Rust

Rust, a survival game known for its demanding simulation and large player-made structures, shows distinct performance characteristics with the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination. The measured data reveals a system where the CPU’s capability and the GPU's 8GB VRAM and Ampere architecture interact in ways that vary significantly with resolution and quality settings. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS across presets and resolutions, interprets the limiting factors, and places the combo in context against other tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial, indicating the RTX 3060 Ti becomes the primary bottleneck as pixel count rises. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 169 FPS at 1920x1080 to 117 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 52 FPS. Moving to 4K at 3840x2160, the average FPS at Low is 69, which is 100 FPS lower than the 1080p Low result. This scaling pattern — a 52 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 48 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K at Low — shows the load on the GPU grows nearly linearly with the pixel count, though the drop is slightly less steep at the higher resolutions.

The High preset shows a less linear pattern. At 1080p the average is 96 FPS, at 1440p it is 66 FPS, and at 4K it becomes 39 FPS. The 30 FPS drop from 1080p to 1440p is followed by a 27 FPS drop from 1440p to 4K. The decrease is more pronounced at lower resolutions, where the CPU is more involved, but the GPU still dictates the upper limit. At Ultra settings, the trend continues: 73 FPS at 1080p, 50 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra average of 30 FPS is minimal, and the 4K High average of 39 FPS is barely higher.

The Medium preset is the only one with full min and max FPS data. At 1080p, the average is 114 FPS with a min of 97 and a max of 131. At 1440p, the average drops to 78, with a min of 67 and a max of 90. At 4K, the average is 46, with a min of 39 and a max of 53. The range between min and max FPS shows that at 4K the frame time variance is modest, but the overall frame rate is low. The data indicates that for a smooth experience, the resolution must be lowered or the preset reduced, because the GPU is the component that limits the performance at higher pixel counts.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data shows a clear relationship between the preset, the resolution, and the resulting average FPS. For a 60 FPS target at 1920x1080, the High preset, with an average of 96 FPS, is more than sufficient, and the Ultra preset, at 73 FPS, also maintains a frame rate above 60. Even Medium at 114 FPS is a strong option. At 2560x1440, the High preset returns 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra drops to 50 FPS. For a 1440p monitor, High appears to be the best balance in the data, providing a 66 FPS average while keeping the visual quality high. The Medium preset, at 78 FPS, is a smoother alternative but less visually demanding.

At the 3840x2160 resolution, the situation is more restricted. The High preset at 39 FPS and the Ultra at 30 FPS are both below the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 46 FPS is the highest average among the 4K rows, but it still falls short of a smooth 60 FPS. The Low preset at 61 FPS is the only 4K setting that reaches the 60 FPS threshold, but it does so with the least visual quality. The data suggests that at 4K, the only playable option is the Low preset, and even that gives a 61 FPS average, which is not ideal for a demanding game. The 1440p High setting stands out as the recommended option for a balance of visual fidelity and smoothness, as the 66 FPS average is near the 60 FPS target.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth, has a clear role in determining the frame rate, especially at higher resolutions. The memory capacity and bandwidth are a limiting factor when the game needs to stream large texture data, which is common in Rust's large world with many structures. The GPU's 4,864 shading units and 80 ROPs, along with its FP32 compute of 16.20 TFLOPS, handle the rendering tasks, but the performance scaling with resolution indicates that the GPU is the main bottleneck at 1440p and 4K. The RTX 3060 Ti has a boost clock of 1665 MHz, and the benchmark results show that, at lower resolutions, the CPU can keep the GPU fed, but the frame rate drops predictably as the pixel load increases.

The GPU's VRAM is a critical aspect of its performance in Rust. At 8 GB, the memory is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but can become saturated at 4K, leading to lower frame rates. The data shows that the 4K High preset yields 39 FPS, while 4K Low yields 69 FPS, a difference of 30 FPS. This difference is due to the reduced memory pressure and texture complexity at the Low preset. The 4K Medium result of 46 FPS (with a max of 53 FPS) shows that the GPU's rendering can still push past 50 FPS in some moments, but the average pressure is high. The GPU's performance in the passmark G3D test (20349) is a general measure of its ability, but the game's specific frame behavior shows a more complex picture. The RTX 3060 Ti's 8 MB of memory is a limitation at 4K, and the data suggests that users should expect to lower settings for a playable 4K experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers four presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) and three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160). At 1920x1080, the average FPS is 169 (Low), 114 (Medium, with min 97 and max 131), 96 (High), and 73 (Ultra). The spread from Low to Ultra is 96 FPS, demonstrating the performance cost of the Ultra preset. At 2560x1440, the averages are 117 (Low), 78 (Medium, with min 67 and max 90), 66 (High), and 50 (Ultra). The spread here is 67 FPS. At 3840x2160, the averages are 69 (Low), 46 (Medium, with min 39 and max 53), 39 (High), and 30 (Ultra). The spread at 4K is 39 FPS, meaning that preset selection has a smaller impact on FPS at 4K because the GPU is the main limit.

