Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that stresses the GPU heavily at higher settings, and the combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with the Intel Arc B390 presents a specific set of trade-offs. The measured frames per second data shows that this pairing is far more capable at lower resolutions and settings, while demanding configurations at 4K will push the system to its limits. The results indicate a clear hierarchy of playable settings based on resolution, and the following analysis breaks down exactly where this combo stands.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows for this combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Arc B390 point to a straightforward conclusion: the Low preset is the only reliable path to high refresh rates, while Medium serves as a compromise for 1080p and 1440p gaming. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 106 FPS, which is the only configuration in the entire dataset that breaks the 100 FPS barrier. This makes Low the definitive choice for players who prioritize smooth, responsive camera panning in a city builder, where stutter can be particularly noticeable when managing large populations.

The Medium preset at 1920x1080 delivers 81 FPS on average, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. This is a playable range, and the 69 FPS minimum suggests that even in denser city areas, the frame rate stays above the 60 FPS threshold. For users with 1440p displays, the Medium preset drops to 51 FPS average, which is acceptable for a slower-paced genre like this, though the 44 FPS minimum recorded indicates that busy scenes will cause noticeable dips. Moving up to 2560x1440 on High yields 38 FPS average, which is borderline for a city builder where the camera often scrolls across the entire map.

At 3840x2160, the picture changes dramatically. The High preset only manages 20 FPS average, and the Ultra preset drops to a nearly unplayable 14 FPS average. Even the Medium preset at 4K only reaches 27 FPS average, with a 23 FPS minimum. The data strongly suggests that 4K gaming is not viable for this combo, regardless of the settings chosen. The Low preset at 4K does reach 35 FPS average, but this is still below the 60 FPS target that most builders would consider comfortable.

Given these numbers, the optimal experience balances visual fidelity with frame rate. For 1080p users, the Medium preset is the recommended starting point, as it provides a 25% improvement over Low in average FPS while retaining better shadows and textures. For 1440p users, Low is the safer bet for consistent performance, as the 67 FPS average on Low is substantially higher than the 38 FPS on High. The Ultra preset is a poor trade-off at any resolution, delivering only 41 FPS at 1080p and 26 FPS at 1440p, which is a significant drop from Medium without a proportional visual gain in this context.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the primary bottleneck in this configuration, and its specifications clarify why the frame rates behave as they do. The GPU has a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, with a 3 nm process node from Intel. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it relies on the system's DDR4 RAM rather than dedicated VRAM. This shared memory setup directly impacts performance in a city builder like Steamworld Build, where texture streaming and asset loading are frequent as the map expands.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 1536 shading units, 48 TMUs, and 24 ROPs, along with 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is rated at 7.680 TFLOPS, with FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). These specifications place the Arc B390 in a low-power segment, with a TDP of 80 W and an IGP slot width, meaning it is designed as an integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete card. This is reflected in the benchmark data: the GPU's percentile rank is just 9th among all GPUs tested, and its average benchmark score is 1482.

The measured FPS data shows a clear pattern where the GPU's performance degrades predictably as resolution increases. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 106 FPS, which drops to 67 FPS at 2560x1440 and 35 FPS at 3840x2160. This scaling is consistent with a GPU that has limited fill rate and memory bandwidth, as the "System Dependent" bandwidth figure suggests the performance is tied to the CPU's memory controller. The boost clock of 2500 MHz helps at lower resolutions, but the 24 ROPs become a bottleneck at higher pixel counts.

FAQ

Q: Is the Ultra preset ever worth using with this combo?

A: The data shows that Ultra is the worst-performing preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, it averages 41 FPS, which is half the Medium preset's 81 FPS. At 2560x1440, it drops to 26 FPS average, and at 3840x2160, it falls to 14 FPS. The performance cost is severe, and the visual benefits in a city builder are unlikely to justify the frame rate loss.

Q: Can this combo handle 1440p gaming in Steamworld Build?

A: Yes, but only with the Low preset, which achieves 67 FPS average at 2560x1440. The Medium preset drops to 51 FPS average, and High falls to 38 FPS. If you have a 1440p monitor, Low is the only setting that consistently stays above 60 FPS, while Medium is playable but will dip to 44 FPS in demanding scenes.

Q: What is the best resolution to use with this hardware?

