Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that leans more on simulation logic than raw graphics muscle, but the data for this pairing of an AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D with the Intel Arc B390 tells a story of severe imbalance. Measured frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets show a system where the processor is dramatically overqualified for the graphics workload, while the integrated GPU becomes the decisive bottleneck at every turn. The figures below quantify exactly how far apart these two components are in practical gaming terms.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and the Intel Arc B390 lands at rank 2573 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. That places this pairing in the bottom 12% of all configurations measured for this title, which is a striking result given the processor involved. The data indicates that the CPU is not the limiting factor; rather, the GPU drags the entire system down to a position that is closer to entry-level integrated graphics territory than to anything resembling a modern desktop gaming rig.

To contextualize the GPU’s standing: the Intel Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 1482. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX at a score of 1463 (a 1.3% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5% delta), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5% delta), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7% delta). These are all legacy or entry-level parts, which underscores how far down the performance ladder the Arc B390 sits in this context. The CPU, by contrast, is in the 91st percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 54762, and its nearest rivals are desktop-class chips like the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF (55093, -0.6% delta), the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K (54053, 1.3% delta), the Intel Xeon 6505P (53701, 2% delta), and the Intel Core i7-14700F (53620, 2.1% delta). The gap between the two components’ percentile rankings—91 versus 9—is the clearest possible signal of where the bottleneck lies.

In practical terms, this combo rank means that most other tested systems, including those with far weaker CPUs, will outperform this setup in Steamworld Build because their GPUs are not holding them back to the same degree. The measured frame rates confirm this: even at 1080p Low, the combo only reaches 106 FPS, which sounds acceptable until you consider that the CPU is theoretically capable of far more. The ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU’s limitations, and no amount of processor headroom can compensate for a graphics solution that is this far off the pace.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated GPU built on the Xe3-LPG architecture with a Panther Lake chip, fabricated on Intel’s 3 nm process. Its base clock is 300 MHz and its boost clock reaches 2500 MHz, but the memory configuration is the most telling detail: memory size, type, and bus width are all listed as “System Shared,” with bandwidth described as “System Dependent.” This means the GPU relies entirely on system RAM, which introduces latency and bandwidth constraints that discrete graphics cards do not face. The shading units number 1536, with 48 texture mapping units and 24 raster output pipelines, plus 12 ray tracing cores. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance at 7.680 TFLOPS and FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1). The thermal design power is 80 W, and it uses no power connectors, consistent with its integrated nature.

For Steamworld Build, these specifications translate into measurable but modest capabilities. The GPU’s sole benchmark entry is a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482, which places it at the 9th percentile. That score is the entire basis for its performance class, and it aligns with the measured FPS in this game. At 1080p High, the average frame rate is 60 FPS; at 1080p Medium it is 81 FPS; at 1080p Low it jumps to 106 FPS. These numbers show that the GPU can handle the game at lower settings, but it crumbles as resolution and quality increase. The 12 ray tracing cores are irrelevant here because Steamworld Build does not appear to use ray tracing in any of the measured presets, and the FP32 throughput of 7.680 TFLOPS is simply not enough to push high-resolution frames in a simulation-heavy title where draw calls and object counts scale with city complexity.

The memory situation is critical. With system-shared memory, the GPU competes with the CPU for bandwidth on the dual-channel DDR5 bus, which for the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is rated at 89.6 GB/s. That is a theoretical ceiling that the integrated GPU cannot fully exploit, especially when the CPU’s 24 threads are also active. The result is that the GPU’s performance is not just low in absolute terms; it is also inconsistent, as evidenced by the min and max FPS figures at Medium settings across resolutions. At 4K Medium, for instance, the average is 27 FPS with a min of 23 and a max of 31, a narrow band that suggests the GPU is hitting a hard compute or bandwidth wall rather than scaling smoothly.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep and predictable decline as resolution rises from 1080p to 4K, and the pattern reveals that the GPU is the sole limiting factor. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 106 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, that drops to 67 FPS, a reduction of 39 FPS or roughly 37%. At 4K Low, the average falls to 35 FPS, which is just 33% of the 1080p Low figure. This is a classic GPU-bound scaling curve: the CPU has ample headroom, so each additional pixel must be processed by the shader units, and the Arc B390 simply lacks the throughput to maintain frame rates as pixel count quadruples from 1080p to 4K.

