Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with AMD Ryzen 5 7600 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090

Steamworld Build is a city builder from late 2023, and the measured frame rates for this AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination reveal a title that scales dramatically with resolution and settings. The data shows a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-limited at higher resolutions, yet at 1080p the CPU begins to assert its influence. The RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and 512-bit bus, delivers 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, while the Ryzen 5 7600 offers 6 cores and 12 threads with a 5.10 GHz boost clock. The measured FPS across twelve scenarios provides a clear picture of where each component's strengths and limitations emerge, and the ranking of this combo at 23rd out of 1730 tested combinations puts it in the top 1.3% of all systems tested for this game.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a steep and consistent performance drop across all settings, indicating that pixel throughput is the dominant constraint. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 259.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 165.4 FPS at 2560x1440, then to 86.3 FPS at 3840x2160. That represents a 36% reduction moving from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The scaling is nearly linear with pixel count, which is the hallmark of a GPU-bound workload.

Low settings show the same pattern but at higher absolute numbers. At 1920x1080 Low, the system produces 346.6 FPS, dropping to 289.5 FPS at 1440p and 152.1 FPS at 4K. The 4K figure is still well above 144 Hz, suggesting that even at the highest resolution, the RTX 5090 has ample headroom for competitive play. The gap between Low and High settings widens as resolution increases, from 87.5 FPS at 1080p to 65.8 FPS at 4K, which indicates that the GPU's shading units and memory bandwidth are being taxed more heavily at higher pixel counts.

Ultra settings tell the most revealing story. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 61.3, barely above the 60 FPS threshold. This is a 65% reduction from the 177.9 FPS seen at 1080p Ultra. The scaling from 1440p Ultra (110.5 FPS) to 4K Ultra (61.3 FPS) represents a 45% loss, which is steeper than the pixel-count arithmetic would suggest. This implies that the Ultra preset introduces effects that disproportionately burden the GPU at high resolutions, likely related to the RTX 5090's 170 RT cores and 176 ROPs handling additional post-processing or simulation detail.

CPU Role

The Ryzen 5 7600's role becomes most apparent at lower resolutions where the GPU is not saturated. At 1080p Low, the system hits 346.6 FPS, and at 1080p Medium it reaches 313.2 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 33.4 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 54.1 FPS. This non-linear scaling suggests that the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are keeping up with the game's simulation logic, but the frame rate ceiling is approaching the point where single-thread performance matters.

The CPU's single-thread benchmark scores are informative here. In 3dMark single-thread testing, the Ryzen 5 7600 scores 999, and in Cinebench R23 single-core it achieves 3246. These are strong results for a desktop processor, and they align with the observed ability to push frame rates above 300 FPS at 1080p. However, the 65W TDP and 5 nm process node mean the chip is efficient but not extreme in multi-threaded workloads — its Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22992 places it in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs.

At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes. The difference between 4K Low (152.1 FPS) and 4K High (86.3 FPS) is 65.8 FPS, which is primarily a GPU-driven delta. The fact that 4K Low still achieves 152.1 FPS demonstrates that the CPU is not a bottleneck even at 4K, as the game's city-building simulation with numerous entities and pathfinding calculations would otherwise cap performance. The Ryzen 5 7600's 32 MB of shared L3 cache likely helps maintain consistent frame pacing in complex scenes, though the benchmark data only provides average FPS, not frame time variance.

GPU Role

The RTX 5090's specifications are central to understanding the measured results. With 21,760 shading units, 680 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, the GPU has enormous raw compute throughput — 104.8 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus provides 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for a city builder where large textures and geometry data for buildings and terrain must be streamed quickly.

The GPU's role is most evident in the Ultra preset performance. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 177.9 FPS, which drops to 110.5 FPS at 1440p and 61.3 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is the only measured scenario below 85 FPS, and it suggests that the Ultra preset likely enables features that stress the GPU's rasterization pipeline. The RTX 5090's 423.6 GPixel/s pixel rate and 1,636.8 GTexel/s texture rate are pushed hard at this configuration.

Comparing the RTX 5090 to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database, it averages 84,306 in overall benchmark score, which is 0.1% ahead of the RTX 5090 D and 0.2% ahead of the RTX 5050 Mobile. The AMD Radeon PRO W6600 trails by 1.3%, while the NVIDIA CMP 40HX is 1.6% faster on average. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 5090's performance is tightly clustered with other high-end cards, but in Steamworld Build specifically, the 32 GB VRAM capacity is likely a differentiator at 4K Ultra where texture memory usage can spike.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 7600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 ranks 23rd out of 1,730 tested combos in Steamworld Build. That places it in the top 1.3% of all systems tested, which is an outstanding result. The ranking reflects the RTX 5090's dominant GPU performance, but the Ryzen 5 7600's contribution should not be underestimated — it sits in the 83rd percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 26,617.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D (0.2% faster), Intel Core i9-12900HK (0.2% slower), AMD EPYC 8024P (0.2% faster), and Intel Core i9-11900K (0.3% faster). These deltaPct values are minuscule, meaning the Ryzen 5 7600 is effectively on par with these processors in synthetic benchmarks. For Steamworld Build, the game's scaling at 1080p suggests that any of these CPUs would yield similar results, and the 23rd ranking is therefore primarily a function of the RTX 5090's strength.

