Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder from late 2023, presents a distinct performance challenge for the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination. The measured data reveals a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions, but which encounters significant limitations when pushed to 4K with maximum visual fidelity. This analysis examines the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, interpreting what the numbers indicate about the balance between the CPU and GPU in this specific workload.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data for this combo shows a clear hierarchy of playability across the four tested presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 66.9 FPS, which is a perfectly smooth experience for a city builder. The High preset at the same resolution offers a significant boost to 98.4 FPS, providing additional headroom for the complex scene rendering that occurs as your city grows. Given that the game is a simulation, the higher average frame rate from the High preset is the safer recommendation for 1080p, as it provides a larger buffer against potential slowdowns during intense simulation moments.

Moving to 2560x1440, the data shows that Ultra becomes more demanding, with the average FPS dropping to 41.3. The High preset at 1440p, however, maintains a very respectable 66.2 FPS. This makes High the optimal choice for 1440p, as it delivers a frame rate that is visually smooth without the significant performance cost of the Ultra preset. The Medium preset at 1440p is also a viable option at 84.7 FPS, but High offers a noticeable visual upgrade for a relatively modest decrease in performance.

At 3840x2160, the situation changes dramatically. The Ultra preset produces an average of only 20.9 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. The High preset at 4K is playable with an average of 30.7 FPS, but it is not ideal. The data suggests that the best experience at 4K is achieved by using the Low preset, which yields an average of 61.2 FPS. This indicates that to achieve a fluid simulation at 4K, users must make substantial compromises to visual quality, highlighting the GPU's limitation at this resolution. For the best overall experience, the High preset at 1440p offers the strongest balance of visual fidelity and performance.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the data, 2560x1440 with the High preset provides the best balance, yielding an average of 66.2 FPS. This is comfortably above the 60 FPS target and offers a higher resolution than 1080p. While 1920x1080 can achieve higher frame rates, the 1440p High setting provides a superior visual experience without sacrificing smoothness.

Q: Can this combo run the game at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but with significant limitations. The measured data shows that at 3840x2160, the Ultra preset only achieves an average of 20.9 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. To achieve a playable frame rate near 60 FPS, the settings must be reduced to Low, which results in an average of 61.2 FPS.

Q: How much of a performance drop is there between 1080p and 1440p at the High preset?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS decreases from 98.4 at 1920x1080 to 66.2 at 2560x1440. This represents a drop of 32.2 FPS, or approximately 33%, indicating that the resolution increase has a substantial impact on the frame rate.

Q: Is the game more demanding on the CPU or the GPU for this combo?

A: The data suggests the GPU is the primary limiting factor, particularly at higher resolutions. For instance, at 4K, the frame rate drops significantly with each increase in settings (from 61.2 FPS on Low to 20.9 FPS on Ultra). This sensitivity to visual settings points to the rendering load being the primary bottleneck. The CPU's role becomes more relevant at lower resolutions where frame rates are high.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 175.4 FPS, while the Ultra preset achieves 66.9 FPS. This is a massive difference of 108.5 FPS, demonstrating the enormous performance impact of the highest visual settings on this hardware.

Q: How does this combo rank among all other tested configurations?

A: The Intel Core i5-10400F and RTX 2060 combination ranks 1386 out of 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build, placing it in the lower 20% of tested systems. This indicates that while it can run the game, there are many other hardware combinations that deliver higher performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The performance data for this specific hardware pairing places it at rank 1386 out of 1730 tested combinations for Steamworld Build. This position, in the 20th percentile of all tested systems, is informative. It suggests that while the i5-10400F and RTX 2060 can deliver playable frame rates, particularly at 1080p and 1440p, it is far from being a top-tier configuration for this game. The rank is a direct reflection of the measured FPS data, which shows that the system struggles to maintain high performance at 4K with high visual settings.

Interpreting the rank in the context of the measured data suggests that the system is well-suited for 1080p gaming and capable at 1440p, but it is outclassed by many other combinations at 4K. The substantial drop in performance between the High and Ultra presets at 4K (from 30.7 FPS to 20.9 FPS) is a key factor contributing to this ranking. The data implies that for a better 4K experience or higher frame rates at 1440p Ultra, a more powerful GPU would be necessary. The CPU appears to hold its own, allowing for high frame rates at 1080p, but the overall combination is held back by the GPU's rendering capabilities in the most demanding scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at the system's performance across a matrix of resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system demonstrates its peak performance. The Low preset achieves an average of 175.4 FPS, showcasing the CPU's ability to feed frames at very high rates. The Medium preset follows at 132.4 FPS, and High at 98.4 FPS. The Ultra preset, while still smooth at 66.9 FPS, represents a significant 62% reduction in performance compared to the Low preset.

