Pc Building Simulator

Pc Building Simulator is a simulation title that scales unusually well with both CPU and GPU resources, and the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the Intel Arc B580 produces a wide spread of performance across resolutions and presets. The data shows a system that can deliver high refresh rates at 1080p with ease, but which becomes firmly GPU-bound at 4K, where even the fastest settings struggle to maintain 60 FPS. This analysis breaks down the measured frames per second (FPS) data to explain where the bottleneck lies and which settings offer the best experience.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals a clear shift in the limiting component. At 1080p with Low settings, the system produces 213.6 FPS, but this falls to 136.4 FPS at 1440p and further to 71.7 FPS at 4K. This represents a 66.4% reduction in performance from 1080p Low to 4K Low, indicating that the GPU is being pushed harder as pixel count increases, but the CPU is still keeping up. The scaling is not linear; the gap between 1080p and 1440p is 77.2 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 64.7 FPS, suggesting that the GPU’s compute resources are becoming saturated at higher resolutions.

At Ultra settings, the pattern shifts. The system runs at 105.1 FPS at 1080p, drops to 66.4 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 34.9 FPS at 4K. Here, the 4K result is less than half of the 1080p result, a 66.8% performance loss. This steep decline is a classic sign of the GPU being the primary bottleneck at 4K, as the Arc B580’s 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 456.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth are simply insufficient to feed the 3840x2160 pixel count at high quality settings. In contrast, the CPU’s role is more prominent at 1080p, where the frame rates are high enough to expose any per-thread limitations.

The data shows that 1440p is the practical sweet spot for this combination. At High settings, the system still delivers 68.2 FPS, which is playable, while at Low it hits 136.4 FPS, which is excellent for fast-paced gameplay. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at High settings is 42.5 FPS, but the visual fidelity improvement is substantial, making the performance trade-off acceptable. At 4K, the system falls below 60 FPS on every preset except Low, which manages 71.7 FPS, so 4K is only viable for users willing to compromise heavily on visual quality.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the dominant factor in this system’s gaming performance, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units (TMUs), and 80 render output units (ROPs), with a core clock locked at 2670 MHz for both base and boost. This fixed clock speed means the card’s performance is consistent across workloads, but it also means there is no dynamic boost headroom to compensate for demanding scenes. The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results show that this bandwidth becomes a limiting factor when the frame buffer demands increase.

The GPU’s benchmark scores place it in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rival is the AMD Radeon 760M, which scores 22999, a mere 0.1% difference, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, which scores 23181, putting the B580 0.7% behind. This indicates that the B580 is a mid-range performer, and the measured FPS data aligns with this positioning. At 1080p Ultra, the card produces 105.1 FPS, which is respectable, but at 4K Ultra, it drops to 34.9 FPS, showing that the GPU’s 13.67 TFLOPS of compute is not enough for 4K gaming at high settings.

The GPU’s memory configuration is also noteworthy. With 12 GB of VRAM, the card has ample capacity for Pc Building Simulator, which is not a VRAM-heavy title at these resolutions. The 192-bit bus width, however, limits the effective bandwidth, and this is likely why the performance drops so sharply at 4K. The data indicates that the GPU is the bottleneck at 4K, as the FPS drops are proportional to the increase in pixel count, while the CPU remains underutilized. At 1080p, the GPU is still the primary driver, but the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are sufficient to keep up with the frame rates on offer.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Ultra preset is not recommended for this system. At 1080p Ultra, the system achieves 105.1 FPS, which is playable, but at 1440p Ultra, it drops to 66.4 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 34.9 FPS, which is below the playable threshold. The High preset offers a better balance. At 1080p High, the system hits 110.7 FPS, which is 5.3% faster than Ultra, and at 1440p High, it achieves 68.2 FPS, which is a 2.7% improvement over Ultra. The visual difference between High and Ultra is often minimal in simulation titles, so High is the better choice for maintaining higher frame rates.

For users prioritizing performance, the Medium preset is the sweet spot. At 1080p Medium, the system delivers 149.8 FPS, which is 42.6% faster than High, and at 1440p Medium, it hits 98.4 FPS, which is 44.3% faster than High. This preset offers a significant FPS boost with only a modest reduction in visual quality. At 4K, the Low preset is the only viable option, producing 71.7 FPS, which is 35.3% faster than Medium at 53 FPS and 51.3% faster than High at 35.3 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is the only way to achieve a smooth experience at that resolution.