A: The data clearly favors 1920x1080, as it is the only resolution where the Medium preset exceeds 60 FPS (81 FPS average). At 1080p, even the High preset reaches 60 FPS average, which is not achievable at any other resolution. For a smooth experience, 1080p on Medium or High is the sweet spot.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 1482, which puts it slightly ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463, 1.3% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460, 1.5% faster). It is also ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446, 2.5% faster) and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443, 2.7% faster). These are all older, low-end parts, indicating the Arc B390 is positioned at the entry level.

Q: Does the Ryzen 9 5950X help improve the frame rates in this game?

A: The CPU has 16 cores and 32 threads, but the measured results show that the GPU is the limiting factor. At 1920x1080 Low, the combo reaches 106 FPS, but this drops to 20 FPS at 4K High, which is a GPU-bound scenario. The CPU's high multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 26017) does not translate into higher FPS when the GPU cannot keep up.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo?

A: The only settings with recorded minimum FPS values are the Medium presets. At 1920x1080, the minimum is 69 FPS; at 2560x1440, it is 44 FPS; and at 3840x2160, it is 23 FPS. These minimums suggest that the Medium preset is the only one with enough headroom to avoid severe stutters, but only at 1080p does it stay comfortably above 60 FPS.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured frame rate data for this combo is as follows, organized by resolution and settings.

At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves the highest average of 106 FPS, with no minimum or maximum recorded. The Medium preset averages 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 FPS and a maximum of 93 FPS. The High preset averages 60 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 41 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the High preset reaches the 60 FPS threshold, making it the most flexible for different quality settings.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 67 FPS, which is a 37% drop from the 1080p Low result. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS. The High preset drops to 38 FPS average, and the Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p is the only setting in this resolution that stays above 50 FPS, but the 44 FPS minimum will be noticeable during heavy simulation.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 35 FPS, which is the only 4K setting that reaches a playable range, albeit barely. The Medium preset averages 27 FPS, with a minimum of 23 FPS and a maximum of 31 FPS. The High preset averages 20 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 14 FPS. The gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 8 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 7 FPS, showing a steep scaling curve that makes 4K impractical.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2573 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 12% of all configurations, which is consistent with the GPU's low percentile rank of 9th among all GPUs. The combo's ranking reflects the significant bottleneck imposed by the integrated graphics solution, despite the CPU being a high-end part with a 91st percentile ranking among all CPUs.

The CPU alone, the Ryzen 9 5950X, has an average benchmark score of 51947, which places it just 0.2% behind the Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX (52073) and 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 8124P (52121). It is also 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i9-13900F (51730) and 0.7% behind the Intel Core i7-14700 (52301). This shows the CPU is a strong performer, but the GPU's score of 1482 drags the overall combo ranking down dramatically. The ranking suggests that for this game, the GPU is the sole determinant of playability, and any CPU with similar single-thread performance would yield identical results.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X provides a strong foundation for this system, but its role in Steamworld Build is largely secondary to the GPU. The CPU has 16 cores and 32 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. It is built on the Zen 3 architecture (Vermeer) using a 7 nm process from TSMC, with 64 MB of L3 cache. The memory support is DDR4 with a dual-channel bus, offering 51.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This CPU is a high-end part from the 5000 series, with a launch MSRP of $799, and it supports PCIe Gen 4 with 20 lanes.

The benchmark results for the CPU show it excels in multi-threaded workloads: the Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 26017, and the Passmark multi-thread score is 45424. The single-thread performance is also respectable, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1614 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2083. In a city builder like Steamworld Build, the CPU handles the simulation logic, pathfinding, and AI, which are often single-threaded or lightly threaded tasks. The data suggests that the Ryzen 9 5950X is more than sufficient for these tasks, as the frame rates are clearly GPU-limited.

For example, at 1920x1080 Low, the combo achieves 106 FPS, but at 3840x2160 Low, it drops to 35 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, the frame rates would remain similar across resolutions. Instead, the steep drop indicates that the GPU cannot handle the increased pixel load. The CPU's 16 cores and 32 threads ensure that even with background tasks or streaming, there is ample headroom to maintain stable frame pacing. The 3.40 GHz base clock and 4.90 GHz boost clock provide sufficient single-thread speed for the game's logic, and the 64 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency during complex simulation updates. In this combo, the CPU is a capable partner, but it cannot compensate for the GPU's limitations in this title.