Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder where the pace of simulation and the rendering of a bustling colony can stress hardware in ways that differ from fast-paced shooters. The data for the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER pairing shows a configuration that is overwhelmingly capable at standard resolutions but begins to show its limits when pushed to 4K with maximum visual fidelity. The measured results reveal a system where the graphics card is the primary driver of frame rates at higher resolutions, while the processor holds its own at lower settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and tells a clear story about where the bottleneck lies in this combination. At High settings, the system delivers an average of 216 FPS at 1920x1080, which drops to 144 FPS at 2560x1440, and then falls to 76 FPS at 3840x2160. This progression shows a significant 65% performance loss from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the GPU is being pushed progressively harder as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern is even more pronounced at Ultra settings. The average frame rate at 1080p is 153 FPS, which drops to 97 FPS at 1440p, and then plummets to 51 FPS at 4K. This represents a 67% reduction from the lowest to highest resolution, confirming that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The fact that the 4K Ultra result is just barely above the 48 FPS threshold for smooth play suggests that this setting is too demanding for consistent 60 FPS gameplay on this hardware.

At the other end of the spectrum, Low settings show a different dynamic. The system achieves 264 FPS at 1080p, 227 FPS at 1440p, and 133 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still very high, demonstrating that the GPU has plenty of headroom when the graphical load is reduced. The scaling here is less dramatic, with a 50% drop from 1080p to 4K, which indicates that the CPU begins to play a larger role at these lower settings, especially at 1080p where the frame rate is likely capped by processor performance rather than GPU capability.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache is a modest amount for a modern gaming CPU, but its benchmark scores suggest it is more than adequate for a city builder like Steamworld Build. The processor achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14340 and a single-core score of 2024, which places it in the 71st percentile of all CPUs tested.

In this game, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system produces 264 FPS, which is extraordinarily high but still shows that the CPU is working to feed the GPU. The 3DMark single-thread score of 868 and the 2-thread score of 1691 indicate that the processor's per-core performance is strong, which is crucial for the simulation logic in city builders that often rely on a few heavily loaded threads. The multi-threaded score of 5619 for 16 threads shows that it can handle the background tasks of a large colony without becoming a bottleneck.

The data suggests that the i5-11400F is not the limiting factor in most scenarios. The gap between 1080p High (216 FPS) and 1080p Low (264 FPS) is only 48 FPS, which is relatively small compared to the resolution scaling seen on the GPU side. This indicates that even at 1080p, the graphics card is still doing most of the heavy lifting, and the CPU is only beginning to show its limitations at the very highest frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations, this specific pairing of the Core i5-11400F with the RTX 4080 SUPER ranks 514th out of 3706 total combos for Steamworld Build. This places it in the top 14% of all tested configurations, which is a strong showing given that the CPU is a mid-range part from 2021 paired with a high-end GPU from 2024.

The rank is likely pulled down by the CPU's age relative to the GPU. The i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17177 is very close to its nearest rivals, with the AMD EPYC 7H12 scoring 17120 (0.3% lower) and the Intel Core i5-12450H scoring 17239 (0.4% higher). This cluster of scores indicates that the CPU's performance is consistent with other mid-range processors, but it does not have the headroom of newer or more expensive parts that would be paired with a GPU like the RTX 4080 SUPER in higher-ranked combos.

The combo rank of 514 suggests that while this system is very capable, there are many other configurations that achieve higher frame rates in this game. This is likely due to the fact that the RTX 4080 SUPER is overkill for a game like Steamworld Build at 1080p, and the CPU becomes a more significant factor at those lower resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo's rank would be higher relative to others because the GPU becomes the dominant factor, but the overall rank reflects performance across all tested scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the system delivers 264 FPS on Low, 240 FPS on Medium, 216 FPS on High, and 153 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting shows a minimum of 204 FPS and a maximum of 276 FPS, indicating that the frame rate is stable with only occasional dips.

At 2560x1440, the results are 227 FPS on Low, 193 FPS on Medium, 144 FPS on High, and 97 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting here shows a minimum of 164 FPS and a maximum of 221 FPS, which is a wider variance than at 1080p, suggesting that the GPU is working harder and frame times are less consistent. The jump from High to Ultra at 1440p is a drop of 47 FPS, which is significant and indicates that Ultra settings are particularly demanding on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the performance drops to 133 FPS on Low, 102 FPS on Medium, 76 FPS on High, and 51 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting at 4K has a minimum of 86 FPS and a maximum of 117 FPS, which is a 31 FPS spread, showing that the GPU is under heavy load. The 51 FPS average at 4K Ultra is the only result below 60 FPS, making it the only setting where the system fails to maintain smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is a formidable graphics card with 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s. Its boost clock of 2550 MHz and 10240 shading units deliver a raw compute capability of 52.22 TFLOPS. This hardware is clearly designed for high-resolution gaming, and the data confirms that it is the primary performance driver in this combo.

The GPU's role is most apparent at 4K resolution, where the frame rates scale dramatically with settings. The difference between Low (133 FPS) and Ultra (51 FPS) is 82 FPS, showing that the graphics card is the bottleneck at this resolution. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of VRAM is more than sufficient for Steamworld Build, even at 4K Ultra, as the game's textures and geometry are unlikely to exceed this capacity.

The GPU's benchmark scores are also telling. It achieves a Passmark G3D score of 34245 and a Geekbench Vulkan score of 260075, placing it in the 86th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rival, the RTX 4080, scores 54247 in average benchmarks, which is 0.1% lower than the 4080 SUPER's 54209, showing that the two cards are nearly identical in performance. The AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698, which is 2.7% higher, but this is a different class of card with different memory characteristics.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this hardware?

A: The data shows that 2560x1440 on High settings provides an excellent balance of visual quality and performance, with an average of 144 FPS. For those seeking the highest frame rates, 1080p Low achieves 264 FPS, while 4K High is playable at 76 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but with a caveat. The average frame rate at 4K Ultra is 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. It is playable, but users may experience occasional stutters, especially during busy city-building moments.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to its closest rival?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, which is 0.1% lower than the standard RTX 4080 at 54247. This indicates that the two cards perform virtually identically in most scenarios.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-11400F a bottleneck for this GPU?

A: The data suggests that the CPU is not a significant bottleneck, except potentially at very high frame rates. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 264 FPS, which is near the CPU's limit. At higher resolutions, the GPU becomes the limiting factor.

Q: What is the performance difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the difference is substantial. Low settings produce 227 FPS, while Ultra settings produce 97 FPS. This is a 57% reduction in performance, showing that Ultra settings are much more demanding on the GPU.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it enough for this game?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory. Given that the game runs at 51 FPS at 4K Ultra without any reported memory issues, this capacity is more than sufficient for Steamworld Build at any settings.