Steamworld Build

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

The pairing of Intel's six-core Comet Lake processor with NVIDIA's flagship Ada Lovelace GPU produces a fascinating case study in bottleneck behavior within a city builder. Steamworld Build, released in late 2023, presents a workload that swings dramatically between GPU-bound rendering and CPU-bound simulation logic. Across the measured resolution and settings matrix, the data reveals a system that scales impressively at lower resolutions but shows clear signs of component saturation at the extremes. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, is an outlier in this pairing — yet the benchmark results show the i5-10400F holding its ground in unexpected ways.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K tells a story of shifting bottlenecks. At 1080p Low, the system delivers 227.2 FPS; at 1440p Low, that falls to 192 FPS; at 4K Low, it hits 134.9 FPS. This represents a 40.6% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings. However, at Ultra settings, the scaling is far more aggressive: 153.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 98.4 FPS at 1440p (a 35.9% decline) and then to 49.9 FPS at 4K — a 67.5% collapse from 1080p. This steep cliff at 4K Ultra indicates the GPU is being pushed to its absolute limit, while the CPU has headroom to spare. The data suggests that at 1080p, even with Ultra settings, the i5-10400F's six cores and 12 threads are the limiting factor — the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of far more than 153.4 FPS in lighter titles. At 4K, the tables turn: the 49.9 FPS result at Ultra is a GPU-bound outcome, as pixel throughput demands overwhelm the 285.6 GPixel/s pixel rate available.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER brings substantial resources to this game: 16 GB of VRAM, 10240 shading units, and a 256-bit memory bus delivering 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth. In Steamworld Build, a game with dense sprite work and complex city rendering, the memory capacity is unlikely to be stressed — but the raw compute certainly is. The benchmark scores place this GPU at the 88th percentile, with an average score of 53610, sitting just 0.2% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT and 2.9% ahead of the RTX 5070 Ti in aggregate benchmarks. The measured FPS data shows the GPU responding predictably to settings changes: at 4K, moving from Low (134.9 FPS) to Medium (99.7 FPS) to High (76.9 FPS) to Ultra (49.9 FPS) demonstrates the classic exponential cost of quality tiers. The clock behavior — 2295 MHz base, 2550 MHz boost — appears sufficient to drive these numbers, though the 320 W TDP suggests the card is drawing heavily under load. Notably, the gap between Low and Medium at 4K is 35.2 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 27 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces disproportionately expensive effects.

How This Combo Ranks

Among 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build, this pairing ranks 373rd — placing it in the top 21.6% of all configurations. This is a strong result, but not a dominant one. The rank reflects a system that can handle the game comfortably at most settings, yet the 4K Ultra result of 49.9 FPS drags the overall standing down relative to combos with newer CPUs. The i5-10400F's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 14168, shows it is a mid-range part in 2024 terms. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7552 (0.4% faster), the Ryzen 3 7320C (0.8% slower), and the i5-8500 (1.1% slower). The RTX 4080 SUPER's 88th percentile GPU ranking is far higher, meaning the CPU is the weak link in this combo's rank. At 1080p, the FPS numbers exceed 200 in Low and Medium, suggesting the CPU's 4.30 GHz boost clock is the ceiling — a faster processor would likely push those numbers higher. The 373rd rank is thus a compromise: GPU-heavy scenarios (4K Ultra) perform admirably, while CPU-light scenarios (1080p Low) leave performance on the table.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-10400F sufficient for Steamworld Build at 4K?

A: Yes, at High settings the system achieves 76.9 FPS at 4K, which is smooth for a city builder. At Ultra, it drops to 49.9 FPS, indicating the CPU is not the bottleneck at this resolution — the GPU is.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The GPU's aggregate benchmark score of 53610 is 0.2% above the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489) and 2.9% above the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086). However, in-game results depend heavily on the CPU pairing.

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

A: The data shows 4K High (76.9 FPS) and 4K Medium (99.7 FPS) both exceed 60 FPS. At 4K Ultra, only 49.9 FPS is achieved, so dropping to High is advisable for smooth 4K gameplay.

