Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070

This combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 8400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 lands at rank 818 out of 3706 tested combos for Steamworld Build, placing it in the top quarter of all systems evaluated. The pairing pairs a 6-core, 12-thread Zen 4 processor with a 12 GB GDDR6X GPU, and the measured frame rates across resolutions suggest this is a consistently capable setup for the city builder genre. The data reveals interesting scaling behavior that shifts the bottleneck between CPU and GPU depending on the preset and resolution chosen.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 818 out of 3706 tested combinations places this system comfortably in the upper 22% of all configurations benchmarked for Steamworld Build. That percentile positioning indicates a setup that handles the game's demands without excessive headroom or obvious weakness. The RTX 4070 sits at the 81st percentile among all GPUs, while the Ryzen 5 8400F achieves the 77th percentile among all CPUs, so both components are individually above-average performers that complement each other well in this context.

Looking at the CPU's nearest rivals provides context for its contribution. The Ryzen 5 8400F scores essentially identically to the AMD Ryzen 5 7500F, with a delta of just 0.2% — these two chips are interchangeable in practice. The Intel Core i7-11850H and i7-13620H trail by 0.3% and 0.4% respectively, while the AMD EPYC 9474F leads by 0.4%. These tiny deltas mean the CPU's performance tier is well established, and for Steamworld Build's simulation-heavy gameplay, that consistent multi-threaded capability matters more than raw single-thread speed.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4070's nearest rivals cluster even tighter. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is just 0.1% behind, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 trails by 0.4%, and the Radeon PRO W6400 lags by 1.3%. The only competitor ahead is the RTX 4080 Mobile at 1.3% faster. These margins are negligible in real-world gaming, meaning the RTX 4070's performance class is firmly established. The measured FPS data for this combo shows the system hitting 60 FPS average at 4K High settings, which is a strong result for a city builder that can become demanding as populations grow.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 brings 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. For Steamworld Build, which is a city builder with potentially complex scenes, this memory capacity and bandwidth prove sufficient across all tested settings, including 4K Ultra where the average FPS drops to 40. The GPU's 5888 shading units, 184 texture mapping units, and 64 raster output processors provide the raw throughput needed, while the 46 ray tracing cores and 184 tensor cores offer future-proofing that this particular game may not fully exploit.

The clock speeds tell a story of sustained performance: a base clock of 1920 MHz and boost clock of 2475 MHz. The memory runs at 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed. These specifications translate into a pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 455.4 GTexel/s, which are the metrics that matter when rendering the dense, detailed environments typical of city builders. The FP32 throughput of 29.15 TFLOPS gives ample compute headroom for the simulation and rendering tasks Steamworld Build requires.

At 4K resolution, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced. The jump from Low to Medium settings at 4K shows a 24 FPS drop (104 to 80), while Medium to High drops another 20 FPS (80 to 60). The Ultra preset at 4K brings the system to 40 FPS average — a playable but not smooth experience. These diminishing returns with each quality tier suggest the GPU is the primary constraint at 4K, particularly at Ultra settings where the 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth are pushed harder. At 1080p, however, the GPU has ample headroom, with the Low preset reaching 311 FPS average, indicating the CPU becomes the more significant factor at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: Does this combo maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, at 4K with High settings the system achieves exactly 60 FPS average. At 4K Medium, it improves to 80 FPS average with a minimum of 68 FPS and maximum of 92 FPS. However, at 4K Ultra the average drops to 40 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its closest GPU rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 4070's benchmark scores place it within 1.3% of its nearest competitors. The NVIDIA Tesla P4 is 0.1% slower, the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 is 0.4% slower, and the Radeon PRO W6400 is 1.3% slower. The RTX 4080 Mobile is 1.3% faster. These margins are minimal, so performance differences in Steamworld Build should be negligible.

Q: What is the maximum FPS this combo can achieve?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 311 at 1080p with Low settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 238 FPS with a minimum of 202 FPS and maximum of 274 FPS. The 1080p High preset still delivers 178 FPS average, while 1080p Ultra reaches 120 FPS.

Q: Is the Ryzen 5 8400F a bottleneck for the RTX 4070?

A: The data suggests the CPU becomes more relevant at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system hits 311 FPS average, which is an extremely high frame rate that requires strong CPU throughput. The CPU's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz provide sufficient single-thread performance for high-FPS scenarios. At 4K, the GPU becomes the limiting factor, as evidenced by the larger FPS drops when increasing settings.

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

A: The Ryzen 5 8400F scores 25005 in average benchmark tests, placing it 0.2% ahead of the Ryzen 5 7500F and 0.3% ahead of the Core i7-11850H. The Core i7-13620H is 0.4% behind, while the EPYC 9474F is 0.4% ahead. These differences are within noise, meaning the CPU's performance class is well established for gaming workloads.

Q: What is the FPS range at 1440p Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 151 FPS at 2560x1440 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 174 FPS. This provides a smooth experience with good headroom above the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates for this combo span three resolutions and four quality presets, providing a comprehensive picture of performance scaling. At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional frame rates across all settings: Low averages 311 FPS, Medium averages 238 FPS with a range of 202 to 274 FPS, High averages 178 FPS, and Ultra averages 120 FPS. These numbers indicate that at 1080p, the system has far more performance than any display can use, making this resolution ideal for competitive or high-refresh-rate play.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected decline. Low settings produce 198 FPS average, Medium drops to 151 FPS with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 174 FPS, High achieves 113 FPS, and Ultra settles at 76 FPS. The 1440p Medium preset offers an excellent balance, staying well above 120 FPS minimum while maintaining visual quality. At 1440p High, the 113 FPS average still provides a smooth experience on high-refresh monitors, and even Ultra at 76 FPS remains playable.

