Steamworld Build

FAQ

Q: How does the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F compare to its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F?

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25,005 in the average benchmark, which is just 0.2% higher than the Ryzen 5 7500F's 24,964. This places the two processors in a statistical tie, with the 8400F holding a negligible edge.

Q: What is the GPU's percentile ranking among all tested graphics cards?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 sits in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, based on its average benchmark score of 23,172. Its closest rival, the NVIDIA P106-100, scores 23,249, which is 0.3% higher, indicating the 3080 is slightly below that comparison point.

Q: At which resolution and settings does the combo achieve its highest average frame rate?

A: At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 298 FPS average. This is the peak measured performance across all tested configurations, with the Medium preset at the same resolution delivering 228 FPS.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset, and under what conditions?

A: The lowest average FPS is 39, observed at 3840x2160 with Ultra settings. This is the only configuration where the average drops below 40 FPS, indicating a demanding scenario for the hardware.

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

A: In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 20,851 in multicore and 2,943 in single-core, a ratio of roughly 7:1. This shows strong scaling across its 6 cores and 12 threads, typical for a modern Zen 4 desktop processor.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth, and how does it relate to the measured FPS at high resolutions?

A: The RTX 3080 has 760.3 GB/s of memory bandwidth across a 320-bit bus with 10 GB of GDDR6X. At 4K High, the combo averages 57 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth is sufficient to maintain playable frame rates even at the highest tested resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The data reveals a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and performance across the four presets tested. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 115 FPS, which is entirely playable for a city builder, while High offers 171 FPS and Medium 228 FPS. The Low preset reaches 298 FPS, but this is likely beyond what most displays can show and sacrifices visual quality unnecessarily.

At 2560x1440, the picture changes somewhat. Ultra drops to 73 FPS, which remains smooth, but High at 109 FPS and Medium at 145 FPS provide more headroom for gameplay with dense city layouts. The Medium preset at 1440p, with a minimum FPS of 123 and maximum of 167, shows consistent frame pacing that suits the genre's need for stable camera movement.

The most demanding scenario is 3840x2160, where Ultra falls to 39 FPS — below the threshold for comfortable play in a game that requires frequent camera pans and zoom operations. High at 4K manages 57 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium at 77 FPS (with a minimum of 65) offers a better balance. Low at 4K reaches 100 FPS, showing that the hardware has plenty of headroom when visual effects are reduced.

For the best experience, the Medium preset at 1440p stands out: 145 FPS average with a minimum of 123 ensures no noticeable stutter even during busy construction phases. If the user prefers 4K, Medium is the recommended choice, as it stays above 60 FPS consistently. Ultra should only be considered at 1080p, where 115 FPS is still fluid, but the visual gains over High may not justify the 33% performance drop from 171 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS shows a steep decline as resolution increases, which is typical for a GPU-bound workload. Moving from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 at High settings, the average FPS drops from 171 to 109, a 36% reduction. From 1440p to 4K at the same preset, the average falls from 109 to 57, another 48% drop. This compounding effect means 4K High delivers only one-third of the 1080p High frame rate.

The pattern holds across all settings. At Medium, 1080p yields 228 FPS, 1440p yields 145 FPS, and 4K yields 77 FPS — each step nearly halves the previous performance. At Low, the progression is 298 → 189 → 100 FPS, while at Ultra it is 115 → 73 → 39 FPS. The consistency of this scaling suggests that the RTX 3080's pixel throughput is the limiting factor, rather than any CPU bottleneck.

The 4K results are particularly telling. Even at Low settings, 4K only reaches 100 FPS, while 1080p Low exceeds 298 FPS. This threefold difference indicates that the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are being pushed hard at 4K. The RTX 3080's 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are substantial, but the data shows they are not enough to maintain high frame rates at Ultra quality in this game at 4K.

For 1440p, the scaling is more forgiving. The gap between 1080p and 1440p at High is 62 FPS, while the gap between 1440p and 4K is 52 FPS. This suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot where the GPU still operates efficiently, whereas 4K begins to expose the memory interface's limitations. The 320-bit bus and 10 GB capacity are adequate for 1440p but strained at 4K with higher quality settings.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 ranks 1008 out of 3706 tested combos for Steamworld Build. That places it in the top 27% of all configurations, which is a strong showing for a mid-range CPU paired with a previous-generation high-end GPU.

The rank reflects a balanced system: the CPU's 77th percentile standing and the GPU's 68th percentile both contribute to the overall position. In a city builder like Steamworld Build, where simulation logic and rendering occur simultaneously, this balance matters. The CPU handles the game's management systems while the GPU renders the constantly updating city view.

