Rust

Rust’s benchmark results for the Intel Core i7-13700K paired with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT show a configuration that scales predictably across resolutions, with the GPU becoming the dominant constraint as pixel count rises. The data places this combo at rank 519 out of 1717 tested combinations, placing it in the upper tier of systems for this survival title. The measured frames per second reveal a clear hierarchy where setting choices matter more at 4K than at 1080p, and where the CPU’s strong multi-threaded performance keeps the system from bottlenecking at lower resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 is steep and consistent across all settings, indicating that the Radeon RX 6800 XT is the limiting component at higher pixel densities. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 207 FPS at 1080p to 146.9 FPS at 1440p, then to 87.5 FPS at 4K — a reduction of 58% from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is similar at Medium settings, where the system delivers 140.3 FPS at 1080p, 97.5 FPS at 1440p, and 55 FPS at 4K, a 61% drop. High settings show 120.9 FPS at 1080p, 83.6 FPS at 1440p, and 49 FPS at 4K, a 59% decline. Ultra settings exhibit the most severe scaling, going from 91.2 FPS at 1080p to 63.7 FPS at 1440p and finally 34.8 FPS at 4K, representing a 62% loss.

These percentages tell a clear story: the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth are being saturated as resolution increases, while the Intel Core i7-13700K’s 16 cores and 24 threads provide ample headroom. The fact that the 1080p to 1440p drop is smaller than the 1440p to 4K drop — for instance, Low settings lose 60.1 FPS going to 1440p but another 59.4 FPS going to 4K — suggests that the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck only at the highest resolution. At 1080p, the system is likely CPU-limited or at least balanced, given that the i7-13700K scores 39000 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 5505 in single-core, making it capable of feeding frames quickly. The 4K results, however, align with the GPU’s 512.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128 ROPs, which are taxed heavily by Rust’s draw calls and texture work at Ultra settings.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, built on RDNA 2.0 with a 7 nm process, brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory across a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2250 MHz and game clock of 2015 MHz are the primary drivers of the measured FPS, with the card’s 4608 shading units and 288 TMUs handling the geometry and texture-heavy environments typical of Rust. The GPU’s 72 ray accelerators are present but not directly relevant to Rust’s rasterization-based rendering, which explains why the card’s performance in this game aligns more closely with its raw compute metrics — 20.74 TFLOPS FP32 — than with ray-tracing capabilities.

At 4K Ultra, the RX 6800 XT produces 34.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold many players consider playable, and even at High settings the 49 FPS result indicates the card is working near its limits. The GPU’s 16 GB frame buffer is unlikely to be a constraint in Rust, as the game typically uses less than 8 GB even at 4K, but the memory bandwidth and ROP throughput are the likely bottlenecks. This is supported by the fact that dropping from Ultra to Medium at 4K yields a 20.2 FPS improvement (from 34.8 to 55), while dropping from Medium to Low yields another 32.5 FPS (from 55 to 87.5) — a pattern that suggests the GPU’s pixel fill rate is the limiting factor. The card’s PassMark G3D score of 24980 and its 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirm it is a high-end part, but Rust’s demanding draw calls at 4K push it beyond its comfortable operating range.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows that the most balanced experience for this configuration is at 1440p with Medium settings, where the system achieves 97.5 FPS. This combines a smooth frame rate with visual fidelity that is two steps above Low, and it avoids the steep penalty seen at Ultra, which only reaches 63.7 FPS at the same resolution. At 1080p, Medium settings deliver 140.3 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play, while High settings at 1080p still provide 120.9 FPS — both are viable depending on whether the user prioritizes smoothness or visual quality. For 4K, the data suggests that Low settings are the only reasonable choice, as the 87.5 FPS result is far more playable than the 49 FPS at High or the 34.8 FPS at Ultra.

The difference between Low and Medium at 1440p is 49.4 FPS (from 146.9 to 97.5), while the difference between Medium and High is only 13.9 FPS (from 97.5 to 83.6). This indicates that Medium offers the best trade-off between performance and visual quality per the measured rows, as the jump to High yields diminishing returns. At 4K, the gap between Low and Medium is 32.5 FPS (from 87.5 to 55), and the gap between Medium and High is only 6 FPS (from 55 to 49), making Medium the worst value proposition at that resolution. Users targeting 60 FPS at 4K will need to stay at Low, while those with 1440p monitors can comfortably use Medium or High.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers an average of 207 FPS on Low settings, 140.3 FPS on Medium, 120.9 FPS on High, and 91.2 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear progression where each setting tier reduces the frame rate by roughly 20-30%, with the largest single drop occurring between Low and Medium (66.7 FPS). At 2560x1440, the averages are 146.9 FPS on Low, 97.5 FPS on Medium, 83.6 FPS on High, and 63.7 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at each setting ranges from 60.1 FPS (Low) to 27.5 FPS (Ultra), showing that higher settings compress the resolution penalty.

At 3840x2160, the averages fall to 87.5 FPS on Low, 55 FPS on Medium, 49 FPS on High, and 34.8 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is severe: Low loses 59.4 FPS, Medium loses 42.5 FPS, High loses 34.6 FPS, and Ultra loses 28.9 FPS. This pattern indicates that the RX 6800 XT’s pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck at 4K, regardless of settings, but the relative penalty is worse at lower settings because the system is still partially CPU-bound at 1440p. The highest measured frame rate is 207 FPS at 1080p Low, which exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors, while the lowest is 34.8 FPS at 4K Ultra, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows a consistent 30-40% reduction in FPS when moving from 1440p to 4K at every setting level, confirming that resolution is the primary variable affecting performance.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU-GPU combo in Rust based on the data?

A: The 2560x1440 resolution provides the best balance, with 97.5 FPS on Medium settings and 146.9 FPS on Low settings. This avoids the severe performance drop seen at 3840x2160 while offering higher visual fidelity than 1920x1080.

Q: How does the RX 6800 XT perform at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the GPU delivers an average of 34.8 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth play. Dropping to Medium only raises this to 55 FPS, so Low settings (87.5 FPS) are recommended for 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: The data suggests the Intel Core i7-13700K is capable of feeding high frame rates, as evidenced by 207 FPS at 1080p Low. The GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, but at 1080p the system appears balanced with scores like 207 FPS on Low and 120.9 FPS on High.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and High settings at 1440p?

A: Medium settings yield 97.5 FPS, while High settings yield 83.6 FPS — a difference of 13.9 FPS. This is a modest drop compared to the 49.4 FPS difference between Low and Medium, making Medium the more efficient choice.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested systems in Rust?

A: The combination ranks 519th out of 1717 tested configurations, placing it in the top 30% of systems. The CPU has a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, while the GPU has an 87th percentile ranking among all GPUs.

Q: Does the RX 6800 XT’s 16 GB VRAM affect performance in Rust?

A: The 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for Rust’s requirements, as the game does not appear to exceed this capacity. The performance drops at 4K are more attributable to the GPU’s 128 ROPs and shading unit throughput than to memory capacity constraints.