB VRAM and 320-bit memory bus become more significant bottlenecks at 4K. The fact that Low settings also experience a 41% drop from 1440p to 4K means that even with reduced shading complexity, the sheer pixel count overwhelms the GPU's rasterization capacity.

The data shows that 1080p is the resolution where this combo can fully stretch its legs, with all presets except Ultra exceeding 120 FPS. At 1440p, only Low exceeds 144 FPS, and at 4K, no preset exceeds 88 FPS. This scaling behavior is typical for a GPU with 10 GB of VRAM: the memory capacity is adequate for 1440p, but 4K textures and effects push the memory subsystem to its limits.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 205 FPS, which is the highest recorded value in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 145 FPS with a minimum of 123 FPS and maximum of 166 FPS. High averages 122 FPS, and Ultra averages 93 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 112 FPS, indicating that settings have a dramatic impact on performance at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, Low averages 148 FPS. Medium averages 100 FPS with a minimum of 85 FPS and maximum of 115 FPS. High averages 84 FPS, and Ultra averages 64 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 84 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 85 FPS is noteworthy because it remains above 80 FPS, which is important for maintaining smooth gameplay during busy scenes.

At 3840x2160, Low averages 88 FPS. Medium averages 59 FPS with a minimum of 50 FPS and maximum of 68 FPS. High averages 50 FPS, and Ultra averages 38 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 4K is 50 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 50 FPS is the only 4K configuration with a recorded minimum above 40 FPS, making it the most consistent 4K option.

Comparing across resolutions, the Low preset at 1080p (205 FPS) is more than double the Low preset at 4K (88 FPS). The Medium preset at 1080p (145 FPS) is nearly 2.5 times the Medium preset at 4K (59 FPS). The High preset at 1080p (122 FPS) is 2.44 times the High preset at 4K (50 FPS). The Ultra preset at 1080p (93 FPS) is 2.45 times the Ultra preset at 4K (38 FPS). This consistent 2.4-2.5x ratio across settings confirms that resolution scaling is uniform regardless of the preset.

The minimum frame rate data is only available for Medium presets. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 123 FPS, which is 85% of the average. At 1440p Medium, the minimum is 85 FPS, which is 85% of the average. At 4K Medium, the minimum is 50 FPS, which is 85% of the average. This consistent 85% ratio suggests that frame pacing is stable across resolutions, with no unexpected drops or stutters.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 1037 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust. This places the combo in the top 27.9% of all tested configurations. The rank indicates that while this is a capable pairing, there are 1036 other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in Rust.

The CPU's percentile ranking is 73, meaning it outperforms 73% of all CPUs in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 19039. The nearest rival is the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS with an average score of 19047 and a delta of 0%. The Intel Core 3 201E scores 19056 with a -0.1% delta. The Intel Core i5-1335U scores 18982 with a 0.3% delta, and the AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979 with a 0.3% delta. These rivals are all within 0.3% of the i5-12400F's aggregate score, indicating that the CPU's synthetic performance is average for its class.

The GPU's percentile ranking is 68, outperforming 68% of all GPUs. Its average benchmark score is 23172. The nearest rival is the NVIDIA P106-100 with an average score of 23249 and a -0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 scores 23250 with a -0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23273 with a -0.4% delta, and the AMD Radeon R9 M290X scores 23276 with a -0.4% delta. The GPU's aggregate score is slightly below its nearest rivals, but the differences are minimal.

The combo rank of 1037 out of 3723 suggests that the overall system performance is solid but not exceptional for Rust. The CPU and GPU each rank in the 68-73rd percentiles individually, yet the combination ranks in the 72nd percentile of combos. This alignment indicates that neither component is a significant bottleneck relative to the other, and the system performs as expected given its parts.

The fact that the combo ranks in the top 28% of all tested configurations means there are numerous other combos that outperform it, likely featuring higher-end CPUs or GPUs. However, the rank also indicates that this combo outperforms 72% of all tested combinations, making it a competitive choice for Rust players.

CPU Role

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. It is built on Intel's Alder Lake architecture using a 10 nm process, with an 18 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's TDP is 65 W, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory on a dual-channel bus.

The CPU's benchmark results show a 3dmark single-thread score of 909 and a max-thread score of 5912. The cinebench R23 multicore score is 12380, while the single-core score is 1680. The geekbench multicore score is 9472, and the single-core score is 1964. The passmark multithread score is 19433, and the passmark single-thread score is 3481.

In Rust, the CPU's role is evident from the scaling across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 205, which is likely CPU-limited because the GPU can render frames faster than the CPU can feed it. At 1080p Ultra, the average drops to 93 FPS, indicating that the GPU becomes the limiting factor when settings are increased. The fact that 1080p Low (205 FPS) is more than double 1080p Ultra (93 FPS) shows that the CPU can push high frame rates when the GPU is not stressed.

The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is adequate for Rust's multi-threaded nature, but the 2.50 GHz base clock is relatively modest. The boost clock of 4.40 GHz is more relevant during gaming, as the CPU can ramp up to higher frequencies under load. The 18 MB L3 cache is shared across all cores, which helps with data sharing in games that use multiple threads.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 73 against all CPUs means it outperforms 73% of the CPUs in the database. Its average benchmark score of 19039 is close to its nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS at 19047 and the Intel Core 3 201E at 19056. These scores are all within 0.3% of each other, indicating that the i5-12400F's performance is typical for its tier.

The CPU's 3dmark 16-thread score of 5895 and 2-thread score of 1699 show that multi-threaded scaling is present but not linear. The 16-thread score is 3.47 times the 2-thread score, which is expected for a 6-core, 12-thread processor. The cinebench R20 multicore score of 6980 and single-core score of 985 follow a similar pattern.

In Rust, the CPU's performance at 1080p Low (205 FPS) suggests that it can handle high frame rates when the GPU is not the bottleneck. However, at 4K Low (88 FPS), the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, as the CPU's frame delivery capability is not being fully utilized. This indicates that the i5-12400F is sufficient for Rust at all tested settings, and the GPU determines the final frame rate in most scenarios.

FAQ

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

A: The highest average FPS is 205, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 200 FPS.

Q: Which 4K preset provides the most stable frame rates?

A: The 4K Medium preset provides the most stable frame rates, with an average of 59 FPS, a minimum of 50 FPS, and a maximum of 68 FPS. This is the only 4K configuration with a recorded minimum above 40 FPS.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 23172. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23249, which is a 0.3% delta. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 16 also scores 23250 with a 0.3% delta, and the AMD Radeon RX 6600M scores 23273 with a 0.4% delta.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested configurations in Rust?

A: The combo ranks 1037 out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the top 27.9% of all tested systems. This means it outperforms 72% of all tested combos in Rust.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU become the limiting factor at 4K?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. Evidence includes the frame rate drops from 1440p to 4K being around 40-41% across all settings, even at Low where the GPU workload is reduced. The CPU's 1080p Low performance of 205 FPS shows it can deliver high frame rates, but the 4K Low average of 88 FPS indicates the GPU cannot sustain the same throughput at higher resolutions.

Q: What is the percentage drop in FPS from 1080p to 1440p across all settings?

A: The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistently around 31% across all settings. Low drops from 205 to 148 FPS, Medium from 145 to 100 FPS, High from 122 to 84 FPS, and Ultra from 93 to 64 FPS.