Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build pairs the AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D with the Intel Arc B570, a combination that lands in the 2320th position out of 2924 tested combos for this title. That places it in the lower third of all configurations tested, which is a notable outcome given the individual components’ specifications. The data indicates that while the CPU is a top-tier gaming processor, the GPU becomes the decisive factor in this city builder, capping performance at levels that do not fully exploit the processor’s capabilities.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo’s rank of 2320 out of 2924 represents a position in roughly the 21st percentile of all tested pairings for Steamworld Build. This is a low standing, and the benchmark results make the reason clear: across every resolution and settings preset, the measured average frame rates are moderate, with the highest recorded value being 162 FPS at 1080p Low and the lowest dropping to 21 FPS at 4K Ultra. The rank reflects a system that can handle the game at playable speeds in many scenarios but struggles at the highest visual demands.

The CPU alone sits in the 83rd percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 33079. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G, Intel Core i7-13650HX, and AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX, all of which have essentially identical average scores (33089, 33089, and 33091 respectively, with a deltaPct of 0). The AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H trails slightly with a score of 33201 and a deltaPct of -0.4. This places the 7800X3D in strong company, showing it is a high-performing processor in general workloads.

The GPU, meanwhile, sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (score 20534, deltaPct 0.1), the Intel Arc A750 (score 20582, deltaPct -0.1), the NVIDIA Quadro M4000M (score 20480, deltaPct 0.4), and the AMD Radeon R9 M390X (score 20662, deltaPct -0.5). These are mid-range or older high-end parts, which aligns with the GPU’s position as a capable but not flagship component. The combination of a top-tier CPU with a mid-range GPU results in a system that is CPU-rich but GPU-limited in this game, explaining the low overall rank.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture, specifically the Battlemage generation (Arc 5), using a 5 nm process from TSMC with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. It features 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units, alongside 18 ray tracing cores. The GPU’s base and boost clocks are both 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz, which translates to 19 Gbps effective. The 10 GB GDDR6 memory sits on a 160-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s. Pixel rate is 200.0 GPixel/s, texture rate is 360.0 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU’s impact is evident in the frame rate scaling across settings. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 162 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra, that drops to 63 FPS—a reduction of over 60%. The pattern repeats at higher resolutions: at 1440p Low, it hits 103 FPS, but at 1440p Ultra, it falls to 40 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is clearly overwhelmed, with Low settings producing 55 FPS and Ultra dropping to just 21 FPS. These numbers indicate that the Arc B570’s 10 GB VRAM and 380 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for lower presets, but the increased load from Ultra settings—likely involving higher texture detail, shadow quality, and object density—pushes the GPU past its comfort zone.

The GPU’s benchmark scores reinforce this. In 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, it scores 2649, while Geekbench OpenCL and Vulkan scores are 83514 and 96844 respectively. Passmark G3D scores 14195, and Passmark GPU Compute scores 7281. These figures, combined with the measured FPS, suggest that the Arc B570 is a solid mid-range card that can handle this city builder at medium settings but struggles at the highest quality levels, particularly at 4K. The GPU’s 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector are consistent with its performance class.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D is a desktop processor from the 7000 series, built on the Zen 4 architecture with the Raphael codename. It has 8 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The TDP is 120 W, and it uses the AMD Socket AM5. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and a large 96 MB shared L3 cache, which is a key feature of the X3D line. It supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s, and offers PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes. The processor is manufactured on a 5 nm process by TSMC, with 11,270 million transistors on a 71 mm² die.

In CPU-centric benchmarks, the 7800X3D performs strongly. Cinebench R23 multi-core scores 16817, while single-core scores 1713. Geekbench multi-core is 15610, and single-core is 2426. Passmark multi-thread scores 34293, with single-thread at 3759. In 3DMark tests, 16-thread and max-thread scores are 7980 and 7967 respectively, while single-thread is 959. These results show a processor that excels in both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads, making it well-suited for simulation-heavy games like Steamworld Build, which often rely on CPU calculations for city management and resource tracking.

However, in this combo, the CPU’s potential is not fully realized. At 1080p Low, the frame rate of 162 FPS suggests the CPU can push high numbers, but as settings increase, the GPU becomes the bottleneck. At 1080p Ultra, the drop to 63 FPS is more indicative of GPU limits than CPU limits, since the 7800X3D’s single-thread performance is strong enough to handle the game’s logic. The 96 MB L3 cache likely helps with the game’s data-heavy simulation, but the measured FPS shows that the GPU cannot keep up at higher presets. The CPU’s nearest rivals in benchmark scores are all within a 0.4% margin, indicating that the 7800X3D is not uniquely fast in this class, but it is certainly not the limiting factor here.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 162 FPS on Low, 124 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 106 and maximum of 143), 93 FPS on High, and 63 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear progression: each step up in settings costs roughly 30-40% performance, with Ultra being particularly demanding.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute values. Low settings produce 103 FPS, Medium yields 79 FPS (minimum 67, maximum 91), High drops to 59 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is about 61%, similar to the 1080p gap of 61% between Low and Ultra. This consistency suggests that the GPU is scaling predictably with settings, but the absolute numbers are increasingly marginal for smooth gameplay as resolution rises.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. Low settings manage 55 FPS, Medium drops to 42 FPS (minimum 35, maximum 48), High falls to 31 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 21 FPS. These figures indicate that 4K is beyond the comfortable range for this GPU in this game, with even Low settings barely maintaining playable frame rates. The lack of minimum and maximum values for most 4K entries except Medium suggests the data is limited, but the averages are enough to draw conclusions.

