Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with Intel Core i5-10400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

Steamworld Build, a city builder released on 2023-11-30, presents an interesting case for this pairing of a 6-core Comet Lake CPU with a top-tier Ada Lovelace GPU. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system that is clearly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, but the CPU’s influence becomes more apparent as resolution drops. The data shows a combination that ranks 750th out of 3706 tested combos, placing it in the upper 20% of all pairings, yet the underlying component balance tells a more nuanced story about where the bottleneck resides.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a dramatic scaling pattern from 1080p to 4K that reveals the RTX 4080’s dominance at lower resolutions. At High settings, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 results in a drop from 184 FPS to 145 FPS, a 21% reduction. Moving further to 3840x2160, the average FPS falls to 77, representing a 47% decline from the 1440p figure and a 58% drop from 1080p. This steep scaling curve is characteristic of a system where the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, but the CPU begins to constrain performance at 1080p.

The Low settings preset provides even more insight into the scaling behavior. At 1920x1080 Low, the system achieves 225 FPS, which drops to 194 FPS at 2560x1440 (a 14% reduction) and then to 134 FPS at 3840x2160 (a 31% reduction from 1440p). The relatively smaller percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p compared to the High preset suggests that at Low settings with lower graphical demands, the CPU is starting to become a more significant factor at 1080p. The i5-10400F, with its 6 cores and 12 threads, appears to cap performance around the 225 FPS mark at 1080p Low, whereas the GPU could likely push higher if the CPU allowed.

Medium settings show a similar pattern but with interesting absolute numbers. At 1920x1080 Medium, the average is 205 FPS, dropping to 176 FPS at 2560x1440 and 102 FPS at 3840x2160. The 4K Medium result of 102 FPS is notably higher than the 4K High result of 77 FPS, indicating that the Medium preset reduces GPU load sufficiently to allow higher frame rates without hitting a CPU wall. Ultra settings, conversely, produce the lowest frame rates across the board, with 154 FPS at 1080p, 98 FPS at 1440p, and only 52 FPS at 4K—a staggering 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K Ultra, underscoring how demanding the Ultra preset is on the GPU.

This scaling behavior implies that for players targeting 4K, the RTX 4080 is the clear limiting component, as frame rates scale almost linearly with the pixel count increase. However, at 1080p, the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.30 GHz boost clock appears to create a ceiling somewhere above 225 FPS, meaning the GPU’s potential is not fully realized at that resolution.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 brings substantial specifications to this pairing, and the measured results reflect its capabilities. With 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 716.8 GB/s of memory bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Steamworld Build’s city-building environments even at 4K resolution. The GPU’s 9728 shading units and 304 texture mapping units handle the game’s rendering demands, while its 112 ROPs deliver the pixel throughput needed for high-resolution output.

The RTX 4080’s clock behavior—2205 MHz base and 2505 MHz boost—combined with its 5 nm process node from TSMC, allows it to maintain high sustained performance. The card’s 48.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is more than adequate for this genre, and the benchmark data confirms that the GPU is rarely the bottleneck at 1080p, where it achieves between 154 and 225 FPS depending on settings. At 4K Ultra, however, the GPU’s workload increases dramatically, and the average FPS of 52 indicates that the card is being pushed to its limits with this particular game’s Ultra preset.

The GPU’s 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 54247, places it near the top of the performance hierarchy. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 SUPER, scores 54209—a mere 0.1% difference—while the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% higher at 54828. This suggests that the RTX 4080 is essentially performance-equivalent to its immediate successors in synthetic benchmarks, and the measured game results likely reflect this parity.

Interestingly, the memory configuration of 16 GB GDDR6X is likely sufficient for Steamworld Build even at 4K Ultra, as city builders typically do not require massive VRAM allocations unless heavily modded. The 716.8 GB/s bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and asset loading do not become performance bottlenecks, which is supported by the relatively smooth FPS scaling observed in the data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 10th-generation Comet Lake processor with 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a 2.90 GHz base clock and boosting to 4.30 GHz. This CPU, built on Intel’s 14 nm process, has a 12 MB shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 memory with a dual-channel bus and 42.7 GB/s bandwidth. In synthetic benchmarks, the i5-10400F achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10283 and a single-core score of 1451, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 6257 and single-core of 1420.

The CPU’s performance percentile of 68 places it above the median of all CPUs, and its average benchmark score of 14185 is closely matched by its nearest rivals: the Intel Xeon 6756E at 14163 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core 7 160UL at 14232 (0.3% higher), and the AMD EPYC 7552 at 14115 (0.5% lower). This clustering indicates that the i5-10400F sits in a densely populated performance tier, where small differences in synthetic scores do not necessarily translate to meaningful gaming performance differences.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role appears to be that of a supporting actor that occasionally takes center stage at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the 225 FPS average suggests a CPU-imposed limit, as the RTX 4080 is more than capable of pushing frame rates well beyond this figure in a city builder. The 6-core/12-thread configuration with a 4.30 GHz boost clock is adequate for the game’s simulation and AI workloads, but the data implies that higher-core-count processors with faster single-thread performance could potentially unlock higher frame rates at 1080p.

