Rust

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Rust with the Intel Core i5-14600K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 shows a steep performance curve as resolution climbs, but the pattern is not uniform across settings presets. At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 228 FPS average, which drops to 156.9 FPS at 1440p Low—a 31% reduction—and then to 92.5 FPS at 4K Low, another 41% cut. This scaling behavior indicates that at lower settings, the framerate is heavily influenced by the GPU's raw throughput, as the RTX 4070's 29.15 TFLOPS FP32 compute and 504.2 GB/s memory bandwidth become the limiting factors when pixel count balloons.

Looking at the High preset, the drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31.7% (128.1 to 87.4 FPS), and from 1440p to 4K it is 38.7% (87.4 to 53.6 FPS). The Ultra preset shows a similar but slightly steeper decline: 97.5 FPS at 1080p falls to 67.9 FPS at 1440p (−30.4%) and then to 38.7 FPS at 4K (−43%). The fact that Ultra at 4K lands below 40 FPS average suggests that the combination of maximum settings and 4K resolution exceeds what this GPU can handle comfortably for a survival game where responsiveness matters.

The data reveals an important insight: the gap between Low and Ultra presets widens dramatically at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the spread between Low (228 FPS) and Ultra (97.5 FPS) is 130.5 FPS. At 4K, that spread shrinks to 53.8 FPS (92.5 vs 38.7). This compression indicates that at 4K, the GPU is so saturated that even lowering settings cannot fully compensate for the pixel-count burden. The 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus with 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 4K textures, but the shading throughput becomes the bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested CPU-GPU combinations for Rust, this pairing holds the 348th position out of 1,717 total combos. That places it in the top 20.3% of all tested systems, which is a strong showing for a mid-range desktop setup. The percentile ranking confirms that the i5-14600K plus RTX 4070 combination is well above average for this game, though not in the elite tier occupied by top-end hardware.

The CPU itself sits at the 93rd percentile among all processors in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 49,166. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, scores 49,062—just 0.2% behind. The Intel Core i5-14600KF is 0.4% ahead, while the AMD EPYC 4345P leads by 0.9%. This clustering shows the i5-14600K is competitive with high-core-count alternatives in synthetic workloads.

For the GPU, the RTX 4070 ranks at the 81st percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 37,283. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56, scores 37,507, which is 0.6% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A is 1.9% ahead, and the RTX 4080 Mobile leads by 2.2%. The AMD Radeon RX 5300M trails by 2.5%. These narrow margins suggest the RTX 4070 sits in a tightly contested performance band, but its actual in-game results for Rust—particularly the 228 FPS at 1080p Low—demonstrate that synthetic averages do not tell the full story.

FAQ

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

A: The highest measured average FPS is 228 at 1920x1080 with Low settings. This is the only preset in the measured data that exceeds 200 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Rust?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset reaches a playable average of 92.5 FPS. Medium drops to 64 FPS, High to 53.6 FPS, and Ultra falls to 38.7 FPS, which is below smooth-playability thresholds for most users.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest GPU rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4070's average benchmark score is 37,283, which is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56's 37,507. The NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A is 1.9% higher, and the RTX 4080 Mobile is 2.2% higher.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking, and what does that mean?

A: The Intel Core i5-14600K is at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs in the database. This means it outperforms roughly 93% of all tested processors in aggregate benchmark scores.

Q: What memory bandwidth does the RTX 4070 have, and does it matter for Rust?

A: The RTX 4070 has 504.2 GB/s of memory bandwidth over a 192-bit bus with 12 GB of GDDR6X memory. This bandwidth is sufficient for the measured 4K results, where the bottleneck shifts to compute throughput rather than memory capacity.

Q: Which settings preset shows the largest FPS gap between 1080p and 4K?

A: The Low preset shows the largest absolute drop, from 228 FPS at 1080p to 92.5 FPS at 4K—a difference of 135.5 FPS. The Ultra preset has the largest percentage drop at 60.3%.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides twelve distinct data points across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 228 FPS on Low, 149.1 FPS on Medium, 128.1 FPS on High, and 97.5 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear hierarchy: Low is 52.9% faster than Medium, Medium is 16.4% faster than High, and High is 31.4% faster than Ultra.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results are 156.9 FPS on Low, 106.2 FPS on Medium, 87.4 FPS on High, and 67.9 FPS on Ultra. The relative spacing between presets tightens compared to 1080p: Low is 47.7% ahead of Medium, Medium is 21.5% ahead of High, and High is 28.7% ahead of Ultra. This suggests that at 1440p, the GPU is beginning to feel the load, but the CPU still has headroom.

