Rust

Rust with the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo delivers 205 FPS on Low settings, but this drops to 155 FPS at 1440p and 91 FPS at 4K, representing a 24% and 56% reduction respectively. The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens dramatically at higher resolutions: at 1080p, the spread is 108 FPS (205 vs 97), while at 4K it narrows to 52 FPS (91 vs 39). This behavior indicates that at lower resolutions, the RTX 4070 has enough headroom to push frame rates high enough that the CPU begins to matter, but at 4K the GPU's 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 29.15 TFLOPS of compute become the primary constraint. The Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, shows a 52 FPS minimum at 4K and 128 FPS minimum at 1080p, suggesting that even the lowest recorded frames remain playable across all tested settings.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a nonlinear relationship between resolution and performance. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on High settings reduces average FPS from 127 to 88, a 31% drop. The same transition on Low settings sees a larger absolute decline from 205 to 155 FPS, though the percentage drop is similar at 24%. From 1440p to 4K, the High preset falls from 88 to 52 FPS, a 41% reduction, while Low settings drop from 155 to 91 FPS, a 41% decline as well. This consistency across presets—around 40% performance loss for each resolution doubling—points to the GPU as the dominant factor. The RTX 4070's 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 4K textures, but the sheer pixel count overwhelms the 64 ROPs and 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate. At 1080p Low, the 205 FPS ceiling likely approaches the CPU's practical limit, given the i5-12400F's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The data shows no scenario where the CPU becomes the bottleneck below 1080p, since no lower resolution was tested, but the 155 FPS at 1440p Low versus 205 at 1080p Low suggests the GPU still has reserve capacity at the lower resolution.

The Ultra preset at each resolution provides the clearest evidence of GPU-bound behavior. At 4K Ultra, the combo averages 39 FPS, which is below the 52 FPS minimum seen at 4K Medium. This 33% drop from Medium to Ultra at 4K (61 to 39 FPS) is larger than the 24% drop from Low to Medium (91 to 61 FPS). The pattern reverses at 1080p, where Low to Medium falls 26% (205 to 151) and Medium to Ultra falls 36% (151 to 97). These differences indicate that Ultra settings introduce effects that disproportionately tax the GPU's shading units and ray tracing cores, of which the RTX 4070 has 5888 and 46 respectively. The fact that 4K Medium maintains a 52 FPS minimum while 4K Ultra averages only 39 FPS suggests that players targeting 60 FPS at 4K should avoid Ultra, as the data shows no preset achieving 60+ FPS at that resolution except Low at 91 FPS.

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

The Intel Core i5-12400F brings 6 physical cores and 12 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost up to 4.40 GHz. This processor scores 12,380 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1,680 in single-core, placing it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. For Rust, a survival game known for its simulation-heavy mechanics, the multi-threaded performance matters. The 3DMark results show a scaling pattern from 1,699 in 2-thread tests to 5,895 in 16-thread tests, indicating good thread utilization up to the 12 threads available. The 18 MB of shared L3 cache helps with the game's world-state calculations, though the 80 KB L1 and 1.25 MB L2 per core are modest by modern standards. The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, scores 19,047 in average benchmarks, just 0% different from the i5-12400F's 19,039 average. This near-identical performance suggests that in CPU-bound scenarios, the i5-12400F would behave similarly to that rival, though Rust's specific workload may favor one over the other.

At 1080p Low, the 205 FPS result is the highest in the dataset, and this is where the CPU's boost clock of 4.40 GHz becomes relevant. The 3DMark single-thread score of 909 indicates strong per-core performance, which Rust needs for its main game logic thread. However, the drop from 205 FPS at 1080p Low to 155 FPS at 1440p Low (24%) is larger than the 16% drop from 1080p High to 1440p High (127 to 88), suggesting that at Low settings, the GPU is still the primary limiter even at 1080p. The CPU's 65 W TDP and Intel Socket 1700 platform are entry-level specifications, but the benchmark data shows no obvious CPU-induced frame pacing issues, as the Medium preset minimum FPS values (128 at 1080p, 88 at 1440p, 52 at 4K) are all within 85% of their respective averages. This indicates that the 12 threads are sufficient to feed the RTX 4070 without causing micro-stutter, a common issue in survival games with many entities.

