Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + Intel Arc B370

The pairing of AMD's 6-core Ryzen 5 5500 with Intel's Arc B370 integrated graphics produces a playable but constrained experience in Steamworld Build, a city builder that leans more on simulation logic than rendering intensity. The measured frame rates reveal a system that can handle the game at lower presets, but struggles when pushed toward visual fidelity. The combo ranks 2683rd out of 2924 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom percentile of systems evaluated for this title. The Intel Arc B370, running as an IGP with system-shared memory, sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, which largely dictates the performance ceiling here. The Ryzen 5 5500, by contrast, holds a 73rd percentile ranking among CPUs, indicating the processor is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The data presents a clear hierarchy across four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—measured at three resolutions. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 95 FPS average, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo in any configuration. Medium drops to 73 FPS, High to 55 FPS, and Ultra falls to 37 FPS. For smooth, responsive gameplay at 1080p, Low or Medium are the only viable options, with Medium offering a substantial visual upgrade over Low while still maintaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the picture shifts dramatically. Low produces 61 FPS average, which is technically playable but leaves little headroom for simulation-heavy scenes. Medium falls to 46 FPS, High to 35 FPS, and Ultra to 23 FPS. The 1440p Low preset is the only configuration at this resolution that stays above 60 FPS, and it does so narrowly. For players who prioritize frame consistency, 1440p Low is acceptable, but the margin is thin.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely disappointing. Low averages 32 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 18 FPS, and Ultra 12 FPS. None of these configurations reach playable thresholds for a city builder where camera panning and zooming are frequent. The 4K Low preset might be tolerable for screenshot purposes, but interactive play would be frustrating.

The optimal experience per the measured data is the Medium preset at 1920x1080, delivering 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS and maximum of 84 FPS. This is the only preset-resolution combination that offers both a playable frame rate and a meaningful step up in visual quality from Low. The minimum FPS of 62 indicates that even in demanding scenes, the system stays above the 60 FPS threshold. Players seeking maximum smoothness should choose Low at 1080p, but Medium provides the best balance of performance and fidelity. The Ultra preset at any resolution is not recommended, as the frame rate penalties are severe relative to the visual gains.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Steamworld Build at 4K?

A: No configuration at 3840x2160 reaches playable frame rates. The highest average is 32 FPS on Low, with Medium at 25 FPS, High at 18 FPS, and Ultra at 12 FPS. None of these are suitable for interactive play.

Q: What is the best preset for 1080p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 73 FPS average with a minimum of 62 FPS, making it the best balance of visual quality and performance. Low runs faster at 95 FPS but with reduced graphical fidelity.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it within 0.7% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), and AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192). It is 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). These are all legacy parts, indicating the Arc B370's performance class is quite modest.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 5500 holding back performance?

A: The CPU's benchmark scores suggest it is not the primary bottleneck. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 16429 and a single-core score of 2319, the processor is capable. The GPU's 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs points to the graphics solution as the limiting factor.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1440p?

A: Only the Low preset at 2560x1440 exceeds 60 FPS, averaging 61 FPS. Medium averages 46 FPS, High 35 FPS, and Ultra 23 FPS. The 1440p Low configuration is playable but offers limited visual headroom.

Q: Why does the Ultra preset perform so poorly?

A: At 1080p, Ultra averages 37 FPS, a 49% drop from Medium's 73 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra averages 23 FPS, and at 4K, it drops to 12 FPS. The Arc B370's limited shading units (1280) and 20 ROPs cannot sustain the increased geometry and texture loads at higher presets.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 + Intel Arc B370 combination ranks 2683rd out of 2924 tested combos for Steamworld Build, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems evaluated. This low ranking aligns with the GPU's 5th percentile standing among all graphics cards, while the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking shows a significant mismatch between processor capability and graphics performance.

The nearest CPU rivals to the Ryzen 5 5500—the AMD Ryzen AI 5 430 (average score 19617, delta -0.1%), Intel Core i5-12500 (19668, delta -0.4%), Intel Core i7-10700F (19499, delta 0.5%), and Intel Core i5-11600KF (19723, delta -0.7%)—all show near-identical average benchmark scores. This suggests that swapping the CPU within this class would yield minimal changes in Steamworld Build performance, as the GPU remains the dominant constraint.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals to the Arc B370 are all legacy ATI and AMD parts from a bygone era. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, delta -0.2%), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, delta -0.5%), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, delta -0.7%), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, delta 1.4%) all bracket the Arc B370's score. This comparison underscores how the Arc B370, despite being a modern integrated solution, performs at the level of discrete GPUs from over a decade ago.