The Low preset at 4K at 69 FPS is the only 4K setting to reach above 60 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K has a min of 39 FPS and a max of 53 FPS, so even though the average is 46 FPS, the frame time can vary. The High preset at 1440p at 66 FPS is the closest to a 60 FPS experience among the high detail settings. The Ultra at 1080p at 73 FPS is the only Ultra preset that maintains a frame rate above 60, while the Ultra at 1440p (50 FPS) and 4K (30 FPS) do not. The data shows that the combination of the Intel CPU and the RTX 3060 Ti is best used at 1080p with high settings, or 1440p with high settings, for a smooth 60 FPS experience.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Rust, this configuration holds the rank of 1850 out of 3723 tested combos. This places it in the middle of the field. The data is measured, not theoretical, which adds confidence to the ranking. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 has a percentile rank of 85 among all CPUs, which means it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. The RTX 3060 Ti, with a percentile rank of 59 among all GPUs, is a more average performer. The combination of a high-tier CPU and a mid-tier GPU results in a combo that is often limited by the GPU in this game, especially at higher resolutions.

The nearest CPU rivals to the Ultra 5 225, based on average benchmark score, include the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F (0% delta), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D (-0.2% delta), and the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 (-0.4% delta). The CPU's average benchmark score is 36938, and its percentile is 85, indicating strong overall performance. The GPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (0.7% delta), the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (-1.4% delta), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT (-1.4% delta). The GPU's average benchmark score is 16129, and it has a percentile of 59. The combo rank of 1850 out of 3723 reflects the GPU's lower positioning relative to the CPU.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1920x1080 with the High preset?

A: The average FPS is 96, with a minimum of 97 and a maximum of 131 (as seen in the Medium preset, which has that data).

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti enough for a smooth 60 FPS at 2560x1440 with the High preset?

A: Yes, the High preset at 2560x1440 produces an average of 66 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS target.

Q: What is the highest average FPS at 4K with this combo?

A: The Low preset at 3840x2160 achieves an average of 69 FPS, which is the highest among all 4K settings, with the Medium preset at 46 FPS, High at 39, and Ultra at 30.

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 5 225 compare to the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F?

A: The two processors have a 0% delta in average benchmark score, meaning they are effectively tied in performance.

Q: What is the combo rank of this CPU/GPU pair in Rust?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX2 3060 Ti combo ranks 1850 out of 3723 tested combos.

Q: At 1080p, which preset gives an average above 100 FPS?

A: The Low preset at 1920x1080 yields an average of 169 FPS, and the Medium preset yields 114 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It has a 20 MB shared L3 cache and a 3 MB per-core L2 cache. Its single-threaded performance is strong, as shown by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3655 and a PassMark single-thread score of 4412. The multi-core performance is also notable, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 25891. In Rust, which is a game with high CPU load due to server-side simulation and many entities, this CPU provides a solid foundation. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to reach an average of 169 FPS at Low and 114 FPS at Medium, which is a good indicator of the CPU's capability.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is consistent. It has a percentile rank of 85, meaning it is at or above the 85th percentile of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F, has the same average score, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D is just 0.2% slower. The Intel Core i9-12900T is 0.5% slower. The CPU's memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s and dual-channel memory support are sufficient for a game like Rust. The CPU is not the limiting factor in this setup, as the frame rate differences between the 1080p and 1440p results are more related to the GPU. The combination shows that the CPU has headroom, and the game's performance is more dependent on the graphics card, particularly at higher resolutions. The boost clock of 4.90 GHz, combined with the 10 cores, provides no CPU bottleneck in the tested scenarios. The CPU's 65 W TDP also indicates an efficient part, which is a good match for the system.