Rust

Rust’s performance on this Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile combination shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across the three tested resolutions. The data indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases, while the CPU’s influence diminishes at higher pixel counts. At 1920x1080, the average frame rates across all settings are robust, ranging from 70 FPS at Ultra to 163 FPS at Low, suggesting that the system is well-balanced for esports-style responsiveness at this resolution. Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop by roughly 30-32% across the board, which is a typical consequence of the increased pixel load on the RTX 4070 Mobile. At 3840x2160, the decline continues, but the drop is less steep than the jump from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU is nearing its throughput ceiling at the highest resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a consistent pattern: as resolution increases, the average frame rate decreases in a non-linear fashion. At the High preset, the system delivers 92 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 64 FPS at 2560x1440, and further to 38 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 30.4% decrease from 1080p to 1440p, and a 40.6% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steeper than the scaling from 1440p to 4K, which suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading capacity are being taxed more heavily at the intermediate resolution before hitting a more pronounced bottleneck at 4K. The RTX 4070 Mobile’s 256.0 GB/s memory bandwidth and 15.62 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are the key attributes driving this behavior, as the higher resolutions require exponentially more pixel processing.

The Low preset tells a similar story but with higher absolute numbers. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 163 FPS, which is nearly 1.8 times the High preset’s 92 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Low preset produces 112 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 66 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 31.3%, and from 1440p to 4K is 41.1%. These percentages are nearly identical to those of the High preset, indicating that the scaling behavior is resolution-dominated rather than settings-dominated. This suggests that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 18 threads, is not the limiting factor at any resolution; the frame rate decline is almost entirely attributable to the GPU’s rendering workload.

The Medium and Ultra presets follow the same pattern. Medium moves from 109 FPS at 1080p to 75 FPS at 1440p (a 31.2% drop) to 44 FPS at 4K (a 41.3% drop from 1440p). Ultra starts at 70 FPS at 1080p, drops to 48 FPS at 1440p (a 31.4% drop), and reaches 29 FPS at 4K (a 39.6% drop from 1440p). The consistency of these percentage drops across all four presets reinforces the conclusion that the RTX 4070 Mobile is the dominant performance driver in this configuration. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, with a 256.0 GB/s bandwidth, is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p but becomes strained at 4K, especially at higher presets where texture and shader complexity increase memory pressure.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal balance between visual quality and playable performance varies by resolution. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset achieves 70 FPS on average, which is above the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered playable for a survival game like Rust, but not by a wide margin. The High preset at 92 FPS offers a more comfortable margin while still providing substantial visual fidelity over Low. The Medium preset at 109 FPS is a strong contender for players prioritizing smoothness, as it delivers a 18.5% improvement over High while sacrificing some visual detail. For competitive play, the Low preset’s 163 FPS is the clear choice, providing a 77.2% increase over High, which can be critical for fast-paced PvP encounters.

At 2560x1440, the High preset at 64 FPS is right at the edge of playability for most users, while the Medium preset at 75 FPS offers a safer buffer. The Low preset at 112 FPS is the recommended option for those who want to maintain high refresh rates on a 1440p monitor, as it provides a 75% improvement over High. The Ultra preset at 48 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold and should be avoided for serious gameplay, as the visual gains do not justify the performance hit. At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset at 66 FPS is the only option that consistently exceeds 60 FPS, making it the default recommendation for 4K gaming. The Medium preset at 44 FPS and High at 38 FPS are playable for less demanding scenarios but will likely cause stuttering during intense firefights or large base raids. The Ultra preset at 29 FPS is not recommended for any gameplay scenario, as the frame rate is too low for a game that requires quick reactions.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the overall sweet spot for this combination, as it maintains playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p while offering a significant visual upgrade over Low. At 4K, users should drop to Low to ensure a stable experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Rust?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the highest frame rates across all settings, with an average of 70 FPS at Ultra and 163 FPS at Low. This resolution maximizes the system’s performance headroom.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Rust?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 66 FPS, while the Medium preset drops to 44 FPS, and High falls to 38 FPS. The Ultra preset is not viable at 4K, with an average of 29 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 Mobile’s VRAM affect performance in this game?

