Rust

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Rust on this Intel Core Ultra 7 165H + AMD Radeon 890M combo shows a clear and steep performance decline as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the system averages 68 FPS. Moving to 1440p at the same settings drops that to 47 FPS, a reduction of roughly 31%. Pushing to 4K at Low settings yields just 28 FPS, which is about 59% below the 1080p result. This scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets, indicating that the integrated GPU is the dominant limiting factor at higher resolutions.

The data shows diminishing returns are not present here; instead, the frame rate penalty for each step up in resolution is substantial. For High settings, the progression is 38 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 16 FPS at 4K. Medium settings follow a similar trajectory: 46 FPS, 31 FPS, and 19 FPS respectively. Ultra settings are the most demanding, starting at 29 FPS at 1080p and falling to 20 FPS at 1440p and 12 FPS at 4K. These numbers reveal that the system cannot maintain playable frame rates at 4K under any preset, and even 1440p presents challenges for smooth gameplay outside of Low settings.

The magnitude of the resolution scaling penalty suggests that the AMD Radeon 890M, with its System Shared memory and 32 ROPs, is saturated well before the CPU becomes a bottleneck. The GPU's pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s are modest figures, and the measured frame rates reflect that. At 1080p, the system manages to deliver playable results on Low and Medium presets, but the integrated nature of the GPU means that resolution increases disproportionately impact performance. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Low settings is 40 FPS, which is a larger absolute drop than the gap between 1440p and 4K at the same settings, indicating that the GPU is struggling to fill pixels as the resolution scales.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Rust?

A: The highest measured average is 68 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This is the only configuration in the measured data that exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: Can this system run Rust at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the best average FPS is 28 on Low settings. Medium settings yield 19 FPS, High settings yield 16 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 12 FPS. None of these results are playable for competitive or smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to Medium at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 29 FPS while Medium averages 46 FPS. This represents a 37% performance advantage for Medium over Ultra at the same resolution.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and High settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings average 47 FPS while High settings average 26 FPS. The Low preset delivers roughly 81% higher frame rates than High at this resolution.

Q: Is there a resolution where all settings remain above 30 FPS?

A: No. At 1080p, Low (68 FPS) and Medium (46 FPS) exceed 30 FPS, but High (38 FPS) also exceeds it. However, at 1440p, only Low (47 FPS) stays above 30 FPS, and at 4K, no settings preset reaches 30 FPS.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested configurations for Rust?

A: This combo ranks 2783 out of 2953 tested combos for Rust, placing it in the lower 6% of all configurations tested for this game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 7 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 28 W. The cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache. This CPU sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs tested, with an average benchmark score of 34083.

In CPU-centric benchmarks, the processor demonstrates strong multi-threaded capabilities. It scores 2641 in Cinebench R15 multicore and 9233 in Cinebench R20 multicore, with a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 14551. Single-thread scores are 257, 1303, and 1759 for R15, R20, and R23 respectively. The PassMark suite shows a multithread score of 25933 and a single-thread score of 3509. These numbers indicate a capable processor, and its nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H (0.3% higher), AMD EPYC 4244P (0.4% lower), AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 (0.4% lower), and AMD Ryzen 7 3700X (0.5% lower). The deltaPct values are all within 0.5%, meaning the CPU performance is essentially comparable to these alternatives.

For Rust, the CPU's role is significant because the game is known for heavy simulation and entity processing. The 16 cores and 22 threads provide ample parallel processing capacity, and the 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps with data reuse. However, the measured FPS data shows that the system's performance is not CPU-bound at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 68 FPS, and the scaling to 1440p (47 FPS) and 4K (28 FPS) indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases. The CPU's strong benchmark scores suggest it could support higher frame rates if paired with a more powerful GPU, but with the integrated Radeon 890M, the CPU's potential is not fully utilized in this game at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and AMD Radeon 890M achieves a rank of 2783 out of 2953 tested combos for Rust. This places the configuration in the bottom 6% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a low-performing combo for this specific game. The rank reflects the integrated GPU's limitations, as the CPU alone would rank much higher based on its 84th percentile standing among all CPUs.