The data suggests that the optimal strategy is to use High settings at 1080p or 1440p, depending on the monitor’s refresh rate. For a 144Hz monitor, the Medium preset at 1080p or the Low preset at 1440p would be necessary to fully utilize the display’s capabilities. For a 60Hz monitor, High settings at 1440p provide a comfortable margin above the refresh rate. The Ultra preset is only advisable at 1080p, and even then, the performance gain over High is negligible, making it a poor trade-off for the additional FPS loss at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum FPS this system can achieve in Pc Building Simulator?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 213.6, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Can this system run the game at 4K smoothly?

A: At 4K, only the Low preset achieves an average FPS above 60, hitting 71.7 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 53 FPS, while High and Ultra fall to 35.3 and 34.9 FPS respectively, which are not smooth.

Q: How much faster is the Medium preset compared to High at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the Medium preset delivers 98.4 FPS, which is 30.2 FPS higher than the High preset’s 68.2 FPS, representing a 44.3% improvement.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B580 better or worse than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060?

A: The Arc B580 has an average benchmark score of 23021, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 4060’s score of 23181. The difference is minimal and unlikely to be noticeable in real-world gameplay.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 213.6 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 105.1 FPS. The Low preset is 103.2% faster, more than doubling the frame rate.

Q: Does the CPU become a bottleneck at any resolution?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary bottleneck at 4K, but at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU’s performance is more relevant. The i5-13400F’s single-threaded benchmark score of 960 in 3DMark indicates it can handle high frame rates, but the 213.6 FPS result at 1080p Low suggests the CPU is still capable of keeping up.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the computational backbone for this system, and its specifications show why it does not limit the GPU in most scenarios. The CPU features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. This configuration is well-suited for simulation games, which often benefit from multiple threads. The CPU’s 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core help reduce memory latency, which is critical for maintaining consistent frame times.

The CPU’s benchmark results place it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236. Its nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-13620H, which scores 25201, a 0.1% difference, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D, which scores 25365, putting the i5-13400F 0.5% behind. In multi-threaded workloads, the CPU scores 21279 in Cinebench R23, while its single-thread score is 3004. These numbers indicate a balanced processor that excels at both single- and multi-threaded tasks.

In Pc Building Simulator, the CPU’s role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system hits 213.6 FPS, which is a frame rate that would expose any CPU limitation. The fact that the system can achieve this frame rate suggests the i5-13400F’s 4.60 GHz boost clock and 16 threads are sufficient to feed the GPU’s output. However, at 4K, the CPU’s influence diminishes, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and max-thread score of 7307 show that the CPU scales well with additional threads, but the game’s demands at 4K are primarily on the GPU.

The CPU’s memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, along with a dual-channel memory bus, means that system memory bandwidth is not a bottleneck. The 10 nm process node and 65W TDP also indicate that the CPU runs efficiently, which is beneficial for sustained gaming sessions. Overall, the data shows that the i5-13400F is a capable partner for the Arc B580, providing enough processing power to avoid holding back the GPU at 1080p and 1440p, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset delivers 213.6 FPS, which is the highest recorded value across all resolutions. The Medium preset follows at 149.8 FPS, representing a 29.9% drop from Low. High settings produce 110.7 FPS, a further 26.1% reduction, and Ultra settings yield 105.1 FPS, which is only 5.1% slower than High. The scaling from Low to Ultra at 1080p shows a total performance loss of 50.8%, indicating that the GPU is the primary driver of FPS changes.

At 2560x1440, the performance scales down proportionally. The Low preset achieves 136.4 FPS, which is 36.1% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium hits 98.4 FPS, a 27.9% drop from Low at the same resolution. High delivers 68.2 FPS, and Ultra produces 66.4 FPS, with a negligible 2.6% difference between High and Ultra. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at each setting shows a consistent FPS loss of approximately 35-40%, which points to the GPU’s rendering load increasing with pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles to maintain playable frame rates. The Low preset achieves 71.7 FPS, which is the only setting above 60 FPS at this resolution. Medium drops to 53 FPS, a 26.1% reduction from Low. High settings fall to 35.3 FPS, and Ultra produces 34.9 FPS, with High and Ultra being nearly identical. The gap between 1440p and 4K is substantial: Low loses 47.4% of its FPS, Medium loses 46.1%, High loses 48.2%, and Ultra loses 47.4%. This consistent drop across all settings confirms that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute resources are saturated at 4K, making the resolution impractical for this hardware combination.