Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build places unusual demands on a system, and the data for the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination reveals a configuration that shifts between being CPU-bound and GPU-bound depending on the resolution and quality preset. The measured results show a component pairing where the 8-core processor provides a massive headroom ceiling, while the graphics card dictates the experience at higher visual fidelity.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K dramatically reshapes performance, with the average frame rate dropping by 81.6% when moving from 1080p Low to 4K Ultra. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo produces 222.9 FPS, a figure that suggests the CPU is doing most of the heavy lifting, as the graphics card is not being saturated. However, when resolution climbs to 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average falls to 28 FPS, indicating a hard ceiling imposed by the GPU's rendering capabilities.

The scaling pattern across resolutions is telling. At 1080p, the gap between Low (222.9 FPS) and Ultra (84.6 FPS) is 138.3 FPS, showing that settings have a profound impact when pixel count is low. At 1440p, that spread narrows to 88.7 FPS (143.8 vs 55.1), and at 4K it tightens further to 45.5 FPS (73.5 vs 28). This convergence demonstrates that as resolution increases, the graphics card becomes the limiting factor, and the CPU's advantage becomes less relevant.

The 4K results show a clear hierarchy: Low produces 73.5 FPS, Medium drops to 57.9 FPS, High yields 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 28 FPS. The step from High to Ultra at 4K represents a 13 FPS loss, which is proportionally larger than the step from Medium to High (16.9 FPS). This suggests that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately expensive at high pixel counts, likely related to shadow quality or draw distance calculations that stress the GPU's 8 GB frame buffer.

At 1440p, the data shows a more balanced picture. The combo achieves 143.8 FPS on Low, which is 71.3% higher than the 4K Low result, indicating that the GPU still has significant overhead at this resolution. The 1440p Ultra result of 55.1 FPS is playable, but it is 34.9% below the 1080p Ultra figure, reinforcing that the RTX 4060's 128-bit memory interface and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth become bottlenecks as pixel throughput demands increase.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 operates with a base clock of 1830 MHz and a boost clock of 2460 MHz, and its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus delivers 272.0 GB/s of bandwidth. These specifications are directly reflected in the scaling behavior. The card's 115 W TDP and 15.11 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are moderate by current standards, which explains why the 4K Ultra result falls below 30 FPS.

The memory configuration is a critical factor in Steamworld Build's performance curve. The game's city-building nature means large amounts of texture data and geometry are held in VRAM, and the 8 GB capacity appears sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K results suggest capacity or bandwidth pressure. The bandwidth figure of 272.0 GB/s is the same across all resolutions, so the performance drop from 1440p to 4K cannot be attributed to a bandwidth change—it is purely a function of the increased pixel workload.

The GPU's percentile ranking of 66 among all GPUs places it in the upper-midrange, and its nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600M (deltaPct -0.6) and the Intel Arc B580 (deltaPct 0.7). This competitive positioning means the RTX 4060 is not a top-tier card, and the 4K Ultra result of 28 FPS aligns with expectations for a GPU that sits just above the 66th percentile.

Clock behavior is consistent across the measured results. The boost clock of 2460 MHz is likely sustained during 1080p and 1440p workloads, but at 4K Ultra, the card may be hitting power or thermal limits that prevent it from maintaining maximum clocks. The data does not include per-second clock readings, but the sharp drop from 41 FPS at 4K High to 28 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests the card is working near its compute ceiling, not being held back by memory latency.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: At 1440p, all settings except Ultra deliver above 55 FPS, with High achieving 81.2 FPS and Medium hitting 110.8 FPS. At 4K, only Low (73.5 FPS) and Medium (57.9 FPS) come close to or exceed 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700's 8 cores and 16 threads provide ample headroom, as evidenced by the 222.9 FPS result on Low settings. The CPU's 32 MB of shared L3 cache and 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth support high frame rates, but the GPU becomes the limiting factor at Ultra settings.

Q: Is the RTX 4060 capable of 4K gaming in this title?

A: The data shows 4K is only viable on Low settings (73.5 FPS) or Medium (57.9 FPS). High settings drop to 41 FPS, and Ultra falls to 28 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does this GPU compare to its closest rivals?

A: The RTX 4060's average benchmark score of 23181 is 0.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% higher than the Intel Arc B580. These margins indicate near-identical performance within measurement error.

Q: What happens to frame rates when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the average drops from 129.6 FPS to 81.2 FPS, a 37.3% decrease. At Ultra, the drop is from 84.6 FPS to 55.1 FPS, a 34.9% decrease, showing consistent scaling behavior.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 222.9 FPS result suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck. However, at 4K Ultra with 28 FPS, the GPU is clearly the limiting component, as the CPU's performance headroom far exceeds the graphics card's output.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce 222.9 FPS, Medium reaches 173.1 FPS, High achieves 129.6 FPS, and Ultra drops to 84.6 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 49.8 FPS reduction, while the step from High to Ultra is 45 FPS, indicating that each quality tier has a similar performance cost at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the results show a clear degradation. Low settings yield 143.8 FPS, which is 79.1 FPS lower than the 1080p Low figure. Medium produces 110.8 FPS, High drops to 81.2 FPS, and Ultra falls to 55.1 FPS. The percentage loss from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, ranging from 34.9% (Ultra) to 37.3% (High).

At 3840x2160, the performance curve steepens. Low settings manage 73.5 FPS, which is still playable but 49.1% below the 1440p Low result. Medium achieves 57.9 FPS, High drops to 41 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 28 FPS. The 4K results show that the RTX 4060's 8 GB frame buffer and 272.0 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for Low and Medium, but the High and Ultra presets push the card beyond its limits.

The full dataset shows a predictable pattern: each resolution doubling reduces frame rates by roughly 40-50% at equivalent settings. The 1080p to 1440p transition costs about 35-40% performance, while the 1440p to 4K transition costs about 48-50% performance, reflecting the increased pixel count and the GPU's diminishing ability to keep up.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 combination ranks 991 out of 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build, placing it in the 57th percentile of all configurations. This mid-pack ranking is consistent with the GPU's 66th percentile standing and the CPU's 91st percentile, suggesting the graphics card is the limiting factor in the overall combo performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals provide context for the processor's contribution. The Ryzen 7 7700's average benchmark score of 40468 is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen 9 7940H, 0.5% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365, and 1.2% higher than the Intel Core Ultra 5 235T. These margins are negligible, meaning the CPU is not a differentiator in this game's performance.

The GPU's ranking relative to its peers is more significant. With an average score of 23181, the RTX 4060 sits 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX 6600M and 0.7% above the Intel Arc B580. Given that the combo rank is near the middle of the pack, the data indicates that this configuration is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but not competitive at 4K Ultra.

The rank of 991 out of 1730 suggests that many other combinations deliver better performance in Steamworld Build. This is not surprising given that the RTX 4060 is positioned as an entry-level 40-series card, and the game's scalability means that higher-end GPUs with more VRAM and bandwidth will produce superior results at high resolutions. The combo's strength lies in its balance: the CPU provides ample headroom for future GPU upgrades, while the current card handles 1080p and 1440p comfortably.