Rust

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT in Rust delivers a performance profile that is heavily dictated by the CPU at lower resolutions, while the GPU's immense bandwidth and compute power take over as the primary bottleneck at 4K. The data shows a clear scaling pattern where the gap between settings narrows dramatically at 1080p, indicating that the six-core processor limits frame rates, but at 4K, the load shifts to the graphics card, where the RX 6800 XT's capabilities shine.

The combination ranks in the 1378th position out of 3723 tested combos, placing it in the top 37% of all systems. This is a respectable standing, but it underperforms what the GPU alone could achieve if paired with a stronger processor, as evidenced by the CPU's 47th percentile ranking among all tested processors. The system's overall strength lies in its GPU, which sits at the 85th percentile, but the i5-9400's mid-pack performance creates a bottleneck that prevents the system from reaching higher tiers.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop when moving from 1080p to 4K, underscoring the GPU's growing dominance at higher resolutions. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces an average of 115 FPS, which scales down to 82 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 48 FPS at 4K. This represents a 58% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, a drop that is substantial but expected for a demanding survival title like Rust.

The scaling pattern differs significantly across quality presets. At Low settings, the frame rates are 142 FPS at 1080p, 125 FPS at 1440p, and 85 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 40%, which is less severe than the 58% drop at High settings. This indicates that at lower quality presets, the system is more CPU-limited, as the GPU has spare capacity to handle the resolution increase without as much of a frame rate penalty. The High preset's larger drop suggests that the GPU is working closer to its limits, making it the primary bottleneck at 4K.

Medium settings provide the most complete data set, with min and max FPS recorded at each resolution. At 1080p Medium, the average is 122 FPS with a range of 104 to 140 FPS. This drops to 97 FPS average at 1440p (minimum 82, maximum 111), and further to 57 FPS at 4K (minimum 49, maximum 66). The frame time consistency, as shown by the min-max spread, tightens as resolution increases, with the 4K range being just 17 FPS compared to 36 FPS at 1080p. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is consistently saturated, reducing variance but also capping performance.

Ultra settings show the most dramatic scaling, with 90 FPS at 1080p dropping to 62 FPS at 1440p and finally 37 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest measured frame rate in the entire data set, indicating that this preset is too demanding for the combo at that resolution. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra is 59%, nearly identical to the High preset's drop, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions regardless of quality level.

The data suggests that at 1080p, the system is constrained by the CPU, as the delta between Low and Ultra is just 52 FPS (142 vs 90). At 4K, this spread widens to 48 FPS (85 vs 37), but the absolute values are much lower, indicating that the GPU's rendering workload dominates the performance equation. For players targeting higher frame rates, the system favors lower resolutions, while those prioritizing visual fidelity will find 1440p to be the sweet spot.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is the dominant component in this pairing, and the benchmark results reflect its high-end specifications. With 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card delivers a memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s, which is critical for Rust's large, persistent world and texture streaming. The GPU's 4608 shading units and 128 ROPs provide substantial pixel throughput, while its boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz ensure high compute rates.

The GPU's performance is further bolstered by its RDNA 2.0 architecture, which supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), allowing the game to leverage modern rendering features. The card's pixel rate of 288.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 648.0 GTexel/s are substantial, enabling it to handle complex scenes with dense foliage and dynamic lighting. The FP32 throughput of 20.74 TFLOPS provides the raw compute power needed for Rust's physics simulations and procedural generation.

In the measured results, the GPU's influence is most apparent at 4K, where its bandwidth and compute resources are fully utilized. The difference between Low (85 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) at 4K is 48 FPS, which shows the GPU's scaling under load. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, as evidenced by the smaller gap between Low (142 FPS) and Ultra (90 FPS) of 52 FPS, but the CPU begins to limit performance at the lower resolution.

The GPU's benchmark scores corroborate its strong standing. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 24980 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 171304, placing it at the 85th percentile among all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile, has an average score of 47743, which is 1.5% lower, while the Intel Arc A550M and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 are 2.5% and 3% behind, respectively. This data confirms that the RX 6800 XT is a top-tier graphics solution that provides excellent raw performance for demanding titles like Rust.

The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is particularly relevant for Rust, which can consume significant memory due to its large maps and player-built structures. The 512.0 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture data can be streamed quickly, reducing stutter and pop-in. The card's dual-slot design and 300 W TDP require a robust power supply, which is standard for this performance class.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on a 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.10 GHz provide adequate single-threaded performance, but its lack of hyper-threading and modest core count create a bottleneck in CPU-intensive scenarios. The processor's 9 MB of shared L3 cache is sufficient for most gaming workloads, and its dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth is adequate but not exceptional.

Benchmark data shows the CPU's mid-pack positioning. It scores 935 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 6629 in multi-core, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1389 and multi-core score of 5141. These results place it at the 47th percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is slightly below average for a modern desktop processor. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, which scores 2259 on average (0.2% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500, which scores 2246 (0.4% lower). This tight grouping suggests the i5-9400 is competitive with other mid-range processors from its era.