The Medium preset at each resolution has the most complete data, with minimum and maximum values provided: at 1080p, 106-143 FPS; at 1440p, 67-91 FPS; and at 4K, 35-48 FPS. This consistency in data collection suggests Medium is a representative middle ground, and the frame time variance is relatively stable, with the range between minimum and maximum being around 30-35% of the average.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals the limiting component. At Low settings, 1080p yields 162 FPS, 1440p yields 103 FPS, and 4K yields 55 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is about 36%, and from 1440p to 4K is about 47%. At Medium settings, the numbers are 124 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K, representing drops of 36% and 47% respectively. At High settings, 1080p gives 93 FPS, 1440p gives 59 FPS, and 4K gives 31 FPS, with drops of 37% and 47%. At Ultra, 1080p gives 63 FPS, 1440p gives 40 FPS, and 4K gives 21 FPS, with drops of 37% and 48%.

The consistent pattern of roughly 36-37% drops from 1080p to 1440p and 47-48% from 1440p to 4K indicates that the GPU is the primary limiter. A CPU-bound scenario would show smaller differences at higher resolutions, since the load shifts to the GPU. Here, the scaling closely matches the pixel count increase: 1440p has 1.78 times the pixels of 1080p, and 4K has 2.25 times the pixels of 1440p. The frame rate drops are large but not perfectly proportional, suggesting some CPU involvement at lower resolutions, but the overall trend points to GPU saturation as the main constraint.

The 7800X3D’s strong single-thread performance (3dmark_single_thread score of 959, Cinebench R23 single-core of 1713) means it can likely handle the game’s simulation at all resolutions, but the Arc B570’s pixel throughput (200.0 GPixel/s) is insufficient for 4K at high settings. The data shows that 1080p is the sweet spot for this combo, with 1440p being playable at Medium or Low, and 4K only viable at Low settings if 55 FPS is acceptable.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience balances frame rate and visual quality. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS, which is smooth and stable. High settings at 93 FPS are also excellent, but Ultra at 63 FPS is still playable, though the 61% drop from Low suggests diminishing returns. For a city builder where camera movement and zooming are common, the higher frame rate of Medium or High is preferable to Ultra’s visual gains.

At 2560x1440, Medium settings provide 79 FPS (minimum 67), which is acceptable for most players, while High at 59 FPS is borderline. Low at 103 FPS is very smooth, but the visual compromise may not be worth it. The recommendation is Medium as the sweet spot, with High as an option if frame rate dips are tolerable. Ultra at 40 FPS is likely too choppy for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the options are limited. Low settings at 55 FPS is the only preset that approaches playability, while Medium at 42 FPS (minimum 35) may be acceptable for slower-paced gameplay. High at 31 FPS and Ultra at 21 FPS are below the threshold for smooth interaction. The data suggests that 4K is not a viable target for this combo in Steamworld Build, and players should either drop to 1440p or accept Low settings at 4K.

Overall, the highest preset that maintains a minimum frame rate above 60 FPS is 1080p High, which achieves 93 FPS average with no recorded minimum below that. At 1440p, Medium is the best choice for a stable experience, with a minimum of 67 FPS. For those prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate, 1440p High at 59 FPS is a compromise, but the data favors Medium for consistency.

FAQ

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank in Steamworld Build?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D with Intel Arc B570 ranks 2320 out of 2924 tested combos, placing it in the lower third of all configurations for this game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Ryzen 7 7800X3D has an average benchmark score of 33079, with the AMD Ryzen 7 8700G, Intel Core i7-13650HX, and AMD Ryzen 7 7745HX all scoring 33089 (deltaPct 0). The AMD Ryzen 9 PRO 6950H scores 33201 (deltaPct -0.4), showing the 7800X3D is within 0.4% of its closest competitors.

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

A: At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 162 FPS on Low and 63 FPS on Ultra, with Medium at 124 FPS. At 2560x1440, Medium yields 79 FPS, while 4K only reaches 55 FPS on Low. The data indicates 1080p is the optimal resolution, with 1440p Medium being a viable alternative.

Q: How does the GPU’s memory configuration affect performance?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. This configuration supports playable frame rates at lower settings, but at 4K Ultra, the average FPS drops to 21, suggesting the memory bandwidth and capacity are insufficient for the highest visual demands.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in this combo?

A: The GPU is the primary limiting factor. The CPU’s strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1713) contrasts with the GPU’s moderate benchmark results (3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649), and the consistent frame rate drops across resolutions indicate GPU saturation.

Q: What settings preset provides the best balance of performance and quality?

A: At 1080p, High settings at 93 FPS is the best balance, while at 1440p, Medium at 79 FPS (minimum 67) is recommended. At 4K, Low at 55 FPS is the only acceptable preset, as Medium drops to 42 FPS and Ultra to 21 FPS.