Rust

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 presents a high-resolution-focused configuration for Rust. The benchmark data shows a system that scales predictably across resolutions, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at 4K while the CPU remains capable of sustaining high frame rates at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, component roles, and practical settings for this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. At 1080p, the combo achieves 213 FPS on Low settings, dropping to 188 FPS at 1440p, and further down to 117 FPS at 4K. This represents a 45% reduction in average FPS when moving from 1080p to 4K on Low settings. The scaling is less severe on High settings, where the system produces 163 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K—a 60% drop from 1080p to 4K.

The pattern indicates that at 1080p, the system is partially CPU-limited, as the RTX 4080 has ample headroom to render frames quickly. The i5-13400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, can feed the GPU efficiently at this resolution. As resolution increases to 1440p, the GPU workload grows, but the combination still delivers excellent performance, with High settings maintaining 112 FPS and Medium at 133 FPS. At 4K, the GPU becomes the definitive limiting factor, with Ultra settings dropping to 50 FPS and High at 66 FPS.

The data suggests that the RTX 4080's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 716.8 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for 4K textures, as the performance degradation follows a logical pattern rather than a cliff. The 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 compute power is being fully utilized at 4K, especially on Ultra settings where the 50 FPS average indicates a heavy workload. The scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K (79 FPS to 50 FPS) shows a 37% performance cost for the highest preset, which is substantial but expected for a survival game with complex rendering.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium delivers 183 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS and maximum of 211 FPS, providing a smooth experience well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common among gamers. At 1440p, Medium produces 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS, which remains highly playable on high-refresh monitors. At 4K, Medium achieves 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, making it the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate at this resolution without dipping below 60 FPS.

High settings present a viable alternative for users prioritizing visual fidelity over maximum frame rates. At 1440p, High delivers 112 FPS, which is still smooth for most displays. However, at 4K, High drops to 66 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play but acceptable for slower-paced survival gameplay. Ultra settings are only recommended for 1080p gaming, where 124 FPS remains playable, but at 1440p the 85 FPS average and at 4K the 50 FPS average make this preset less desirable for consistent gameplay.

Low settings provide the highest frame rates, reaching 213 FPS at 1080p and 188 FPS at 1440p, but the visual compromise is significant. For this hardware combination, the data indicates that Medium is the sweet spot, offering a 45% performance boost over Ultra at 4K while maintaining acceptable visual quality. Players with 144 Hz monitors at 1440p should find High settings suitable, while 4K users should stick to Medium for the best experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F brings 10 cores and 16 threads to this configuration, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The CPU's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604 and a single-core score of 3191. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307 indicate consistent scaling across all cores, which is relevant for Rust's server-side calculations and entity updates.

The CPU's role in this game becomes evident when examining the FPS differences between 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 213 FPS, while at 1440p Low it drops to 188 FPS—a modest 12% reduction. This relatively small drop suggests that the CPU is still able to keep up with the GPU's output at 1080p, and the bottleneck shifts more toward the GPU as resolution increases. The single-thread performance, evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 960 and PassMark single-thread score of 3634, is crucial for Rust's physics and AI calculations.

The CPU's 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide adequate data locality for game logic. The 65 W TDP indicates efficient power delivery, allowing the processor to sustain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions. The 4.60 GHz boost clock is particularly important for Rust, which often has single-threaded bottlenecks in its core game loop. The benchmark data supports this, as the combo maintains 163 FPS at 1080p High, suggesting the CPU can handle the game's simulation load without becoming a limiting factor at this resolution.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Rust?

A: The data indicates 1440p is the sweet spot. At Medium settings, the combo achieves 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS, providing both high frame rates and improved visual clarity over 1080p. At 4K, the frame rates drop below 80 FPS on Medium, making 1440p the optimal balance.

Q: How does the RTX 4080's 16 GB VRAM affect Rust performance?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6X memory with 716.8 GB/s bandwidth appears sufficient for all tested settings. The performance scaling from Medium to Ultra at 4K (79 FPS to 50 FPS) suggests the GPU's compute resources, not VRAM capacity, are the limiting factor at higher presets.

Q: Is the i5-13400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 in Rust?

A: The data shows the CPU keeps up well at 1080p, where the combo reaches 213 FPS on Low settings. At 4K, the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, indicating the 10-core processor with 4.60 GHz boost clock is adequate for this pairing in Rust.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 4K with Medium settings?