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 with Low settings. This is more than double the 97 FPS seen at the same resolution on Ultra, and it represents the only preset in the dataset that exceeds 200 FPS.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only on Low settings, where it averages 91 FPS. Medium settings average 61 FPS with a 52 FPS minimum, while High averages 52 FPS and Ultra drops to 39 FPS. So 60 FPS at 4K requires Low or Medium, with Medium being borderline based on the minimum recorded frame rate.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival in terms of average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4070 has an average benchmark score of 37,648, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla P4 at 37,628. It also outperforms the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37,507) by 0.4% but trails the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (38,135) by 1.3%.

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

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 155 FPS while Ultra produces 67 FPS, a difference of 88 FPS or 57% lower performance. This is the largest relative gap between presets at any resolution in the dataset.

Q: Given the CPU's benchmark scores, is it a bottleneck for this GPU in Rust?

A: The i5-12400F scores 12,380 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and ranks in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs. The data shows that FPS scales nearly linearly with resolution (e.g., 205 to 155 to 91 for Low across 1080p to 1440p to 4K), suggesting the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,895 indicates it can sustain high thread loads without bottlenecking.

Q: What is the combo's overall rank among tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 928th out of 3,723 tested combos for Rust, placing it in roughly the top 25% of all configurations. This rank reflects the balance between the CPU's 73rd percentile and the GPU's 81st percentile performance.

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

At 1920x1080, the full range of presets shows a clear hierarchy. Low settings deliver 205 FPS average, which is the peak performance in the entire dataset. Medium settings produce 151 FPS with a minimum of 128 and maximum of 174, showing a tight frame pacing window. High settings yield 127 FPS, dropping 16% from Medium. Ultra settings reduce performance to 97 FPS, a 24% drop from High. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is 108 FPS, and the minimum FPS recorded at Medium (128) is still higher than the average at Ultra (97), indicating that Ultra's visual gains come at a substantial cost.

Moving to 2560x1440, the same preset ordering persists but with compressed margins. Low settings achieve 155 FPS, a 24% reduction from 1080p. Medium averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 88 and maximum of 120, maintaining a 15% variance between min and max. High settings drop to 88 FPS, which exactly equals the Medium minimum, suggesting that High is effectively the boundary for smooth 1440p gameplay. Ultra falls to 67 FPS, which is 36% lower than Medium. The ratio between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 2.31 (155/67), compared to 2.11 at 1080p (205/97), showing that Ultra's penalty grows with resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance becomes marginal for high refresh rate displays. Low settings still manage 91 FPS, which is playable on a 60 Hz monitor. Medium averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 52, meaning some scenes will drop below 60 FPS. High settings produce 52 FPS, and Ultra falls to 39 FPS. The jump from Medium to High at 4K is a 15% reduction (61 to 52), while the jump from High to Ultra is 25% (52 to 39). The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (52) is lower than the average at 4K High (52), showing that Medium provides a more consistent experience despite lower average performance. Across all resolutions, the Low preset shows no min/max data, but the consistency of the Medium preset's min/max values (e.g., 128-174 at 1080p) suggests that frame pacing remains stable even as resolution scales.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo of Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 928th out of 3,723 tested combinations in Rust, placing it in the 75th percentile of all configurations. This rank is notable because the individual components have percentiles of 73 (CPU) and 81 (GPU), meaning the combo performs slightly worse than the average of its parts might suggest. The 928th rank indicates that there are 927 combos that achieve higher average FPS in Rust, likely featuring more powerful CPUs like higher-core-count processors or GPUs with more memory bandwidth. However, the rank also reflects that this combo outperforms 2,795 other configurations, which is a substantial majority.

