Rust

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti delivers a distinctive performance profile in Rust, one that shifts dramatically depending on resolution and quality preset. This analysis examines the measured FPS data to understand how the CPU and GPU each contribute to the experience, and what the numbers reveal about system bottlenecks.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake generation, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel memory bus, and it connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 20 CPU lanes.

Benchmark data places this CPU in the 73rd percentile among all tested CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19,039. Its nearest rivals in synthetic testing include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS (average score 19,047, delta 0%), the Intel Core 3 201E (19,056, -0.1%), the Intel Core i5-1335U (19,982, 0.3%), and the AMD EPYC 7773X (18,979, 0.3%). These deltas are minimal, indicating that the i5-12400F sits in a tightly competitive mid-range tier for overall processing power.

In Rust, the CPU's role becomes apparent when examining frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 205 FPS average. This high frame rate suggests the CPU can feed the RTX 3080 Ti effectively at lower graphical loads gate, but the question is whether it sustains this throughput when resolution increases. The 6-core, 12-thread layout is well-suited for Rust's simulation and entity-tracking workload, but the data shows that higher settings and resolutions shift the bottleneck. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra drops to 39 FPS, a steep decline that indicates the GPU is struggling under maximum load rather than the CPU being the limiting factor. The CPU's single-thread performance, reflected in a 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1,680, provides a solid baseline for game logic, but it does not compensate for GPU limitations at extreme settings.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific CPU-GPU combination ranks 942nd out of 3,723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 25% of all configurations tested. This percentile ranking is notable given the component mix: a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The rank suggests that while the RTX 3080 Ti is a powerful graphics card, the i5-12400F prevents the combo from reaching the very top tiers of performance in this game.

The rank of 942 out of 3,723 means approximately 75% of tested combos perform worse, but 25% perform better. The data implies that combos with more powerful CPUs or more balanced CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher ranks. The RTX 3080 Ti's synthetic GPU score of 41,187 places it in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs, with rivals like the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 (40,870, 0.8% delta) and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 (40,377, 2% delta) showing similar raw scores. However, in Rust specifically, the combo rank indicates that the CPU cannot fully unlock the GPU's potential in all scenarios, particularly at lower resolutions where CPU overhead is more pronounced.

This ranking also reflects Rust's unique performance demands. The game's large persistent world and physics calculations rely heavily on CPU performance, and the 6-core i5-12400F, while capable, does not match the multi-threaded might of higher-core-count processors that likely occupy the top ranks. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,895 and Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 12,380 show competent multi-threading, but not class-leading performance. The result is a combo that performs admirably in the mid-to-high range but does not break into the elite tier of Rust benchmarks.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear scaling pattern that identifies the bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 205 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 154 FPS, a 25% decrease. At 4K Low, the average falls to 91 FPS, a further 41% reduction from 1440p and a 56% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline as resolution increases points to the GPU becoming the primary limiting factor at higher pixel counts.

The same pattern holds for other settings. At High settings, 1080p yields 127 FPS, 1440p yields 87 FPS, and 4K yields 52 FPS. At Medium settings, the numbers are 150 FPS at 1080p, 103 FPS at 1440p, and 61 FPS at 4K. For Ultra settings, the progression is 96 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 39 FPS at 4K. In every case, the frame rate roughly halves from 1080p to 4K, a classic sign of GPU-bound performance.

This data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU may still have some headroom, but the GPU is already working hard. At 4K, the RTX 3080 Ti is clearly the bottleneck, as the frame rates drop to levels that suggest the GPU cannot keep up with the pixel workload. The i5-12400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears sufficient for Rust at these resolutions, as the FPS scaling tracks closely with the GPU's expected performance curve. The fact that Low settings at 4K (91 FPS) outperform Ultra settings at 1080p (96 FPS) only slightly underscores that resolution, not settings, is the main driver of performance degradation.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four quality settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest resolution tested, the combo delivers 205 FPS on Low, 150 FPS on Medium, 127 FPS on High, and 96 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting includes a minimum FPS of 128 and a maximum of 173, indicating some frame time variance but generally smooth performance.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 154 FPS on Low, 103 FPS on Medium, 87 FPS on High, and 66 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting here shows a minimum of 88 FPS and a maximum of 119 FPS, a tighter range than at 1080p. This suggests that as the GPU works harder, frame pacing becomes more consistent, though the average still drops significantly.

At 3840x2160, the highest resolution, performance falls to 91 FPS on Low, 61 FPS on Medium, 52 FPS on High, and 39 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting at 4K has a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 70 FPS, which is the only 4K setting with recorded min/max values. This indicates that even the minimum frame rate at 4K Medium stays above 50 FPS, but the average of 61 FPS is borderline for smooth gameplay.