A: The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus with 256.0 GB/s bandwidth. This is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at all settings, but at 4K, the higher presets likely exceed the VRAM capacity, causing the steep performance drops observed.

Q: Is the CPU a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The benchmark data does not indicate CPU bottlenecking. The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings, suggesting the GPU is the limiting component. The CPU’s 14 cores and 18 threads provide ample processing power for Rust’s simulation and physics workloads.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at the same resolution?

A: At 1920x1080, the difference is 93 FPS (163 FPS at Low vs. 70 FPS at Ultra). At 2560x1440, the difference is 64 FPS (112 FPS vs. 48 FPS). At 3840x2160, the difference is 37 FPS (66 FPS vs. 29 FPS).

Q: Which preset offers the most balanced experience at 1440p?

A: The Medium preset at 75 FPS offers the best balance, as it provides a 17.2% improvement over High (64 FPS) while maintaining a 56.3% advantage over Ultra (48 FPS).

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core Ultra 5 125H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile ranks 2039 out of 3723 tested combos in Rust, placing it in the 54.8th percentile of all configurations. This means that the combo sits slightly above the median performance level for the game, indicating a solid but not exceptional standing. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where neither component is severely underpowered, but the combination does not break into the top tier of performers. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus score of 79 and the GPU’s percentileVsAllGpus score of 73 both suggest that this is a mid-to-upper range pairing, but the overall combo rank is pulled down by the specific demands of Rust, which is known to be heavily reliant on both single-threaded performance and GPU throughput.

When compared to other tested combos, the 2039th rank out of 3723 indicates that there are 1684 combinations that perform better in Rust, while 2038 perform worse. This places the combo in the top 54.8% of all systems, which is a respectable showing for a mobile platform. The data implies that users with this hardware can expect a playable experience at most settings and resolutions, but they will not achieve the highest frame rates possible in the game. The rank is a composite measure that accounts for the fact that Rust’s performance is sensitive to both CPU and GPU capabilities, and this combo provides a balanced but not overwhelming contribution from each side.

The nearestRivals data for the CPU shows that the Core Ultra 5 125H performs nearly identically to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and Intel Core i5-12600K, with deltaPct values of -0.1% and -0.3% respectively. This suggests that the CPU is not a differentiator in this combo’s rank; its performance is on par with several desktop-class parts. Similarly, the GPU’s nearestRivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT with a 0% deltaPct and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3090 with a -0.5% deltaPct, indicating that the mobile GPU’s performance is comparable to these desktop cards in synthetic benchmarks. This parity explains why the combo’s rank is not higher; it is competing with systems that use more powerful desktop components.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Mobile is the primary driver of frame rates in Rust, as evidenced by the resolution scaling data. The GPU features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 256.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K, the capacity and bandwidth become strained, leading to the significant frame rate drops observed. The GPU’s base clock is 1395 MHz with a boost clock of 1695 MHz, and it has 4608 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. These specifications contribute to a pixel rate of 81.36 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 244.1 GTexel/s, which are the key metrics for determining how quickly the GPU can fill the screen with pixels and apply textures.

The GPU’s FP32 performance of 15.62 TFLOPS is a strong indicator of its raw compute capability, and it is this compute power that allows the system to achieve 163 FPS at 1080p Low. However, as resolution increases, the demand on the GPU’s shading units and memory bandwidth grows exponentially. At 3840x2160, the GPU must process four times the pixels of 1080p, and the data shows that this leads to a 59.5% reduction in frame rate at the Low preset (from 163 FPS to 66 FPS). This is a clear sign that the GPU’s memory bandwidth is a limiting factor, as the 8 GB VRAM is likely being filled with high-resolution textures, forcing the GPU to rely on slower system memory. The GPU’s transistor count of 22,900 million on a 5 nm process from TSMC gives it a high density of 121.8M / mm², which allows for the efficient processing of complex shaders, but it cannot overcome the physical limitations of the 128-bit memory bus.

