Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D and Intel Arc B570

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D paired with the Intel Arc B570 produces a surprisingly consistent frame-rate curve across Steamworld Build's four quality presets, but the data reveals a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions while enjoying a substantial CPU headroom at 1080p. The combo ranks 2320th out of 2924 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower third of all pairings, yet the measured frames per second at 1440p and 1080p are perfectly playable for the city-builder genre. This analysis breaks down what the numbers show about resolution scaling, component roles, and optimal settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame-rate drop from 1080p to 4K follows a predictable pattern, but the magnitude of the decline varies significantly by preset. At Low settings, the average FPS falls from 162 at 1920x1080 to 103 at 2560x1440 — a 36% reduction — and then to 55 at 3840x2160, which is another 47% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep scaling curve indicates that even at the lowest quality preset, the Intel Arc B570's rendering pipeline becomes the primary constraint as pixel count rises.

Medium settings show a similar trajectory: 124 FPS at 1080p, 79 FPS at 1440p, and 42 FPS at 4K. The transition from 1440p to 4K here costs 37 FPS, a 47% decline. High settings produce 93 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 31 FPS at 4K — the gap between 1080p and 1440p narrows to a 34 FPS difference, while the 1440p-to-4K step loses 28 FPS. Ultra settings are the most demanding: 63 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and just 21 FPS at 4K.

The pattern across all four presets reveals that the 1440p-to-4K transition consistently costs roughly 40-50% of the 1440p frame rate, regardless of quality level. This uniform scaling behavior points to a GPU that hits a hard fill-rate or bandwidth ceiling at 4K. The Intel Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus delivers 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is likely the limiting factor when pushing 8.3 million pixels per frame. The 4K results — 55 FPS at Low, 42 FPS at Medium, 31 FPS at High, 21 FPS at Ultra — all fall below the 60 FPS threshold, making 4K viable only at Low settings for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications explain much of the observed behavior. With a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, the GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units. The 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate are respectable for the segment, but the 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate becomes the bottleneck at high resolutions.

The VRAM configuration is notable: 10 GB of GDDR6 across a 160-bit bus provides 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Steamworld Build, a city builder that renders large numbers of structures and agents, this memory subsystem appears sufficient at 1080p and 1440p, but the 4K Ultra result of 21 FPS suggests the GPU is running out of both bandwidth and pixel throughput. The measured data shows no min/max FPS values for Low, High, or Ultra presets, but Medium settings at 4K recorded a range of 35 to 48 FPS, indicating frame-time variance of roughly 37% around the 42 FPS average.

Comparing the Arc B570 to its nearest rivals in the benchmark database, the GPU's average score of 20556 places it within 0.1% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534) and 0.1% behind the Intel Arc A750 (20582). The Radeon R9 M390X trails by 0.5% with a score of 20662, while the Quadro M4000M is 0.4% behind. This tight clustering means the B570 is performing essentially on par with these alternatives in synthetic workloads, but the game-specific FPS data shows that Steamworld Build's demands align with the GPU's mid-range positioning — the 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects this.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D brings substantial processing power to this pairing, and the benchmark scores confirm its high-end status. The CPU's percentile rank of 95 among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 75779, places it just ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 9755 (75738, 0.1% slower) and the Ryzen 7 PRO 9755X3D (75716, 0.1% slower). The Intel Core Ultra 9 285 trails by 0.4% with a score of 75488.

The CPU's architecture — 16 cores and 32 threads on the Zen 5 (Granite Ridge) design, with a boost clock of 5.70 GHz and 128 MB of L3 cache — provides enormous headroom for a city builder. Steamworld Build's simulation logic, which tracks resource flows and agent pathfinding, benefits from the multi-threaded performance demonstrated by the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 42018 and Geekbench multicore score of 26736. The single-thread performance is equally strong, with Cinebench R23 single-core at 2259 and Geekbench single-core at 3064.

The critical observation from the measured FPS data is that the CPU is not the bottleneck at any resolution or setting. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 162 FPS, which is well above what the GPU can sustain at higher resolutions. Even at 1080p Ultra (63 FPS), the frame rate is more than double the 4K Ultra result (21 FPS), indicating the CPU can feed the GPU at resolutions where pixel count doesn't overwhelm the Arc B570. The 3DMark scores reinforce this — 17184 for max threads and 1292 for single thread show balanced performance that handles both simulation and draw-call overhead.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience across different resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium settings deliver 124 FPS with a range of 106 to 143 FPS — this is the sweet spot, offering high frame rates with visual quality improvements over Low (162 FPS) and better responsiveness than High (93 FPS) or Ultra (63 FPS). The 106 FPS minimum at Medium ensures the frame rate rarely dips below triple digits.