The CPU’s 14 nm process node and 65 W TDP are modest by modern standards, but they do not appear to hinder performance in this game. The 3DMark scores—4748 for 16 threads and 688 for single-thread—indicate a balanced processor that can handle both multi-threaded and single-threaded workloads, which is relevant for a city builder that likely relies on a mix of simulation threads and rendering tasks.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-10400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 achieves a rank of 750 out of 3706 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the 80th percentile of all pairings. This ranking reflects the overall performance potential of the system, but it masks some significant imbalances that the resolution scaling data reveals.

Being in the top 20% of all combos is a strong result, but it is worth remembering the RTX 4080 is a top-tier GPU that likely carries much of the ranking weight. The i5-10400F, while competent, is not a flagship processor, and its 68th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that many faster processors exist. The gap between the GPU’s 86th percentile and the CPU’s 68th percentile indicates a potential bottleneck that becomes more pronounced at lower resolutions.

The combo’s rank of 750 suggests that there are 749 other pairings that perform better in this game, which is expected given that the CPU is not a high-end part. However, the fact that this combo outperforms 2956 other combinations (3706 minus 750) demonstrates that the RTX 4080’s raw power can compensate for the CPU’s mid-range positioning in many scenarios, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU is the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured frame rates span a wide range depending on settings. The Low preset achieves an average of 225 FPS, Medium reaches 205 FPS, High delivers 184 FPS, and Ultra produces 154 FPS. The Medium preset also records a minimum of 174 FPS and a maximum of 235 FPS, indicating some frame time variability, but the overall experience remains smooth. The 71 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p demonstrates how much headroom the GPU has at this resolution, with the CPU likely capping the Low setting result.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates compress somewhat. Low averages 194 FPS, Medium 176 FPS (with a 150-202 FPS range), High 145 FPS, and Ultra 98 FPS. The transition from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rates by 14% to 36% depending on the preset, with Ultra showing the largest percentage drop. The 1440p results suggest that the GPU is still not fully saturated at lower presets, as the 194 FPS Low figure remains high.

At 3840x2160, the GPU becomes the clear limiting factor. Low averages 134 FPS, Medium 102 FPS (with a 87-118 FPS range), High 77 FPS, and Ultra 52 FPS. The 4K Ultra result of 52 FPS is the only measurement below 60 FPS in the entire dataset, highlighting the extreme demands of the Ultra preset at this resolution. The 82 FPS difference between Low and Ultra at 4K (134 vs. 52) shows how much performance headroom exists in the lower presets even at this demanding resolution.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset offers the most consistent frame times, with recorded minimum and maximum values that suggest stable performance. The Low and High presets lack min/max data, but the average figures indicate that they provide distinct performance tiers.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: The data shows that all presets at 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 achieve well above 60 FPS, with the worst case being 98 FPS at 1440p Ultra. At 3840x2160, only the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS with an average of 52 FPS, meaning players can enjoy 4K with High settings at 77 FPS or lower presets for higher frame rates.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4080 has an average benchmark score of 54247, while the RTX 4080 SUPER scores 54209, a 0.1% difference. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is 1.1% higher at 54828, and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB is 2.6% higher at 55698.

Q: Is the i5-10400F the bottleneck in this system at 1080p?

A: The 1080p Low preset achieves 225 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s maximum output given its 6-core/12-thread configuration and 4.30 GHz boost clock. The RTX 4080 is capable of much higher frame rates in many games, so the CPU appears to be the limiting factor at this resolution and preset.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking in Steamworld Build?

A: This combo ranks 750th out of 3706 tested combinations. This places it in the top 20% of all pairings, though the CPU’s mid-range positioning likely prevents a higher rank.

Q: How much FPS is lost when moving from 1440p to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 145 at 2560x1440 to 77 at 3840x2160, a 47% reduction. This substantial drop indicates that the GPU is fully utilized at 4K High.

Q: Does the Ultra preset provide playable frame rates at any resolution?

A: Yes, Ultra is playable at 1080p with 154 FPS and 1440p with 98 FPS. At 4K, Ultra drops to 52 FPS, which may be borderline for some players, but the Medium preset at 4K offers 102 FPS with a 87 FPS minimum.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rate data, the Medium preset emerges as the most balanced choice across all three resolutions. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 205 FPS with a minimum of 174 FPS and maximum of 235 FPS, providing smooth performance with better visual quality than Low. At 2560x1440, Medium achieves 176 FPS with a 150-202 FPS range, which remains well above the 60 FPS threshold while offering significantly improved visuals over Low. Even at 3840x2160, Medium maintains 102 FPS with a 87 FPS minimum, making it the highest preset that stays clearly above 60 FPS at 4K.

For players prioritizing maximum visual fidelity, the High preset is the recommended choice at 4K, as it delivers 77 FPS—playable while maintaining substantial graphical improvements over Medium. At 1440p, High offers 145 FPS, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate displays, and at 1080p, High provides 184 FPS, leaving ample headroom for demanding scenes. The Ultra preset is best reserved for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it achieves 154 FPS and 98 FPS respectively, but its 52 FPS result at 4K makes it less suitable for that resolution unless players prioritize image quality over frame rate consistency.

The Low preset, while offering the highest frame rates (225 FPS at 1080p, 194 FPS at 1440p, and 134 FPS at 4K), sacrifices too much visual quality for a city builder where readability of the environment is important. Players with high-refresh-rate monitors (144Hz or above) will find that Medium at 1080p or 1440p provides the best combination of visual fidelity and frame rate headroom, while those with 4K displays should opt for Medium or High depending on their tolerance for frame rate fluctuations.