Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder where simulation logic and rendering load interact in ways that make this particular pairing of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 an interesting study in balance. The data provided shows a system that is highly capable at mainstream resolutions, but exhibits clear performance scaling boundaries as resolution and settings increase.

FAQ

Q: What is the overall performance rank of this CPU and GPU combination in Steamworld Build?

A: The combo ranks 1755 out of 2924 tested combinations. This places it in the lower half of the database, but the measured FPS data indicates it is still capable of delivering playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p on high settings.

Q: How does the Intel Core i5-11400F compare to its nearest CPU rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17177. It is 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 7H12 (17120) and 0.6% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17074). It trails the Intel Core i5-12450H (17239) by 0.4% and the AMD Ryzen 3 PRO 8300G (17278) by 0.6%. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, making the CPU's synthetic performance essentially on par with these rivals.

Q: How does the RTX 5050's benchmark score compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5050's average benchmark score is 21035. It is 1.6% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT (20713). It is slower than the AMD Radeon RX Vega M GL (21153) by 0.6%, the AMD Radeon HD 8970M (21237) by 1%, and the NVIDIA RTX A4000 Mobile (21379) by 1.6%. The GPU's performance is tightly clustered with these competitors.

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

A: The data shows the sweet spot is 1080p with High settings, yielding an average of 115 FPS. For higher fidelity, 1440p High is still very playable at 73 FPS average. Pushing to 4K Ultra results in a 26 FPS average, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU more likely to be the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K. The average FPS scales down significantly as resolution increases (from 115 FPS at 1080p High to 39 FPS at 4K High), which is a classic sign of GPU-bound performance. The CPU has enough headroom to feed the GPU at lower resolutions, but the RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM and 320.0 GB/s bandwidth are strained by the higher pixel count.

Q: Does the CPU's core count have a significant impact on the performance delta between settings?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has 6 cores and 12 threads. The performance drop from Low to Ultra settings is substantial across all resolutions, which is typical for a city builder where higher settings increase draw calls and object counts. The CPU's 12 threads provide adequate processing for the simulation, but the rendering load scales primarily with GPU settings, making the GPU the bottleneck at higher presets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. For a city builder like Steamworld Build, the CPU is responsible for managing the simulation of the town's population, resources, and building logic. The 12 threads are sufficient to handle the background simulation tasks while the GPU focuses on rendering the scene.

The CPU's cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 512 KB of L2 per core, and a shared 12 MB L3 cache. This configuration provides decent data locality for the game's simulation state. The processor's memory support is DDR4 in a dual-channel configuration, offering a memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s. This is adequate for feeding the CPU's cores, but it is not a bottleneck for the overall system in this title.

The i5-11400F's benchmark scores show it has solid single-threaded performance (a 3dmark_single_thread score of 868) and scales well with additional threads (a 3dmark_max_threads score of 5652). The data shows that at 1080p Low settings, the combo achieves 200 FPS average, indicating the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates when the GPU is not under heavy load. This suggests the CPU is not the primary bottleneck until the GPU is fully saturated. The processor's 65 W TDP and end-of-life production status indicate it is a mature, efficient part that does not require exotic cooling.

The CPU's performance percentile versus all CPUs is 71, meaning it outperforms the majority of processors in the database. This is a strong showing for a mid-range desktop chip, and it is reflected in the game's performance at lower resolutions where the CPU has more influence on the frame rate. The 3dmark_8_threads score of 4691 shows good scaling up to 8 threads, which aligns with the game's ability to utilize multiple cores for its simulation systems.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using a 5 nm process at TSMC. It features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 320.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is a key factor in the GPU's performance, especially at higher resolutions and settings. The GPU has a base clock of 2317 MHz and a boost clock of 2572 MHz, with memory running at 2500 MHz effective 20 Gbps.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 2560 shading units, 80 TMUs, and 32 ROPs. It has 20 RT cores and 80 tensor cores, which support ray tracing and DLSS features. The FP32 performance is rated at 13.17 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 205.8 GTexel/s. These specifications place the RTX 5050 in a competitive position against its nearest rivals, with a benchmark score that is within 1.6% of the AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role is to render the isometric or 3D view of the city, manage textures, and handle visual effects. The performance data shows a clear scaling pattern with settings. At 1080p Medium, the GPU produces 153 FPS average, but this drops to 77 FPS at Ultra. The jump to 1440p sees these figures fall to 97 FPS and 49 FPS, respectively. At 4K, the GPU is clearly the limiting factor, with only 52 FPS on Medium and 26 FPS on Ultra.