For 2560x1440, the choice depends on whether visual fidelity or frame-rate stability matters more. Medium settings produce 79 FPS with a 67 to 91 FPS range, which is smooth for a city builder. High settings at 59 FPS are still playable, but the 20 FPS gap between Medium and High at this resolution suggests diminishing returns. Low settings at 103 FPS are an option for users prioritizing maximum smoothness, but the visual compromise is substantial for a genre where readability of the city layout matters.

At 3840x2160, the options are constrained by the GPU's limits. Low settings achieve 55 FPS, which is the only preset that approaches smooth gameplay. Medium at 42 FPS (35-48 FPS range) is borderline, while High (31 FPS) and Ultra (21 FPS) are too slow for comfortable play. The recommendation is to use Low at 4K, or drop to 1440p Medium/High for a better balance.

Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p, where the 63 FPS average is acceptable but not exceptional. The jump from High (93 FPS) to Ultra (63 FPS) costs 30 FPS — a 32% penalty — for what is typically a modest visual improvement in this genre. The data suggests that High at 1080p or Medium at 1440p provides the best experience per measured frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 2320 out of 2924 tested combinations places this pairing in the 21st percentile of all CPU-GPU combos tested in Steamworld Build. This low ranking is somewhat surprising given the CPU's 95th percentile standing and the GPU's 65th percentile, but it reflects the game's specific demands. Steamworld Build is a city builder that may be more sensitive to GPU memory bandwidth than to raw compute, and the Arc B570's 160-bit bus could be a limiting factor relative to other GPUs in the database.

The delta between the CPU's strong synthetic scores and the combo's low game-specific rank suggests that the GPU is dragging down the overall result. The CPU alone would place in the top 5% of processors, but the Arc B570's mid-pack GPU performance, while competitive with its nearest rivals, doesn't boost the combo in a game that appears to be GPU-bound at most settings. The ranking data shows that many other combinations in the database achieve better results, likely pairing similar CPUs with GPUs that have wider memory buses or higher pixel rates.

For context, the GPU's nearest rivals — the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750 — perform within 0.1% in synthetic tests, so the B570 is not an outlier for its class. The combo's rank is therefore more a function of the CPU being overkill for the GPU's capabilities in this particular game, rather than a deficiency in either component's absolute performance.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo capable of 60 FPS at 1440p in Steamworld Build?

A: Yes. At 2560x1440 with High settings, the average FPS is 59, and at Medium it rises to 79 FPS. Low settings reach 103 FPS, so 60 FPS is achievable across all presets except Ultra, which averages 40 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for Ultra settings?

A: Ultra settings are only practical at 1920x1080, where the average FPS is 63. At 2560x1440, Ultra drops to 40 FPS, and at 3840x2160 it falls to 21 FPS, making 1080p the only resolution where Ultra is playable.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B570 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is 0.1% higher than the RTX 3070 Mobile (20534), 0.1% lower than the Arc A750 (20582), 0.4% higher than the Quadro M4000M (20480), and 0.5% lower than the Radeon R9 M390X (20662).

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 9950X3D a bottleneck in this game?

A: No. The CPU's benchmark scores — including 42018 in Cinebench R23 multicore and 3064 in Geekbench single-core — are far above what Steamworld Build requires. The FPS differences between settings presets are driven by GPU load, not CPU limits.

Q: What 4K preset is recommended?

A: Low settings at 3840x2160 produce 55 FPS, which is the only 4K preset above 50 FPS. Medium averages 42 FPS, High 31 FPS, and Ultra 21 FPS, so Low is the only recommended option for 4K play.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations?

A: It ranks 2320th out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. The CPU alone sits in the 95th percentile of all processors, while the GPU is in the 65th percentile, indicating the GPU holds back the overall ranking.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K):

• Low: 55 FPS average
• Medium: 42 FPS average (35 min, 48 max)
• High: 31 FPS average
• Ultra: 21 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p):

• Low: 103 FPS average
• Medium: 79 FPS average (67 min, 91 max)
• High: 59 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

1920x1080 (1080p):

• Low: 162 FPS average
• Medium: 124 FPS average (106 min, 143 max)
• High: 93 FPS average
• Ultra: 63 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy: 1080p delivers playable frame rates at every preset, 1440p is viable up to High settings, and 4K requires Low settings for acceptable performance. The Medium preset is the only one with recorded min/max values across all resolutions, providing the most complete picture of frame-time consistency — 106-143 FPS at 1080p, 67-91 FPS at 1440p, and 35-48 FPS at 4K. This consistency suggests the Medium preset offers the most predictable performance profile for this configuration.