Steamworld Build

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Steamworld Build with the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and Intel Arc B570 reveals a clear pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases. At 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo achieves an average of 93 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 at the same settings drops that figure to 59 FPS, a reduction of roughly 37%. At 3840x2160, the average falls further to 31 FPS, which represents a 67% drop from the 1080p result. This scaling behavior is consistent with a GPU-bound workload at higher resolutions, where the Arc B570's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor.

The data shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens significantly at higher resolutions. At 1080p, Low produces 162 FPS while Ultra yields 63 FPS, a difference of 99 FPS. At 1440p, the spread is 103 FPS versus 40 FPS, a 63 FPS gap. At 4K, Low manages 55 FPS while Ultra drops to 21 FPS, only a 34 FPS difference in absolute terms but a proportional collapse in playability. The relatively modest absolute gap at 4K suggests that even the lowest settings cannot overcome the GPU's pixel throughput limitations at that resolution.

Analyzing the scaling efficiency, the transition from 1080p to 1440p at High settings reduces FPS by 34, while the transition from 1440p to 4K reduces it by 28. This non-linear scaling indicates that the GPU is approaching its memory bandwidth ceiling at 4K. The Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s bandwidth and 10 GB of GDDR6 memory are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but 4K Ultra exceeds what the hardware can sustain, resulting in an average of 21 FPS. Benchmark results indicate that 4K gaming is only viable at Low settings, where 55 FPS is achievable, or Medium settings, which yields 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 brings 8 cores and 16 threads to this pairing, operating at a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Its Zen 4 architecture on the 5 nm TSMC process node provides a solid foundation for city-building simulations, which typically involve significant simulation logic alongside rendering. The processor's 32 MB of shared L3 cache, combined with 1 MB of L2 cache per core, helps maintain smooth frame delivery in complex scenes with many entities.

Benchmark scores for the 7700 place it in the 87th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40081. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 at 40048 with a delta of 0.1%, and the Intel Core 5 221E at 40144 with a delta of -0.2%. These close margins suggest that the 7700 performs competitively with modern mid-range and upper-mid-range processors. In multi-threaded workloads, the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 18760 indicates strong parallel processing capability, while the single-core score of 1930 shows adequate per-thread performance for game logic.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role appears secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions, but its 16 threads are beneficial for handling the game's simulation systems. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 8484 and max-thread score of 8479 demonstrate that scaling beyond 8 threads yields minimal gains, suggesting the processor's 8 physical cores are well-utilized. The PassMark multithread score of 34470 and physics score of 1978 indicate that the CPU can handle the computational demands of a city builder without becoming a bottleneck at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed. However, at 4K, the GPU dominates the performance picture, and the CPU's contribution to frame rate differences between settings is negligible.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570, based on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, provides the graphical muscle for this configuration. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus delivers 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is a critical specification for texture-heavy city-building scenes. The GPU features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, with 18 ray tracing cores. Clock speeds are fixed at 2500 MHz for both base and boost, with memory running at 2375 MHz or 19 Gbps effective.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial: 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 performance. Its pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s help explain its behavior at different resolutions. The Arc B570 sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile at 20534 (delta 0.1%) and the Intel Arc A750 at 20582 (delta -0.1%), showing that it performs similarly to those products in synthetic benchmarks.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role is dominant, particularly at 1440p and 4K. The measured FPS at 4K High (31 FPS) versus 1080p High (93 FPS) demonstrates that the GPU's fill rate and bandwidth are the limiting factors as pixel count increases. The PassMark G3D score of 14195 and DirectX 12 score of 72 provide context for its rendering capability, though real-world game performance varies. The GPU's 10 GB VRAM is sufficient for this game's textures, as evidenced by the lack of stuttering in the measured minimum FPS values at Medium settings (35 FPS at 4K, 67 FPS at 1440p, 106 FPS at 1080p). The Arc B570's PCIe 4.0 x8 interface should not bottleneck the Ryzen 7 7700, which supports PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide range of performance across settings. Low settings produce an average of 162 FPS, which is highly fluid for a city builder. Medium settings yield 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS, indicating consistent frame delivery. High settings drop to 93 FPS, still comfortably above 60 FPS. Ultra settings produce 63 FPS, which is playable but noticeably lower than the other presets. The 1080p results suggest that the Ryzen 7 7700 and Arc B570 combination is well-balanced at this resolution, with even Ultra settings maintaining playable frame rates.