The same pattern holds at High settings. At 1080p High, the average is 60 FPS; at 1440p High it drops to 38 FPS (a 37% decrease); at 4K High it bottoms out at 20 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is nearly identical in percentage terms across Low and High, which indicates that the GPU is scaling linearly with pixel count rather than hitting any sudden architectural cliff. At Medium settings, the figures are 81 FPS at 1080p, 51 FPS at 1440p, and 27 FPS at 4K, again showing a consistent halving of frame rate with each significant resolution step. Ultra settings are the worst case: 41 FPS at 1080p, 26 FPS at 1440p, and 14 FPS at 4K. That 4K Ultra result is effectively unplayable, and even 1080p Ultra is marginal for a city builder where camera panning and zooming require smoothness.

The limiting component is unambiguous. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect frame rates to stay similar across resolutions because the processor’s work does not change with pixel count. Instead, the FPS drops by roughly two-thirds from 1080p to 4K at every preset, which is the signature of a GPU that is saturated at even the lowest resolution. The Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s 12 cores and 24 threads are more than sufficient for Steamworld Build’s simulation logic, but the Arc B390’s 1536 shading units are overwhelmed by the pixel workload. The data shows that users should treat 1080p as the practical ceiling for this combo, with 1440p possible only at Low or Medium settings, and 4K reserved for Low at best.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured frame rates, the optimal settings for this combo depend on the target resolution and the user’s tolerance for frame rate dips. At 1080p, the data supports Medium as the best balance. The Medium preset yields an average of 81 FPS with a min of 69 and a max of 93, which is smooth for a city builder and leaves enough headroom for the simulation to remain responsive during large builds. High at 1080p drops to 60 FPS average, which is still acceptable but offers no min or max figures to confirm stability. Low at 1080p delivers 106 FPS, but the visual quality loss in a game where you spend time examining structures is likely not worth the extra frames. Ultra at 1080p averages 41 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most players would consider comfortable, so it is not recommended.

At 1440p, the choices are more constrained. Medium is the highest preset that maintains a playable average, coming in at 51 FPS with a min of 44 and a max of 59. That min figure of 44 FPS is borderline but acceptable for a slower-paced genre. High at 1440p averages 38 FPS, which may be tolerable for some but risks feeling sluggish during camera movements. Low at 1440p averages 67 FPS, which is smooth, but it sacrifices shadows, textures, and effects that make the game’s art style pop. Ultra at 1440p averages 26 FPS and should be avoided entirely. For 4K, the situation is dire: Low averages 35 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS, High averages 20 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. No 4K preset is truly playable, but if forced, Low is the only option that stays above 30 FPS.

The best experience per the measured rows is clearly 1080p Medium. It delivers the highest average frame rate above 60 FPS with a documented min that stays above 60, which is rare for integrated graphics in this genre. The 1440p Medium option is a fallback for users with larger monitors, but the min FPS of 44 suggests occasional stutter during heavy simulation moments. In summary, prioritize 1080p Medium for the most consistent experience, and only drop to 1080p Low if you need maximum smoothness for rapid scrolling.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1080p is the only resolution where the average frame rate exceeds 60 FPS on any preset. At 1440p, the best average is 67 FPS on Low, but Medium drops to 51 FPS. At 4K, even Low only reaches 35 FPS, so 1080p is the recommended ceiling.

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

A: The Arc B390 has an average benchmark score of 1482, which is 1.3% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1463), 1.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce 800M (1460), 2.5% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM (1446), and 2.7% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 (1443). These are all entry-level or legacy parts, confirming the GPU’s low position.

Q: Is the AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D a bottleneck in this system?

