Steamworld Build

Resolution Scaling

Steamworld Build shows pronounced GPU-bound scaling across the three tested resolutions with the AMD Ryzen 9 7900X and Intel Arc B580 combination. The data reveals a clear pattern: moving from 1080p to 1440p to 4K produces consistent performance degradation at every settings tier, with the gap between Low and Ultra widening substantially as resolution increases.

At 1080p Low, the combo delivers 184 FPS, which drops to 117 FPS at 1440p — a 36% reduction — and further to 62 FPS at 4K, which is 66% below the 1080p figure. This steep decline indicates the Intel Arc B580's rendering throughput becomes the limiting factor as pixel count grows. The CPU's 12 cores and 24 threads are more than adequate for a city builder at lower resolutions, where simulation logic typically dominates, but the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth are taxed heavily by the jump to 4K.

The Medium preset tells a similar story with slightly different magnitudes. At 1080p Medium, the average is 141 FPS with a minimum of 119 FPS and maximum of 162 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 89 FPS (min 76, max 103), a 37% drop. At 4K Medium, the average sinks to 47 FPS (min 40, max 54), representing a 67% reduction from the 1080p figure. The consistency of these percentages across presets suggests the scaling penalty is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven.

High settings exhibit the same trajectory: 105 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The 4K High result is particularly telling — 35 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players consider smooth for a city builder, and it demonstrates that this combo cannot sustain high fidelity at 4K. Ultra settings are the most demanding tier, with 71 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and just 24 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra figure is essentially unplayable for a genre that requires frequent camera panning and zooming to manage construction.

The limiting component is clearly the GPU. The Ryzen 9 7900X's benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multicore result of 29,300 and a Geekbench multicore score of 19,267 — indicate substantial headroom for simulation workloads. The Arc B580, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 456.0 GB/s bandwidth, is a mid-range graphics solution that excels at 1080p and handles 1440p adequately, but the 4K results show it reaching its architectural limits.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the sweet spot, with all settings tiers exceeding 70 FPS on average. At 1440p, Medium and High presets remain playable at 89 FPS and 67 FPS respectively, but 4K drops below 60 FPS on every preset except Low, which manages 62 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset perform across resolutions?

A: Ultra settings deliver 71 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K. The 1440p and 4K results fall below the 60 FPS target, making Ultra a viable option only at 1080p for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is there a significant difference between Low and High settings?

A: Yes, the gap is substantial. At 1080p, Low produces 184 FPS versus 105 FPS on High — a 75% advantage for Low. At 1440p, the difference is 117 FPS versus 67 FPS (75% gap). At 4K, Low yields 62 FPS versus 35 FPS on High, a 77% difference. The scaling suggests the GPU's shader workload increases roughly linearly with quality tier.

Q: What minimum FPS can players expect at 1440p Medium?

A: The measured minimum at 1440p Medium is 76 FPS, with an average of 89 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. This indicates the combo maintains a consistent frame rate without severe dips, likely because the Ryzen 9 7900X's 12-core/24-thread configuration prevents CPU-side bottlenecks during large city simulations.

Q: Does the Arc B580's 12 GB VRAM become a limiting factor?

A: The data does not show VRAM capacity as a direct bottleneck, as the FPS scaling follows a linear pattern with resolution rather than showing a cliff. The B580's 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is more likely the constraint at 4K, where the higher pixel count demands greater memory throughput.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 2781 out of 3706 tested combinations, placing it in the lower-middle range. This ranking reflects that while the Ryzen 9 7900X is a high-performance CPU (91st percentile among all CPUs), the Arc B580's 68th percentile GPU standing drags the overall gaming experience down, especially at higher resolutions.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the decisive component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured performance profile. Built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip, the GPU operates at a fixed 2670 MHz base and boost clock, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus provides 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but becomes a limiting factor at 4K.

The B580's compute capabilities — 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, and 80 ROPs — deliver 13.67 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and a pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s. These figures place the GPU in the 68th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23,021. Its nearest rivals in aggregate performance include the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (delta -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (delta 0.6%), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (delta -0.7%). This tight clustering around the 23,000 score band indicates the B580 competes with several generations of mid-range to upper-mid-range GPUs.

In Steamworld Build specifically, the GPU's role is amplified by the genre's requirements. City builders render dense scenes with numerous buildings, units, and environmental effects, which stresses raw pixel throughput and memory bandwidth. The 4K Ultra result of 24 FPS suggests the B580's 80 ROPs are insufficient for high-resolution, high-detail rendering, while the 1080p Low result of 184 FPS shows the GPU has ample headroom when the workload is reduced.

The B580's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 compatibility ensure it can handle modern rendering paths, but the measured data indicates that the GPU's 190 W TDP and dual-slot design deliver performance that is firmly mid-range. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3,068 and Geekbench Vulkan score of 109,672 provide additional context: the GPU performs competitively in synthetic benchmarks but cannot match the higher-end GPUs that would be needed for 4K Ultra gaming in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings tiers (Low, Medium, High, Ultra), yielding 12 distinct configurations. The Medium preset is the only tier with complete min/max data, while other presets report only averages.

