Rust is a first person survival shooter released for early access in December 2013 and had a full release in February 2018. It is one of the more unique games out there with a massive community, but is Rust CPU or GPU intensive?
Rust uses the GPU more than the CPU and is fairly intensive as it is a modern video game that takes significant system resources. You’ll need at least an Intel Core i7-3770 and an Nvidia GTX 670 2GB or the AMD equivalents.
Let’s look at how Rust uses different parts of the computer as well as consider the minimum and recommended hardware to get the most out of the game. We’ll also look at some considerations regarding hardware choices for the CPU, GPU and other components.
Is Rust CPU Intensive?
Rust is not a CPU-intensive game. Being a modern video game, it tends to have many features that draw on the GPU more than the CPU, although a relatively mid-range to powerful CPU is required.
Rust is a first-person shooter set in a large open world. With physics including items moving around, building of structures, and also ballistics from all the weapons including bullets, arrows and explosions.
As this is going to put a relatively high degree of demand, go for at least a quad-core CPU or above running over 3.8GHz.
Is Rust GPU Intensive?
Rust uses the GPU more than the CPU so it is fair to say Rust is GPU-intensive.
You can expect in most cases your CPU usage will be around 40–70% and GPU usage will be 60–90% if you have a decent PC that can handle most of the games on medium to high settings.
To play in native resolution at 1080p or higher at a stable frame rate and higher refresh rate you’ll need to be investing in a decent, dedicated video card because it will be handling a lot of the processing power.
Upgrading your video card is going to give you the best bang for your buck if you’re dealing with performance issues, although you should make sure that everything else is hitting the minimum standards as set out below.
Bottlenecks for Rust’s performance can be the result of insufficient hardware, but if your computer generally meets at least the minimum requirements but you can’t output a consistent, stable frame rate an upgrade to a video card should be a priority.
Rust System Requirements
Rust can be run on a budget build with the processor, video card and RAM setting you back under $7000. However, if you’re playing on a large monitor you’ll need significantly more powerful hardware, and it would be recommended you get a decent mouse and keyboard.
Some laptops may not have this hardware so always compare the system requirements to yours when you’re checking to see whether Rust will run on your rig.
Windows Minimum System Requirements
At a base level, Rust requires a 64-bit processor and operating system, with at least Windows 8.1 64-bit the minimum.
Get an Intel Core i7-3770 or AMD FX-9590 or a better processor and get at least 10GB RAM for system memory. For a video card or GPU, go with at least an Nvidia GTX 670 2GB or AMD R9 280. Make sure at least it supports DirectX version 11.0.
For internal storage, go with at least 25GB of available space and make sure to grab an SSD because Rust is a game that has relatively a lot of loading, and a non-SSD is really going to hurt these loading times.
Windows Recommended System Requirements
Rust still needs a 64-bit processor and operating system but Windows 11 64-bit is recommended to get the most out of the higher-end hardware.
Go for an Intel Core i7-4790K or an AMD Ryzen 5 1600 and get at least 16GB of RAM.
For your GPU, to get the most out of Rust go for at least an Nvidia GTX 980 or the AMD R9 Fury, at least make sure it supports DirectX version 12.
The storage considerations above also apply; go for at least 25GB of available space with an M.2 or NVMe drive, but make sure the motherboard you have supports this.
MacOS Minimum System Requirements
Any hardware running macOS for Rust requires a 64-bit processor and operating system running OS X El Capitan 10.11 or greater.
At a bare minimum, you’ll want an Intel Core i7-3770 and an AMD FX-9590 or better. Also, make sure you’ve got at least 10GB RAM and a graphics card of either an Nvidia GTX 670 2GB or AMD R9 280 variety or better.
You’ll need a similar storage capacity of 25GB space on a hard drive with an SSD recommended.
MacOS Recommended System Requirements
To get better than the minimum performance, you’ll definitely need a 64-bit processor and operating system running macOS X El Capitan 10.11.
To get the most out of the game, go for at least an Intel Core i7-4790K or AMD Ryzen 5 1600 processor, 16GB RAM and a graphics card either an Nvidia GTX 980 or an AMD R9 Fury.
Make sure you have an SSD of at least 25GB and if possible go for an NVMe or M.2 drive if your motherboard supports it.
Conclusion
So, is Rust CPU or GPU intensive? Rust is a fast-paced, first-person survival shooter that requires a mid- to high-range computer to run it well. You’ll want to make sure you have a dedicated GPU as well as a decent CPU.