A: No. The CPU sits in the 91st percentile of all processors with an average benchmark score of 54762, and it outperforms its nearest rivals such as the Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF by -0.6% delta and the Intel Core i7-14700F by 2.1% delta. The GPU is the bottleneck, as shown by the steep FPS drops across resolutions.

Q: What is the best preset for 1440p gaming?

A: Medium at 1440p provides an average of 51 FPS with a min of 44 and a max of 59. That is the highest preset that stays above 30 FPS on average. Low at 1440p averages 67 FPS but sacrifices visual fidelity.

Q: Why does the GPU have no dedicated memory?

A: The Intel Arc B390 uses System Shared memory, meaning its memory size, type, and bus width are all shared with the system’s DDR5 RAM. Its bandwidth is listed as System Dependent, which ties performance to the CPU’s dual-channel memory controller rated at 89.6 GB/s.

Q: What is the combo’s overall rank among tested systems?

A: The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D and Intel Arc B390 combination ranks 2573 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the bottom 12% of all configurations measured for this game.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9900X3D is a 12-core, 24-thread processor from the 9000 series, built on the Zen 5 architecture with the Granite Ridge codename. It uses a 4 nm process from TSMC, with a die size of 2x 70.6 mm² and 16,630 million transistors. The base clock is 4.40 GHz and the boost clock is 5.50 GHz, with a thermal design power of 120 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 128 MB of L3 cache, which is the defining feature of the X3D line. Memory support is DDR5 over a dual-channel bus with 89.6 GB/s bandwidth, and it supports ECC memory. The CPU uses the AMD Socket AM5 and provides PCIe Gen 5 with 24 lanes from the CPU. It has an integrated Radeon Graphics solution, but that is separate from the Arc B390 being tested here. The processor launched with an MSRP of $599 and has been active since January 2025.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role is to handle the simulation logic: pathfinding, resource distribution, worker assignment, and the countless small calculations that a city builder performs every frame. The 12 cores and 24 threads are far more than this genre typically requires, and the benchmark scores reflect that. In Cinebench R23, the CPU scores 47737 in multicore and 6739 in single-core. Geekbench shows 22884 in multicore and 3041 in single-core. Passmark multithread score is 56154, with single-thread at 4646. These are strong numbers, and the nearest rivals in the database are all desktop CPUs with comparable or slightly lower average scores. The Intel Core Ultra 5 245KF scores 55093, which is 0.6% lower than the Ryzen 9 9900X3D’s average of 54762, while the Intel Core Ultra 5 245K at 54053 is 1.3% lower, the Intel Xeon 6505P at 53701 is 2% lower, and the Intel Core i7-14700F at 53620 is 2.1% lower. This means the CPU is not just adequate; it is at the top of its class.

However, none of that matters for the measured FPS because the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, as shown by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1269 and Cinebench R23 single-core of 6739, ensures that the game’s main thread is never starved. But the Arc B390’s 3DMark Steel Nomad score of 1482 and its 9th percentile ranking mean that the GPU cannot translate that CPU headroom into frame rate. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo hits 106 FPS, but at 4K Low it falls to 35 FPS. If the CPU were the bottleneck, those numbers would be much closer together. Instead, the GPU’s fixed compute capacity—1536 shading units, 7.680 TFLOPS FP32—caps performance regardless of how much faster the CPU could run the simulation.

The conclusion is that the Ryzen 9 9900X3D is massively overprovisioned for this pairing. Its 24 threads and 128 MB of L3 cache are useful for productivity workloads, as evidenced by its 91st percentile ranking and strong Passmark scores like 179727 in integer math and 119622 in floating-point math. But in Steamworld Build, all that power is idle while the GPU works at full capacity to produce even modest frame rates. Users who pair this CPU with a discrete GPU would see dramatically better results, but with the Arc B390, the CPU is essentially waiting on the graphics solution at every resolution above 1080p Low. The measured data makes it clear that any upgrade path for this combo should start with the GPU, not the processor.