Rust

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER pairing represents a mid-range combination from different hardware generations, and its performance in Rust is heavily dictated by the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions. The data shows a system capable of smooth 1080p play at lower settings, but one that struggles to maintain playable frame rates at 4K. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS data to understand the role each component plays in the game's demanding survival environment.

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

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features a 20 MB shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though its memory bus is dual-channel. With a benchmark score of 7,314 in the 3dmark_16_threads test and 21,279 in the Cinebench R23 multicore test, the CPU demonstrates substantial multi-threaded capability, placing it in the 82nd percentile against all CPUs.

In the context of Rust, a survival game known for its heavy server-side and world simulation logic, the CPU's multi-threading is critical. The 16 threads allow the processor to handle the game's complex entity interactions, building physics, and AI calculations that occur alongside the rendering workload. The single-core performance, evidenced by a 3,004 score in Cinebench R23 single-core, ensures that the game's primary simulation thread does not become a bottleneck at lower resolutions. The data suggests that at 1080p with Low settings, where the GPU is less taxed, the CPU is capable of feeding frames at an average of 107 FPS, indicating that the processor has sufficient headroom. The i5-13400F's performance is closely matched with rivals, showing a 0.1% delta compared to the Intel Core i7-13620H and a -0.5% delta versus the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, meaning its computational power is well-balanced within its class.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER is based on the Turing architecture (TU116 chip) and is manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1530 MHz and a boost clock of 1785 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective). It has 1,408 shading units and 48 ROPs, achieving a pixel rate of 85.68 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 157.1 GTexel/s, with a FP32 performance of 5.027 TFLOPS. The GPU's average benchmark score of 14,286 places it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs.

The 6 GB VRAM capacity is a crucial factor in Rust, as the game world can be vast and texture-heavy. The data shows that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 21.8, a figure well below the threshold for smooth gameplay, indicating that the GPU is overwhelmed by the pixel count and shading demands. The GPU's benchmark scores further reflect its position; it is nearly identical in performance to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 11 (with a -0.2% delta) and the Intel Iris Xe MAX Graphics (-0.2% delta), and only 0.7% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT. This places it as an entry-level to mid-range performer, which is consistent with the observed frame rates in Rust.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

Within the database of tested hardware combinations for Rust, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER ranks at 1522 out of 1717 combinations. This places the combo in the lower 12% of all tested systems, indicating that while it is a functional setup, it is outperformed by the vast majority of other configurations in this specific game. The ranking reflects the GPU's limitations, as the CPU is a relatively strong performer on its own. The combo's rank suggests that for Rust, the graphics card is the bottleneck, preventing the system from achieving higher frame rates that the CPU could otherwise support. This is a typical outcome for a pairing where the GPU is from an older generation and has a lower performance percentile (55th) compared to the CPU (82nd percentile). The result is a system that is capable for 1080p gaming but falls behind in higher-resolution scenarios.

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

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the combo's performance across three resolutions and four quality settings.

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. With Low settings, the average FPS is 107, which is highly playable and smooth. Medium settings yield an average of 72.5 FPS, still a good experience. High settings produce an average of 58.8 FPS, which is acceptable for most players. However, Ultra settings drop the average to 47.3 FPS, indicating a significant performance hit as the GPU struggles with the increased graphical load.

At 2560x1440, the impact of the higher resolution is apparent. Low settings average 70.3 FPS, which remains smooth. Medium settings average 46.8 FPS, which is on the edge of playability. High settings drop further to an average of 43.1 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding, with an average of only 30.5 FPS, making the game feel stuttery and less responsive.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the GPU is clearly overburdened. Low settings average 41.8 FPS, which is borderline. Medium and High settings average 26.6 and 24.7 FPS respectively, which are difficult to play. Ultra settings bottom out at an average of 21.8 FPS, making the game nearly unplayable at this resolution. The data shows a clear trend: the GTX 1660 SUPER's 6 GB VRAM and processing power are insufficient for smooth 4K gaming in Rust, even at lower settings.

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

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the system's bottleneck. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 107 at 1080p to 70.3 at 1440p and finally to 41.8 at 4K. This represents a 34% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 61% decrease from 1080p to 4K. This steep drop-off is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering resolution directly impacts the load on the graphics card. The CPU's performance is relatively constant across resolutions, but the GPU's workload increases exponentially with pixel count.

At Ultra settings, the scaling is even more dramatic, with FPS falling from 47.3 at 1080p to 30.5 at 1440p and 21.8 at 4K. The percentage decrease from 1080p to 4K is 54%, highlighting that the GTX 1660 SUPER is the definitive limiting factor. The data indicates that the CPU is not the constraining component in this pairing for Rust; rather, the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading capabilities are insufficient to maintain high frame rates as resolution increases. The results show that for a smooth 60 FPS experience, users are limited to 1080p with Low or Medium settings, as the GPU simply cannot sustain higher frame rates at greater resolutions.