Rust

The Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 combination delivers a playable but not exceptional Rust experience, with the data showing a clear progression of performance that scales predictably with resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combo is capable of high refresh rates on lower settings, but it falls short of maintaining a smooth 60 FPS at 4K Ultra, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. The pairing ranks in the 44th percentile of tested combos, placing it in the middle of the pack for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a substantial performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K, with the average frame rate at Ultra settings falling from 75 FPS at 1920x1080 to just 30 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 60% reduction in average FPS, highlighting that the RX 7700’s rendering load grows exponentially with pixel count. At 1440p Ultra, the average sits at 51 FPS, which is a 32% drop from the 1080p Ultra result, demonstrating that even a mid-resolution step imposes a heavy cost on the GPU.

The pattern is consistent across all settings levels. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 173 at 1080p to 119 at 1440p (a 31% drop), and then to 70 at 4K (a 41% drop from the 1440p figure). This suggests that the scaling is not perfectly linear, with the 4K jump being particularly punishing. The data indicates that at 1080p Low, the system is likely CPU-bound or at least balanced, as the 173 FPS average is high enough to suggest the GPU is not fully saturated, but the sharp decline at higher resolutions points to the GPU becoming the bottleneck.

The medium settings data, which includes min and max FPS readings, provides additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 116 FPS with a minimum of 99 FPS, showing a relatively tight frame time distribution that indicates a stable experience. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 80 FPS with a minimum of 68 FPS, while at 4K Medium, the average falls to 47 FPS with a minimum of 40 FPS. The spread between min and max FPS widens at 4K (40 to 54), suggesting that the GPU is struggling to maintain consistent frame delivery under heavy load.

This scaling behavior reveals that the limiting component shifts depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the i5-13400F’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU, but as resolution increases, the RX 7700’s 2560 shading units and 96 ROPs become the constraining factor. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is particularly telling, as it indicates the GPU is fully maxed out, rendering the CPU's role secondary.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features a 16 GB GDDR6 memory pool on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is a substantial asset for a game like Rust that can be memory-hungry. The GPU’s boost clock of 2459 MHz and game clock of 2041 MHz are the key clock figures, and the data suggests that these clocks are the primary drivers of performance at higher resolutions. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2865 and the PassMark G3D score of 20974 indicate a mid-range GPU, and the measured FPS results align with this positioning.

The 16 GB VRAM is a notable advantage, as Rust’s open-world environment with many entities can consume significant memory. While the fact pack does not provide specific VRAM usage data, the presence of 16 GB ensures that the GPU is unlikely to be memory-limited in this title, allowing the core clocks to dictate performance. The GPU’s 40 RT cores are present, but Rust does not heavily utilize ray tracing, so their impact on the measured FPS is minimal.

The RX 7700’s performance percentile of 58 places it slightly above the median of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon R9 370X (deltaPct -0.1), the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (deltaPct -1), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (deltaPct -1.7). These close margins (all within 1.7% of the RX 7700’s average benchmark score) suggest that the GPU is positioned in a competitive tier, and the Rust results reflect this mid-pack standing. The GPU’s 25.18 TFLOPS FP32 compute rate provides ample raw throughput, but the 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS shows that this is insufficient for maxed-out settings at high pixel counts.

The data indicates that the GPU’s role becomes increasingly dominant as settings and resolution rise. At 1080p Low, the 173 FPS average suggests the GPU is not the limit, but at 4K Ultra, the 30 FPS average is almost certainly GPU-bound. The 5 nm process node and 28,100 million transistors contribute to the card’s efficiency, but the measured results are what matter, and they show a GPU that can handle 1440p High at 67 FPS but struggles to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Medium (47 FPS).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache are relevant for Rust, which is known to be CPU-sensitive in certain scenarios, particularly when many players and structures are present. The CPU’s Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604 and single-core score of 3191 indicate strong all-around performance, and its 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms that it is a capable processor.

In the measured Rust results, the CPU’s impact is most visible at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the 173 FPS average suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU’s output, but the fact that the FPS does not scale linearly with resolution (dropping to 119 at 1440p Low) indicates that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at these settings. The CPU’s 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and 2-thread score of 1880 are moderate, but Rust’s performance often depends on single-thread responsiveness, and the data shows that the i5-13400F can drive high frame rates when the GPU is not overloaded.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (deltaPct 0), the Intel Core 5 120 (deltaPct -0.3), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (deltaPct -0.3). These extremely close margins (all within 0.4%) mean that the i5-13400F is functionally comparable to these processors, and the Rust results would likely be similar with any of them. The CPU’s 65 W TDP suggests efficient operation, but the measured FPS data does not show any thermal throttling, as the frame rates are consistent with the expected GPU limitations.

