Rust

The Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER pairing in Rust presents a clear case of the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as resolution climbs, but the data also reveals that the CPU holds the system back from fully exploiting the graphics card’s potential at lower settings. The measured frames per second (FPS) drop from 136.2 at 1080p Low to 25.4 at 4K Ultra, a reduction of roughly 81% that underscores the massive workload shift onto the graphics processor. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 75.7 FPS, indicating that the RTX 2060 SUPER has ample headroom to render more detail, but the 6-core, 6-thread i5-9400 with a 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clock starts to limit the upper ceiling. The real story emerges in the resolution scaling: moving from 1080p Low to 1440p Low costs 38.8 FPS, while going from 1440p Low to 4K Low costs 42.3 FPS, showing that the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated quickly as pixel count rises.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS degradation pattern across resolutions strongly indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the limiting component at 4K, while the CPU becomes a bottleneck at 1080p with lower graphical presets. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 136.2 FPS, which is more than double the 60.5 FPS recorded at 1080p Ultra; this gap of 75.7 FPS suggests that the GPU is not being fully utilized at the lowest preset because the CPU’s single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1125) cannot feed frames fast enough. The 1440p results tell a similar story: Low delivers 97.4 FPS, which is 46.0 FPS higher than the 4K Low figure of 55.1 FPS, confirming that the GPU’s pixel throughput (105.6 GPixel/s) is the primary constraint once resolution increases. At 4K, the difference between Low and Ultra is 29.7 FPS, which is proportionally smaller than at 1080p, further proving that the graphics card is overwhelmed by the 3840x2160 resolution regardless of settings. The data shows that the sweet spot for this combo is 1440p, where the GPU can still push respectable frame rates without the CPU holding back the lower presets as severely as at 1080p.

FAQ

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

A: The maximum measured average FPS is 136.2, recorded at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in raw GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, which places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (19706) and 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070 (19680).

Q: Is the i5-9400 a bottleneck for this GPU in Rust at 1080p?

A: At 1080p Low, the 136.2 FPS result versus the 80.6 FPS at High suggests the CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads limit the GPU, as the graphics card could likely render more frames if the processor could keep up.

Q: What is the worst performance scenario for this pairing?

A: The lowest measured average FPS is 25.4, achieved at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, which is below the playable threshold for most users.

Q: How does the GPU’s memory bandwidth affect 4K performance?

A: The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth on the 8 GB GDDR6 memory is insufficient for smooth 4K play, as evidenced by the 30.0 FPS at High and 37.8 FPS at Medium settings at that resolution.

Q: What is the percentile ranking of the CPU compared to all tested processors?

A: The i5-9400 sits at the 50th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2305.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, built on the Turing architecture with a 12 nm process, is the primary driver of visual quality in Rust, but its capabilities are unevenly matched to the CPU. The GPU’s boost clock of 1650 MHz and 2176 shading units deliver solid compute performance (7.181 TFLOPS FP32), yet the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (25.4) reveals that the 8 GB VRAM and 256-bit bus are insufficient for max settings at that resolution. The texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s explain why Medium settings at 1440p (65.4 FPS) are significantly smoother than High at 4K (30.0 FPS), as the former requires less memory bandwidth for texture fetches. The GPU’s 63rd percentile ranking among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 19774, places it just ahead of the GTX TITAN by 0.3% and the RTX 2070 by 0.5%, indicating that it is a mid-to-upper-tier performer for its generation. The ray tracing cores (34) and tensor cores (272) are present but not directly reflected in Rust’s rasterization-heavy workload, which relies more on raw shading and memory throughput.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution, with 1080p Medium offering the best balance of visual fidelity and performance. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 94.3 FPS, which is a 33.8 FPS improvement over High (80.6 FPS) and only 41.9 FPS below Low (136.2 FPS), making it the most efficient preset for maintaining smooth gameplay without sacrificing too much detail. For 2560x1440 users, Low is the only viable option for competitive play at 97.4 FPS, as Medium drops to 65.4 FPS and High falls to 51.9 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced survival gameplay. At 3840x2160, the data shows that no preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold – even Low only hits 55.1 FPS – so users should either lower resolution or accept sub-60 FPS performance, with Medium at 37.8 FPS being the most playable compromise for visual quality. The 1080p Ultra preset at 60.5 FPS is technically playable but offers only marginal visual gains over Medium while costing 33.8 FPS, making it the least efficient choice.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the i5-9400 and RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 1219 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the lower third of all system pairings. The 50th percentile CPU ranking and 63rd percentile GPU ranking suggest that the processor is the weaker link, dragging down the overall combo ranking despite the graphics card’s above-average standing. The GPU’s nearest rival, the RTX 2070, scores 0.5% higher in average benchmarks, indicating that the 2060 SUPER is near the top of its immediate performance class, yet the combo still ranks poorly because Rust appears to be sensitive to CPU core counts and clock speeds. The i5-9400’s 6 cores and 6 threads, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, are sufficient for many titles but fall short in Rust’s demanding simulation and rendering loops, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when moving from Low to High settings at the same resolution. For context, the CPU’s nearest rival, the Intel Core i3-10305, scores 0.2% higher in average benchmarks, meaning the i5-9400 is not far off from lower-tier processors in general compute, which further explains the suboptimal combo ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 136.2 for Low, 94.3 for Medium, 80.6 for High, and 60.5 for Ultra, showing a steady decline of 75.7 FPS from the lowest to highest preset. Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop to 97.4 for Low, 65.4 for Medium, 51.9 for High, and 39.4 for Ultra, with the gap between Low and Ultra narrowing to 58.0 FPS as the GPU becomes more constrained. At 3840x2160, the averages are 55.1 for Low, 37.8 for Medium, 30.0 for High, and 25.4 for Ultra, representing a more compressed range of 29.7 FPS between presets. The data reveals that the percentage drop from Low to Ultra increases with resolution: 44.4% at 1080p, 59.5% at 1440p, and 53.9% at 4K, indicating that the GPU’s limits are hit hardest at 1440p where the CPU can still feed enough frames. The most efficient resolution-to-settings combination is 1080p Medium, which delivers 94.3 FPS, while the least efficient is 4K Ultra at 25.4 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold typically considered minimum for playability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 plays a critical but secondary role in this pairing, as its 6 cores and 6 threads with a 2.90 GHz base clock and 4.10 GHz boost clock provide adequate throughput for Rust’s game logic but struggle to keep pace with the GPU at lower resolutions. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and single-core score of 1125 place the CPU at the 50th percentile, with an average benchmark score of 2305 that is nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, 0.2% delta) and Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, 0.2% delta). The 9 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support (42.7 GB/s bandwidth) are modest by modern standards, which likely contributes to the CPU bottleneck observed at 1080p Low where the GPU could theoretically render more frames. The data shows that at 4K, the CPU’s limitations are less pronounced because the GPU becomes the primary constraint, but at 1080p, the 136.2 FPS Low result versus the 80.6 FPS High result indicates that the processor’s single-thread performance (1125 Cinebench R23) is the limiting factor for achieving higher frame rates. The CPU’s 65 W TDP and lack of multiplier unlocking suggest it is designed for efficiency rather than extreme performance, which is consistent with its mid-range ranking among all processors.