Rust

# Rust with Intel Core i7-14700K + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER

The combination of Intel's 20-core Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA's RTX 4080 SUPER produces a Rust experience that scales predictably across resolutions, with the data showing a system that remains fluid at 1440p and playable at 4K, though the gap between Low and Ultra presets reveals where the hardware's true headroom lies. This pairing sits at rank 211 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it firmly in the top percentile of systems for this title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep but consistent drop as resolution increases from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160. At Low settings, the system delivers 261 FPS at 1080p, which falls to 197 FPS at 1440p and 116 FPS at 4K. This represents a 45 FPS reduction when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and an additional 81 FPS loss when stepping up to 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is approximately 56%, indicating that the GPU is becoming the primary limiter at higher pixel counts.

At High settings, the scaling pattern shifts. The system produces 162 FPS at 1080p, 112 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. The 4K result at High is only 40.7% of the 1080p figure, which suggests that the rendering load at 4K with High details is taxing the RTX 4080 SUPER significantly. The gap between Low and High at 4K is 50 FPS, while at 1080p that same gap is 99 FPS — a clear indicator that resolution scaling compresses the performance differences between presets as pixel count rises.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 192 FPS at 1080p, 132 FPS at 1440p, and 78 FPS at 4K. The frame pacing data available for Medium settings shows minimums that sit close to the average — at 1080p the minimum is 163 FPS versus a 192 FPS average, while at 4K the minimum is 66 FPS versus a 78 FPS average. This tight clustering indicates stable frame delivery without severe hitches.

Ultra settings produce the most demanding scenario, with 123 FPS at 1080p dropping to 85 FPS at 1440p and 50 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it the boundary where this combo's playability becomes questionable. The scaling from 1080p to 4K at Ultra represents a 59% performance loss, which is the largest relative drop across all presets.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER carries 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Rust, a title known for large open-world environments and frequent asset streaming, this memory capacity and bandwidth prove adequate even at 4K, where the High preset still manages 66 FPS. The GPU's 10240 shading units and 112 ROPs are tasked heavily at 4K, and the data confirms that pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck at that resolution.

Clock speeds for this GPU are listed at 2295 MHz base and 2550 MHz boost. The boost behavior in Rust appears to sustain performance well enough to keep 1440p High above 100 FPS, but the 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS suggests that the GPU's compute resources are saturated when combined with maximum detail settings. The 52.22 TFLOPS FP32 throughput is substantial, yet Rust's draw call overhead and terrain rendering seem to limit how much of that raw compute translates into frame rate at higher resolutions.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 86 versus all GPUs places it well above average, with nearest rivals including the RTX 4080 at a delta of -0.1% and the Radeon Pro W5700X at -1.1%. In Rust specifically, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (261 FPS) approaches the refresh-rate ceiling of many monitors, indicating that the GPU is rarely the limiting factor at that resolution. The 4K Medium result of 78 FPS with a 66 FPS minimum shows that even at lower presets, the 4080 SUPER handles 4K competently for a survival game where frame consistency matters.

CPU Role

The Core i7-14700K brings 20 cores and 28 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Rust's simulation and networking code is known to benefit from strong single-thread performance, and this CPU delivers a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2160 alongside a multi-core score of 33440.5. The high boost clock is particularly relevant because Rust's main thread often becomes the bottleneck in populated servers, and the data shows that at 1080p Low, the system reaches 261 FPS — a figure that likely approaches the CPU's frame generation limit.

The CPU's 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache help with the game's asset access patterns. In the measured results, the smallest FPS gap between 1080p and 1440p occurs at Low settings — a 64 FPS difference — which is the smallest absolute drop across presets. This suggests that at Low settings, the CPU is doing more of the heavy lifting relative to the GPU, and the 14700K's 5.60 GHz boost clock keeps frame rates high even when resolution increases.

Synthetic benchmarks show this CPU outperforming its nearest rivals in some metrics: it scores 5035 in Cinebench R15 multi-core and 18544 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, with a PassMark multi-thread score of 52392. The percentile ranking of 94 versus all CPUs indicates top-tier placement. In Rust, the 1080p Ultra result of 123 FPS versus the 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS shows that the CPU can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions, but the GPU's rendering load at 4K overwhelms the pipeline regardless of CPU capability.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal preset depends heavily on target resolution. At 1920x1080, High settings deliver 162 FPS, which is smooth for competitive play, while Medium offers 192 FPS and Low jumps to 261 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still produces 123 FPS, making it viable for players who prioritize visual fidelity over raw frame rate. Given that the minimum FPS at 1080p Medium is 163, this preset provides a strong balance of visual quality and stability.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce 132 FPS with a minimum of 112, which is the best combination of smoothness and visual detail in the measured data. High settings at 1440p drop to 112 FPS average, still playable but with less headroom for demanding scenes. Low at 1440p reaches 197 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors, while Ultra falls to 85 FPS — acceptable but not ideal for fast-paced action.

For 3840x2160, Medium is the recommended ceiling, delivering 78 FPS with a 66 FPS minimum. High at 4K produces 66 FPS average, which hovers near the edge of playability for a survival title where quick reactions matter. Low at 4K reaches 116 FPS, making it the only preset that comfortably exceeds 100 FPS at this resolution. Ultra at 4K is not recommended, as the 50 FPS average falls below the threshold for smooth gameplay in Rust's dynamic environment.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Core i7-14700K and RTX 4080 SUPER holds rank 211 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the top 5.7% of all systems tested for this game. The ranking reflects the balanced nature of this pairing — the CPU's strong single-thread performance complements the GPU's high-end rasterization capabilities. In the context of the database, this rank suggests that while there are 210 faster combos, the vast majority of systems (over 3500) deliver worse Rust performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X at a -0.2% delta and the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX at -0.7%, indicating that the 14700K sits at parity with AMD's high-end offerings. The GPU's nearest rival, the RTX 4080, is within 0.1% of the 4080 SUPER's average score, meaning the performance difference between these two cards is negligible in aggregate benchmarks. However, in Rust specifically, the measured FPS data shows the 4080 SUPER delivering strong results across all tested configurations, reinforcing its position in the top tier of GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system produces 261 FPS on Low, 192 FPS on Medium (with a 163 FPS minimum and 221 FPS maximum), 162 FPS on High, and 123 FPS on Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 138 FPS, showing that preset selection has a dramatic impact on performance at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the measured results are 197 FPS on Low, 132 FPS on Medium (with a 112 FPS minimum and 152 FPS maximum), 112 FPS on High, and 85 FPS on Ultra. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 112 FPS at 1440p, reflecting the increased GPU load at higher pixel counts.

At 3840x2160, the results are 116 FPS on Low, 78 FPS on Medium (with a 66 FPS minimum and 90 FPS maximum), 66 FPS on High, and 50 FPS on Ultra. The 4K data shows the smallest spread between presets — 66 FPS from Low to Ultra — which indicates that at this resolution, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint across all settings. The Medium preset at 4K shows the most consistent frame pacing, with the minimum FPS sitting only 12 FPS below the average.