The CPU's nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (19,047 vs 19,039), but that processor is a mobile part with different thermal characteristics. The RTX 4070's nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla P4, scores 37,628 in GPU benchmarks, just 0.1% lower, but the Tesla P4 is a data center GPU with different driver optimizations for gaming. In practice, the combo rank of 928 suggests that Rust's performance is more sensitive to GPU than CPU, since the RTX 4070's 81st percentile ranking is higher than the CPU's 73rd percentile. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the combo rank would likely be closer to the CPU's percentile, but the 75th percentile rank sits between the two, indicating a balanced but slightly GPU-weighted system. The gap between the combo rank (928th) and the GPU percentile (81st) is 6 percentage points, suggesting that some combos with weaker GPUs but stronger CPUs achieve better Rust performance due to the game's simulation overhead.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all three resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 151 FPS average with a minimum of 128, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on gaming monitors. The 23 FPS gap between the minimum and average (128 vs 151) is acceptable, and the maximum of 174 FPS shows headroom for demanding scenes. At 1440p, Medium averages 104 FPS with a minimum of 88, which remains above the 60 FPS threshold but falls short of 144 Hz. Players with 144 Hz 1440p monitors might prefer Low settings (155 FPS), but Medium's visual improvements justify the 33% performance cost for most users. At 4K, Medium averages 61 FPS with a minimum of 52, which is borderline for 60 Hz displays but offers the only preset that comes close to 60 FPS without dropping to Low.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it averages 97 FPS, which is 36% lower than Medium and provides diminishing visual returns. At 1440p, Ultra's 67 FPS average is below the 88 FPS minimum of Medium, meaning Medium provides a consistently smoother experience. At 4K, Ultra's 39 FPS average is unplayable for most users, and even the 52 FPS minimum of Medium is preferable. High settings occupy a middle ground: at 1080p, High's 127 FPS is competitive with Medium, but at 1440p, High's 88 FPS exactly matches Medium's minimum, indicating that Medium offers better frame consistency. At 4K, High's 52 FPS average is identical to Medium's minimum, reinforcing the recommendation for Medium. For players prioritizing maximum frame rate, Low settings at 1080p (205 FPS) or 1440p (155 FPS) are the only choices that exceed 144 FPS, but the visual downgrade from Medium is significant. The data suggests that Medium is the sweet spot for this hardware combination, providing playable performance at 4K, good performance at 1440p, and excellent performance at 1080p.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory operates at 21 Gbps effective through a 192-bit bus, yielding 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and it has 5888 shading units, 184 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. These specifications translate to a 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute rate and a 158.4 GPixel/s pixel rate. In Rust, the 12 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for the game's texture streaming at 4K, as evidenced by the playable 91 FPS on Low settings at 3840x2160. The memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s appears adequate for the game's draw calls, since the FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern rather than collapsing due to VRAM limitations.

The RTX 4070's boost clock of 2475 MHz is relatively high for a 200 W TDP card, and the 46 ray tracing cores could be utilized by Rust's lighting effects, though the game is not known for heavy RT usage. The 184 tensor cores support DLSS, but the measured FPS data does not include DLSS-enabled results, so the native performance is what the numbers show. The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 81st percentile, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,854 and a Passmark G3D score of 26,927. The nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, has a 0.4% lower average benchmark score (37,507 vs 37,648), yet the Vega 56 has 8 GB of HBM2 memory, which could impact Rust at 4K. The RTX 4070's 12 GB capacity avoids this issue, and the 4K results confirm that memory is not a bottleneck, as Low settings achieve 91 FPS. The GPU's pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s is the likely constraint at 4K Ultra, where the 39 FPS average corresponds to roughly 6.2 GPixel/s of actual throughput, leaving 96% of the theoretical pixel rate unused due to shading and texture overhead. This suggests that Rust's Ultra preset at 4K is fill-rate limited, and the RTX 4070's 64 ROPs are insufficient for the game's overdraw-heavy rendering.