The 3840x2160 results reveal the system's limits. Low settings deliver 104 FPS average, Medium produces 80 FPS with a range of 68 to 92 FPS, High hits exactly 60 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a 64 FPS drop (104 to 40), which represents a 61.5% reduction in average frame rate. This steep decline indicates that 4K Ultra pushes the GPU beyond its comfortable operating range, while 4K High remains viable for 60 Hz displays. The Medium preset at 4K offers the best headroom, with a minimum of 68 FPS ensuring no drops below the 60 FPS threshold.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts. At Low settings, the system goes from 311 FPS at 1080p to 198 FPS at 1440p to 104 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36.3% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 66.6% drop from 1080p to 4K. The scaling at Low settings is nearly linear with pixel count — 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and the FPS drops to roughly 63.7% of the 1080p value, while 4K has 4 times the pixels and FPS drops to 33.4% of the 1080p value. This near-perfect scaling indicates the GPU is the primary constraint even at Low settings.

At High settings, the scaling tells a similar story. The system delivers 178 FPS at 1080p, 113 FPS at 1440p (a 36.5% drop), and 60 FPS at 4K (a 66.3% drop). The consistency of these percentage drops across different quality presets suggests that resolution scaling is the dominant factor, with the GPU's compute and memory throughput being the limiting resource. The slight deviations at Ultra settings — where 1080p produces 120 FPS, 1440p produces 76 FPS (a 36.7% drop), and 4K produces 40 FPS (a 66.7% drop) — further confirm this pattern.

The implication is that Steamworld Build is primarily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, with the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth determining performance. At 1080p, the extremely high frame rates (311 FPS at Low) suggest the CPU's single-thread performance, with a boost clock of 4.70 GHz, provides sufficient headroom. However, at 4K Ultra, the 40 FPS average indicates the GPU is being pushed to its limits, and users seeking higher frame rates at 4K would need to reduce settings or accept the performance.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F contributes to this combo through its 6 cores and 12 threads, built on the Zen 4 architecture with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz. The 16 MB of shared L3 cache and 4 nm process node from TSMC provide efficient performance, while the 65 W TDP keeps power demands modest. The CPU achieves a 77th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25005.

In Steamworld Build, a city builder that requires ongoing simulation of population, resources, and building placement, the CPU's multi-threaded performance is crucial. The CPU's 3DMark scores show progressive scaling from 1874 at 2 threads to 6091 at 16 threads, indicating good multi-threading efficiency. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 20851 versus a single-core score of 2943 shows that the CPU can leverage its 12 threads effectively, which is important for handling the game's simulation logic alongside rendering tasks.

The CPU's nearest rivals all score within 0.4% of each other, meaning there is no meaningful performance differentiation among this tier of processors. The Ryzen 5 8400F's 0.2% advantage over the Ryzen 5 7500F and 0.3% over the Core i7-11850H are within measurement noise. For Steamworld Build specifically, the data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the system reaches 311 FPS average, which is a clear indication that the CPU can feed the GPU with enough data to sustain extremely high frame rates. At 1080p Ultra, the system still achieves 120 FPS, showing that even with higher GPU load, the CPU maintains sufficient throughput.

The PassMark scores further illustrate the CPU's capabilities: a multithread score of 24389, single-thread score of 3685, and physics score of 1332. The floating-point math score of 46217 and integer math score of 74021 indicate strong computational performance for simulation tasks. The data compression score of 288158 and encryption score of 16646 suggest the CPU handles varied workloads efficiently, which is relevant for a game that may involve procedural generation or complex state management.

Settings Recommendations

For the best experience with this combo, the measured data points to specific presets depending on the user's display and performance priorities. At 1080p, the Medium preset offers an excellent balance with 238 FPS average and a minimum of 202 FPS, ensuring no perceptible stutter even in busy scenes. The High preset at 178 FPS is also superb, and even Ultra at 120 FPS provides a smooth experience on 120 Hz displays. For 1080p users, any preset delivers playable performance, but Medium provides the best combination of visual quality and performance headroom.

At 1440p, the Medium preset stands out with 151 FPS average and a minimum of 129 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides room for frame time spikes during heavy simulation. The High preset at 113 FPS is also excellent for high-refresh monitors, maintaining smoothness even in demanding scenes. The Ultra preset at 76 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom; users who notice occasional dips in complex city layouts may prefer High or Medium. For most 1440p users, Medium or High will provide the best experience.

At 4K, the recommendations become more nuanced. The High preset delivers exactly 60 FPS average, which is suitable for 60 Hz displays but provides no room for demanding scenes that might cause dips. The Medium preset offers 80 FPS average with a minimum of 68 FPS, ensuring consistent performance above 60 FPS even during heavy simulation. The Low preset at 104 FPS provides the most headroom but sacrifices visual quality. For 4K users, Medium is the recommended preset — it maintains a minimum of 68 FPS, which prevents stutter, while still offering improved visuals over Low. The Ultra preset at 40 FPS should be avoided for smooth gameplay, as the frame rate falls below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable lag in a city builder where managing rapid changes is important.

The data suggests that this combo is best utilized at 1440p, where it can deliver high frame rates across all presets, or at 4K with Medium settings for a balanced experience. The RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM and the Ryzen 5 8400F's 6 cores provide a well-matched pairing that handles Steamworld Build's demands without significant bottlenecks at most settings.