Rust

Rust is a demanding survival title that stresses both CPU and GPU heavily, and this particular pairing of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 creates an interesting bottleneck dynamic. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings show a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher presets, but which also demonstrates the i5-13400F's capability to push very high frame rates when the graphical load is reduced. The data indicates that this combo ranks in the 156th position out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4% of all recorded configurations for this game.

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, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It features a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. This configuration provides a substantial amount of parallel processing power, which is relevant for Rust's server-side simulation and complex world interactions. The CPU's L3 cache is 20 MB shared, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory, though the specific memory configuration used in the measured results is not detailed in the data.

Benchmark results for this CPU show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 and a single-core score of 3191, indicating strong multi-threaded performance for a mid-range desktop chip. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307 suggest that the processor scales well with additional threads, which is beneficial for Rust's background simulation tasks. The CPU's percentile ranking versus all CPUs is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of all processors in the database, and its average benchmark score is 25292.

Comparing the i5-13400F to its nearest rivals in the database, it shows a 0% delta against the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H, while it is 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core 5 120 and AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D. These tight margins indicate that the i5-13400F sits in a very competitive performance band, and the differences in raw CPU compute are unlikely to be the deciding factor in Rust's frame rates. The data suggests that the CPU is more than adequate to feed the RTX 4090 at lower resolutions, where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

The interplay between the CPU's 10 cores and the game's engine is evident in the FPS scaling. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 213 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's practical limit for this game's single-threaded physics and network code. The fact that the 13400F has a boost clock of 4.60 GHz helps in these scenarios, as Rust's main thread often relies on high single-core performance. The CPU's 16 threads also ensure that background tasks like entity updates and player position calculations do not starve the main rendering thread.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

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

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 213 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 200 FPS, indicating a hard ceiling for this pairing in this game.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations?

A: This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 156th out of 3723 total tested combos for Rust. This places it in the upper percentile of all recorded system configurations for this title.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440 resolution, the average frame rate drops from 124 FPS on High settings to 94 FPS on Ultra settings. This represents a 30 FPS decrease, or approximately a 24% reduction in performance when moving from High to Ultra.

Q: Is there a significant frame rate gap between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings?

A: Yes, the data shows a substantial drop. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 183 FPS, while at 3840x2160 Medium, it falls to 87 FPS. This 96 FPS difference highlights the heavy GPU load at 4K resolution.

Q: Which resolution provides the most stable frame rates based on min FPS data?

A: The only configurations with minimum FPS data are the Medium settings across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the min is 156 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 125 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 74 FPS. The 1080p Medium setting shows the smallest gap between average and minimum FPS, suggesting more consistent performance.

Q: Does the RTX 4090's performance in Rust match its overall benchmark standing?

A: The GPU has an average benchmark score of 60347 and ranks in the 88th percentile for all GPUs. However, in Rust specifically, the combo's 156th rank out of 3723 suggests that the game's engine does not fully utilize the GPU's raw compute power, as other less powerful GPUs may achieve similar frame rates due to CPU limitations.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The combo's rank of 156 out of 3723 tested combinations places it in the top 4.2% of all recorded systems for Rust. This is a strong showing, but it is important to contextualize this rank given the extreme hardware involved. The RTX 4090 is the flagship GPU in NVIDIA's 40-series lineup, with a 24 GB GDDR6X memory buffer and an AD102 chip on a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its passmark G3D score is 38194, and it holds an 88th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

However, the rank suggests that while this combo is fast, there are 155 other configurations that achieve better results in Rust. This is likely due to the game's sensitivity to CPU performance in certain scenarios, where processors with higher single-thread scores or additional cache may pull ahead. The i5-13400F, while capable, does not hold the top spot in CPU benchmarks; its 77th percentile ranking indicates that many other CPUs outperform it.

The deltaPct values for the CPU's nearest rivals show that the i5-13400F is statistically tied with several other processors, with differences of only 0.3% in either direction. This means that swapping the CPU for an AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D or Intel Core 5 120 would yield virtually identical results in synthetic benchmarks, and likely similar results in Rust. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Arc Pro A60, show a 0% delta, but these are workstation-class cards with different driver optimizations for gaming.