In Rust, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p, where the frame rates are higher and the GPU is less likely to be the limiting factor. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 142 FPS, which is only 17 FPS higher than 1440p Low (125 FPS). This modest improvement indicates that the CPU is reaching its limits, as the GPU could theoretically produce more frames at the lower resolution if the processor could keep up. The 1080p High result of 115 FPS further supports this, showing only a 33 FPS improvement over 4K High (48 FPS), which is less than the resolution increase would suggest.

The CPU's six threads are a limitation in Rust, which is known to scale with multiple cores and threads. The lack of hyper-threading means that each core handles one thread, and while six cores are sufficient for many games, Rust's complex simulation and AI calculations can create CPU-bound scenarios. The 4.10 GHz boost clock provides decent single-threaded performance, but the processor's 65 W TDP and 14 nm process are dated compared to newer architectures.

The system's combo rank of 1378 out of 3723 reflects this CPU bottleneck. While the GPU is capable of much higher performance, the CPU prevents the system from reaching the top tiers. The CPU's average benchmark score of 2254 places it near the bottom of its performance class, and its percentile ranking of 47% means it is outperformed by over half of all tested processors. For Rust, this means that players will see better frame rates at lower resolutions, but the CPU will cap performance at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT ranks 1378th out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 37% of all systems. This is a solid result, but it underperforms relative to the GPU's capabilities. The GPU alone ranks at the 85th percentile, suggesting that a stronger CPU could push this combo significantly higher in the rankings.

The disparity between the CPU's 47th percentile and the GPU's 85th percentile highlights the bottleneck. The system is held back by its processor, which limits the frame rates that the GPU can deliver. This is particularly evident at 1080p, where the CPU-bound nature of the system prevents the GPU from achieving its full potential. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, and the system performs closer to what the GPU alone would suggest.

Compared to other tested combos, this pairing is balanced toward the GPU. The data shows that the system's performance is competitive with other mid-range CPU and high-end GPU pairings, but it lacks the top-tier CPU performance needed to break into the top quartile. The combo's rank of 1378 is respectable, but it indicates that there is headroom for improvement if the CPU were upgraded.

The measured FPS data supports this analysis. At 1440p High, the system achieves 82 FPS, which is playable for most users. At 1080p, the frame rates are higher, with 115 FPS at High and 142 FPS at Low, making the system suitable for high-refresh-rate monitors at that resolution. The 4K results are more modest, with 48 FPS at High and 57 FPS at Medium, indicating that 4K gaming is possible but requires turning down settings for a smoother experience.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 1440p offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. At 1440p High, the system achieves 82 FPS, while 1080p High delivers 115 FPS and 4K High drops to 48 FPS. The 1440p results provide a solid frame rate without the CPU bottleneck seen at 1080p.

Q: How does this system perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The system achieves 37 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is the lowest measured result in the data set. This frame rate is below the playable threshold for most users, and the data suggests that High or Medium settings are more appropriate for 4K gaming.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck in this system?

A: The data indicates that the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p, where frame rates are limited by the processor's six cores and lack of hyper-threading. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as its rendering workload dominates performance. The CPU's 47th percentile ranking versus the GPU's 85th percentile confirms this imbalance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the system produces 142 FPS on Low and 90 FPS on Ultra, a difference of 52 FPS. This gap is smaller than at 4K, where the difference between Low (85 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) is 48 FPS, indicating that the CPU limits performance at lower resolutions.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RX 6800 XT has an average benchmark score of 48477, which is 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (47743) and 2.5% higher than the Intel Arc A550M (49737). It is 3% ahead of both the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (49957) and AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 (50001).

Q: What is the system's overall ranking among tested combos?

A: The combo ranks 1378th out of 3723 tested combinations, placing it in the top 37% of all systems. This ranking reflects the CPU bottleneck, as the GPU alone would place much higher in its own percentile ranking.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, the Medium preset provides the best balance, achieving 122 FPS with a minimum of 104 FPS and a maximum of 140 FPS. This ensures smooth gameplay with minimal frame drops, even in demanding scenes. The Low preset offers a higher average of 142 FPS, but the Medium preset's additional visual fidelity is worth the modest frame rate reduction.

For 1440p, the Medium preset is again the recommended choice, delivering 97 FPS with a minimum of 82 FPS and a maximum of 111 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold, ensuring a responsive experience. The High preset at 82 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize visual quality, but the Medium preset's higher minimum frame rate offers better consistency.

At 4K, the data shows that the Low preset (85 FPS) is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 57 FPS, which is borderline, while High (48 FPS) and Ultra (37 FPS) fall below the playable threshold. For 4K gamers, the Low preset provides the best experience, as the frame rate is high enough to maintain smoothness, though visual fidelity is reduced. Players who prefer higher quality settings at 4K should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p, where Medium or High presets deliver better results.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it produces the lowest frame rates across the board. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 90 FPS, which is playable but not significantly better than Medium's 122 FPS. The visual difference between Medium and Ultra may not justify the 26% performance hit. For the best overall experience, the Medium preset at 1440p offers the highest frame rate with acceptable visual quality, making it the go-to choice for this hardware combination.