The combo's rank of 2683 out of 2924 means that 91.7% of tested systems deliver better performance in Steamworld Build. For a city builder where frame rates below 30 FPS can make UI interactions feel sluggish, this ranking reflects a system that is best suited to lower resolutions and presets.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average frame rates span a wide range: Low achieves 95 FPS, Medium 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 and maximum of 84, High 55 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 22 FPS, from Medium to High is 18 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 18 FPS. Each preset step costs roughly 20-25% of the previous frame rate, a pattern that holds consistently.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 61 FPS on Low, 46 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 39 and maximum of 53, 35 FPS on High, and 23 FPS on Ultra. The transition from Low to Medium costs 15 FPS, Medium to High costs 11 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 12 FPS. The 1440p Medium minimum of 39 FPS indicates significant dips below the average, suggesting that simulation-heavy moments can be choppy.

At 3840x2160, the results are 32 FPS on Low, 25 FPS on Medium with a minimum of 21 and maximum of 28, 18 FPS on High, and 12 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Medium minimum of 21 FPS is particularly telling—even with reduced settings, the system cannot maintain smooth playback at this resolution.

Comparing resolutions at the same preset, the scaling is steep. At Low, 1080p yields 95 FPS, 1440p yields 61 FPS (a 36% drop), and 4K yields 32 FPS (a 66% drop from 1080p). At Medium, the figures are 73 FPS at 1080p, 46 FPS at 1440p (a 37% drop), and 25 FPS at 4K (a 66% drop). The consistent percentage drops across presets suggest the scaling is resolution-driven rather than setting-driven.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that is heavily pixel-bound. At Low settings, moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces performance by 34 FPS (from 95 to 61), a 36% decrease. Moving further to 3840x2160 reduces performance by another 29 FPS (from 61 to 32), a 48% decrease from 1440p. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low is 63 FPS, or 66% of the original frame rate.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar: 73 FPS at 1080p drops to 46 FPS at 1440p (a 37% decrease) and then to 25 FPS at 4K (a 46% decrease from 1440p). The total reduction from 1080p to 4K is 48 FPS, or 66%. At High settings, 55 FPS at 1080p falls to 35 FPS at 1440p (a 36% decrease) and 18 FPS at 4K (a 49% decrease). The total drop is 37 FPS, or 67%. Ultra follows the same trajectory: 37 FPS to 23 FPS (a 38% decrease) to 12 FPS (a 48% decrease), totaling 25 FPS or 68% lost from 1080p to 4K.

The near-identical percentage drops across all presets indicate that resolution scaling is consistent regardless of quality settings. This points to the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth as the limiting factors. The Arc B370's system-shared memory, with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," cannot deliver the data throughput required at higher resolutions. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply insufficient for 4K workloads, as evidenced by the sub-30 FPS results at every 4K preset.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 5500 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Zen 3 architecture, manufactured on TSMC's 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.20 GHz provide adequate compute for simulation logic in city builders. The 16 MB L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth are standard for this class of processor.

Benchmark data shows the CPU's capabilities: Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 16429, while single-core scores 2319. Geekbench results are 7976 multi-core and 1730 single-core. PassMark multi-thread performance is 19330, with single-thread at 3058. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 836 single-thread to 5411 max-threads, indicating reasonable multi-threading efficiency. The processor's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms it is a competent mid-range part.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU. The consistent frame rate drops across resolutions—even at Low preset where CPU load would be relatively higher—suggest the processor is not the limiting factor. The 6-core, 12-thread configuration is well-suited to the simulation demands of a city builder, where pathfinding, resource management, and citizen AI can utilize multiple threads. The 16 MB L3 cache helps with the frequent data access patterns typical of simulation games.

The CPU's nearest rivals all show within 0.7% average benchmark scores, indicating that any of these processors would perform similarly in Steamworld Build. The Ryzen 5 5500's 65 W TDP and AM4 socket compatibility make it an efficient choice, but its performance headroom is largely untapped because the GPU cannot feed it enough frames.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It features 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 ROPs, with 10 ray tracing cores. The base clock is 300 MHz, boosting to 2400 MHz, delivering 6.144 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate. The memory configuration is system-shared, with bandwidth dependent on the host system's memory.

The GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 places it at the 5th percentile among all GPUs. This is an extraordinarily low ranking, as reflected by its nearest rivals being ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). All of these are legacy discrete GPUs from the early 2010s, meaning the Arc B370 performs at a level comparable to hardware that is over a decade old.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's limitations manifest clearly. The 20 ROPs are insufficient for pixel-heavy workloads at higher resolutions, explaining the steep frame rate drops as resolution increases. The system-shared memory architecture means the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, which is particularly problematic at 4K where texture and geometry data requirements multiply. The 12 FPS result at 4K Ultra demonstrates the GPU's inability to handle maximum settings at high resolutions.

The Arc B370's 25 W TDP and IGP form factor mean it draws power from the host system rather than a dedicated power connector. This makes it suitable for portable devices, but the performance trade-off is severe. For Steamworld Build, the GPU is the definitive bottleneck—no CPU upgrade would meaningfully improve frame rates, as the Arc B370's 5th percentile ranking shows it is the limiting component in this pairing.