Steamworld Build

Resolution Scaling

The measured frame rates across resolutions reveal a classic city-builder scaling pattern where the GPU headroom is enormous at lower resolutions but narrows substantially as pixel count rises. At 1080p, the combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers between 171.8 FPS (Ultra) and 263.1 FPS (Low), with the spread between settings compressing as resolution increases. Moving to 1440p, the Ultra preset drops to 108.1 FPS while Low remains high at 227.6 FPS, indicating that the GPU still has ample capacity but the CPU begins to exert more influence on the upper bound.

The 4K data tells a different story. At 3840x2160, Ultra falls to 58.7 FPS — a 65.8% reduction from the 1080p Ultra result of 171.8 FPS. High settings at 4K reach 82.3 FPS, while Medium achieves 111 FPS and Low climbs to 149.9 FPS. This scaling pattern suggests that Steamworld Build's rendering workload at 4K is heavily GPU-bound, as the RTX 4090's massive shading resources (16,384 shading units, 82.58 TFLOPS FP32) are progressively saturated by the higher pixel count. The 4K-to-1080p ratio for Ultra is approximately 2.93x, which is close to the pixel-count ratio of 4x, indicating that the GPU is the limiting component at 4K Ultra while the CPU can still feed frames adequately at lower resolutions.

Conversely, the 1080p results show the CPU's ceiling. The difference between Low (263.1 FPS) and Ultra (171.8 FPS) at 1080p is 91.3 FPS, a 53% gap that reflects the increased shading and geometry work of higher presets. Yet even the lowest 1080p result (171.8 FPS) exceeds the highest 4K result (149.9 FPS), confirming that resolution scaling dominates the performance curve. The data indicates that users targeting 4K with this combo should expect playable but not excessive frame rates at Ultra, while 1440p offers a sweet spot where even Ultra stays above 100 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 achieves a combo rank of 141 out of 1,730 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places the pairing in the top 8.1% of all tested configurations, a strong showing driven primarily by the GPU's exceptional raw throughput. The RTX 4090 sits at the 91st percentile among all GPUs in the benchmark database, with an average benchmark score of 66,473, while the i5-11400F lands at the 75th percentile among CPUs with an average score of 17,181.

The nearest CPU rivals to the i5-11400F provide context for its role in this combo. The AMD Ryzen 7 5700U scores 17,189 (deltaPct 0), the Intel Core i7-1260P scores 17,212 (deltaPct -0.2), the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U scores 17,215 (deltaPct -0.2), and the Intel Core i5-1240U scores 17,141 (deltaPct 0.2). These deltas are negligible — all within 0.2% — meaning the specific CPU choice among these rivals would not materially change the combo's ranking. The GPU's nearest rivals, including the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (67,733, deltaPct -0.4) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67,097, deltaPct -0.9), similarly show that the RTX 4090's performance tier is well above the field.

The rank of 141 out of 1,730 suggests that while the combo is exceptional overall, it is not at the absolute top because the CPU, despite being capable, does not match the GPU's elite status. The i5-11400F's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz are sufficient for Steamworld Build's city-building logic, but the data shows that the GPU can outpace the CPU at lower resolutions, where frame rates are already high enough to mask any bottleneck.

FAQ

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

A: The measured data shows 1440p as the balanced choice. At 2560x1440, Ultra runs at 108.1 FPS and High at 158.1 FPS, both comfortably above 60 FPS while providing higher visual fidelity than 1080p. At 4K, Ultra drops to 58.7 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

Q: How much performance does the Ultra preset cost compared to Low?

A: At 1080p, Ultra delivers 171.8 FPS versus Low's 263.1 FPS — a 91.3 FPS penalty. At 1440p, the gap widens to 119.5 FPS (108.1 vs 227.6), and at 4K it narrows to 91.2 FPS (58.7 vs 149.9). The relative cost increases with resolution, making Ultra less attractive at 4K.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the RTX 4090 in this game?

A: The evidence suggests a partial bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 263.1 FPS, which is near the practical ceiling for a 6-core/12-thread CPU at 4.40 GHz boost. The 4K results show the GPU becoming the limiting factor, as frame rates scale more steeply with settings.

Q: Is this combo suitable for 4K gaming in Steamworld Build?

A: Yes, but with caveats. The Ultra preset averages 58.7 FPS at 3840x2160, which is borderline for smooth play. Dropping to High yields 82.3 FPS, and Medium reaches 111 FPS. Users wanting 4K Ultra should accept frame rates near 60 FPS, while those preferring higher refresh rates should use High or Medium.

Q: How does the i5-11400F compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-11400F's average benchmark score of 17,181 is within 0.2% of the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (17,189), Intel Core i7-1260P (17,212), Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17,215), and Intel Core i5-1240U (17,141). These differences are negligible for gaming performance.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between High and Medium settings?