The fact that this combo ranks 23rd rather than 1st indicates that there are 22 other combinations with superior performance. Given the RTX 5090's position at the top of the GPU hierarchy, those 22 combos likely pair it with CPUs that have higher multi-threaded scores, such as the Ryzen 9 or Core i9 series. However, the practical difference is minimal — at 4K Ultra, this combo still delivers 61.3 FPS, which is playable for a city builder where frame rates above 60 are not critical for gameplay.

FAQ

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much from 1080p to 4K?

A: The measured data shows a near-linear scaling with pixel count. At High settings, 1080p produces 259.1 FPS, 1440p produces 165.4 FPS, and 4K produces 86.3 FPS. This indicates the game is GPU-bound, with the RTX 5090's rendering pipeline being the limiting factor at higher resolutions.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K Ultra settings in Steamworld Build?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average at 3840x2160 Ultra is 61.3 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold. It is the lowest measured result in the entire dataset, so frame drops could occur in complex scenes.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 5 7600 a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests partial CPU influence. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 346.6 FPS, which is very high. The scaling from Low to Medium to High at 1080p is not perfectly linear, implying the CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads are keeping pace but the frame rate ceiling is approaching.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested systems?

A: It ranks 23rd out of 1,730 combos, placing it in the top 1.3% of all tested systems. The RTX 5090's 94th percentile GPU score is the primary driver, while the CPU's 83rd percentile score is adequate for this game.

Q: What is the difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: The measured average FPS at 4K Low is 152.1, while 4K Ultra is 61.3. That is a 90.8 FPS difference, or roughly a 60% reduction in frame rate, indicating that the Ultra preset adds significant GPU workload.

Q: Does the 32 GB VRAM make a difference in this game?

A: The RTX 5090's 32 GB GDDR7 memory with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is more than sufficient for Steamworld Build's city-building environments. The measured performance at 4K Ultra (61.3 FPS) suggests VRAM capacity is not a limiting factor, as the GPU's compute and memory bandwidth are the more likely constraints.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers the following average frame rates: Low 346.6 FPS, Medium 313.2 FPS, High 259.1 FPS, and Ultra 177.9 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 168.7 FPS, which is the largest of any resolution. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU has enough headroom that even the most demanding preset stays well above 144 Hz.

At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 289.5 FPS, Medium 219.1 FPS, High 165.4 FPS, and Ultra 110.5 FPS. The step from Medium to High (53.7 FPS drop) is larger than from Low to Medium (70.4 FPS drop), suggesting that the High preset introduces a significant rendering workload increase. Ultra at 1440p is still above 100 FPS, making it a viable choice for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 152.1 FPS, Medium 115 FPS, High 86.3 FPS, and Ultra 61.3 FPS. The drop from Medium to High (28.7 FPS) is the smallest percentage reduction among all resolutions, while the drop from High to Ultra (25 FPS) is proportionally similar. This shows that at 4K, every settings increment costs roughly 20-25% of the previous frame rate, with the Ultra preset being the most demanding.

The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra grows with resolution: 168.7 FPS at 1080p, 179 FPS at 1440p, and 90.8 FPS at 4K. The 4K gap is smaller in absolute terms but larger in percentage (40% of Low's value), confirming that the GPU is the bottleneck at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For 4K display users, the Medium preset at 115 FPS offers the best balance of visual quality and performance. It is 33% faster than High (86.3 FPS) and 88% faster than Ultra (61.3 FPS), while still providing a smooth experience well above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset at 61.3 FPS is technically playable, but the 53.7 FPS drop from Medium to Ultra is substantial for marginal visual gains.

For 1440p displays, the High preset at 165.4 FPS is the recommended choice. It delivers a frame rate that exceeds most 144 Hz monitors' refresh rates, and it is 50% faster than Ultra (110.5 FPS). The gap between High and Medium (53.7 FPS) is noticeable, but High provides the best combination of fidelity and speed for competitive play.

For 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 177.9 FPS is the optimal pick. It is the only resolution where Ultra exceeds 144 Hz, making it ideal for high-refresh-rate gaming. The step down to High (259.1 FPS) is large, but 177.9 FPS is already beyond the refresh rate of most monitors, so the extra headroom is unnecessary unless using a 240 Hz display.

In all cases, the Low preset provides the highest frame rates (346.6 FPS at 1080p, 289.5 FPS at 1440p, 152.1 FPS at 4K), but these are only recommended for competitive scenarios where frame rate trumps visual quality. The Medium preset is a solid fallback for 4K users who want to maintain high frame rates without sacrificing too much detail, while High is the sweet spot for 1440p and the Ultra preset is reserved for 1080p users with high-refresh-rate monitors.