Q: Does this CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: Yes. At 1080p Low, the system hits 227.2 FPS, but the i5-10400F's single-thread score of 1453 in Geekbench and 688 in 3DMark single-thread suggests the CPU cannot feed the GPU enough frames to reach its full potential.

Q: How does the combo rank relative to all tested configurations?

A: It ranks 373rd out of 1730 combos, placing it in the top 21.6% of all tested systems for Steamworld Build. This is a solid mid-to-high tier result.

Q: What is the launch MSRP of this GPU?

A: The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER had a launch MSRP of 999 USD.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p, the system delivers a wide spread: Low produces 227.2 FPS, Medium 204.3 FPS, High 183.4 FPS, and Ultra 153.4 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra costs 73.8 FPS, or a 32.5% performance reduction. At 1440p, the numbers shift: Low hits 192 FPS, Medium 177.7 FPS, High 143.2 FPS, and Ultra 98.4 FPS. The Ultra setting takes a disproportionate hit here — a 44.8 FPS drop from High — suggesting that 1440p Ultra pushes the GPU into less efficient territory. At 4K, the breakdown is: Low 134.9 FPS, Medium 99.7 FPS, High 76.9 FPS, and Ultra 49.9 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 22.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 27 FPS — the Ultra preset's cost grows with resolution. Across all resolutions, the Low-to-Medium gap is relatively consistent (22.9 FPS at 1080p, 14.3 FPS at 1440p, 35.2 FPS at 4K), but the High-to-Ultra gap expands dramatically from 30 FPS at 1080p to 44.8 FPS at 1440p and 27 FPS at 4K. This non-linear scaling indicates the Ultra preset introduces resolution-dependent effects.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. Its base clock of 2.90 GHz and boost clock of 4.30 GHz, combined with 12 MB of shared L3 cache, provide the compute backbone for this combo. In CPU-bound scenarios — primarily at 1080p and Low settings — the processor's limits become apparent. The 3DMark multi-thread score of 4748, which is 0.4% behind the AMD EPYC 7552 and 1.1% ahead of the Intel Core i5-8500, indicates modest multi-threading capability. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 places it firmly in mid-range territory. In Steamworld Build, which is a city builder with significant simulation logic, the CPU's single-thread performance is critical. The 3DMark single-thread score of 688 and Geekbench single-core score of 1454 suggest that the 4.30 GHz boost clock is doing heavy lifting. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 227.2 FPS — but this is likely near the CPU's maximum frame output, as the GPU could theoretically push much higher. The 12 threads are sufficient for this game's simulation, but the 73rd percentile CPU ranking (with an average benchmark score of 14168) confirms that newer processors would offer headroom. The memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, while adequate for DDR4, could be another limiting factor in large city builds.

Settings Recommendations

For the best balance of visual quality and frame rate, the data points to 1440p High as the optimal configuration. This setting delivers 143.2 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and retains significant visual fidelity. At 4K, High is the recommended preset: 76.9 FPS is smooth for a city builder, and the jump to Ultra costs 27 FPS (down to 49.9 FPS) without a proportional visual gain. For users prioritizing maximum smoothness, 1080p Medium at 204.3 FPS or 1440p Medium at 177.7 FPS are excellent choices — both exceed 144 Hz refresh rates. The Ultra preset is only advisable at 1080p, where 153.4 FPS remains playable, but at higher resolutions it pushes the GPU too hard. The Low preset, while delivering 227.2 FPS at 1080p and 192 FPS at 1440p, sacrifices too much visual quality for a game where aesthetics matter. The measured data suggests that Medium settings at 1440p offer the best compromise: 177.7 FPS is 24.1% faster than High at the same resolution, and the visual difference between Medium and High in a city builder is typically less impactful than in fast-paced action titles. For 4K users, Medium at 99.7 FPS is a viable alternative to High if frame rate stability is paramount.