The GPU’s benchmark scores support its role as a mid-to-high-end performer. Its passmark_g3d score of 19587 places it in the 73rd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearestRivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT with a 0% deltaPct, indicating that it performs essentially identically to that desktop card. This suggests that the RTX 4070 Mobile is a capable GPU that can handle most modern games at 1080p and 1440p, but it is not a top-tier solution for 4K gaming. In Rust, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the CPU is able to feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed view of the system’s performance across all resolution and settings combinations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 163 FPS, which is the highest average frame rate recorded for this combo. The Medium preset follows at 109 FPS, with a minimum of 93 FPS and a maximum of 126 FPS. The High preset produces 92 FPS, and the Ultra preset drops to 70 FPS. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 93 FPS, which is a 133% improvement from the lowest to the highest setting. This wide range indicates that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p, and users can choose between maximum visual fidelity and maximum frame rate based on their preferences.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset delivers 112 FPS, which is still well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset achieves 75 FPS, with a minimum of 64 FPS and a maximum of 87 FPS. The High preset drops to 64 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 48 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 64 FPS, which is a 133% improvement as well, but the absolute numbers are lower due to the increased pixel count. The minimum FPS of 64 FPS at Medium suggests that there may be occasional dips below the average, but the overall experience should remain playable.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, at 66 FPS. The Medium preset achieves 44 FPS, with a minimum of 38 FPS and a maximum of 51 FPS. The High preset drops to 38 FPS, and the Ultra preset reaches just 29 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 37 FPS, which is a 128% improvement, but the absolute numbers are too low for comfortable gaming at the higher presets. The minimum FPS of 38 FPS at Medium indicates that the system can experience stuttering during heavy scenes, which is a common issue in Rust when there are many players or complex structures on screen. The data clearly shows that 4K gaming is only viable at the Low preset, and even then, the frame rate is only 66 FPS, leaving little margin for error.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H is a 14-core, 18-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on a 7 nm process by Intel. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.50 GHz, with a thermal design power of 28 W. The CPU features a 18 MB shared L3 cache, along with 112 KB of L1 cache per core and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. These specifications provide ample processing power for Rust’s simulation and physics workloads, which are known to be CPU-intensive. The CPU’s passmark_single_thread score of 3399 and passmark_multithread score of 21100 indicate that it is a well-rounded processor that can handle both single-threaded and multi-threaded tasks effectively.

In the context of Rust, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s world simulation, including player interactions, building structures, and environmental physics. The data shows that the CPU is not a bottleneck at any resolution, as the frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K is consistent across all settings. If the CPU were the limiting factor, we would expect to see smaller frame rate differences between resolutions, as the CPU’s workload would be the same regardless of pixel count. Instead, the frame rate drops by approximately 30-40% at each resolution step, which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU’s 14 cores and 18 threads are more than sufficient for Rust, which typically benefits from having multiple cores available for background tasks like asset streaming and network processing.

The CPU’s benchmark performance is comparable to several desktop parts, including the AMD Ryzen 7 5800 and Intel Core i5-12600K, with deltaPct values of -0.1% and -0.3% respectively. This suggests that the Core Ultra 5 125H is a capable processor that does not hold back the RTX 4070 Mobile in most gaming scenarios. The CPU’s percentileVsAllCpus score of 79 places it in the top 21% of all processors, indicating that it is a strong performer for a mobile chip. The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s over a dual-channel bus is also sufficient to feed the GPU with data, as evidenced by the high frame rates at 1080p. Overall, the CPU plays a supporting role in this combo, providing the necessary compute power to ensure that the GPU is the only limiting factor in Rust’s performance.