Rust

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER delivers a compelling 1080p and 1440p experience in Rust, though the data reveals a sharp performance cliff at 4K. The measured frame rates show a clear pattern: the combination is highly capable at mainstream resolutions, but the demands of Rust's engine and the graphical load at 4K push the system to its limits. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data, examines how the combo ranks among other tested configurations, and explores the specific roles of the CPU and GPU based on their technical specifications.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data strongly suggests that the High preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance across all tested resolutions. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers an average of 140.4 FPS, which is only marginally below the Medium preset's 166.7 FPS but provides a significantly better visual experience. More importantly, the High preset maintains a playable average of 99.3 FPS at 2560x1440, which is a substantial drop from the 174.8 FPS seen on Low settings but still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset, while visually superior, imposes a heavy penalty, dropping to 108.5 FPS at 1080p and 71.9 FPS at 1440p, making it a reasonable choice only for those with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors.

For 4K gaming, the situation becomes more complex. The High preset at 3840x2160 yields an average of 59.5 FPS, which is right at the edge of playability. The Medium preset drops to 67.8 FPS, which is surprisingly higher than High, suggesting that High may enable particularly demanding effects that impact 4K performance more severely than the step from Medium to High would suggest. The Low preset at 4K produces 103.4 FPS, but the visual compromise is likely too severe for most players. The Ultra preset at 4K, with an average of 45.7 FPS, is not recommended for competitive play but may be acceptable for immersive, slower-paced sessions. Given the data, the High preset at 1440p appears to be the sweet spot for this combo, offering 99.3 FPS with strong visual quality.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Rust?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 202.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with the Low settings preset.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K resolution on the Ultra preset?

A: At 3840x2160 with the Ultra preset, the combo delivers an average of 45.7 FPS, which is the lowest measured score and indicates that 4K Ultra is not a viable option for demanding gameplay.

Q: Is there a significant performance gap between the Medium and High presets at 1440p?

A: Yes, the data shows a notable difference. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset averages 117.9 FPS, while the High preset averages 99.3 FPS, a drop of 18.6 FPS for the higher visual quality.

Q: Which resolution and settings combination provides the best balance of frame rate and visual quality?

A: Based on the measured data, the High preset at 2560x1440, with an average of 99.3 FPS, offers the best combination of high frame rates and enhanced graphical settings, avoiding the heavy performance cost of the Ultra preset.

Q: Does the combo maintain above 60 FPS at 4K on any preset?

A: Yes, the Low preset at 3840x2160 averages 103.4 FPS, and the Medium preset averages 67.8 FPS. The High preset averages 59.5 FPS, which is just below the 60 FPS mark.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to the Ultra preset at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset averages 202.8 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 108.5 FPS. This represents a performance advantage of roughly 87% for the Low preset.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases, but the magnitude of the performance drop varies significantly between settings presets. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 on the High preset, the average frame rate falls from 140.4 FPS to 99.3 FPS, a reduction of approximately 29%. This is a substantial hit, indicating that the GPU is becoming more heavily loaded, but the performance remains in a highly playable range. The transition from 1440p to 4K is even more punishing, with the High preset dropping from 99.3 FPS to 59.5 FPS, a further reduction of about 40%. This steep decline suggests that at 4K, the system is moving from a GPU-bound scenario to one where the graphics card's memory bandwidth and processing power are severely taxed.

The scaling pattern differs for the Low preset. At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 202.8 FPS, which drops to 174.8 FPS at 1440p and then to 103.4 FPS at 4K. The relative drop from 1440p to 4K is much larger here (about 41%) compared to the drop from 1080p to 1440p (about 14%). This indicates that even at Low settings, the 4K resolution imposes a massive load on the GPU, and the RTX 4070 SUPER's 12 GB of VRAM and 192-bit memory bus are likely becoming a limiting factor. The data implies that the CPU, the Intel Core i5-12400F, is less of a bottleneck at lower resolutions, but the GPU's capabilities are the primary constraint as resolution increases. The Ultra preset shows a similar trend, with a drop from 108.5 FPS at 1080p to 71.9 FPS at 1440p and finally to 45.7 FPS at 4K, highlighting the extreme demands of 4K Ultra.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows strong performance across all settings. The Low preset leads with an average of 202.8 FPS, followed by Medium at 166.7 FPS, High at 140.4 FPS, and Ultra at 108.5 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra is substantial, representing a 94.3 FPS difference. This suggests that the CPU is still able to feed the GPU effectively at this resolution, and the frame rate is primarily dictated by the graphical settings.