At higher resolutions, the CPU’s role diminishes. The 4K Ultra result of 30 FPS is clearly GPU-bound, as the CPU would need to be severely underpowered to bottleneck at that frame rate. The data shows that the i5-13400F provides sufficient headroom for the RX 7700 to operate at its full potential, even at 1440p High where the 67 FPS average is a balanced outcome. The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, while not quantified in the FPS data, ensures that memory bandwidth is not a limiting factor in this pairing.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and AMD Radeon RX 7700 ranks 1295 out of 2953 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 44th percentile of all possible pairings. This is a mid-table result, indicating that while the combo is not a top-tier performer, it is also not a weak pairing. The rank reflects the measured FPS data, which shows that the combo can handle 1080p and 1440p gaming well but falls short at 4K Ultra.

The rank of 1295 suggests that there are 1658 combinations that perform worse and 1294 that perform better. This positioning is consistent with the GPU’s 58th percentile and the CPU’s 77th percentile, as the combined result is dragged down by the GPU’s mid-range standing. The data implies that the CPU is not holding the combo back, as its higher percentile suggests it could support a more powerful GPU. Conversely, the GPU’s lower percentile indicates that it is the limiting factor in this pairing.

Compared to the nearest rival combos, the data does not provide direct FPS comparisons, but the individual component benchmarks suggest that similar pairings would yield analogous results. The GPU’s deltaPct of -1.7 versus the RTX 3060 Ti, for example, implies that a combo with that GPU would be marginally faster, potentially moving a few ranks higher. The CPU’s deltaPct of -0.3 versus the Ryzen 5 5600X3D suggests that swapping the i5-13400F for that CPU would have a negligible impact on Rust performance.

The 44th percentile ranking is a practical indicator of what buyers can expect: a solid 1080p and 1440p experience, with 4K being reserved for lower settings. The combo is not a high-end enthusiast pairing, but it is also not a budget compromise, as the measured FPS data shows playable frame rates at most settings. The rank of 1295 out of 2953 is a definitive statement that this combo is average, and the resolution scaling data supports this by showing no surprising strengths or weaknesses.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 75 FPS.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 70 FPS on Low settings to 30 FPS on Ultra, with Medium at 47 FPS and High at 40 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this pairing?

A: At 1080p Low, the 173 FPS average suggests the CPU is sufficient, but at 4K Ultra, the 30 FPS result indicates the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Rust?

A: The combo ranks 1295 out of 2953 tested combinations, placing it in the 44th percentile.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 7700 have?

A: The AMD Radeon RX 7700 features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus.

Q: What are the CPU’s core and thread counts?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has 10 cores and 16 threads, with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is presented across three resolutions and four settings levels, providing a comprehensive view of performance.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 173 FPS on Low settings, 116 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 99 and maximum of 133), 98 FPS on High, and 75 FPS on Ultra. The 1080p results show a clear hierarchy, with Low settings nearly 2.3 times faster than Ultra, reflecting the GPU’s workload scaling.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop to 119 FPS on Low, 80 FPS on Medium (minimum 68, maximum 92), 67 FPS on High, and 51 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p results show a 31% reduction from 1080p at Low settings and a 32% reduction at Ultra, indicating consistent scaling with resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 70 FPS on Low, 47 FPS on Medium (minimum 40, maximum 54), 40 FPS on High, and 30 FPS on Ultra. The 4K results are the most demanding, with Ultra settings delivering just 30 FPS, which is a 60% drop from 1080p Ultra. The Medium settings at 4K show a wider min-max spread (40 to 54) compared to 1080p (99 to 133), indicating less consistent frame delivery.

The data shows that the combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring Low or Medium settings for playable frame rates. The Ultra settings at 4K are effectively unplayable at 30 FPS, while 1440p Ultra at 51 FPS is borderline acceptable. The measured FPS breakdown provides a clear roadmap for users: prioritize 1080p or 1440p for the best balance of quality and performance, and reserve 4K for lower graphical presets.