Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder released on 2023-11-30, presents a distinctive workload that stresses both the CPU and GPU in ways that differ from typical action titles. This analysis examines the measured performance of the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F paired with the Intel Arc B390 across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data set includes 12 measured FPS rows, covering 1080p, 1440p, and 4K, each with Low, Medium, High, and Ultra settings. The complete picture reveals a system that is heavily constrained by the graphics processor, particularly at higher resolutions, while the CPU demonstrates ample headroom for this genre.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows provide a clear hierarchy of performance across the four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 106 FPS, which is the highest score recorded for this combo in any configuration. Medium at the same resolution produces 81 FPS, High produces 60 FPS, and Ultra drops to 41 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 25 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 21 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 19 FPS. These are substantial gaps, indicating that each preset tier imposes a significant load increase on the Intel Arc B390.

For players targeting smooth city-building gameplay, the Medium preset at 1080p appears to be the balanced choice. The 81 FPS average is well above the 60 FPS threshold commonly associated with playable performance, and the measured minimum of 69 FPS with a maximum of 93 FPS shows consistent frame delivery. High at 1080p achieves exactly 60 FPS on average, which is acceptable but leaves no margin for demanding scenes with many buildings and citizens. Ultra at 1080p, at 41 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS target and would likely feel sluggish during late-game colony management.

At 2560x1440, the situation tightens considerably. Low produces 67 FPS, Medium produces 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 FPS and maximum of 59 FPS, High produces 38 FPS, and Ultra produces 26 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p, with its 51 FPS average, represents the highest quality setting that maintains a playable frame rate, though the 44 FPS minimum indicates occasional dips. Low at 67 FPS is the only preset at this resolution that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS. For players who prioritize smoothness over visual fidelity, Low at 1440p is the recommended configuration, as the 67 FPS average provides headroom for the simulation overhead that city builders accumulate over time.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS. Low produces 35 FPS, Medium produces 27 FPS with a minimum of 23 FPS and maximum of 31 FPS, High produces 20 FPS, and Ultra produces 14 FPS. The Low preset at 4K is the only viable option, and even it falls short of the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for playable strategy games. The data suggests that 4K is not a practical resolution for this combo in Steamworld Build, regardless of settings. The best experience across all measured rows is clearly at 1080p with Medium or High settings, where the frame rates remain within acceptable bounds while preserving visual quality.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration. Its benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it in the 9th percentile of all GPUs. This is an extremely low ranking, and the nearest rivals in the benchmark database are all legacy NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX with a score of 1463 (1.3% slower), the GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% slower), the GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% slower), and the GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% slower). The Arc B390's 1.3% advantage over the GT 520MX is marginal, and its 2.7% lead over the GT 710 is similarly small. This places the GPU firmly in entry-level territory, far below the performance needed for demanding modern games at high settings.

The GPU's memory configuration is "System Shared," with memory type listed as "System Shared" and bus width as "System Shared." Bandwidth is described as "System Dependent." This means the Arc B390 relies on the system's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM, which introduces a significant performance penalty in memory-intensive scenarios. Steamworld Build, as a city builder, requires substantial memory bandwidth for rendering large numbers of buildings, units, and terrain details. The system-shared memory architecture likely contributes to the sharp frame rate drops observed when moving from Low to High settings.

The GPU's clock speeds are a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. The boost clock is respectable, but the base clock is very low, and the integrated nature of the part (slot width is "IGP," bus interface is "IGP") means it shares thermal and power resources with the CPU. The GPU's TDP is 80 W, and it has no power connectors, relying entirely on the motherboard's power delivery. The shading units number 1536, with 48 texture mapping units and 24 raster output units. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. FP32 performance is 7.680 TFLOPS, which is low by modern discrete GPU standards but consistent with an integrated solution.

The measured FPS data confirms that the GPU saturates quickly. At 1080p, the jump from Low to Ultra cuts the average frame rate by more than half, from 106 FPS to 41 FPS. At 4K, the same preset change drops from 35 FPS to 14 FPS. This scaling behavior indicates that the GPU is the limiting factor at every resolution, as the CPU has far more performance headroom than the GPU can utilize.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling. At the Medium preset, which has complete min/max data, the average frame rates are 81 FPS at 1920x1080, 51 FPS at 2560x1440, and 27 FPS at 3840x2160. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 30 FPS, a 37% reduction, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 24 FPS, a 47% reduction. The total drop from 1080p to 4K is 54 FPS, meaning 4K delivers only one-third of the 1080p frame rate.

For the High preset, the averages are 60 FPS at 1080p, 38 FPS at 1440p, and 20 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop is 22 FPS, and the 1440p to 4K drop is 18 FPS. The Low preset shows 106 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K, with drops of 39 FPS and 32 FPS respectively. The Ultra preset produces 41 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K, with drops of 15 FPS and 12 FPS.

The scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU that has a fixed rendering capability. The pixel count increases by a factor of 2.25 from 1080p to 1440p, and by 2.25 from 1440p to 4K. If the system were perfectly GPU-bound, the frame rates would drop by roughly the same factor. The observed drops are slightly less severe, which suggests that at lower resolutions, the CPU begins to exert some influence, but the GPU remains the dominant limiter throughout. The fact that Low settings at 4K (35 FPS) are slower than Ultra settings at 1080p (41 FPS) further illustrates that resolution has a larger impact on performance than quality preset, which is typical for a GPU-constrained system.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of AMD Ryzen 5 7500F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2573 out of 2924 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 12% of all combos in the database, which is consistent with the GPU's low benchmark percentile. The CPU alone ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs, but the GPU's 9th percentile ranking drags the overall combo down significantly. The data shows that the GPU is the binding constraint, and the combo's ranking reflects the weakest link in the system.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database provide context for its performance without the GPU. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935), 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H (24911), and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core 5 210H (24872). It is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005). These deltas are all within a fraction of a percent, meaning the CPU's compute performance is essentially equivalent to its direct competitors. However, in the context of Steamworld Build, this CPU performance is largely wasted because the GPU cannot keep up.