A: The measured average is 79 FPS, with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 90 FPS. This provides a playable experience above 60 FPS, though users with high-refresh 4K displays may prefer 1440p for smoother motion.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 scores 54247 on average benchmarks, placing it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER and 2.6% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB. Its percentile rank of 86 means it outperforms most GPUs in the database.

Q: Should I use Ultra settings at 1080p for the best experience?

A: Ultra at 1080p delivers 124 FPS, which is playable, but Medium provides 183 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS. The 48% performance gain from Medium over Ultra makes Medium the better choice for fast-paced gameplay, especially on high-refresh monitors.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing for Rust, particularly at higher resolutions. Built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with a 5 nm process, the GPU features 9728 shading units, 304 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units. The 76 RT cores and 304 tensor cores provide advanced rendering capabilities, though Rust's rasterization-focused engine benefits most from the raw compute throughput.

The GPU's clock speeds are notable: a base clock of 2205 MHz and boost clock of 2505 MHz. This high boost clock contributes to the GPU's 48.74 TFLOPS FP32 performance, which is fully utilized at 4K resolution. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 716.8 GB/s of bandwidth, ensuring that texture streaming and high-resolution assets do not cause stuttering. This is evidenced by the 4K Medium minimum FPS of 67, which stays above 60 FPS despite the heavy memory demands.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its position in the hierarchy. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 6567 and PassMark G3D score of 34457 place it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209—a 0.1% difference that is within measurement noise. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, which is 2.6% higher in synthetic benchmarks, but the RTX 4080's advantage in Rust comes from its driver optimizations and memory bandwidth.

At 4K Ultra, the GPU's limitations become apparent with a 50 FPS average. This is a 37% drop from Medium settings, indicating that the highest preset introduces rendering features that heavily tax the GPU's compute units. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are sufficient for 4K, but the complexity of Ultra settings, likely including advanced shadows and post-processing, pushes the GPU to its limits. The GPU's 320 W TDP suggests it runs at high power draw during these intensive scenes, but the measured data shows consistent performance without thermal throttling.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 213 FPS average, the fastest measured result in the dataset. Medium settings achieve 183 FPS with a minimum of 156 FPS and maximum of 211 FPS, showing tight frame pacing. High settings reach 163 FPS, while Ultra settings drop to 124 FPS. The 42% difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p highlights the CPU's ability to feed the GPU at this resolution, as the frame rates are high across all presets.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the GPU's increasing workload. Low settings maintain 188 FPS, a 12% drop from 1080p. Medium settings deliver 133 FPS with a minimum of 113 FPS and maximum of 153 FPS, providing a smooth experience for 144 Hz displays. High settings reach 112 FPS, while Ultra settings fall to 85 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with an average reduction of approximately 25% across all settings, indicating a balanced load between CPU and GPU.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. Low settings produce 117 FPS, which is still impressive for 4K. Medium settings achieve 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 90 FPS, maintaining playability. High settings drop to 66 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 50 FPS. The 4K data shows a 30% performance penalty from Medium to High, and a 24% penalty from High to Ultra. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium of 67 indicates that the 16 GB VRAM is adequate, as the frame rate does not dip below 60 FPS, but the GPU's compute resources are stretched.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 combination ranks 293 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 8% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the strength of both components, though the CPU's 77th percentile and GPU's 86th percentile suggest the GPU is the stronger contributor to this position.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS scores 25284 on average, essentially matching the i5-13400F with a 0% delta. The Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D scores 25365 (0.3% higher). These minimal differences indicate that the i5-13400F is well-matched against competing CPUs, and its performance in Rust is representative of its class.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern. The RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, just 0.1% lower than the RTX 4080's 54247. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher), and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (2.6% higher). These synthetic benchmark differences do not directly translate to Rust performance, as the game's engine favors NVIDIA's architecture and driver optimizations.

The rank of 293 out of 3723 indicates that this combo outperforms the vast majority of tested configurations. The combination of a strong mid-range CPU and high-end GPU creates a system that excels in Rust's demanding environments, particularly at 1440p where the measured frame rates exceed 100 FPS on High settings. For 4K gaming, the combo still delivers playable frame rates, though users seeking 4K Ultra at 60 FPS would need to consider higher-tier GPUs, as the data shows the RTX 4080 cannot maintain 60 FPS at that preset.