The 156th rank out of 3723 reflects the raw power of the RTX 4090, but it also reveals that Rust's engine does not scale perfectly with this level of GPU hardware. The data suggests that the combo is not bottlenecked by the GPU in most scenarios, but rather by the CPU's ability to feed the GPU with enough draw calls and simulation updates. This is a common pattern in CPU-intensive survival games, where the world state updates are more critical than pixel fill rate.

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

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive look at how this combo performs across three resolutions and four quality presets. Starting at 1920x1080, the combo achieves 213 FPS on Low, 183 FPS on Medium, 173 FPS on High, and 137 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting also records a minimum FPS of 156 and a maximum of 211, showing that even at this mid-range preset, the frame rate stays well above 150 FPS in most situations.

Moving to 2560x1440, the numbers drop but remain impressive. Low settings produce 188 FPS, Medium produces 147 FPS (with a min of 125 and max of 169), High produces 124 FPS, and Ultra produces 94 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is relatively linear at Low settings, with a 25 FPS drop, but the gap widens at higher presets, with a 49 FPS drop at Ultra.

At 3840x2160, the GPU begins to show its limits under the increased pixel count. Low settings still deliver 129 FPS, which is playable for competitive scenarios, but Medium drops to 87 FPS (with a min of 74 and max of 100), High drops to 73 FPS, and Ultra falls to 56 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is notably below the 60 FPS threshold, which may be a concern for users with high-refresh-rate 4K monitors.

The data shows a clear pattern: the RTX 4090 is powerful enough to maintain high frame rates at 4K with Low settings, but the demands of Ultra settings at 4K exceed what this combo can deliver for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K offers a compromise with an 87 FPS average, though the 74 FPS minimum suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable.

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

The FPS scaling across resolutions reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this system. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is 84 FPS (from 213 to 129), which is a 39.4% reduction. This is a significant drop, but the fact that the system still maintains 129 FPS at 4K Low indicates that the CPU is still keeping up, and the GPU is doing the heavy lifting of rendering the higher resolution.

At Medium settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is 96 FPS (from 183 to 87), a 52.5% reduction. The minimum FPS also scales down proportionally, from 156 at 1080p to 74 at 4K. This suggests that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter as the resolution increases, which is typical for a high-end GPU paired with a mid-range CPU.

The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling, dropping from 137 FPS at 1080p to 56 FPS at 4K, a 59.1% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the combination of high resolution and ultra-quality settings is pushing the RTX 4090 to its limits, and the CPU's role becomes less relevant as the GPU struggles to maintain frame rates.

The data implies that at 1080p and 1440p, the CPU is the limiting factor at Low and Medium settings, as the frame rates are high enough that the GPU is not saturated. Conversely, at 4K and at Ultra settings, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as the FPS drops are more aligned with the increased pixel count. This dual-bottleneck behavior is common in games that are not perfectly optimized for multi-threaded CPUs, and Rust's procedural world generation and entity updates contribute to this pattern.

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

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and target frame rate. For 1920x1080, the High preset delivers 173 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or 165Hz). The Ultra preset at 137 FPS still provides a very smooth experience, but the 36 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the visual gains for all users. The Medium preset at 183 FPS is the best choice for competitive play, as it offers the highest frame rate with a minimum of 156 FPS, ensuring minimal stutter.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 124 FPS is the sweet spot for most gamers, as it balances visual quality with a frame rate that exceeds the 120Hz threshold. The Ultra preset at 94 FPS is still playable but may show dips below 90 FPS in intense scenes. For users with 144Hz 1440p monitors, the Medium preset at 147 FPS provides a better experience, with a minimum of 125 FPS that stays above the refresh rate.

For 3840x2160, the choices are more constrained. The Low preset at 129 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 120 FPS, making it ideal for competitive play on 4K high-refresh monitors. The Medium preset at 87 FPS is suitable for casual play, but the 74 FPS minimum may be noticeable in combat. The High preset at 73 FPS is borderline, and the Ultra preset at 56 FPS is not recommended for smooth gameplay. The data suggests that users with 4K displays should either stick to Low settings for maximum responsiveness or accept a compromise at Medium for better visuals.