Rust

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Rust with the Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combination produces 180 FPS average. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops the average to 124 FPS, a reduction of 56 FPS. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 73 FPS. This progression from 1080p to 1440p represents a 31% decrease in frame rate, and from 1440p to 4K another 41% decrease. The scaling is consistent across all settings presets, which indicates the rendering load is scaling predictably with pixel count.

The Low preset tells a similar story. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 235 FPS. At 1440p Low, it drops to 207 FPS, and at 4K Low it reaches 129 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is only 28 FPS here, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 78 FPS. The larger absolute drop at the higher resolution step suggests that at 4K, even with the lowest settings, the GPU is being pushed substantially harder. The Medium preset shows the same pattern: 202 FPS at 1080p, 147 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K.

The Ultra preset reveals the most demanding scenario. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 137 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 94 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 56 FPS. The 1080p to 1440p step costs 43 FPS, while the 1440p to 4K step costs another 38 FPS. This near-linear scaling at Ultra settings differs from the Low preset, where the 4K step was disproportionately expensive. This suggests that at Ultra, the game's rendering pipeline is already heavily loaded at 1080p, so the additional pixels at 4K have a more uniform impact.

The data indicates that the limiting component shifts with resolution. At 1080p, the frame rates across all settings are high enough that the CPU is likely the primary constraint, especially at Low and Medium where the GPU has headroom. At 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger frame rate drops between resolutions. The RTX 4090's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game at all tested settings, so memory capacity is not a bottleneck. The frame time consistency, where available, shows the Medium preset has a 26 FPS spread between min and max at 1080p, and a 26 FPS spread at 1440p, indicating stable performance without major stutters.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 operates with a base clock of 2235 MHz and a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Its memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. The card features 16384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. These specifications place the RTX 4090 in the 88th percentile when compared against all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 60347.

In Rust, the GPU's role is most apparent at higher resolutions and settings. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 56, which is the lowest measured value in the entire dataset. This indicates that at maximum settings and 4K resolution, the GPU is fully engaged. The RTX 4090's 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 128 RT cores are being utilized heavily by the game's rendering demands. The card's texture rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s are sufficient to keep up with the game's needs, but the sheer pixel count at 4K still causes frame rates to fall below the 60 FPS threshold at Ultra settings.

The benchmark results for the GPU show strong synthetic performance. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 9223. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 255416, and the Vulkan score is 271631. Passmark G3D score is 38194. These scores reflect the card's raw compute capabilities, which translate to real-world performance in Rust. The nearestRivals data shows the RTX 4090's average score of 60347 is virtually identical to the Intel Arc Pro A60 at 60326, a delta of 0%. The AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 scores 60140, which is 0.3% higher. The AMD Radeon Pro W6600M scores 61896, which is 2.5% higher, and the AMD Radeon PRO V710 scores 58657, which is 2.9% lower. These comparisons indicate that the RTX 4090 sits in a competitive range with these professional-oriented cards, despite being a consumer flagship.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with Medium settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings is 202, with a minimum of 172 and a maximum of 232.

Q: Does the RTX 4090 achieve 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in Rust?

A: No, the measured average FPS at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings is 56, which is below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How much faster is the Low preset compared to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 207 FPS average, while the Ultra preset achieves 94 FPS average, making Low 113 FPS faster.

Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining above 100 FPS with High settings?

A: At 1920x1080 High, the average is 180 FPS, and at 2560x1440 High, the average is 124 FPS. Both exceed 100 FPS, but 1080p provides a significantly higher frame rate.

Q: Is the frame rate at 4K Medium stable?

A: The 3840x2160 Medium preset has an average of 87 FPS, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. The 26 FPS spread between min and max indicates generally stable performance.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested combinations in Rust?

A: The combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 103rd out of 3723 tested combos in Rust.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a rank of 103 out of 3723 tested combinations in Rust. This places the combo in the top 2.8% of all configurations tested for this game. The high ranking reflects the strength of both components working together. The RTX 4090, being in the 88th percentile of all GPUs, provides substantial graphics horsepower. The Core i7-12700K, in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, offers solid processing capability.

The CPU's average benchmark score is 35287, with its nearest rivals being the Intel Core i5-13600T at 35305 (-0.1% delta), Intel Core i7-12700KF at 35365 (-0.2% delta), Intel Core i7-13700T at 35403 (-0.3% delta), and Intel Core 5 213PE at 35428 (-0.4% delta). These deltas are all within 0.4% of the i7-12700K's score, indicating that these processors perform nearly identically in general benchmarks. The GPU's average benchmark score is 60347, with its nearest rivals showing a wider range of deltas from -2.5% to +2.9%.

