Rust

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It features a 9 MB shared L3 cache and a 65 W TDP, paired with dual-channel DDR4 memory support providing 42.7 GB/s of bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, this CPU posts a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, placing it at the 50th percentile among all tested CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 2305 puts it statistically level with the Intel Core i3-10305, which scores 2300 (a 0.2% delta), and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 at 2299 (0.2% delta). It is also nearly identical to the Intel Xeon E-2134 at 2295 (0.4% delta), while trailing the Intel Core i7-8809G by a marginal 0.6% (2319 score). For a game like Rust, which is known for heavy simulation and entity processing, the six physical cores without hyper-threading mean the CPU must manage all game logic and physics threads directly. The data shows that at lower resolutions and settings, this CPU’s single-thread performance becomes a critical factor, as frame rates are more likely to be constrained by the processor’s ability to feed the GPU with draw calls and update the game world state.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The i5-9400’s configuration directly influences Rust’s frame pacing. With only six threads, the CPU must prioritize the main game thread and a few worker threads, which can create bottlenecks in complex scenes with many players or structures. The 4.10 GHz boost clock helps mitigate this, but the lack of additional threads means that when the game’s simulation load spikes, the CPU cannot offload work effectively. In the measured data, this manifests as a sharp drop in average FPS when moving from Low to Ultra settings at any resolution, indicating that the CPU’s ability to process the game’s logic does not scale with graphical demands. Instead, the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings, but at Low settings, the CPU’s single-threaded performance is exposed. The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 472 suggests modest per-core throughput, which is sufficient for 60 FPS targets in lighter scenes but struggles to maintain high averages in Rust’s demanding environments. The CPU’s 50th percentile ranking versus all CPUs confirms it is a mid-pack performer, and in a game that rewards strong single-core performance, this places it at a disadvantage compared to newer, higher-clocked parts. The data indicates that the i5-9400 provides a solid baseline, but its six-thread limit is the primary ceiling for maximizing frame rates in Rust.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 ranks 1671 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the bottom 3% of all systems evaluated. This rank is a direct consequence of both components being entry-level or older mid-range parts, with the GPU’s 4 GB VRAM and the CPU’s six-thread design working together to produce sub-60 FPS averages in most scenarios. The ranking reflects that the majority of tested combos outperform this pairing, which is expected given the GTX 1650’s 43rd percentile ranking among all GPUs and the CPU’s 50th percentile ranking. The combo’s position suggests that while each part is individually capable in isolation, their combination does not synergize well for Rust’s specific workload. The data shows that the combo’s performance is heavily influenced by the GPU’s memory bandwidth and the CPU’s thread count, both of which are on the lower end of modern standards. Compared to the nearest GPU rivals, the GTX 1650’s average benchmark score of 8713 is within 0.5% of the AMD Radeon Pro WX 5100 (8761) and the AMD Radeon 550X (8749), but these are not gaming-focused parts, so the ranking in Rust reflects the actual gameplay experience, which is poor at high resolutions and settings. The rank of 1671 indicates that users with this combo are likely to experience significant stuttering and low frame rates in populated Rust servers, especially when compared to the vast majority of other tested systems.

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

The measured FPS data reveals a clear and consistent scaling pattern across resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 64 FPS, which is the highest recorded average in the dataset. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 48 FPS, a 25% reduction, and at 4K Low it falls further to 25.2 FPS, a 60% drop from 1080p. This scaling indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting component at lower settings, as the CPU has enough headroom to maintain the game logic while the GPU struggles with the increased pixel count. Conversely, at Ultra settings, the 1080p average is 26.5 FPS, which drops to 18.1 FPS at 1440p (a 32% reduction) and 13.3 FPS at 4K (a 50% reduction from 1080p). The relatively smaller percentage drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra settings (26%) compared to the drop from 1080p to 1440p (32%) suggests that at Ultra, the system is already heavily constrained by the GPU’s compute and memory bandwidth, and the additional resolution only adds marginal stress. The data shows that at 1080p Medium, the combo hits 43.7 FPS, which is close to the 1440p Low result of 48 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling is not linear but highly dependent on the settings preset. This behavior confirms that the GTX 1650’s 128.1 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4 GB VRAM are insufficient for 1440p or 4K gaming, while the CPU can still deliver playable frame rates at 1080p Low. The limiting component shifts from CPU-bound at 1080p Low (where 64 FPS approaches the CPU’s practical ceiling) to GPU-bound at all higher resolutions and settings.

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

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers an average of 64 FPS on Low settings, which is the only playable result in the dataset. Medium settings reduce this to 43.7 FPS, a 32% performance penalty, while High settings yield 36.2 FPS, a further 17% drop. Ultra settings bring the average down to 26.5 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay in a fast-paced survival game. At 2560x1440, the numbers show a similar pattern but with lower absolute values: Low settings average 48 FPS, Medium drops to 29.5 FPS, High to 26.1 FPS, and Ultra to 18.1 FPS. The delta between Medium and High at 1440p is only 3.4 FPS, indicating that the GPU is becoming saturated and additional graphical features have diminishing returns. At 3840x2160, the performance collapses: Low settings average 25.2 FPS, Medium 19.1 FPS, High 15.1 FPS, and Ultra 13.3 FPS. None of these 4K results are playable, with even the lowest settings failing to maintain 30 FPS. The data shows that the GTX 1650’s 4 GB VRAM is insufficient for 4K textures, and the 128.1 GB/s bandwidth cannot sustain the data throughput required. The step from 1080p Medium to 1440p Low (43.7 to 48 FPS) is interesting, as the lower settings at a higher resolution outperform higher settings at a lower resolution, confirming that the GPU workload is more dependent on settings than raw pixel count. This breakdown demonstrates that the only viable configuration for this combo in Rust is 1080p with Low or Medium settings, and even then, the average FPS is below the 60 FPS target for competitive play.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1650 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU117 chip, featuring 896 shading units, 56 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. Its base clock is 1485 MHz, boosting to 1665 MHz, and it has 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 128.1 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s average benchmark score of 8713 places it at the 43rd percentile among all GPUs, with nearest rivals including the NVIDIA Quadro P2200 (8671, 0.5% slower) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 A Mobile (8746, 0.4% faster). In Rust, the GPU’s role is to render the large open-world environment, handle dynamic lighting, and process the many objects that players build. The 4 GB VRAM is a critical limitation, as Rust’s high-resolution textures and draw distances can exceed this capacity, leading to texture swapping and stuttering. The measured FPS data shows that the GPU is the bottleneck at all settings above 1080p Low, with the 128.1 GB/s bandwidth being insufficient for the game’s data-intensive scenes. The 1665 MHz boost clock provides adequate compute for 1080p gaming, but the FP32 performance of 2.984 TFLOPS is modest, resulting in the low averages seen at Medium and High settings. The GPU’s 75 W TDP and lack of external power connectors indicate it is designed for low-power systems, which aligns with its entry-level positioning. In Rust specifically, the GPU’s performance is hampered by the game’s heavy use of draw calls and the need to render large numbers of entities, which the GTX 1650’s 56 TMUs and 32 ROPs cannot process quickly enough at higher resolutions. The data confirms that this GPU is only suitable for 1080p gaming with reduced settings, and its 4 GB VRAM is a hard ceiling for any attempt to increase texture quality or resolution.