Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder where the pacing of simulation and the responsiveness of the interface are more critical than raw graphical fidelity. The measured data for this combination of an Intel Core i5-12600KF and an Intel Arc B390 reveals a clear performance profile across different settings, with the most balanced experience appearing at 1080p Medium. At this setting, the average frame rate reaches 81 FPS, which provides a smooth and fluid interaction for managing a growing steampunk metropolis. This represents a 35% increase over the 60 FPS average seen at 1080p High, while the minimum frame rate of 69 FPS at Medium ensures that even during complex simulation moments, the game maintains a responsive feel. The 1080p Low preset pushes the average to 106 FPS, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity, which is a significant component of the game's charm. Conversely, the Ultra preset at 1080p drops the average to 41 FPS, which is a substantial 49% reduction from the Medium preset, making it less suitable for maintaining consistent pacing. Therefore, the data strongly suggests that the Medium preset at 1080p offers the optimal trade-off between smoothness and visual quality for this hardware configuration.

Moving to higher resolutions, the performance envelope tightens considerably. At 1440p, the Medium preset yields an average of 51 FPS, which is playable but begins to show the strain on the system. The Low preset at 1440p is the only other option that exceeds 60 FPS, with an average of 67 FPS. At 4K, the results are significantly more demanding. The High preset at 3840x2160 produces an average of only 20 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play in a simulation genre. The Medium preset at 4K is better, with an average of 27 FPS and a minimum of 23 FPS, but this still indicates a stuttering experience. For users with a 4K display, the Low preset is the only viable option, providing a 35 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 4K is essentially unplayable at 14 FPS. Consequently, the recommended experience is unequivocally the Medium preset at 1920x1080, as it is the only configuration that consistently provides a frame rate high enough to avoid simulation lag while retaining enough graphical detail to appreciate the game's aesthetic.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor, and its role in Steamworld Build is defined by its memory architecture and clock speeds. The GPU's memory is designated as "System Shared," meaning it uses the same memory pool as the CPU. This has a direct impact on performance, as the bandwidth is "System Dependent," which can become a bottleneck in a city builder where large amounts of texture and geometry data are constantly being processed. The GPU's base clock is 300 MHz, with a boost clock of 2500 MHz, and the performance scaling across resolutions shows the limits of this configuration.

The benchmark data illustrates that the Arc B390 is primarily a 1080p-class solution for this game. The transition from 1080p to 1440p at the Medium preset results in a 37% drop in average FPS, from 81 to 51. This indicates that the GPU is heavily reliant on the memory bandwidth and raw pixel throughput, which are constrained by the shared memory architecture. The GPU has 1536 shading units and 24 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 60.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 120.0 GTexel/s. These specifications are sufficient for handling the game's 2D and 3D isometric views at lower resolutions, but they are overwhelmed by the 3840x2160 pixel count.

At 4K, the performance degradation is stark. The High preset at 4K (20 FPS) is a 67% reduction from the 1080p High preset (60 FPS). This suggests that the Arc B390's fillrate capabilities are the limiting factor, as the demand for pixel processing at 4K far exceeds what the integrated solution can deliver. The GPU's 12 ray tracing cores and support for DirectX 12 Ultimate are present, but they do not contribute to the performance in this particular title, as the bottleneck is clearly in the traditional rasterization and memory pipeline. The data shows that the Arc B390 is not a capable 4K gaming solution for this genre, and its strengths lie in providing playable frame rates at 1080p with moderate settings.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this game with the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B390?

A: The data indicates that the Medium preset at 1920x1080 provides the best experience, with an average frame rate of 81 FPS and a minimum of 69 FPS. This offers a smooth and responsive simulation without the visual compromises of the Low preset.

Q: How does the game perform at 4K resolution with this hardware?

A: Performance at 3840x2160 is limited. The Medium preset achieves an average of 27 FPS, while the High preset drops to 20 FPS. Only the Low preset is remotely playable, with an average of 35 FPS, but it still falls short of the smoothness provided by 1080p.

Q: Is there a significant performance difference between the High and Ultra presets?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset imposes a heavy penalty. At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 60 FPS on High to 41 FPS on Ultra, a 32% reduction. This makes the Ultra preset less desirable for maintaining consistent performance.

Q: What are the minimum frame rates for the Medium preset at different resolutions?

A: The measured minimum FPS for the Medium preset is 69 at 1920x1080, 44 at 2560x1440, and 23 at 3840x2160. These figures show a clear degradation in frame time consistency as resolution increases.

Q: How does the Arc B390 compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B390's average benchmark score is 1482. Its nearest rivals, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and the NVIDIA GeForce 800M, have scores of 1463 and 1460, respectively. This places the Arc B390 approximately 1.3% and 1.5% ahead of these competitors.

Q: Does the game perform better with a higher resolution on the Low preset?