In Rust specifically, the combo's rank of 103 suggests that while this is a very capable pairing, there are 102 other combinations that achieve higher frame rates in this game. This could be due to other CPUs with higher single-thread performance or other GPUs with better optimization for this particular title. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 235 FPS, which is high but not the maximum possible. The rank indicates that some other tested combos achieve even higher frame rates, likely at lower resolutions or with CPUs that have stronger single-core performance for this game's engine.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values across settings are as follows. Low settings produce 235 FPS average. Medium settings produce 202 FPS average, with a minimum of 172 and a maximum of 232. High settings produce 180 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 137 FPS average. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with the largest gap being between High and Ultra at 43 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread of 60 FPS indicates some variability, but the average remains solid.

At 2560x1440, the average FPS values are lower across all settings. Low settings produce 207 FPS average. Medium settings produce 147 FPS average, with a minimum of 125 and a maximum of 169. High settings produce 124 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 94 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium is 60 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 30 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread of 44 FPS is smaller than at 1080p, indicating more consistent frame timing at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the average FPS values drop further. Low settings produce 129 FPS average. Medium settings produce 87 FPS average, with a minimum of 74 and a maximum of 100. High settings produce 73 FPS average. Ultra settings produce 56 FPS average. The gap between Low and Medium is 42 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 17 FPS. The Medium preset's min-max spread of 26 FPS is the smallest across all resolutions, suggesting that at 4K, the frame rate is more consistent despite the lower averages.

The data shows that at every resolution, the Low preset provides the highest frame rates, followed by Medium, then High, and finally Ultra. The relative ordering is consistent, but the magnitude of differences varies. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 98 FPS. At 1440p, it is 113 FPS. At 4K, it is 73 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the settings have less relative impact on frame rate because the GPU is already heavily loaded by the resolution itself.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combination. At 1080p Medium, the average FPS is 202, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found in gaming monitors. At 1440p Medium, the average is 147 FPS, which comfortably exceeds 120 FPS and is suitable for high refresh rate displays. At 4K Medium, the average is 87 FPS, which is above 60 FPS and provides smooth gameplay for most users. The Medium preset also has the most complete frame time data, with min and max values recorded at all three resolutions, allowing for a more thorough assessment of stability.

The High preset is also viable for users prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rate. At 1080p High, the average is 180 FPS, which is still very high. At 1440p High, the average is 124 FPS, which is acceptable for most monitors. At 4K High, the average drops to 73 FPS, which is above 60 FPS but with less headroom. The Ultra preset is only recommended for users with 1080p or 1440p displays, where the average FPS of 137 and 94 respectively remain playable. At 4K Ultra, the 56 FPS average falls below 60 FPS, which may result in noticeable stutter on displays with high refresh rates.

For users with 4K displays, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation because it maintains 87 FPS average with a min of 74 FPS, ensuring that frame drops stay above 60 FPS. The Low preset at 4K provides 129 FPS average, which is excessive for most 4K displays that typically run at 60 Hz or 120 Hz, and the visual quality reduction may not be worth the extra frame rate. The High preset at 4K, at 73 FPS average, is a viable alternative for those who prefer higher visual settings and can tolerate occasional drops below 70 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K features 12 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The processor is built on Intel's 10 nm process with Alder Lake architecture. Its cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU has a TDP of 125 W and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration. It is unlocked for overclocking, which could provide additional performance in CPU-bound scenarios.

In Rust, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU has more headroom. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 235 FPS average, which is likely limited by the CPU's single-thread performance rather than the GPU. The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores are notable: 3DMark single-thread score of 1043, Cinebench R15 single-core score of 272, Cinebench R20 single-core score of 1726, Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1850.5, and Geekbench single-core score of 2308. These scores indicate strong per-core performance, which is critical for games like Rust that may not fully utilize all cores.

The multi-threaded performance of the i7-12700K is also substantial. The 3DMark 16-thread score is 9276, the max-thread score is 9979, and the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 19784. The Passmark multi-thread score is 34404. These numbers show that the CPU can handle heavily threaded workloads, but in Rust, the scaling from 1080p to 4K at each settings preset suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. The frame rate drops between resolutions are consistent with GPU-bound behavior, where the rendering load increases with pixel count.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 84 places it above average among all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-13600T and Intel Core i7-12700KF, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas under 0.5%. This indicates that the i7-12700K is a well-balanced processor that performs competitively with similar-tier chips. In Rust, the CPU's performance is sufficient to support the RTX 4090 at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the frame rates at 4K Ultra dropping to 56 FPS.