Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core i3-12100F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER. The data shows a system that is heavily influenced by graphics settings, with the CPU providing a solid foundation that allows the GPU to become the primary bottleneck at higher presets and resolutions. This combination delivers playable frame rates across most configurations, but the gap between Low and Ultra settings reveals a steep performance curve that users must navigate carefully.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable decline as resolution increases, but the rate of that decline is heavily dependent on the selected graphics preset. At Low settings, the system delivers 188.2 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 122 FPS at 2560x1440 and further to 62.8 FPS at 3840x2160. This represents a 33% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and another 48% reduction from 1440p to 4K, indicating that even at Low settings, the GPU is being pushed significantly harder at higher pixel counts.

The scaling pattern changes dramatically at Ultra settings. The system produces 73.5 FPS at 1080p, 47.4 FPS at 1440p, and only 26 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are larger here: 35% from 1080p to 1440p and 45% from 1440p to 4K. This suggests that at Ultra, the RTX 2060 SUPER is working near its limits, and the additional pixel load at 4K pushes it below the playable threshold. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 114.7 FPS, but at 4K that gap narrows to 36.8 FPS, showing that resolution scaling compresses the performance envelope as the GPU becomes fully saturated.

The 1440p High result of 66.7 FPS is notable because it sits close to the 4K Low result of 62.8 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is the limiting component in both cases, and users can trade resolution against settings to achieve similar performance outcomes. The data suggests that 1440p is the sweet spot for this combo, offering a 47.4 FPS result at Ultra and 91.7 FPS at Medium, both of which are smooth for a city builder genre where consistent frame pacing matters more than raw speed.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060 SUPER is the dominant factor in Steamworld Build's performance, particularly at higher resolutions and presets. Its 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus with 448.0 GB/s bandwidth provides sufficient capacity for this game's assets, but the compute load at 4K Ultra pushes the GPU to its limits, resulting in a 26 FPS average. The card's boost clock of 1650 MHz and 2176 shading units deliver 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 performance, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but struggles to maintain smooth frame rates at 4K with maximum settings.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 63rd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 19774. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, which scores 0.5% higher, and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN, which scores 0.3% lower. This tight grouping indicates that the RTX 2060 SUPER is positioned at a performance tier where small differences in game optimization can swing results, and Steamworld Build appears to favor this card's architecture given the playable 1440p results.

The VRAM capacity of 8 GB is not the limiting factor in this game, as evidenced by the fact that the 1440p Ultra result of 47.4 FPS is not dramatically lower than the 1080p Ultra result of 73.5 FPS. The primary constraint is the raw shading throughput, as the GPU's texture rate of 224.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 105.6 GPixel/s are adequate for the city-building genre's moderate geometric complexity but become strained at 4K Ultra where the pixel workload increases fourfold compared to 1080p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data strongly indicates that the Medium preset offers the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 147.7 FPS, which is 61.3 FPS faster than High and 74.2 FPS faster than Ultra. This headroom allows for smooth gameplay with minimal risk of frame drops during complex city-building operations. At 1440p, Medium produces 91.7 FPS, which is a 25 FPS improvement over High and a 44.3 FPS improvement over Ultra, making it the clear choice for users with 1440p displays.

For users with 4K displays, the Low preset at 62.8 FPS is the only consistently playable option, as Medium drops to 47.3 FPS and High falls to 36.5 FPS. The Ultra preset at 26 FPS is not recommended for 4K gaming, as the frame rate falls below the threshold for smooth interaction with the game's UI and building placement mechanics. The data shows that High at 1440p (66.7 FPS) and Low at 4K (62.8 FPS) produce nearly identical performance, suggesting that users should prioritize resolution over visual fidelity when these two variables compete.

The 1080p High result of 109.1 FPS is also a viable option for users who want improved visuals without sacrificing performance, as it maintains a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. However, the 73.5 FPS Ultra result at 1080p is the maximum visual quality this combo can achieve at a playable frame rate, and it comes with a significant performance cost compared to High.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 2560x1440 is the sweet spot, with Medium delivering 91.7 FPS and High delivering 66.7 FPS. Both are smooth for the genre, while 4K only achieves playable frame rates at Low settings (62.8 FPS).

Q: Can this system run 4K Ultra settings?

A: No, the 4K Ultra result of 26 FPS is below the playable threshold. The GPU is fully saturated at this configuration, and users should drop to 4K Low (62.8 FPS) or move to 1440p for better results.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its nearest rival in this game?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 19774 is 0.5% lower than the RTX 2070 and 0.3% higher than the GTX TITAN. In Steamworld Build, the card delivers 109.1 FPS at 1080p High, showing it is well-positioned for this title.