At 2560x1440, the GPU begins to feel the pressure of more pixels. The Low preset still delivers a very high average of 112.7 FPS. Medium and High presets produce 84.7 FPS and 66.2 FPS, respectively, both of which are excellent for a city builder. The Ultra preset, however, sees a more pronounced drop to 41.3 FPS, indicating that the combination of high resolution and maximum settings is beginning to strain the RTX 2060.

The transition to 3840x2160 reveals the clear limitations of this hardware. The Low preset manages an average of 61.2 FPS, which is still playable. However, performance falls off a cliff with higher settings. The Medium preset averages 41.5 FPS, High drops to 30.7 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 20.9 FPS. These numbers show that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant sacrifices in visual quality to maintain a smooth experience, and even then, the frame rate is not consistently high.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear trend in how performance scales with resolution. Comparing the High preset, the average FPS drops from 98.4 at 1080p to 66.2 at 1440p, a decrease of 32.2 FPS. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the average FPS falls further from 66.2 to 30.7, a drop of 35.5 FPS. This indicates that the performance cost of increasing resolution is substantial and relatively consistent at the High settings.

However, the scaling is not uniform across all presets. At the Low preset, the drop from 1080p (175.4 FPS) to 1440p (112.7 FPS) is 62.7 FPS, but the drop from 1440p to 4K (61.2 FPS) is 51.5 FPS. In contrast, at the Ultra preset, the drop from 1080p (66.9 FPS) to 1440p (41.3 FPS) is 25.6 FPS, and the drop from 1440p to 4K (20.9 FPS) is 20.4 FPS. The relatively smaller absolute FPS drops at Ultra settings, despite the massive percentage decrease, suggest the system is hitting a performance wall.

This pattern strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component. As resolution increases, the rendering workload on the GPU grows exponentially. The fact that frame rates at 4K are so low, even at High settings, shows that the RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM and processing power are insufficient for this game at that resolution. The CPU, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears capable of keeping up with the GPU's demands at 1080p and 1440p, but at 4K, the GPU's rendering speed becomes the primary constraint on the final frame rate.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Comet Lake architecture. Its benchmark scores indicate a solid mid-range performer, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453. In the context of Steamworld Build, a city builder that relies on simulation logic, these multi-threaded capabilities are crucial. The game must track numerous AI agents, resource flows, and building states, all of which benefit from the parallel processing power of multiple cores.

The measured data confirms the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios. At 1080p with the Low preset, the system achieves 175.4 FPS, a frame rate that is only achievable if the CPU can process the game's simulation and issue draw calls rapidly enough. The fact that the frame rate scales down so dramatically when the resolution and settings are increased points the bottleneck toward the GPU. At 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely waiting on the GPU to render each frame.

The CPU's 12 threads help ensure that background simulation tasks do not create stutters or frame hitches that would detract from the experience. While the i5-10400F might not be the fastest CPU available, its performance in this game is more than sufficient to support the RTX 2060. The data shows that the system's limitations at 4K are firmly rooted in the GPU's rendering performance, not the CPU's processing power.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060, based on the Turing architecture, is the defining component for this game's performance at higher resolutions. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus and a bandwidth of 336.0 GB/s, it has a moderate amount of memory bandwidth. Its benchmark scores, such as a PassMark G3D score of 14111, place it in the mid-range of GPUs. In Steamworld Build, the GPU is responsible for rendering the game's detailed environments, including the voxel-based terrain and the various structures the player builds.

The measured FPS data clearly shows the GPU's influence. The performance drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic, and the impact of each settings preset increase is more pronounced at higher resolutions. For example, at 1080p, moving from High to Ultra costs 31.5 FPS (from 98.4 to 66.9 FPS). At 4K, the same settings change costs only 9.8 FPS (from 30.7 to 20.9 FPS). This suggests that at 4K, the GPU is already so saturated that the additional workload from Ultra settings has a diminishing absolute impact, but a massive relative one.

The RTX 2060's 6 GB of VRAM is also a likely factor in the 4K performance. The higher resolution textures and more complex scenes at 4K can easily exceed the VRAM capacity, forcing the system to use slower memory paging. This, combined with the GPU's raw compute power, explains why 4K Ultra is not a playable option. The data indicates that for a smooth 4K experience, a GPU with significantly more performance and memory would be required. For 1080p and 1440p gaming, the RTX 2060 provides a solid experience, but it is the clear limiting factor for this combo at 4K.