Compared to other combos in the database, this configuration sits comfortably above the median. The 1008th rank out of 3706 means roughly 73% of tested combos perform worse, which is expected given the RTX 3080's capabilities. However, the rank also shows that many higher-end GPU pairings outperform this setup, particularly at 4K where the 3080's 10 GB memory may become a constraint.

The CPU's nearest rivals — the Ryzen 5 7500F, Core i7-11850H, and Core i7-13620H — all have similar average scores within 0.4% of the 8400F. This means the combo's ranking is primarily determined by the GPU choice, not the CPU. Users with a faster GPU would see a significantly higher rank, while those with the same GPU but a weaker CPU might drop only slightly.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080's specifications directly influence the measured FPS. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus provides 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K with high-quality textures. The GPU's 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores support advanced features, though the measured data does not isolate their effect.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a base of 1440 MHz and boost of 1710 MHz. The boost clock is what the card sustains under load, and the FPS results indicate that thermal and power headroom are sufficient to maintain these clocks during gameplay. The 320 W TDP and 700 W suggested PSU provide the necessary power delivery for sustained performance.

The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 25,086 and its 68th percentile ranking align with the measured FPS in this game. At 1440p High, 109 FPS is consistent with a GPU that ranks above average but not at the top tier. The 4K Ultra result of 39 FPS shows that the card struggles when both resolution and quality are maximized, which is typical for a card at this performance level.

The memory configuration deserves attention. With 10 GB, the card has enough capacity for most games at 1440p, but 4K Ultra textures can exceed this, causing potential stuttering or reduced texture quality. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (39 FPS) suggests that memory pressure may be contributing to the low performance, as the card must manage data more carefully at this resolution.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides 12 measured configurations, covering three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 298 FPS, Medium 228 FPS (min 194, max 262), High 171 FPS, and Ultra 115 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 183 FPS, showing that settings have a massive impact at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the results are: Low 189 FPS, Medium 145 FPS (min 123, max 167), High 109 FPS, and Ultra 73 FPS. The spread narrows to 116 FPS, indicating that resolution scaling compresses the differences between settings. The Medium preset's minimum of 123 FPS is notable, as it stays above the 120 FPS threshold for high-refresh displays.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 100 FPS, Medium 77 FPS (min 65, max 88), High 57 FPS, and Ultra 39 FPS. The spread is now just 61 FPS, and even the Low preset struggles to reach triple digits. The Medium preset's minimum of 65 FPS is the only 4K configuration that maintains a consistent 60+ FPS experience.

The Medium preset is the only one with min and max FPS recorded across all resolutions. At 1080p, it ranges from 194 to 262 FPS; at 1440p, from 123 to 167 FPS; and at 4K, from 65 to 88 FPS. This data suggests that Medium is the most stable preset, with the smallest relative variance between minimum and maximum frame times.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F uses the Zen 4 architecture on TSMC's 4 nm process, featuring 6 cores and 12 threads. Its base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide strong single-threaded performance, which is crucial for city builders that often rely on one main simulation thread. The Cinebench R23 scores of 2,943 single-core and 20,851 multi-core confirm this capability.

The CPU's 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 1 MB L2 per core help with the game's data access patterns. Steamworld Build manages numerous entities — workers, buildings, resources — each with associated state. The cache hierarchy reduces memory latency, and the dual-channel DDR5 memory support with 83.2 GB/s bandwidth ensures the CPU can feed data to the GPU without bottlenecking.

The 3DMark results show scaling from 951 single-thread to 6,165 max-threads, a 6.5x improvement. This indicates that the CPU can leverage all 12 threads when the game's simulation spreads across cores. However, the single-thread score is more relevant for the game's main loop, and the 8400F's 951 score is competitive with its rivals.

The CPU's 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25,005, places it slightly above the Ryzen 5 7500F (24,964) and just below the AMD EPYC 9474F (25,103). In game-specific performance, the measured FPS at 1080p Low (298 FPS) suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor even at low GPU load, as the frame rate is extremely high.

The 65 W TDP and 4 nm process node contribute to efficient operation, allowing the CPU to sustain boost clocks during extended gaming sessions. The unlocked multiplier permits overclocking, though the measured data reflects stock performance. For a game like Steamworld Build, where the simulation can become complex with large populations, the 8400F's multi-threaded capability ensures that the game remains responsive even as the city grows.