The poor ranking is primarily attributable to the GPU's modest performance profile. The Radeon 890M sits in the 45th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 9210. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon Vega 8 (0.1% higher), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 960 (0.7% higher), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 465 (0.9% higher), and NVIDIA GeForce GTX 850M (1% higher). These deltaPct values show that the 890M performs similarly to older discrete GPUs like the GTX 960, but those are dedicated cards with their own memory, whereas the 890M relies on System Shared memory.

In the context of Rust, the combo's rank of 2783 means that the vast majority of tested combinations deliver better frame rates. The measured FPS data confirms this, with the system only exceeding 60 FPS at 1080p Low settings. For a game like Rust, which can be demanding on both CPU and GPU, this combo is at the lower end of the performance spectrum. The rank is not surprising given that the GPU's 1024 shading units and 32 ROPs are limited for modern gaming, and the System Shared memory bandwidth is dependent on the system configuration.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon 890M is an integrated GPU based on the RDNA 3.5 architecture, built on TSMC's 4 nm process with 34,000 million transistors on a 233 mm² die. It features 1024 shading units, 64 TMUs, and 32 ROPs, along with 16 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 400 MHz with a boost clock of 2900 MHz. Memory is System Shared, meaning it uses the system's main memory rather than dedicated VRAM, with bandwidth described as System Dependent. The GPU has a TDP of 15 W and connects via PCIe 4.0 x8.

The GPU's benchmark results show a mixed profile. It scores 590 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 37254 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 40808 in Geekbench Vulkan. PassMark scores include 8076 for G3D and 4157 for GPU compute. The FP32 performance is 5.939 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 92.80 GPixel/s and texture rate of 185.6 GTexel/s. These specifications place the 890M in the 45th percentile of all GPUs, which is below average.

For Rust, the GPU's role is critical because the game's rendering demands scale heavily with resolution and settings. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU manages 68 FPS, but this drops to 47 FPS at 1440p and 28 FPS at 4K. At Ultra settings, the GPU can only achieve 29 FPS at 1080p, 20 FPS at 1440p, and 12 FPS at 4K. The System Shared memory is a particular limitation, as the bandwidth is dependent on the system's memory configuration, and the 890M cannot access dedicated high-bandwidth VRAM. The boost clock of 2900 MHz helps at lower resolutions, but the fundamental constraint is the GPU's compute and memory throughput, which cannot keep up with the pixel count at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates are the highest across all resolutions. Low settings average 68 FPS, Medium averages 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 and maximum of 52, High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. This resolution provides the only configuration where the system exceeds 60 FPS (Low) and the only one where all settings remain above 25 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 47 FPS, Medium averages 31 FPS with a minimum of 27 and maximum of 36, High averages 26 FPS, and Ultra averages 20 FPS. The Medium settings at 1440p show a tighter range (27-36 FPS) compared to 1080p Medium (39-52 FPS), indicating that the GPU is under more consistent load at the higher resolution.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 28 FPS, Medium averages 19 FPS with a minimum of 16 and maximum of 21, High averages 16 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU is severely bottlenecked, with the best possible average (28 FPS) still below 30 FPS. The Medium settings at 4K have a narrow range (16-21 FPS), suggesting that the GPU is consistently saturated regardless of scene complexity.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 68 FPS, which is the only configuration that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. For players seeking smoother gameplay, Low at 1080p is the recommended choice. Medium at 1080p averages 46 FPS with a range of 39-52 FPS, which is playable but may experience occasional dips below 40 FPS. High at 1080p averages 38 FPS, which is borderline for competitive play, while Ultra at 1080p averages 29 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable option, averaging 47 FPS. Medium at 1440p averages 31 FPS with a minimum of 27 FPS, which may feel stuttery in fast-paced scenarios. High and Ultra at 1440p average 26 FPS and 20 FPS respectively, making them unsuitable for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve 30 FPS, so 4K is not recommended for this combo. The Low preset at 4K averages 28 FPS, which is marginally below the 30 FPS target, but the experience would be inconsistent.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the data suggests using Low settings at 1080p or 1440p. If visual fidelity is a priority, Medium at 1080p provides a 46 FPS average, which is a reasonable compromise. However, the measured data clearly shows that this combo is best suited to 1080p gaming, and even then, players should stick to Low or Medium presets to maintain frame rates above 40 FPS. The Ultra preset at any resolution does not deliver an acceptable experience, with the highest Ultra average being 29 FPS at 1080p.