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across all settings. Low settings produce 184 FPS, Medium averages 141 FPS with a range of 119-162 FPS, High averages 105 FPS, and Ultra averages 71 FPS. All four tiers exceed 60 FPS, and even the Ultra preset maintains a playable frame rate. The spread from Low to Ultra is 113 FPS, indicating substantial GPU scaling with quality settings.

At 2560x1440, performance remains respectable but begins to show strain. Low settings yield 117 FPS, Medium averages 89 FPS with a range of 76-103 FPS, High averages 67 FPS, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS. The Medium preset's minimum of 76 FPS is still above the 60 FPS threshold, but Ultra's 45 FPS average falls short. The spread from Low to Ultra is 72 FPS, narrower than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is becoming the bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings produce 62 FPS, Medium averages 47 FPS with a range of 40-54 FPS, High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. Only the Low preset exceeds 60 FPS, and even that is marginal. The Medium preset's minimum of 40 FPS indicates noticeable stuttering during complex scenes. The spread from Low to Ultra is 38 FPS, the narrowest of all resolutions, confirming that the GPU's fill rate is saturated at 4K regardless of quality tier.

Comparing across resolutions at the same settings tier reveals the scaling penalties. At Low, 1080p produces 184 FPS, dropping 36% to 117 FPS at 1440p and 66% to 62 FPS at 4K. At Medium, 141 FPS drops 37% to 89 FPS at 1440p and 67% to 47 FPS at 4K. At High, 105 FPS drops 36% to 67 FPS at 1440p and 67% to 35 FPS at 4K. At Ultra, 71 FPS drops 37% to 45 FPS at 1440p and 66% to 24 FPS at 4K. The remarkably consistent scaling percentages (36-37% for 1080p to 1440p, 66-67% for 1080p to 4K) indicate that resolution, not settings, is the primary determinant of performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 7900X paired with the Intel Arc B580 achieves a combo rank of 2781 out of 3,706 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places the pairing in the 25th percentile of all tested configs, meaning roughly three-quarters of combinations outperform it in this game. The rank reflects a fundamental mismatch: the CPU is a top-tier processor while the GPU is mid-range.

The Ryzen 9 7900X's individual performance metrics are strong. It sits in the 91st percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 53,288. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7313P (delta 0.2%), Intel Xeon Phi 7290 (delta -0.3%), Intel Xeon 634 (delta 0.6%), and Intel Core i7-14700F (delta -0.6%). These rivals are all within 1% of the 7900X's aggregate score, indicating the CPU is competitively positioned among high-end processors. Specific benchmarks show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 29,300, a Geekbench multicore score of 19,267, and a Passmark multithread score of 51,406.

The Arc B580, by contrast, sits in the 68th percentile among GPUs with an average benchmark score of 23,021. Its nearest rivals — the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP (delta -0.2%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 (delta 0.6%), NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 (delta -0.7%), and NVIDIA P106-100 (delta -1%) — are all within 1% of the B580's aggregate score. This tight clustering shows the B580 is competitive with several established GPUs, but none of these rivals are top-tier performers.

The combo rank of 2781/3706 is therefore driven by the GPU's mid-range positioning. In a city builder like Steamworld Build, where large populations and complex simulations can tax the CPU, the Ryzen 9 7900X's 12 cores and 24 threads provide ample processing power. However, the B580's 13.67 TFLOPS and 456.0 GB/s bandwidth cannot deliver high frame rates at 4K, which explains why the combo ranks in the lower half despite the CPU's strength.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend on the user's resolution and frame rate priorities. At 1080p, the Ultra preset is the clear recommendation for players who prioritize visual fidelity, as it maintains an average of 71 FPS — comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. For players seeking maximum smoothness, the Medium preset at 141 FPS (min 119 FPS) provides a substantial frame rate cushion while still offering decent visual quality. The High preset at 105 FPS is a reasonable middle ground, though Ultra's 71 FPS is more visually impressive and still playable.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the best balance of performance and quality. Its average of 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS ensures smooth gameplay even during demanding city-building scenes. The High preset at 67 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for performance dips. The Ultra preset at 45 FPS is not recommended, as it falls below 60 FPS and may cause noticeable stuttering during camera movements or large construction projects.

At 4K, the options are more constrained. The Low preset at 62 FPS is the only tier that achieves a playable frame rate, and even it is marginal. The Medium preset at 47 FPS (min 40 FPS) may be acceptable for players who prioritize visual quality over smoothness, but the 40 FPS minimum suggests potential frame drops during complex scenes. The High preset at 35 FPS and Ultra at 24 FPS are not recommended for general play, as they are likely to produce a choppy experience.

For most players, the 1440p Medium configuration offers the best overall experience. It delivers 89 FPS average with a 76 FPS minimum, which is smooth for a city builder, while the Medium settings provide sufficient visual detail for the genre's top-down perspective. Players with 1080p monitors should choose the Ultra preset, as it maximizes visual quality without sacrificing playability. Players with 4K displays should accept the Low preset or consider lowering their resolution to 1440p, as the 4K Low result of 62 FPS is the only viable option at that resolution.