The delta between Low and Ultra settings is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the gap is 109 FPS (205 to 96). At 1440p, the gap is 88 FPS (154 to 66). At 4K, the gap is 52 FPS (91 to 39). This narrowing gap at higher resolutions further confirms that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the settings-based performance difference shrinks when the GPU is already saturated with pixel rendering.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 Ti is a high-end Ampere architecture GPU built on Samsung's 8 nm process, with the GA102 chip. It features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, providing 912.4 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 10,240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units, along with 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores. Its base clock is 1,365 MHz with a boost clock of 1,665 MHz, and the memory operates at 1,188 MHz effective 19 Gbps. The GPU's FP32 performance is rated at 34.10 TFLOPS, and it has a TDP of 350 W, requiring a 750 W suggested power supply.

In Rust, the GPU's role is substantial but not absolute. The 12 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for the game's textures and world data, even at 4K Ultra settings, so VRAM capacity is unlikely to be a limiting factor. The GPU's raw compute power, represented by its Passmark G3D score of 26,896 and 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 5,077, drives the high frame rates at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the GPU achieves 205 FPS, demonstrating that it can handle Rust's rendering demands with ease when the CPU keeps up.

However, the GPU's limitations become evident at 4K. The 4K Ultra average of 39 FPS suggests that the RTX 3080 Ti cannot maintain playable frame rates at the highest settings and resolution. The 4K High average of 52 FPS and 4K Medium average of 61 FPS are more playable, but still indicate that the GPU is working near its limits. The GPU's benchmark percentile of 83% places it in the upper tier of graphics cards, but Rust's optimization and rendering demands at 4K Ultra exceed what this GPU can deliver. The data suggests that for 4K gaming in Rust, users would need to compromise on settings to achieve smoother performance, as the GPU's compute capabilities are the primary constraint at this resolution.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves in Rust, and at what settings?

A: The highest average FPS is 205, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This drops to 150 FPS at Medium, 127 FPS at High, and 96 FPS at Ultra at the same resolution.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested CPU-GPU combinations in Rust?

A: This combo ranks 942nd out of 3,723 tested combos, placing it in the top 25% of all configurations. The CPU sits in the 73rd percentile among all CPUs, while the GPU sits in the 83rd percentile among all GPUs.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The GPU is the limiting factor at 4K. Frame rates drop from 91 FPS at Low settings to 39 FPS at Ultra settings, with the gap between settings narrowing as resolution increases, indicating GPU saturation rather than CPU bottleneck.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the measured data, and under what conditions?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 52, occurring at 3840x2160 resolution with Medium settings. This is the only 4K setting with min/max data, showing a range of 52 to 70 FPS.

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

A: The i5-12400F has an average benchmark score of 19,039, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals. The AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS scores 19,047 (0% delta), the Intel Core 3 201E scores 19,056 (-0.1% delta), and the Intel Core i5-1335U scores 19,982 (0.3% delta).

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low setting averages 154 FPS, while the Ultra setting averages 66 FPS, a difference of 88 FPS. The Medium setting averages 103 FPS, and the High setting averages 87 FPS.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Analyzing the measured FPS data across all settings and resolutions, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice for most users. At 1080p, Medium delivers 150 FPS average with a minimum of 128 FPSable, which is well above the threshold for smooth gameplay. At 1440p, Medium yields 103 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, providing a comfortable experience for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Medium produces 61 FPS average with a minimum of 52 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for competitive play.

The High preset offers a better visual fidelity with only modest FPS losses compared to Medium. At 1080p, High averages 127 FPS, at 1440p it averages 87 FPS, and at 4K it averages 52 FPS. The drop from Medium to High is consistent at roughly 15-20 FPS across resolutions, making High a reasonable choice for users prioritizing visuals over maximum frame rates. However, at 4K, the 52 FPS average falls below the 60 FPS target, so users with 4K displays should consider Medium for smoother gameplay.

The Ultra preset provides the highest visual quality but at a significant performance cost. At 1080p, Ultra averages 96 FPS, at 1440p it averages 66 FPS, and at 4K it drops to 39 FPS. The 4K Ultra experience is likely to feel stuttery and unresponsive, making it unsuitable for action-heavy gameplay. The Low preset, while achieving 205 FPS at 1080pable, sacrifices too much visual fidelity for the average user, though it may be preferred by competitive players seeking maximum frame rates.

For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p presents the most compelling balance: 103 FPS average with a minimum of 88 FPS, which maintains smooth gameplay on high-refresh-rate monitors while providing acceptable visual quality. The data shows that the RTX 3080 Ti has enough headroom at Medium settings to keep frame rates high, and the i5-12400F does not bottleneck at this level. For 4K users, Medium is the recommended setting, as it keeps the average FPS above 60 and the minimum above 50, which is the minimum threshold for a playable experience in Rust.