Rust

FAQ

Q: What is the combo's overall rank in Rust?

A: The Intel Core i7-13700K with NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti ranks 1681 out of 1717 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the bottom 3% of all configurations tested.

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

A: The i7-13700K scores 47282 on average, which is 0.1% behind the i7-13700KF (47334) and 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131). It also trails the AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 by 0.5% (47527) but beats the Intel Core i9-12900F by 0.4% (47081).

Q: What is the best performance setting at 1080p?

A: Low settings deliver the highest average frame rate at 1920x1080 with 55.6 FPS. Medium settings produce 38.5 FPS, High settings yield 31.3 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 22.1 FPS.

Q: Is the GPU bottlenecking the CPU in this game?

A: The data strongly suggests yes. The GTX 1050 Ti sits at the 30th percentile among all GPUs, while the i7-13700K sits at the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. The GPU's modest capabilities constrain frame rates even at low settings.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its closest competitors?

A: The GTX 1050 Ti averages 5316 points, essentially tied with the GeForce 930A (5317, 0% delta). It is 0.4% ahead of the GeForce 940M (5297) and 0.7% ahead of the Radeon R7 240 (5280), but 0.8% behind the Radeon R7 M445 (5361).

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K is a 16-core, 24-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and boosts up to 5.40 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The chip features a 30 MB shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5. Its 3DMark scores show significant scaling: 2262 for 2 threads, 4469 for 4 threads, 8193 for 8 threads, and 12412 for max threads. Single-thread performance reaches 1136 in 3DMark, while Cinebench R23 results show 39000 in multi-core and 5505 in single-core.

In Rust, this processor's role is largely theoretical given the paired GPU. The CPU's multi-threaded muscle — evidenced by a Passmark multithread score of 45887 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 17731 — is far beyond what the GTX 1050 Ti can feed. The i7-13700K ranks in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 47282. Its nearest rivals include the i7-13700KF (47334, -0.1% delta) and the AMD EPYC 4364P (47131, 0.3% delta), showing it sits in a tightly contested performance cluster. The processor's 16 cores and 24 threads would normally provide ample headroom for Rust's simulation and world-streaming workloads, but the measured frame rates indicate the CPU is starved of work by the GPU.

The data shows that even at 1080p Low, the combo only reaches 55.6 FPS, a figure far below what the i7-13700K could drive with a more capable graphics card. The processor's Passmark data encryption score of 33249 and floating-point math score of 114867 indicate strong compute resources that remain underutilized in this configuration. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 further confirms the CPU's capacity for parallel workloads, yet Rust's measured performance suggests the bottleneck lies elsewhere.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1050 Ti is a Pascal-architecture card built on Samsung's 14 nm process. It features 768 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 32 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1291 MHz with a boost clock of 1392 MHz, paired with 4 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 112.1 GB/s of bandwidth. Its compute capabilities include 2.138 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 44.54 GPixel/s. The card's 75 W TDP makes it a low-power solution, and it supports DirectX 12 (12_1), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4.

In Rust, the GTX 1050 Ti's limitations are immediately apparent. The GPU sits at the 30th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 5316. Its nearest rivals are the GeForce 930A (5317, 0% delta), GeForce 940M (5297, 0.4% delta), and Radeon R7 240 (5280, 0.7% delta). This places the card in entry-level territory, and the measured frame rates reflect that positioning. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 305 and Passmark G3D score of 6340 indicate modest 3D rendering ability.

The 4 GB VRAM capacity is a particular concern for Rust, a game known for large map data and extensive texture streaming. At 3840x2160 Ultra, the combo averages just 8.6 FPS, while even 1920x1080 High only reaches 31.3 FPS. The GPU's Passmark DirectX scores — 45 for DX11 and 26 for DX12 — show it struggles with modern graphics workloads. The card's 112.1 GB/s bandwidth and 7 Gbps effective memory speed are insufficient for high-resolution, high-settings gaming in Rust, as evidenced by the steep frame rate drops when moving from Low to Ultra settings across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound performance across all resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves its best results: 55.6 FPS on Low, 38.5 FPS on Medium, 31.3 FPS on High, and 22.1 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that Low settings are the only viable option for playable frame rates at 1080p, and even then, the 55.6 FPS average falls short of high-refresh-rate displays.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance degrades significantly. Low settings produce 37.2 FPS, Medium drops to 27.2 FPS, High yields 22.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 15.5 FPS. The 1440p resolution demands more from the GPU's 4 GB frame buffer and 112.1 GB/s bandwidth, causing a roughly 33% reduction in frame rates compared to 1080p across most settings.

At 3840x2160, the combo is effectively unplayable. Low settings average 19.9 FPS, Medium drops to 12.4 FPS, High reaches 13.7 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 8.6 FPS. The 4K resolution overwhelms the GTX 1050 Ti's memory bandwidth and shading capacity. Interestingly, High settings at 4K (13.7 FPS) slightly outperform Medium (12.4 FPS), which may reflect the GPU's memory allocation patterns under different quality presets.

The scaling pattern shows diminishing returns from Low to Ultra settings at every resolution. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Medium costs 17.1 FPS, while the jump from High to Ultra costs 9.2 FPS. This suggests the GPU hits a compute ceiling beyond Medium settings, where additional graphical features consume resources without proportional frame rate gains. The data indicates that players should prioritize Low settings for any semblance of smooth gameplay, accepting that Rust's visual fidelity will be severely compromised.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1681 out of 1717 tested configurations in Rust, placing it near the bottom of the database. This ranking reflects the severe imbalance between the high-end CPU and entry-level GPU. The i7-13700K's 93rd percentile CPU standing contrasts starkly with the GTX 1050 Ti's 30th percentile GPU standing, creating a configuration where the processor's potential is almost entirely unrealized.

Benchmark results indicate that the GPU is the limiting factor in every measured scenario. The CPU's nearest rivals — the i7-13700KF, AMD EPYC 4364P, Intel Core i9-12900F, and AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 5945 — all fall within 0.5% of the i7-13700K's average score, showing that the processor is competitive with other high-end options. However, the GPU's nearest rivals — the GeForce 930A, GeForce 940M, Radeon R7 240, and Radeon R7 M445 — are all entry-level or mobile parts, underscoring the GPU's weak position.

The 1717-combo field includes configurations with balanced pairings, and this combo's 1681 rank places it in the bottom 2.1% of all tested setups. The measured FPS data supports this ranking: even the best-case scenario of 1080p Low (55.6 FPS) falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many games target. At higher resolutions or settings, the frame rates drop to unplayable levels, with 4K Ultra producing just 8.6 FPS. This configuration would be suitable only for low-resolution, low-settings play, and even then, the experience is compromised by the GPU's 4 GB memory limit and modest compute resources. The ranking accurately reflects a system where the CPU's power is wasted due to the GPU's inability to process frames fast enough to utilize it.