Steamworld Build

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 delivers an exceptionally strong experience in Steamworld Build, with frame rates that comfortably exceed display refresh rates at every resolution tested. This combination ranks in the top tier of all measured configurations, and the data shows a clear path to maximizing both visual fidelity and performance through the game’s preset options.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates across four presets and three resolutions provide a clear picture of how this hardware handles Steamworld Build. At 1080p, the Low preset produces an average of 360 FPS, which is far beyond what any standard display can show, but this setting leaves significant visual quality on the table. The Medium preset at 1080p still delivers an average of 304 FPS with a minimum of 259 FPS and a maximum of 350 FPS, offering a substantial improvement in visual detail while remaining well above any refresh-rate ceiling. The High preset at 1080p drops to an average of 228 FPS, still an enormous margin over typical 144Hz or even 240Hz displays. The Ultra preset at 1080p averages 154 FPS, which remains excellent for high-refresh gaming, but the jump from High to Ultra only costs about 74 FPS on average while providing the full suite of graphical effects.

Moving to 1440p, the pattern continues with the Low preset averaging 253 FPS, Medium averaging 194 FPS with a minimum of 165 FPS and a maximum of 223 FPS, and High averaging 145 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 98 FPS, which is still smooth but represents the first setting where the frame rate dips below the 100 FPS threshold. For 1440p users, the High preset at 145 FPS average is the sweet spot, as it provides a large visual upgrade over Medium while keeping the average well above 144Hz refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 1440p, with its 98 FPS average, is still perfectly playable on a 60Hz or 100Hz display, but the performance cost relative to High is notable.

At 4K, the measured results show a more demanding scenario. The Low preset averages 134 FPS, which is excellent for 4K gaming, while the Medium preset averages 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 77 FPS, which is smooth for a 60Hz display but may not fully saturate a 120Hz or 144Hz panel. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 52 FPS, which is the only setting where the experience becomes less fluid, particularly on high-refresh displays. Given these numbers, the Medium preset at 4K offers the best balance, with an average of 102 FPS and a minimum of 87 FPS, ensuring that even the busiest city-building scenes remain responsive. The High preset at 4K is also viable for those prioritizing visual quality, but the 77 FPS average and the lack of recorded minimum frame data suggest that Medium provides a more consistent experience.

The overall recommendation is to use the Medium preset at 4K, the High preset at 1440p, and the High preset at 1080p. These selections maximize the visual-to-performance ratio, with each offering frame rates that exceed the refresh rate of typical monitors while avoiding the diminishing returns of the Ultra preset.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align closely with the measured performance in Steamworld Build. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. This large memory capacity is particularly relevant for a city builder, where high-resolution textures for buildings, terrain, and environmental details can quickly consume VRAM. The 16 GB allocation ensures that even at 4K with the Medium or High preset, the GPU is unlikely to encounter memory-related stutters or texture pop-in, as the measured average frame rates remain stable across the tested presets.

The RTX 4080’s clock speeds are also a key factor. The base clock runs at 2205 MHz, with a boost clock of 2505 MHz. These frequencies, combined with the Ada Lovelace architecture’s 9728 shading units, allow the GPU to handle the complex draw calls and simulation-related rendering tasks that are common in city builders. The pixel rate of 280.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 761.5 GTexel/s are substantial, and the data shows the GPU scaling its output effectively as resolution increases. At 1080p High, the average FPS is 228, while at 1440p High it drops to 145, and at 4K High it falls to 77. This scaling pattern indicates that the RTX 4080 is fully utilized across all resolutions, with the frame rate dropping by approximately 36% from 1080p to 1440p and another 47% from 1440p to 4K. These are typical scaling factors for a high-end GPU, and the absolute numbers remain excellent.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its position. The RTX 4080 posts a Passmark G3D score of 34457 and a Passmark GPU Compute score of 20671, with a percentile rank of 86 among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 54247 places it just 0.1% ahead of the RTX 4080 SUPER (which has an average score of 54209) and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828). This indicates that the RTX 4080 is at the very top of the performance hierarchy, and the measured in-game frame rates confirm that it has no trouble driving Steamworld Build at high settings. The GPU’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and its support for DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6 ensure full compatibility with the game’s rendering pipeline.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 and RTX 4080 combination ranks 241st out of 3706 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the top 6.5% of all configurations. This rank reflects the overall capability of the pairing, with the RTX 4080’s strong GPU performance complemented by the Ryzen 7 7700’s solid CPU throughput. The combo’s percentile position is high, and the measured frame rates show that this system can handle the game’s most demanding scenarios without significant compromise.

To contextualize this rank, consider the CPU’s nearest rivals. The Ryzen 7 7700 has an average benchmark score of 40081, which is 0.1% higher than the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 (score 40048), 0.2% lower than the Intel Core 5 221E (score 40144), 0.4% lower than the AMD Ryzen 9 270 (score 40246), and 0.6% lower than the Intel Core i9-13905H (score 40313). These deltas are minuscule, indicating that the Ryzen 7 7700 is performance-equivalent to its closest competitors. In a game like Steamworld Build, which is not heavily dependent on CPU single-thread performance, this equivalence means that the combo’s rank is largely driven by the GPU.