At 2560x1440, performance scales down predictably. Low settings deliver 103 FPS, maintaining smooth gameplay. Medium settings average 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS and maximum of 91 FPS, which is a solid experience for 1440p. High settings produce 59 FPS, just below the 60 FPS threshold but still acceptable for a strategy game. Ultra settings fall to 40 FPS, which is borderline for playability. The 1440p data shows that Medium is the sweet spot, offering nearly double the frame rate of Ultra while maintaining visual quality.

At 3840x2160, the GPU struggles to keep up. Low settings produce 55 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium settings average 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, indicating occasional drops below smooth thresholds. High settings fall to 31 FPS, which is marginal for a city builder where camera pans can feel sluggish. Ultra settings produce just 21 FPS, which is not recommended for any serious gameplay. The 4K results clearly show that the Arc B570 is not suited for high-detail 4K gaming in this title, and users should either lower resolution or accept reduced settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2320 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 21% of all configurations, which is surprising given the individual component benchmarks. The CPU's 87th percentile ranking and the GPU's 65th percentile ranking suggest that the bottleneck in this game is significant, likely due to the GPU's limitations at higher resolutions or the game's specific engine characteristics.

The ranking indicates that while each component is respectable individually, their combination does not excel in this particular title. The CPU's nearest rivals (AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, Intel Core 5 221E, AMD Ryzen 9 270, Intel Core i9-13905H) all have similar average scores within 0.6% of the 7700, so CPU choice is unlikely to be the differentiating factor. The GPU's nearest rivals (NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, Intel Arc A750, NVIDIA Quadro M4000M, AMD Radeon R9 M390X) also show close scores, but the Arc B570's real-world performance in this game may differ from synthetic benchmarks.

The low ranking suggests that users seeking better performance in Steamworld Build should consider alternative GPU options or accept the resolution limitations. The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p, the combo performs adequately, but the 2320th rank indicates that many other combinations deliver higher frame rates. This is likely due to the game's optimization or the GPU's driver maturity, as the synthetic benchmark scores do not predict such a low relative ranking.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in Steamworld Build?

A: The data shows that 1920x1080 provides the most consistent experience, with average FPS ranging from 63 at Ultra to 162 at Low. At 2560x1440, only Low and Medium settings maintain averages above 60 FPS (103 and 79 respectively). At 3840x2160, only Low settings exceed 55 FPS, making 1080p the recommended resolution for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, placing it in the 65th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, scores 20534 with a delta of 0.1%. The Intel Arc A750 scores 20582 with a delta of -0.1%. These differences are minimal, indicating near-identical synthetic performance.

Q: Is the Ryzen 7 7700 a bottleneck in this game?

A: The CPU ranks in the 87th percentile among all CPUs with an average score of 40081. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, scores 40048 with a delta of 0.1%. Given the GPU's 65th percentile ranking, the CPU is unlikely to be the primary bottleneck; the GPU appears to limit frame rates, especially at higher resolutions.

Q: What settings should be used for 1440p gaming?

A: At 2560x1440, Medium settings produce 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is the best balance of visual quality and performance. High settings drop to 59 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. Low settings achieve 103 FPS but sacrifice visual fidelity.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming?

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings achieve a playable average of 55 FPS. Medium produces 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which may be acceptable for some users. High and Ultra settings (31 FPS and 21 FPS respectively) are not recommended for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the combo's ranking compare to its component benchmarks?

A: The combo ranks 2320 out of 2924 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 21%. This is lower than expected given the CPU's 87th percentile ranking and GPU's 65th percentile ranking, suggesting that the game's performance does not align with synthetic benchmark scores.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience with this hardware combination. At 1920x1080, Ultra settings at 63 FPS are playable, but Medium settings at 124 FPS offer a substantial improvement in smoothness with minimal visual degradation. High settings at 93 FPS provide a good middle ground for users who prioritize visual quality over maximum frame rates. For competitive or fast-paced gameplay, Low settings at 162 FPS deliver the highest responsiveness.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings are the clear recommendation, delivering 79 FPS average with a minimum of 67 FPS. This preset offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, maintaining frame rates above 60 FPS even during demanding scenes. High settings at 59 FPS are acceptable for users who prefer enhanced visuals, but the sub-60 FPS average may cause noticeable stuttering in a city builder where camera movement is frequent. Low settings at 103 FPS are the choice for users who prioritize smoothness above all else.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 55 FPS are the only preset that maintains an average above 50 FPS, making it the only viable choice for 4K gaming. Medium settings at 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS can be tolerated by some users, but the frame drops below 40 FPS may impact gameplay. High and Ultra settings should be avoided entirely, as their averages of 31 FPS and 21 FPS respectively do not provide a satisfactory experience. Overall, the data suggests that 1080p Medium or 1440p Medium are the optimal configurations for this combo, offering the best combination of visual quality and performance across the measured settings.