Rust

# CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 14 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, with 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 256 KB of L2 cache per core. This CPU has a 65 W TDP and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 6629 points in Cinebench R23 multicore and 935 points in single-core, placing it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

In Rust, this processor's performance characteristics are directly reflected in the measured frame rates. The 6-core/6-thread configuration without hyper-threading means the CPU must handle all game logic and physics across six physical cores. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 118 FPS average, which suggests the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU adequately at lower resolutions. However, the CPU's 47th percentile ranking indicates it sits near the middle of the pack, and its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (0.2% ahead), Intel Core i7-10710U (0.3% behind), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 (0.4% behind), and Intel Core i3-10305 (0.4% ahead)—show that it is tightly clustered with comparable processors in overall benchmark performance.

The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is relevant for Rust's single-threaded tendencies, as the game's core simulation often relies on one or two heavily loaded threads. The single-core Cinebench R23 score of 935 is modest by current standards, which likely caps the maximum achievable frame rate in CPU-bound scenarios. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 118 FPS, but this drops to 51 FPS at Ultra settings, indicating that the CPU's single-thread performance becomes a limiting factor as the GPU workload increases and the CPU must manage more draw calls and entity updates.

# Settings Recommendations

Looking at the measured FPS across all settings and resolutions, the data provides a clear picture of which preset offers the best experience. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 118 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded in this dataset. Medium settings drop to 79 FPS, High to 67 FPS, and Ultra to 51 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 56.8% reduction in average frame rate at 1080p.

At 1440p, the Low preset achieves 81 FPS, Medium 54 FPS, High 46 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p shows a minimum FPS of 46 and maximum of 62, providing a playable range for competitive scenarios. At 4K, only the Low preset breaks above 30 FPS with 48 FPS average; Medium sits at 32 FPS (27 min, 37 max), High at 27 FPS, and Ultra at 21 FPS.

For the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, the Medium preset at 1080p stands out. It delivers 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold that many players consider smooth. The minimum of 67 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not dip below playable levels. Compared to High settings at 1080p (67 FPS average), Medium offers 17.9% more performance while presumably sacrificing some visual effects.

If maximizing frame rate is the priority, the Low preset at 1080p is the clear choice at 118 FPS. This configuration is 49.4% faster than Medium and 131.4% faster than Ultra. For players who prioritize visual quality and have a high-refresh-rate monitor, the Ultra preset at 1080p (51 FPS) may be acceptable, but the data suggests that Medium at 1080p provides the best compromise between the 67 FPS of High and the 51 FPS of Ultra.

# Resolution Scaling

The resolution scaling behavior reveals important information about the system's bottleneck characteristics. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings decreases by approximately 30-35%. Specifically, Low drops from 118 to 81 FPS (31.4% reduction), Medium from 79 to 54 FPS (31.6% reduction), High from 67 to 46 FPS (31.3% reduction), and Ultra from 51 to 35 FPS (31.4% reduction). This consistent scaling pattern suggests that the workload scales uniformly with pixel count, indicating a balanced CPU/GPU load at these resolutions.

Moving from 1440p to 4K, the scaling becomes more aggressive. Low drops from 81 to 48 FPS (40.7% reduction), Medium from 54 to 32 FPS (40.7% reduction), High from 46 to 27 FPS (41.3% reduction), and Ultra from 35 to 21 FPS (40.0% reduction). The larger percentage drop at 4K compared to the 1440p transition indicates that the GPU becomes increasingly the limiting component at higher resolutions. The pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K, but the frame rate does not drop by 75%—it drops by 59.3% at Low settings (118 to 48 FPS). This sub-linear scaling suggests that the CPU still provides some headroom even at 4K.

The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system only manages 21 FPS, which is below playable thresholds for most users. The 4K Medium setting at 32 FPS (27 min, 37 max) is borderline playable but may experience noticeable stutter in busy scenes. The 4K Low setting at 48 FPS is the only 4K configuration that approaches acceptable playability, and even then, it falls short of the 60 FPS target. These results indicate that this combo is primarily suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K being viable only at the lowest settings.

# How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2349th out of 2953 tested combos in Rust. This places it in the bottom 20.5% of all combinations, which is a significant context for interpreting the measured frame rates. The rank of 2349 means that approximately 604 combos (20.5%) perform worse, while 2348 combos perform better in this specific game.