The RTX 5050's 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but at 4K with Ultra settings, the memory bandwidth and capacity become a constraint. The GPU's percentile ranking of 66 versus all GPUs shows it is a mid-to-upper tier part, but the data suggests it is not well-suited for 4K Ultra gaming in this title. The GPU's power delivery is via a single 8-pin connector with a 130 W TDP and a suggested 300 W PSU, indicating it is a power-efficient card that does not require high-end power supplies.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5050 ranks 1755 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places the system in the 60th percentile of all tested configurations. This ranking is lower than the individual component percentiles (CPU at 71 and GPU at 66) might suggest, which indicates that the pairing may not be perfectly optimized for this specific game's workload.

The rank is likely influenced by the game's heavy GPU demands at higher settings and the CPU's mid-range performance. The data shows that while the CPU can handle the simulation load, the GPU's capabilities cap the overall performance. The combo performs best at 1080p, where it can achieve high frame rates, but it struggles to maintain playable performance at 4K. The rank of 1755 suggests there are many more powerful combinations in the database, but the system is still viable for mainstream gaming.

The delta between the CPU and GPU synthetic benchmarks is minimal, with the CPU being only slightly more powerful relative to its peers. The system's performance in this game is ultimately determined by the GPU, as the FPS scales consistently with resolution and settings. The 1080p High average of 115 FPS is a strong result, but the 4K Ultra average of 26 FPS is a clear outlier that drags down the overall ranking. This suggests the combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming, where it can provide a smooth experience.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows predictable resolution scaling, with performance dropping as pixel count increases. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 115 at 1080p to 73 at 1440p and finally to 39 at 4K. This represents a 36% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 66% drop from 1080p to 4K. This scaling pattern is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering load increases quadratically with resolution.

At Low settings, the scaling is more aggressive. The average FPS is 200 at 1080p, 127 at 1440p, and 67 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36.5%, and the drop to 4K is 66.5%. The fact that the performance at 1080p Low is so high (200 FPS) suggests the CPU is capable of pushing the frame rate very high when the GPU is not stressed. This indicates that at lower resolutions, the CPU becomes more of a factor, but the GPU still limits the maximum FPS.

The scaling from Low to Ultra at each resolution is also telling. At 1080p, the FPS drops from 200 on Low to 77 on Ultra, a 61.5% reduction. At 1440p, it drops from 127 to 49, a 61.4% reduction. At 4K, it drops from 67 to 26, a 61.2% reduction. This consistent percentage drop across resolutions indicates that the GPU is evenly stressed by the settings changes, and the CPU does not become a bottleneck at any specific resolution. The data clearly shows the GPU is the limiting component, especially at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers excellent performance across all settings. On Low, the average FPS is 200, which is extremely smooth and well above the refresh rate of most monitors. Medium settings yield an average of 153 FPS, with a minimum of 130 FPS and a maximum of 176 FPS, indicating consistent frame times. High settings produce 115 FPS average, which is still very fluid for a city builder. Ultra settings drop to 77 FPS average, which is playable but shows the GPU starting to feel the load. The 1080p results are strong across the board, with even Ultra settings maintaining a comfortable frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the performance is still respectable but shows the expected decrease. Low settings average 127 FPS, which is still very smooth. Medium settings average 97 FPS, with a minimum of 83 FPS and a maximum of 112 FPS. High settings average 73 FPS, which is a solid playable frame rate for most users. Ultra settings drop to 49 FPS average, which is on the edge of smoothness for a city builder where camera movement can cause stutters. The 1440p results are acceptable for High settings and below, but Ultra requires a compromise on frame rate.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low settings average 67 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium settings average 52 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS and a maximum of 59 FPS, showing some frame time inconsistency. High settings average 39 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings average 26 FPS, which is not recommended for a playable experience. The 4K results show that this combo is not suited for high-fidelity gaming at this resolution, as even Low settings struggle to maintain a consistently smooth frame rate.