The combo rank of 2573 out of 2924 indicates that the vast majority of tested systems deliver better frame rates in this game. This is not a reflection of the CPU, which is competitive with its peers, but rather of the GPU's severe limitations. The data suggests that pairing a high-performing CPU like the Ryzen 5 7500F with an entry-level integrated GPU creates a significant imbalance, where the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU to finish rendering each frame.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture, codenamed Raphael. It has a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. It has PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes, and the processor is built on a 5 nm process by TSMC with 6,570 million transistors on a 71 mm² die.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ryzen 5 7500F shows strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multicore score is 22799, and its single-core score is 3218. The Geekbench multicore score is 12362, with a single-core score of 2374. The Passmark multithread score is 26825, and the Passmark single-thread score is 3841. These numbers place the CPU well above the median, as indicated by its 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs. The 3DMark scores show scaling from 1902 for 2 threads to 6379 for max threads, demonstrating that the 12 threads are effectively utilized.

For Steamworld Build, a city builder that relies on simulation logic for citizen pathfinding, resource distribution, and building updates, the CPU's multi-threaded capability is relevant. The Cinebench R20 multicore score of 9575 and the R15 multicore score of 2298 indicate that the CPU can handle substantial parallel workloads. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 106 FPS, which is high but not exceptional for a CPU with this level of performance. The fact that Ultra at 1080p drops to 41 FPS, a 61% reduction, while the CPU's workload likely increases only modestly, confirms that the GPU is the primary bottleneck.

The CPU's memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s is shared with the GPU's system-shared memory, which could create contention. Steamworld Build's simulation likely generates significant memory traffic, and the GPU's reliance on system memory means both components compete for the same bandwidth. The CPU's ECC memory support and dual-channel configuration help, but the shared memory architecture of the Arc B390 is a structural limitation that no amount of CPU performance can overcome.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers an average of 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. This provides a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while offering better visual quality than Low. High at 1080p achieves exactly 60 FPS on average, which is playable but leaves no headroom for complex scenes.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution?

A: No. At 3840x2160, the best average frame rate is 35 FPS on Low settings. Medium produces 27 FPS, High produces 20 FPS, and Ultra produces 14 FPS. None of these meet the 30 FPS threshold typically considered playable for strategy games, so 4K is not a viable option for this system.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Steamworld Build?

A: The GPU is the clear bottleneck. The Intel Arc B390 ranks in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F ranks in the 77th percentile of all CPUs. The FPS scaling from Low to Ultra at any resolution shows a rapid drop, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: In the 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark, the Arc B390 scores 1482. This is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the GeForce GT 710 (1443). These deltas are minimal, placing all five GPUs in the same performance tier.

Q: What frame rates does the Medium preset produce at different resolutions?

A: At 1920x1080, Medium averages 81 FPS (min 69, max 93). At 2560x1440, it averages 51 FPS (min 44, max 59). At 3840x2160, it averages 27 FPS (min 23, max 31). The 1080p result is playable, the 1440p result is borderline, and the 4K result is not playable.

Q: How does the CPU's multi-threaded performance compare to its rivals?

A: The Ryzen 5 7500F has an average benchmark score of 24964. This is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-11850H (24935), 0.2% higher than the Intel Core i7-13620H (24911), and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core 5 210H (24872). It is 0.2% lower than the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F (25005). These differences are negligible, indicating near-identical CPU compute performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in Steamworld Build is as follows:

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Low: 106 FPS average
• Medium: 81 FPS average, 69 FPS minimum, 93 FPS maximum
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 41 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Low: 67 FPS average
• Medium: 51 FPS average, 44 FPS minimum, 59 FPS maximum
• High: 38 FPS average
• Ultra: 26 FPS average

3840x2160 (4K)

• Low: 35 FPS average
• Medium: 27 FPS average, 23 FPS minimum, 31 FPS maximum
• High: 20 FPS average
• Ultra: 14 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions, allowing for a detailed analysis of frame time consistency. At 1080p, the 69-93 FPS range shows a spread of 24 FPS, indicating moderate variance. At 1440p, the 44-59 FPS range has a spread of 15 FPS, which is tighter in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage of the average. At 4K, the 23-31 FPS range has a spread of 8 FPS, which is narrow but occurs at a very low performance level.

Across all 12 measured rows, the highest average frame rate is 106 FPS at 1080p Low, and the lowest is 14 FPS at 4K Ultra. The ratio between these extremes is approximately 7.6, which demonstrates the extreme sensitivity of this GPU to both resolution and quality settings. The data shows that the Arc B390's performance envelope is narrow, and users must choose between low resolutions with moderate settings or higher resolutions with minimal settings. The combo's overall rank of 2573 out of 2924 reflects this limitation, confirming that while the CPU is capable, the GPU prevents the system from delivering a satisfying experience in Steamworld Build at anything beyond 1080p Medium or 1440p Low.