At 3840x2160, the numbers compress further: 92.5 FPS on Low, 64 FPS on Medium, 53.6 FPS on High, and 38.7 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 44.5%, between Medium and High is 19.4%, and between High and Ultra is 38.5%. Notably, the Low preset at 4K (92.5 FPS) is nearly identical to the Ultra preset at 1080p (97.5 FPS), which indicates that resolution scaling and settings scaling have similar costs for this GPU.

The data reveals that the RTX 4070 is most efficient at 1080p, where even Ultra settings clear 90 FPS. At 1440p, High settings at 87.4 FPS are borderline for high-refresh monitors, while Low and Medium both exceed 100 FPS. At 4K, only Low achieves a comfortable frame rate above 90 FPS.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process, with 35,800 million transistors on a 294 mm² die. Its base clock is 1920 MHz with a boost clock of 2475 MHz, and it features 5,888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output units. The GPU also includes 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores, which are relevant for games that implement ray tracing or DLSS, though the measured Rust data does not distinguish these features.

The memory subsystem consists of 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. The memory clock is 1313 MHz, with 21 Gbps effective data rate. This configuration is notable because Rust's open-world environments with many entities can be memory-sensitive, but the measured results suggest that the 12 GB capacity is not the limiting factor at 4K—the compute throughput is. The GPU's pixel rate is 158.4 GPixel/s and texture rate is 455.4 GTexel/s, which directly impacts how fast the game can fill the screen with geometry and textures.

The RTX 4070's synthetic benchmark scores include a PassMark G3D score of 26,927 and a PassMark GPU Compute score of 14,720. In DirectX 12 tests, it scores 103, which is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 244 and DirectX 9 score of 320. This pattern suggests the GPU is strong in legacy APIs but may not fully saturate modern API paths in synthetic tests, yet the real-world Rust data shows robust performance.

The GPU's TDP is 200 W with a suggested PSU of 550 W, and it uses a single 16-pin power connector. Its production status is listed as end-of-life, which is relevant for anyone considering this build today. The 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs places it firmly in the upper-middle tier, and the measured FPS results confirm that it is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming in Rust, with acceptable 4K performance only at lower settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K is a 14-core, 20-thread processor based on Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process with a die size of 257 mm². It operates with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This configuration is well-suited for Rust, which is known to be CPU-intensive in multiplayer scenarios with many entities and players.

In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-14600K scores 32,881 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,642 in single-core. Its Geekbench scores are 15,846 multi-core and 2,803 single-core. The PassMark multi-thread score is 38,682, with a single-thread score of 4,270. These numbers place it at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 49,166. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X, is just 0.2% behind, while the i5-14600KF is 0.4% ahead—these differences are within measurement noise.

The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, with ECC memory support enabled. It uses the Intel Socket 1700 and has 16 PCIe Gen 5 lanes. The integrated UHD Graphics 770 is present but irrelevant for gaming when a discrete GPU is installed. The processor's boost clock of 5.30 GHz is particularly valuable for Rust's single-threaded render thread, which often becomes the bottleneck in crowded servers.

The measured FPS data shows that this CPU does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 at 1080p Low, where the combo achieves 228 FPS. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see similar FPS across different settings at the same resolution, but the data shows a wide spread from 228 FPS (Low) to 97.5 FPS (Ultra) at 1080p, which indicates the GPU is the primary constraint in most scenarios. Only at the very highest frame rates—above 200 FPS—does the CPU's performance become relevant, and the i5-14600K's strong single-core scores (4,642 in R23 single-core) ensure it can keep up.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p gaming, the High preset at 128.1 FPS offers an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, while the Ultra preset at 97.5 FPS is still above 90 FPS for those who prioritize image quality. The Low preset at 228 FPS is only useful for competitive play where maximum frame rate matters more than visuals.

At 1440p, the Medium preset at 106.2 FPS is the sweet spot, providing smooth gameplay with moderate visual enhancements. The High preset at 87.4 FPS is acceptable for most users, though it may not fully saturate a 144 Hz monitor. The Low preset at 156.9 FPS is the choice for high-refresh 1440p displays, while Ultra at 67.9 FPS is playable but not ideal for fast-paced combat.

For 4K gaming, the data clearly shows that only the Low preset at 92.5 FPS provides a comfortable experience. The Medium preset at 64 FPS is borderline, and the High preset at 53.6 FPS and Ultra at 38.7 FPS are below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider minimum for smooth gameplay. If 4K is the target, users should stick with Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for higher quality presets.

The data suggests that the RTX 4070 is best utilized at 1080p or 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates across all settings presets. At 4K, the GPU's 29.15 TFLOPS of compute is insufficient for high or ultra settings, and the 12 GB memory capacity does not compensate for the shading throughput limitation. For a balanced experience, 1440p Medium or High is recommended, as it provides a good mix of visual fidelity and performance without pushing the GPU to its limits.