Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070

The data for Steamworld Build with the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 reveals a combination that scales predictably across resolutions, with the GPU clearly emerging as the dominant performance factor at higher settings. This city builder, released in late 2023, shows a dramatic FPS range from 35.8 at 4K Ultra to 254.5 at 1080p Low, indicating that the hardware can handle both demanding and light configurations with substantial headroom. The measured results across twelve distinct resolution/settings combinations provide a clear picture of how this pairing behaves under varying loads, with the RTX 3070's 8 GB VRAM and the Ryzen 5 7600's six cores interacting in ways that become more apparent as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the magnitude varies significantly depending on the preset. At High settings, performance falls from 146.1 FPS at 1080p to 93.6 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction) and then to 51 FPS at 4K (another 46% drop from 1440p). This pattern suggests that at High, the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as pixel count increases, with the RTX 3070's 8 GB memory and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth being taxed more heavily. The Low preset shows an even larger absolute drop, from 254.5 FPS at 1080p down to 163.8 at 1440p and 86.4 at 4K, which represents a 66% total reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steeper decline at Low settings implies that the CPU's contribution is relatively fixed while the GPU workload scales with resolution, making the graphics card the bottleneck when visual effects are minimized.

The Medium preset follows a middle path, with 198.9 FPS at 1080p, 126.2 at 1440p, and 67.3 at 4K. The relative drops of 37% and 47% between successive resolutions mirror the High preset closely, reinforcing that the scaling curve is consistent. Ultra is the most demanding, with 101.6 FPS at 1080p, 60.8 at 1440p, and just 35.8 at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is notably below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this combination cannot sustain smooth gameplay at maximum settings on a 4K display. The data suggests that the RTX 3070, with its 1500 MHz base and 1725 MHz boost clocks, hits its computational ceiling at higher resolutions, while the Ryzen 5 7600's 5.10 GHz boost clock provides sufficient single-thread performance to avoid becoming the primary constraint in most scenarios.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070's specifications explain much of the observed behavior. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card delivers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes strained at 4K with higher presets. The 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units process the city-building visuals efficiently, yet the 20.31 TFLOPS FP32 compute capability is evidently insufficient to maintain 60 FPS at 4K Ultra in this title. The GPU's percentile ranking of 72 against all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 28238, places it near the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (0.9% delta) and just ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (1% delta), though those rivals are older or less capable in modern workloads.

The measured FPS data aligns with the GPU's memory capacity. At 4K Ultra, the 35.8 FPS average suggests that the 8 GB VRAM is likely overwhelmed by high-resolution textures, causing the card to struggle with memory management. Conversely, at 1080p Low, the 254.5 FPS result shows that when memory pressure is low, the card can deliver extremely high frame rates, likely limited only by the CPU or game engine rather than the GPU itself. The 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores present in the Ampere architecture do not appear to provide any specific advantage in Steamworld Build, as the game's genre does not heavily utilize ray tracing or DLSS features. The GPU's 220 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a mid-range power profile that matches its performance tier, with the 1x 12-pin power connector being a notable consideration for system builders.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 brings six cores and twelve threads based on the Zen 4 Raphael architecture, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. This CPU, released in January 2023 with a launch MSRP of $229, demonstrates strong single-threaded performance in its benchmark scores: 999 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3910 in passmark_singlethread. These results are critical for Steamworld Build, as city builders typically rely heavily on single-core performance for simulation logic and entity management. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth provide ample memory throughput for game data, though the game's demands at lower resolutions are likely CPU-bound.

The FPS data supports this interpretation. At 1080p Low, the 254.5 FPS result is remarkably high, suggesting the game engine is running efficiently with the CPU's six cores. The Ryzen 5 7600's percentile ranking of 83 against all CPUs places it close to the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (0.2% delta) and Intel Core i9-12900HK (-0.2% delta), indicating that its overall processing power is competitive with higher-tier parts. The Cinebench R23 scores of 22992 multi-core and 3246 single-core reinforce that this CPU can handle both threaded and single-threaded workloads effectively. However, as resolution increases, the CPU's role diminishes relative to the GPU, which explains why the FPS drops more steeply at higher resolutions across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS values, the optimal setting depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets except Ultra exceed 140 FPS, with Medium (198.9 FPS) and High (146.1 FPS) both providing excellent experiences. The Ultra preset at 101.6 FPS is still playable but offers diminishing returns over High. For 1440p, the Medium preset at 126.2 FPS strikes the best balance between visual quality and performance, while High at 93.6 FPS remains smooth and arguably the better choice for visual fidelity. The Low preset at 163.8 FPS is excessive for most displays and sacrifices too much visual detail. At 4K, the situation is more constrained: Medium (67.3 FPS) is the only preset that exceeds 60 FPS, while High (51 FPS) is borderline and Ultra (35.8 FPS) falls well below playable thresholds. The data indicates that users with 4K displays should select Medium as the default, while 1080p and 1440p users can comfortably choose High or Medium depending on their preference for visual quality over raw frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 combination ranks 751 out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the upper-middle tier of all possible pairings. This rank reflects a balance between the CPU's strong 83rd percentile performance and the GPU's more modest 72nd percentile standing. The rank of 751 suggests that while this combo is far from the top, it outperforms over half of all tested systems, which is reasonable given the RTX 3070's age and the game's release timing in late 2023. The combination's relative positioning indicates that users with newer GPUs would likely achieve higher ranks, but the Ryzen 5 7600's single-threaded strength helps compensate for the GPU's limitations in this CPU-sensitive genre. The data shows that this pairing is well-suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K requiring compromises in settings to maintain playable frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p High settings?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with High settings is 146.1, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 4K, the combo achieves 86.4 FPS on Low, 67.3 FPS on Medium, 51 FPS on High, and 35.8 FPS on Ultra, so only Low and Medium presets provide playable frame rates above 60 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 3070 has an average benchmark score of 28238, which is 0.9% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti, but 0.6% lower than the AMD FirePro S7150.

Q: What is the Ryzen 5 7600's single-threaded performance?

A: The CPU scores 999 in 3dmark_single_thread and 3910 in passmark_singlethread, indicating strong single-core performance that benefits city builder simulation logic.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 126.2 FPS offers the best balance, though High at 93.6 FPS is also smooth and provides better visual quality.

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 751 out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the upper-middle performance tier.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 254.5, Medium at 198.9, High at 146.1, and Ultra at 101.6. These results show a clear progression where each higher preset reduces performance by roughly 20-30%, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 153 FPS. At 2560x1440, the values drop to: Low at 163.8, Medium at 126.2, High at 93.6, and Ultra at 60.8. The relative reductions from 1080p are consistent, with each resolution step costing approximately 35-40% of the previous frame rate. At 3840x2160, the results are: Low at 86.4, Medium at 67.3, High at 51, and Ultra at 35.8. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured scenario below 40 FPS, highlighting the GPU's limitations at maximum settings. The data reveals that the RTX 3070's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings, making this combo a reliable choice for 1080p and 1440p gaming with headroom for high refresh rates at lower presets.