At 2560x1440, the performance scaling is consistent but with more pronounced drops. The Low preset averages 174.8 FPS, which is still very high. The Medium preset delivers 117.9 FPS, while High averages 99.3 FPS. The Ultra preset takes a significant hit, averaging only 71.9 FPS. This shows that at 1440p, the higher presets begin to strain the GPU, with Ultra being nearly 60% slower than Low.

At 3840x2160, the performance landscape changes dramatically. The Low preset manages an average of 103.4 FPS, making it the only preset to break the 100 FPS barrier at 4K. The Medium preset falls to 67.8 FPS, and High drops to 59.5 FPS. The Ultra preset is the least playable, with an average of 45.7 FPS. This data clearly indicates that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant settings compromises, and even the High preset is only marginally playable.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination holds the 274th rank out of 1717 tested combos in Rust. This places it in the top 16% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a high-end GPU. The ranking reflects the combo's ability to deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K performance likely prevents it from climbing higher. The data suggests that the combination is well-suited for competitive or high-refresh-rate gaming at mainstream resolutions, but it is not designed for 4K enthusiasts who expect high settings.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 84% against all GPUs is notably higher than the CPU's percentile ranking of 77% against all CPUs. This indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER is a more powerful component relative to its peers than the i5-12400F is. In Rust, which is known for being CPU-intensive in certain scenarios, this imbalance could mean that the CPU is occasionally the limiting factor, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. The combo's rank of 274 suggests that there are many configurations with more powerful CPUs or GPUs that achieve better overall performance, but this particular pairing offers a solid and balanced experience for its intended use case.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. It features 18 MB of shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In Rust, which is a game that can be sensitive to single-threaded performance and cache capacity, this CPU's specifications are relevant. The measured benchmark scores show a single-thread score of 909 in 3DMark and 2332 in Cinebench R23, indicating strong per-core performance. The multi-threaded scores are also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16518.

The data suggests that the i5-12400F is well-matched to the RTX 4070 SUPER for this game. At 1080p with Low settings, the average frame rate of 202.8 FPS is likely near the CPU's limit, as the GPU is not heavily taxed at this resolution and settings level. The CPU's 12 threads are sufficient for Rust's multi-threaded workloads, and the high boost clock of 4.40 GHz helps with the game's simulation and physics calculations. However, the CPU's 77th percentile ranking against all CPUs suggests that there are faster processors available, which could provide even higher frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5895 shows that the CPU scales reasonably well with additional threads, but Rust's performance is often more dependent on single-thread speed, where this CPU performs well but is not top-tier.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is a powerful graphics card based on the Ada Lovelace architecture, featuring 7168 shading units, 224 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units. It is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The GPU has a base clock of 1980 MHz and a boost clock of 2475 MHz. Its 84th percentile ranking against all GPUs indicates that it is a high-performance part, and its average benchmark score of 42576 is strong.

In Rust, the GPU's role is critical at higher resolutions and settings. The measured data shows that at 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as the frame rates drop significantly even on the High preset. The 12 GB of VRAM is sufficient for Rust at 1080p and 1440p, but the game's textures and draw distances at 4K may be pushing against the memory limits. The GPU's pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s are substantial, but the 4K resolution requires a massive amount of pixel processing, which explains the steep performance drop. The RTX 4070 SUPER's performance in benchmarks like 3DMark Steel Nomad (4627) and Passmark G3D (29995) confirms its capability, but the data indicates that for 4K Ultra settings, even this GPU is not sufficient, as evidenced by the 45.7 FPS average. The GPU is clearly the dominant factor in determining frame rates at 1440p and 4K, while the CPU plays a more significant role at 1080p.