On the GPU side, the RTX 4080’s average benchmark score of 54247 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 4080 SUPER (score 54209), 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828), 2.6% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (score 55698), and 2.7% lower than the AMD Radeon 8060S (score 55757). This places the RTX 4080 in a tight cluster at the top, with its in-game performance likely mirroring these small differences. The combo’s rank of 241 out of 3706 suggests that there are 240 configurations that achieve higher average frame rates in Steamworld Build, likely those pairing top-tier GPUs with equally strong CPUs, but the RTX 4080’s 16 GB VRAM and high bandwidth ensure it remains competitive.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p with the High preset?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 with the High preset is 145 FPS, with no minimum or maximum values recorded for this specific configuration.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its nearest rival in average benchmark score?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, which is 0.1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER (score 54209) and 1.1% lower than the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828).

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming based on the measured data?

A: At 3840x2160, the Medium preset provides an average of 102 FPS with a minimum of 87 FPS and a maximum of 118 FPS, offering the best balance between visual quality and smooth performance. The High preset averages 77 FPS, while the Ultra preset drops to 52 FPS.

Q: Does the Ryzen 7 7700’s single-thread performance affect this game’s results?

A: The Ryzen 7 7700 posts a 3DMark single-thread score of 1049 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1930. In Steamworld Build, the measured frame rates at 1080p Low reach an average of 360 FPS, indicating that the CPU’s single-thread capabilities are sufficient to avoid bottlenecking the RTX 4080 at lower resolutions.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 4080 have, and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The RTX 4080 features 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, with a memory bandwidth of 716.8 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1400 MHz, with 22.4 Gbps effective data rate.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations in Steamworld Build?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 + RTX 4080 combination ranks 241st out of 3706 tested combos, placing it in the top 6.5% of all configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across 1080p, 1440p, and 4K reveal how this combo scales with resolution. At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 228 at 1920x1080, to 145 at 2560x1440, and finally to 77 at 3840x2160. This represents a 36.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 46.9% reduction from 1440p to 4K, totaling an 66.2% drop from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RTX 4080’s rendering workload increases with pixel count, and the CPU’s role remains relatively constant.

The Low preset shows a similar trend, with averages of 360 FPS at 1080p, 253 FPS at 1440p, and 134 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops here are 29.7% from 1080p to 1440p and 47.0% from 1440p to 4K. The Medium preset, which has the only complete set of minimum and maximum values, shows averages of 304 FPS at 1080p (min 259, max 350), 194 FPS at 1440p (min 165, max 223), and 102 FPS at 4K (min 87, max 118). The scaling from 1080p to 1440p for Medium is 36.2%, and from 1440p to 4K it is 47.4%.

The Ultra preset demonstrates the most dramatic scaling, with averages of 154 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and 52 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36.4%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46.9%. Across all presets, the scaling from 1440p to 4K consistently results in roughly a 47% reduction in average FPS, which is a strong indicator that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rate drops would be less pronounced at 4K, as the GPU would be waiting on CPU simulation updates. Instead, the consistent scaling pattern suggests that the RTX 4080’s pixel throughput and memory bandwidth are the primary drivers of performance, and the Ryzen 7 7700 provides enough headroom to keep the GPU fed.

The data also shows that the difference between presets narrows as resolution increases. At 1080p, the Low preset averages 360 FPS versus 154 FPS for Ultra, a difference of 206 FPS. At 4K, the Low preset averages 134 FPS versus 52 FPS for Ultra, a difference of 82 FPS. This suggests that at 4K, the GPU’s workload becomes so heavy that the relative cost of higher-quality settings diminishes, which is typical for modern GPUs with large memory pools like the RTX 4080’s 16 GB.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7700 provides the computational foundation for this combo, and its specifications show it is well-matched to the RTX 4080 for Steamworld Build. The CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads, based on the Zen 4 architecture codenamed Raphael, running on a 5 nm process from TSMC. Its base clock is 3.80 GHz, with a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, and it has a TDP of 65 W. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 cache per core, 1 MB of L2 cache per core, and 32 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides a total of 32 MB of L3 across the chip.

For a city builder like Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role involves managing the simulation of citizens, resource flows, and building interactions, which can be heavily multithreaded. The Ryzen 7 7700’s 16 threads are well-suited for this task, and its benchmark scores reflect strong multithreaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multicore score is 18760, and the 3DMark 16-thread score is 8484, with a max-thread score of 8479. These numbers indicate that the CPU can handle parallel workloads effectively, which is crucial for maintaining consistent frame rates as the city grows and the simulation complexity increases.

Single-thread performance is also important for the game’s main loop and UI interactions. The Ryzen 7 7700 posts a 3DMark single-thread score of 1049, a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1930, and a Geekbench single-core score of 2525. These are strong figures, and the measured frame rates at 1080p Low, where the CPU is most likely to be the limiting factor, average 360 FPS. This indicates that the CPU’s single-thread speed is more than adequate to drive the RTX 4080 at high frame rates, even at lower resolutions where the GPU’s workload is lighter.

The CPU’s memory support includes DDR5 with a dual-channel bus and a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, along with ECC memory support. This memory bandwidth is sufficient for the game’s data streaming needs, and the 32 MB of L3 cache helps reduce latency for frequently accessed simulation data. The CPU’s integrated Radeon Graphics are present but not relevant for gaming performance, as the RTX 4080 handles all rendering duties.

The Ryzen 7 7700’s overall performance is highlighted by its average benchmark score of 40081, which places it in the 87th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen AI 9 365 and Intel Core 5 221E, have nearly identical average scores, with deltas of just 0.1% to 0.6%. This confirms that the CPU is not a weak link in this combination. In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role is to maintain a steady stream of simulation updates while the RTX 4080 renders the scene, and the data shows that the Ryzen 7 7700 succeeds in this role across all tested resolutions and presets. The combo’s rank of 241 out of 3706 reflects this balance, as it places the system in the top tier of configurations for this game.