A: While the Low preset at 1440p (67 FPS) provides a higher frame rate than the High preset at 1080p (60 FPS), it does so with reduced visual quality. The 1080p Medium preset at 81 FPS remains the superior choice for a balance of performance and visuals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the system's capabilities. At 1920x1080, the performance spans from a high of 106 FPS on Low to a low of 41 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset is the sweet spot, with an average of 81 FPS, while the High preset delivers 60 FPS. The progression is not linear, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces effects that are disproportionately demanding on the integrated GPU.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates drop significantly. The Low preset is the only one that maintains an average above 60 FPS, hitting 67 FPS. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 FPS, which is still playable but less fluid. The High preset drops to 38 FPS, and the Ultra preset falls to 26 FPS. The gap between the Low and Medium presets at 1440p is 16 FPS, which is less than the 25 FPS gap observed at 1080p, suggesting that the resolution is becoming the primary bottleneck.

At 3840x2160, the data shows a steep decline. The Low preset averages 35 FPS, which is the only configuration that approaches playability. The Medium preset averages 27 FPS, the High preset averages 20 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 14 FPS. The minimum FPS is only recorded for the Medium preset at 23 FPS, indicating that other presets may have frame times that are too inconsistent to be meaningfully captured. This breakdown confirms that the system is optimized for 1080p gaming, with diminishing returns at higher resolutions.

Resolution Scaling

The scaling of frame rates from 1080p to 4K reveals the nature of the performance bottleneck. For the Medium preset, the average FPS drops from 81 at 1920x1080 to 51 at 2560x1440, and then to 27 at 3840x2160. This represents a 37% reduction when moving to 1440p, and a 67% reduction when moving to 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K (47%) is more severe than the drop from 1080p to 1440p (37%), which is characteristic of a system where the GPU's fillrate and memory bandwidth are being saturated.

This pattern indicates that the limiting component is the Intel Arc B390. The CPU, an Intel Core i5-12600KF with 10 cores and 16 threads, has a high average benchmark score of 27799 and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, making it more than capable of handling the simulation logic of Steamworld Build. The fact that performance degrades so sharply with resolution points to the GPU's inability to process the increased pixel count efficiently. The shared memory architecture of the Arc B390 means that as resolution increases, the demand for memory bandwidth grows, and the system's dependence on this shared resource becomes a critical constraint.

The data for the Low preset further confirms this. At 1080p, the Low preset averages 106 FPS. At 1440p, it falls to 67 FPS, a 37% drop. At 4K, it drops to 35 FPS, a further 48% reduction. The consistent percentage drops across different presets suggest that the resolution is the dominant factor, not the specific graphical features. This is a clear sign that the GPU is the limiting factor, as a CPU-bound scenario would show less variation in frame rates across different resolutions, particularly at lower graphical settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a high-performance desktop processor, and its specifications suggest it is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration. It features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz. Its benchmark scores are robust, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391 and a single-core score of 3302. The processor's percentile ranking of 79 indicates it outperforms the majority of CPUs on the database.

In a city builder like Steamworld Build, the CPU is responsible for simulating the economy, population, and resource flows. The data from the measured FPS shows that the system maintains high frame rates at 1080p, which suggests the CPU is providing enough data to the GPU without becoming a limiting factor. The average FPS at 1080p Low is 106, which indicates that the CPU can feed the GPU with a high number of frames per second. The fact that this number only increases when resolution is lowered, but the GPU still cannot reach its maximum potential, points to the GPU as the limiting component.

The CPU's nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-10900K and the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, with deltaPct values of -0.3% and -0.3% respectively. This places the i5-12600KF in a competitive position, with its performance being essentially on par with these higher-tier processors. When paired with a more capable discrete GPU, the i5-12600KF would likely allow for higher frame rates at higher resolutions. However, with the integrated Arc B390, the CPU's potential is largely untapped in this specific game, as the GPU's limits are reached well before the CPU's processing power is exhausted.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Steamworld Build, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and Intel Arc B390 holds a rank of 2573 out of 2924 combinations. This places it in the lower percentile of all tested systems, indicating that it is not a high-performing configuration for this game. The ranking is heavily influenced by the GPU's performance, which is in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 79th percentile.

The combination's low rank is a direct result of the GPU's limitations. The Arc B390's average benchmark score is 1482, which is only slightly higher than its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463. This puts the Arc B390 at the very bottom of the performance spectrum. While the CPU is a strong performer, it cannot compensate for the GPU's inability to render the game at higher resolutions and settings.

The data suggests that this combo is best suited for users who prioritize CPU-heavy tasks alongside light gaming. The CPU's high multi-threaded performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391) is a significant asset, but for Steamworld Build specifically, the GPU becomes the limiting factor. The rank of 2573 out of 2924 indicates that users seeking a more immersive experience in this title would need to consider a different GPU, as the integrated solution is only adequate for 1080p gaming at medium settings, which is reflected in the measured frame rates. This combo reflects the fact that a powerful CPU cannot overcome a weak GPU in a graphics-intensive game.