Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder released in late 2023, places unique demands on hardware compared to fast-paced action titles. The measured data for the Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 reveals a configuration where the graphics card is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides ample headroom for simulation logic. The combination ranks 1395th out of 1730 tested combos for this game, placing it in the lower half of the database but with distinct playability profiles depending on the settings chosen.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, confirming that the RTX 2060 is the limiting component as pixel count increases. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 174.2 FPS at 1920x1080 to 113 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 35.1%, and then to 59.3 FPS at 3840x2160, representing a 65.9% drop from the 1080p baseline. This pattern indicates that even at the lowest graphical preset, the GPU's rendering workload expands dramatically with resolution, overwhelming its 6 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory bus.

Moving to Medium settings, the scaling curve shifts slightly. The 1080p result is 131.3 FPS, dropping to 86.2 FPS at 1440p (a 34.4% decrease) and further to 43.3 FPS at 4K (a 67.0% decrease from 1080p). The similarity in percentage drops between Low and Medium suggests that the GPU's compute units are saturated by resolution scaling rather than by specific shading effects. At High settings, the 1080p average is 97.2 FPS, declining to 62.4 FPS at 1440p (35.8% lower) and 31.7 FPS at 4K (67.4% lower). The consistency of these percentage declines — all hovering near 35% for the 1440p step and 66-67% for the 4K step — is a clear signature of a GPU-bound scenario.

Ultra settings exhibit the most severe degradation. The 1080p average of 67.7 FPS drops to 43.2 FPS at 1440p (36.2% lower) and 21.5 FPS at 4K (68.2% lower). Notably, the gap between High and Ultra at 4K is only 10.2 FPS (31.7 vs 21.5), while at 1080p that same gap is 29.5 FPS (97.2 vs 67.7). This compression at higher resolutions indicates that the RTX 2060's pixel throughput becomes the bottleneck, making additional quality settings less impactful on the final frame rate. The data suggests that for smooth 4K gameplay, only Low settings approach the 60 FPS threshold, achieving 59.3 FPS.

GPU Role

The RTX 2060's specifications directly explain the observed scaling behavior. With 6 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus delivering 336.0 GB/s bandwidth, the card is positioned for 1080p and light 1440p workloads. Its base clock of 1365 MHz and boost clock of 1680 MHz are modest by modern standards, and the 1920 shading units must process the increasing pixel counts. The GPU's percentile ranking against all GPUs is 58, with an average benchmark score of 16074, placing it near the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (score 15996, deltaPct 0.5) and just below the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (score 16351, deltaPct -1.7).

The 12 nm TU106 chip, with 10,800 million transistors on a 445 mm² die, provides 6.451 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This compute capacity is sufficient for the city-builder genre's moderate visual demands but struggles when resolution forces the texture units (120 TMUs) and ROPs (48) to work harder. The memory clock of 1750 MHz, translating to 14 Gbps effective, further limits fill-rate-heavy scenes. Steamworld Build's isometric view and detailed environments require substantial texture bandwidth, which explains why the 4K Ultra result of 21.5 FPS is so low — the GPU is likely swapping textures or stalling on memory fetches.

The card's DirectX 12 Ultimate support (12_2) and Vulkan 1.4 API compatibility are modern, but its PassMark DirectX 12 score of 53 is notably lower than its DirectX 11 score of 110, suggesting the architecture is less efficient under newer API overhead. The FP16 throughput of 12.90 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio) offers potential for optimized workloads, but the game's rendering path does not seem to leverage this. The RTX 2060's production status is end-of-life, and its benchmark results — including a Geekbench OpenCL score of 71278 and Vulkan score of 67425 — reflect a card that remains capable at 1080p but shows its age at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the playable frame rate at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 97.2 at 1920x1080 with High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and provides a smooth experience for a city builder. This suggests the combo is well-suited for 1080p gaming without needing to compromise on visual quality.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K resolution in Steamworld Build?

A: At 3840x2160, only Low settings reach a playable average of 59.3 FPS. Medium produces 43.3 FPS, High drops to 31.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 21.5 FPS. The data indicates that 4K is only viable with the lowest preset, and even then, the frame rate is marginal for the genre.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score of 16074 is 0.5% higher than the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (score 15996) and 1.7% lower than both the AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (both scoring 16351). It also edges out the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (score 15786) by 1.8%.

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-12400F a bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The CPU's benchmarks show strong single-thread performance, with a 3DMark single-thread score of 909 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2332. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 174.2 FPS, indicating the processor can feed the GPU adequately at lower resolutions without becoming a limiting factor.

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

A: At 2560x1440, High settings yield 62.4 FPS, while Ultra drops to 43.2 FPS, a difference of 19.2 FPS. The gap is significant, but both are below 60 FPS, meaning users must choose between smoother gameplay at High or enhanced visuals at Ultra with a noticeable frame rate penalty.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested configurations for this game?