Q: Is the 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Steamworld Build?

A: Yes, the 8 GB GDDR6 memory is not the bottleneck. The 1440p Ultra result of 47.4 FPS versus 1080p Ultra at 73.5 FPS shows a scaling pattern consistent with shading throughput limits rather than memory capacity.

Q: What settings should be used for 1080p gaming?

A: Medium at 147.7 FPS is the safest choice, but High at 109.1 FPS offers better visuals with still-excellent performance. Ultra at 73.5 FPS is playable but leaves less headroom for complex city scenes.

Q: How does the CPU's performance impact this game's results?

A: The i3-12100F's 4 cores and 8 threads are sufficient for Steamworld Build, as evidenced by the consistent scaling between resolutions. The CPU's single-thread score of 893 in 3dmark and 1681 in Cinebench R23 indicates it is not the limiting factor at any tested configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 1250 out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the 28th percentile of all tested systems. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning (63rd percentile among all GPUs) and the CPU's 72nd percentile standing among all CPUs. The combination is not top-tier, but it delivers playable performance at 1080p and 1440p across most settings.

The ranking is primarily driven by the GPU's performance in this game, as the RTX 2060 SUPER's nearest rivals include the RTX 2070 with a 0.5% higher average benchmark score and the Quadro K5200 with a 0.8% lower score. The CPU's nearest rivals show a similar pattern, with the i3-12100F sitting 0.1% below the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX and 1.8% above the Intel Core i7-7700K in average benchmark scores. These tight margins explain why the combo's in-game rank is mid-pack rather than at the extremes.

The data suggests that users with this combo are getting near-maximum performance from their hardware in Steamworld Build, as the measured FPS results at 1080p High (109.1) and Medium (147.7) exceed what would be expected from a system ranked in the bottom 28% of all combos. This indicates that the game is well-optimized for this specific hardware pairing, particularly when compared to more demanding titles.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F plays a supporting role in Steamworld Build's performance, providing enough processing power to avoid bottlenecking the GPU at any tested configuration. With 4 cores and 8 threads, the CPU's Alder Lake architecture delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its 3dmark single-thread score of 893 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1681. These scores place the CPU in the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, indicating it is more than adequate for the city-building genre's simulation logic.

The CPU's base clock of 3.30 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz provide solid responsiveness for the game's UI and building placement mechanics. The 12 MB of shared L3 cache and the dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 are sufficient for the game's data streaming needs. The multi-threaded performance, shown by the Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and the 3dmark 16-thread score of 4051, demonstrates that the CPU can handle the background simulation tasks without impacting frame rates.

The measured FPS data confirms that the CPU is not the limiting factor, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution and settings changes rather than showing CPU-induced plateaus. The 1080p Low result of 188.2 FPS is the highest measured frame rate, indicating that the CPU can feed the GPU at very high frame rates when the graphics load is low. The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-7700K, which scores 1.8% higher in average benchmarks, and the Intel Core i3-10105, which scores 0.6% lower, showing that the i3-12100F is at the top of its performance class for this game.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo in Steamworld Build is as follows:

At 1920x1080, the system delivers 188.2 FPS on Low settings, 147.7 FPS on Medium, 109.1 FPS on High, and 73.5 FPS on Ultra. This shows a consistent 26-27% drop from Low to Medium, Medium to High, and High to Ultra, indicating that each settings tier imposes a similar additional graphics load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the results are 122 FPS on Low, 91.7 FPS on Medium, 66.7 FPS on High, and 47.4 FPS on Ultra. The percentage drops from Low to Medium (25%), Medium to High (27%), and High to Ultra (29%) are similar to 1080p, but the absolute frame rates are lower due to the 78% increase in pixel count from 1080p to 1440p.

At 3840x2160, the system produces 62.8 FPS on Low, 47.3 FPS on Medium, 36.5 FPS on High, and 26 FPS on Ultra. This resolution shows the most significant performance penalties, with the Ultra preset falling below 30 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K at each settings tier is approximately 48-49% for Low, Medium, and High, but only 45% for Ultra, indicating that the GPU is already saturated at 1440p Ultra and the additional resolution has a smaller incremental impact.

The data shows that the 1080p Medium result of 147.7 FPS is the highest frame rate that maintains visual quality above Low, while the 1440p Medium result of 91.7 FPS is the best balance of resolution and performance for users with 1440p displays. The 4K Low result of 62.8 FPS is the only 4K configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the sole viable option for 4K users.