This ranking is notably lower than what the individual component percentiles might suggest. The CPU sits at the 47th percentile, and the GPU at the 65th percentile, yet the combo ranks in the 20th percentile for Rust. This discrepancy indicates that Rust is particularly demanding on the combination of these two components, or that the game's optimization does not favor this pairing. The CPU's 6-thread limitation and the GPU's architecture may interact in ways that produce suboptimal results in Rust's specific workload.

Compared to other combos in the database, this ranking suggests that many systems with similar or even lower individual component scores achieve better performance in Rust. The tight clustering of the CPU's nearest rivals (all within 0.4% of its average score) and the GPU's nearest rivals (all within 0.5% of its average score) does not translate to competitive performance in this game. The data indicates that Rust's engine places demands that neither component fully satisfies, resulting in the bottom-quintile ranking.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture (Battlemage generation) using TSMC's 5 nm process node, with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU operates at a boost clock of 2500 MHz and has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. It supports PCIe 4.0 x8 interface and has a TDP of 150 W.

In Rust, the GPU's role becomes more prominent as resolution increases. At 1080p Low, the GPU is likely underutilized, as the 118 FPS frame rate may be limited by the CPU's ability to issue draw calls. However, at 4K Ultra, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck, with only 21 FPS average. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking and average benchmark score of 20556 place it slightly above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% behind) and Intel Arc A750 (0.1% ahead), with the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (0.4% behind) and AMD Radeon R9 M390X (0.5% ahead) as nearby rivals.

The 10 GB VRAM capacity and 380 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Rust's textures and geometry at most settings. The memory bandwidth becomes relevant at 4K, where the GPU must stream more texture data. The measured FPS drop from 48 FPS at 4K Low to 27 FPS at 4K High (43.8% reduction) suggests that the GPU's shading and memory throughput are heavily taxed by higher settings. The GPU's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) aligns with Rust's modern rendering requirements, and the Vulkan 1.4 support provides additional API flexibility.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the measured average FPS across settings shows a clear hierarchy: Low 118 FPS, Medium 79 FPS (67 min, 91 max), High 67 FPS, and Ultra 51 FPS. The Medium setting's min/max range of 67-91 FPS indicates reasonable frame pacing, while the 47 FPS spread between Low and Ultra demonstrates significant performance scaling with visual quality.

At 1440p, the results are: Low 81 FPS, Medium 54 FPS (46 min, 62 max), High 46 FPS, and Ultra 35 FPS. The Medium setting's min of 46 FPS reveals that even at this preset, there are moments where frame rate dips below 50 FPS, which may be noticeable in fast-paced combat scenarios. The Ultra setting at 35 FPS is at the edge of playability.

At 4K, the breakdown is: Low 48 FPS, Medium 32 FPS (27 min, 37 max), High 27 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS. Only the Low preset provides a frame rate above 30 FPS. The Medium preset's min of 27 FPS and max of 37 FPS shows significant variance, which could lead to inconsistent gameplay experiences. The progression from 1080p Low (118 FPS) to 4K Ultra (21 FPS) represents an 82.2% reduction in performance.

# FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the most viable resolution, with all settings achieving at least 51 FPS average. At 1440p, only Low (81 FPS) and Medium (54 FPS) exceed 50 FPS. At 4K, only Low (48 FPS) approaches playable frame rates.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Intel Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, with the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scoring 0.2% higher (2259), the Intel Core i7-10710U scoring 0.3% lower (2248), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scoring 0.4% lower (2246), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scoring 0.4% higher (2264).

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

A: At 1080p, the Low preset achieves 118 FPS average while Ultra achieves 51 FPS. This represents a 56.8% reduction in frame rate when moving from the lowest to the highest settings.

Q: Is the GPU's performance comparable to other cards in its class?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scores 0.1% lower (20534), the Intel Arc A750 scores 0.1% higher (20582), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scores 0.4% lower (20480), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X scores 0.5% higher (20662).

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

A: This combo ranks 2349th out of 2953 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the bottom 20.5% of all tested configurations.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 1440p Medium?

A: At 1440p with Medium settings, the combo delivers 54 FPS average, with a minimum of 46 FPS and maximum of 62 FPS, based on the measured data.