A: At 1080p, High runs at 219 FPS and Medium at 241.8 FPS — a 22.8 FPS difference. At 1440p, the gap grows to 45.8 FPS (158.1 vs 203.9), and at 4K it shrinks to 28.7 FPS (82.3 vs 111). Medium consistently offers a meaningful boost over High across all resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of 12 configurations across three resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 263.1 FPS, Medium 241.8 FPS, High 219 FPS, and Ultra 171.8 FPS. These numbers show a clear progression where each settings tier costs a smaller absolute delta — the gap from Low to Medium is 21.3 FPS, from Medium to High is 22.8 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 47.2 FPS, indicating that Ultra imposes a disproportionately heavy load.

At 2560x1440, the figures are: Low 227.6 FPS, Medium 203.9 FPS, High 158.1 FPS, and Ultra 108.1 FPS. The delta from Medium to High (45.8 FPS) is nearly double the delta from Low to Medium (23.7 FPS), suggesting that High settings engage additional rendering features that scale steeply with pixel count. The Ultra preset at 1440p (108.1 FPS) still clears the 100 FPS threshold, making it viable for high-refresh-rate displays.

At 3840x2160, the results drop significantly: Low 149.9 FPS, Medium 111 FPS, High 82.3 FPS, and Ultra 58.7 FPS. The pattern reverses — the delta from High to Ultra (23.6 FPS) is smaller than the delta from Medium to High (28.7 FPS), which itself is smaller than the delta from Low to Medium (38.9 FPS). This compression at the high end suggests that 4K Ultra is pushing the GPU to its limits, while Low at 4K still benefits from the RTX 4090's raw horsepower.

Comparing resolutions within the same settings tier, the scaling is roughly linear. For High settings, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by 60.9 (from 219 to 158.1), and moving from 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by another 75.8 (from 158.1 to 82.3). For Ultra, the corresponding drops are 63.7 FPS (171.8 to 108.1) and 49.4 FPS (108.1 to 58.7). The smaller absolute drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra indicates that the GPU is already saturated at 1440p Ultra, making further resolution increases less impactful proportionally.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal preset depends on the target display resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, even the Ultra preset at 171.8 FPS exceeds the requirements of any mainstream monitor, so users can enable Ultra without concern. The data shows that 1080p Ultra provides a 53% frame rate uplift over 4K Ultra (171.8 vs 58.7 FPS), making it the highest-fidelity option for high-refresh gaming.

For 1440p, the Ultra preset at 108.1 FPS is the recommended choice for users with 120Hz or 144Hz monitors, as it stays above the 100 FPS mark. Those with 60Hz displays can afford to use Ultra with headroom, while users prioritizing maximum smoothness can drop to High at 158.1 FPS — a 50 FPS gain that may be imperceptible on slower panels but beneficial for competitive play.

For 4K, the recommendation is more nuanced. The Ultra preset at 58.7 FPS is playable but leaves no margin for demanding city scenes or screen transitions. The High preset at 82.3 FPS offers a 23.6 FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining most visual quality, making it the best balance for 4K. The Medium preset at 111 FPS is the choice for users with 120Hz 4K displays, sacrificing some graphical fidelity for a 28.7 FPS gain over High. The Low preset at 149.9 FPS is recommended only for esports-style play where frame rate trumps visuals, which is uncommon in a city builder.

The data suggests that the Medium preset at 4K (111 FPS) delivers the best overall experience for this combo, as it stays well above 60 FPS while retaining enough visual detail for a management game. At 1440p, Ultra is the clear winner. At 1080p, all presets are viable, but Ultra provides the most immersive experience without sacrificing performance.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz and boost clock of 4.40 GHz, combined with 12 MB of shared L3 cache, provide the computational backbone for Steamworld Build's simulation logic. The CPU's 3DMark scores show a scaling pattern: 1,691 for 2 threads, 3,171 for 4 threads, 4,691 for 8 threads, and 5,652 for max threads. This indicates that the processor scales well up to 8 threads, after which gains diminish — a pattern consistent with a 6-core design that benefits from SMT but not infinitely.

In the context of Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is to handle the city simulation, pathfinding, and resource management calculations that occur alongside the GPU's rendering work. The measured frame rates at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed, show that the CPU can sustain up to 263.1 FPS on Low settings. This suggests that the i5-11400F's single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2,029, Geekbench single-core of 1,979) is adequate for the game's logic, even if it does not match the top-end desktop CPUs.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks place it at the 75th percentile among all CPUs, with an average score of 17,181. Its nearest rivals are all within 0.2% in average benchmark score, indicating that the i5-11400F is firmly in the mid-range tier despite being from the 11th generation. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 5,619 versus the 2-thread score of 1,691 shows a 3.32x scaling factor, which is below the theoretical 3x for 6 cores with SMT, confirming that the processor has some efficiency losses under full load.

The RTX 4090's massive compute resources (16,384 shading units, 512 tensor cores, 128 RT cores) mean that the CPU is often the limiting factor at 1080p and 1440p in this combo. However, the data shows that the i5-11400F still allows the GPU to reach frame rates far above what most displays can show, so the practical impact of the CPU's mid-range status is minimal. At 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, and the CPU's role diminishes further. Overall, the i5-11400F provides sufficient processing power for Steamworld Build, though users with higher-core-count CPUs might see marginal gains in simulation-heavy scenes at lower resolutions.