Rust

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti delivers a playable but constrained experience in Rust, with performance heavily dependent on resolution and settings. At 1080p, the combo manages a solid 109.7 FPS on Low settings, but drops to 46.4 FPS on Ultra, revealing a significant GPU bottleneck in a game known for its demanding simulation and rendering loads.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall ranking of this CPU and GPU combo in Rust?

A: The combination ranks 1454 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 15th percentile of tested systems. This indicates that while the hardware is functional, a substantial majority of tested configurations deliver higher frame rates.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-14400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-14400F has an average benchmark score of 32508, which is statistically tied with its closest competitors. It sits within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446) and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584), and within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-13705H (32586).

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

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 109.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds the 100 FPS mark.

Q: How does the GTX 1660 Ti compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The GTX 1660 Ti has an average benchmark score of 13925. It is 0.4% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 570X (13871) and 0.8% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A2000 Mobile (13821), while trailing the NVIDIA Tesla K10 (14029) by 0.7%.

Q: Is the combo more capable at 1080p or 1440p in Rust?

A: The data shows a clear advantage at 1080p. Across all settings, the 1080p average frame rates are substantially higher, with the difference ranging from 14.5 FPS at High settings (59.5 vs 45) to 35.8 FPS at Low settings (109.7 vs 73.9).

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Rust?

A: No, the data indicates 4K is not viable. At 3840x2160, the highest average frame rate is 47 FPS on Low settings, while High and Ultra settings produce 25.1 FPS and 21.2 FPS respectively, all of which are below smooth playability thresholds.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F serves as the computational backbone of this build, featuring 10 cores and 16 threads based on the Raptor Lake architecture. With a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, the processor is designed to handle the complex server-side simulation and entity management that Rust demands. The 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache help maintain data locality for the game's physics and world-state calculations.

In the context of Rust's performance, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls and manage the game's persistent world logic. The processor's benchmark results show strong multi-threaded capability, scoring 21914 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 11209 in Geekbench multi-core. These scores place the CPU in the 88th percentile of all CPUs, indicating robust headroom for the game's background simulation tasks, which often run across multiple threads.

The single-core performance is equally important for Rust's main game thread. A Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3093 and a Passmark single-thread score of 3723 suggest the i5-14400F can maintain high minimum frame rates in CPU-bound scenarios. However, the measured frame rates show that at lower resolutions and settings, the GPU becomes the primary limiter. The 109.7 FPS at 1080p Low is likely near the CPU's practical ceiling for this workload, as the GPU has less work to do per frame.

The processor's memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5, combined with a dual-channel memory bus, provides flexibility for system builders. The 65W TDP indicates efficient power draw, allowing the CPU to sustain boost clocks without excessive thermal throttling. The data suggests that in most Rust scenarios, the i5-14400F has enough compute headroom to avoid being the primary bottleneck, though its performance is closely matched with rivals like the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513 average score) and AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (32446).

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 Ti is the graphical workhorse, built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process node. It features 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU's base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1770 MHz, combined with 1536 shading units, provide the raw throughput necessary for rasterization-heavy titles like Rust.

The GPU's role in Rust is to handle the rendering of the game's vast, open-world environments, including terrain, structures, and dynamic lighting. The 6 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p rendering, but the data shows it struggles at 4K. At 3840x2160, the frame rates plummet to 25.1 FPS on High and 21.2 FPS on Ultra, indicating that the memory bandwidth and compute resources are overwhelmed by the high pixel count.

At 1080p, the GTX 1660 Ti shows its strengths. The measured 109.7 FPS on Low settings and 73.8 FPS on Medium settings demonstrate that the GPU can handle the game's core rendering when texture and shading loads are moderate. The drop to 59.5 FPS on High settings and 46.4 FPS on Ultra settings reveals a direct correlation between visual fidelity and performance, with the GPU's 5.437 TFLOPS of FP32 compute becoming the limiting factor at higher presets.

The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its mid-range positioning. A Passmark G3D score of 12871 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1061 place it in the 55th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 570X, scores 13871 (0.4% slower), while the NVIDIA Tesla K10 scores 14029 (0.7% faster). This tight grouping indicates that the GTX 1660 Ti is a well-understood, mid-tier performer that delivers consistent results in games like Rust, but lacks the headroom for high-refresh-rate gaming at maximum settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 1454 out of 1717 tested systems places this configuration in the lower third of results for Rust. This ranking reflects the GPU's position in the 55th percentile of all GPUs, which limits the overall system's capability in a game that scales heavily with graphics hardware. The CPU's strong 88th percentile ranking cannot compensate for the GPU's mid-range performance in this title.

The data suggests that the i5-14400F is not the limiting factor in this pairing. When compared to the system's measured FPS, the CPU's benchmark scores indicate it could support higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful GPU. The 109.7 FPS at 1080p Low is a CPU-friendly scenario, but the drop to 46.4 FPS at Ultra is a clear sign of GPU saturation. This imbalance is typical of a configuration where a strong modern CPU is paired with a previous-generation mid-range GPU.

In the broader context of tested combos, this system falls behind many configurations that pair similar CPUs with newer or higher-tier GPUs. The 1717 tested combos represent a wide range of hardware, and a rank of 1454 means that roughly 85% of tested systems achieve higher average frame rates in Rust. This is not a poor result for a 1080p gaming setup, but it does highlight the GPU's age and its inability to push high frame rates at higher resolutions or settings.

The ranking also implies that users seeking higher performance in Rust would need to prioritize a GPU upgrade over a CPU upgrade. The i5-14400F's headroom, as indicated by its benchmark scores, suggests it could pair well with a GPU that has a benchmark score in the 80th percentile or higher. The current combination, however, is balanced for 1080p Medium to High settings, where it achieves 73.8 FPS and 59.5 FPS respectively.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates provide a comprehensive picture of this combo's performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results: 109.7 FPS on Low, 73.8 FPS on Medium, 59.5 FPS on High, and 46.4 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show that the GTX 1660 Ti can maintain playable frame rates at 1080p across all settings, with the Low preset offering a high-refresh-rate experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops significantly. The Low preset still delivers a respectable 73.9 FPS, but Medium falls to 53.1 FPS, High to 45 FPS, and Ultra to 33.7 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for the lower presets, but the Ultra preset's 33.7 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 3840x2160, the combo is not viable for competitive play. The Low preset achieves 47 FPS, but Medium drops to 29.4 FPS, High to 25.1 FPS, and Ultra to 21.2 FPS. These numbers show a consistent pattern of diminishing returns as resolution increases, with the GPU's pixel fill rate of 84.96 GPixel/s and texture rate of 169.9 GTexel/s being insufficient for 4K rendering in Rust.

The scaling between settings follows a predictable pattern at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 63.3 FPS, a 136% increase. At 1440p, the difference is 40.2 FPS, a 119% increase. At 4K, the difference is 25.8 FPS, a 122% increase. This consistent scaling suggests that the game's graphics settings have a uniform impact on the GPU's workload, regardless of resolution. The data also shows that the Low preset at 1440p (73.9 FPS) is nearly identical to the Medium preset at 1080p (73.8 FPS), indicating that users can trade resolution for visual quality with similar performance outcomes.