A: The combo ranks 1395th out of 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build, placing it in the 19th percentile of systems. This indicates that while the hardware is functional, it is far from the top tier for this specific game's requirements.

How This Combo Ranks

The rank of 1395 out of 1730 combos places this system in the lower 20% of all tested configurations for Steamworld Build. This positioning is consistent with the hardware's age and tier: the i5-12400F is a mid-range 12th-gen processor, and the RTX 2060 is a 2019-era GPU. The CPU's percentile against all CPUs is 77, meaning it outperforms 77% of processors in the database, with an average benchmark score of 19221. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-8700K, scores 19210 with a deltaPct of 0.1, making the two nearly identical in synthetic performance. The AMD Ryzen 5 7533HS scores 19364 (deltaPct -0.7), and the AMD EPYC 7773X scores 18979 (deltaPct 1.3).

The GPU's percentile of 58 against all GPUs is lower than the CPU's, highlighting the imbalance in this pairing. The RTX 2060's average score of 16074 is modest, and its position among rivals shows it is competitive with mobile and workstation GPUs from the same era but lacks the headroom of newer desktop cards. In Steamworld Build specifically, the combination's rank suggests that many other tested systems deliver higher frame rates, particularly at 1440p and 4K where the GPU's limitations are exposed.

The data shows that the combo's performance is sufficient for 1080p gaming across all settings, with even Ultra achieving 67.7 FPS. At 1440p, only Low and Medium presets exceed 60 FPS (113 and 86.2 FPS respectively), while High is marginal at 62.4 FPS. The 4K results are uniformly below 60 FPS except for Low at 59.3 FPS. This distribution explains the low rank: competitive systems likely handle 1440p and 4K with higher presets, pushing this combo down the list.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a complete matrix of average frame rates across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce 174.2 FPS, Medium reaches 131.3 FPS, High delivers 97.2 FPS, and Ultra drops to 67.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra represents a 61.1% reduction in frame rate, showing the impact of quality settings at the native resolution of most users.

At 2560x1440, the performance profile shifts downward. Low settings still provide a comfortable 113 FPS, while Medium maintains 86.2 FPS. High settings fall to 62.4 FPS, which is just above the 60 FPS threshold, and Ultra drops to 43.2 FPS. The gap between Medium and High at this resolution is 23.8 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 19.2 FPS, indicating diminishing returns at the top end.

At 3840x2160, the results are more constrained. Low settings achieve 59.3 FPS, barely missing the 60 FPS mark. Medium falls to 43.3 FPS, High to 31.7 FPS, and Ultra to 21.5 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium at 4K is 16 FPS, while the difference between High and Ultra is only 10.2 FPS, suggesting that the GPU is struggling to maintain pixel throughput regardless of the visual complexity.

Comparing the same settings across resolutions, Low settings drop from 174.2 FPS at 1080p to 113 FPS at 1440p to 59.3 FPS at 4K. Medium drops from 131.3 to 86.2 to 43.3. High drops from 97.2 to 62.4 to 31.7. Ultra drops from 67.7 to 43.2 to 21.5. The pattern is consistent: each doubling of pixel count approximately halves the frame rate, with the 4K step being particularly punishing for the RTX 2060's 6 GB memory buffer.

Settings Recommendations

For users targeting 60 FPS as a baseline, the data points to specific choices. At 1920x1080, all settings deliver above 60 FPS, with even Ultra surpassing the threshold at 67.7 FPS. This makes 1080p the most versatile resolution for this combo, allowing users to prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The High preset at 97.2 FPS offers a balanced experience, while Medium at 131.3 FPS provides extra headroom for simulation-heavy city states where frame pacing might vary.

At 2560x1440, the choice becomes more nuanced. Low settings at 113 FPS and Medium at 86.2 FPS both exceed 60 FPS comfortably, making them the recommended presets for smooth gameplay. High settings at 62.4 FPS are technically playable but leave little margin for frame drops during complex scenes, such as large populations or dense building layouts. Ultra at 43.2 FPS is not recommended for a consistent experience, as it falls below the 60 FPS target.

At 3840x2160, the only viable option for near-60 FPS gameplay is Low settings, which average 59.3 FPS. This is a marginal result that could dip below 60 FPS in demanding moments. Medium at 43.3 FPS is playable but visibly less smooth, and High at 31.7 FPS or Ultra at 21.5 FPS should be avoided for active gameplay. Users with 4K displays should either accept Low settings or consider lowering the render resolution to 2560x1440 and using a higher preset.

Overall, the best experience measured is at 1920x1080 with High settings, which balances the 97.2 FPS average with a visual quality that enhances the game's art style. For 1440p users, Medium at 86.2 FPS offers the best combination of frame rate and detail. The data clearly indicates that this combo is optimized for 1080p, with diminishing returns at higher resolutions that make Low or Medium presets the only sensible choices.