Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that scales across a wide range of hardware, and the combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F with the Intel Arc B570 produces a dataset with clear performance tiers. The measured frames per second show a system that is capable at 1080p, comfortable at 1440p with adjusted settings, and constrained at 4K. The data indicates a pairing where the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions, while the CPU provides sufficient headroom at lower settings and resolutions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 2.50 GHz, boosting up to 4.60 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The processor features 20 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB of L2 per core, with 80 KB of L1 per core. It supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 CPU lanes. This CPU was released in January 2023 with a launch MSRP of $196.

Benchmark data places this CPU in the 77th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 25292. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS (25284, 0% delta), Intel Core 5 120 (25362, -0.3% delta), AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (25365, -0.3% delta), and AMD Ryzen 7 6800H (25201, 0.4% delta). These scores show the i5-13400F sits in a tightly contested mid-range tier, with all four rivals within a 0.7% performance band.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p with Low settings, where the system reaches 162 FPS average. This high frame rate suggests the processor is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls and simulation data. The 3DMark scores support this: the processor achieves 7314 in the 16-thread test and 7307 in the max-thread test, indicating strong multi-threaded throughput. The single-thread score of 960 in 3DMark and 3191 in Cinebench R23 single-core also show solid per-core performance, which matters for the main game thread in city builders.

The 10-core configuration with 16 threads is well-suited for a game like Steamworld Build, where simulation logic often runs across multiple threads while rendering commands are issued from a primary thread. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 22604 demonstrates that the CPU can handle heavy background workloads, which translates to maintaining frame pacing during large city expansions. The passmark multithread score of 25032 further confirms this capability.

However, the data shows that CPU performance is not the bottleneck in most measured scenarios. At 1440p Low, the system hits 103 FPS, and at 1080p Low it reaches 162 FPS, but these are settings where the GPU has less work per frame. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution is substantial, suggesting that the GPU's workload scaling dominates the frame rate changes. The CPU's benchmark percentile of 77% indicates it is a mid-to-high tier part, but the measured FPS curves point to the GPU as the limiting component as resolution increases.

FAQ — 4-6 Q&A pairs answerable from FACT PACK data

Q: What is the highest average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p, and at which setting?

A: The highest average FPS at 1920x1080 is 162 FPS, achieved with Low settings. The same resolution with Medium settings yields 124 FPS, High yields 93 FPS, and Ultra drops to 63 FPS.

Q: How does the combo's rank in Steamworld Build compare to other tested combinations?

A: This combination ranks 2320 out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the lower portion of the overall distribution. The rank is based on measured FPS data across all tested hardware pairings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 4K at High settings?

A: At 1080p High, the average FPS is 93. At 4K (3840x2160) High, the average FPS drops to 31. This represents a 67% reduction in frame rate when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings.

Q: Does the Intel Arc B570's VRAM capacity influence the measured results?

A: The GPU has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 21 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset, indicating that memory bandwidth and capacity are likely stressed at the highest resolution and settings.

Q: Which settings preset provides the largest FPS headroom at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, Low settings produce 103 FPS, while Medium produces 79 FPS, High produces 59 FPS, and Ultra produces 40 FPS. Low gives the most headroom above 60 FPS, but Medium also remains above the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the CPU's average benchmark score compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284, a delta of 0%. The Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362, which is -0.3% relative to the i5-13400F.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of scaling. At 1080p Low, the system produces 162 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low reduces this to 103 FPS, a 36% drop. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 55 FPS, which is 66% lower than the 1080p Low result. This scaling curve is typical for a GPU-bound scenario, where the pixel count increases dramatically and the GPU must do more work per frame.

At Medium settings, the same trend holds: 1080p Medium yields 124 FPS, 1440p Medium yields 79 FPS, and 4K Medium yields 42 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 36%, and from 1080p to 4K is 66%. For High settings, 1080p High produces 93 FPS, 1440p High produces 59 FPS, and 4K High produces 31 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and to 4K is 67%.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 63. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 40 FPS, a 37% reduction. At 4K Ultra, the system only manages 21 FPS, which is 67% lower than the 1080p Ultra result. These consistent percentage drops across all settings indicate that the limiting component scales uniformly with resolution.

The data strongly suggests that the Intel Arc B570 is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. The GPU's compute capabilities include 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, with a pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 11.52 TFLOPS. When the resolution increases, the GPU must fill more pixels, and the measured FPS drops proportionally to the pixel count increase. The CPU, with its strong multi-threaded scores, does not show signs of limiting until the frame rate exceeds what the GPU can deliver at lower resolutions.

At 1080p Low, the 162 FPS figure suggests the CPU is still capable of pushing higher frame rates if the GPU allowed it. The fact that 4K Ultra only reaches 21 FPS reinforces that the GPU's rendering throughput is the primary constraint. The memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s and the 160-bit bus are modest for a 10 GB frame buffer, which may contribute to the steep drop at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the Intel Arc B570 ranks 2320 out of 2924 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places the combo in the 79.3rd percentile of all tested combos, meaning it outperforms roughly 79% of tested systems but is outperformed by the top 21%. The rank is based on measured FPS data across all resolutions and settings.

This ranking is notable because the CPU alone sits in the 77th percentile among all CPUs, and the GPU sits in the 65th percentile among all GPUs. The combo's rank of 2320 out of 2924 suggests that the pairing performs slightly below what the individual component percentiles might imply. This could be due to the GPU's mid-range positioning relative to the CPU's stronger standing.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context. The Intel Arc B570 has an average benchmark score of 20556, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile scoring 20534 (0.1% delta), Intel Arc A750 scoring 20582 (-0.1% delta), NVIDIA Quadro M4000M scoring 20480 (0.4% delta), and AMD Radeon R9 M390X scoring 20662 (-0.5% delta). These rivals are all within 0.5% of each other, indicating that the Arc B570 is in a competitive mid-range segment.

The combo rank of 2320 out of 2924 means there are 604 tested combos that perform worse, and 2319 that perform better. This places the system in the lower-middle portion of the overall ranking, which aligns with the measured FPS showing playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p but not at 4K with high settings. The rank reflects the combined impact of the CPU and GPU across all tested scenarios, and the data indicates that this is a balanced mid-range pairing with clear strengths at lower resolutions.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Arc B570 is built on the Xe2-HPG architecture and uses the BMG-G21 chip, manufactured on TSMC's 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die. The GPU has a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz, achieving 19 Gbps effective. It features 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus, providing 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU has 2304 shading units, 144 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, along with 18 ray tracing cores.

The GPU's compute capabilities include 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 performance and 23.04 TFLOPS of FP16 (2:1). It supports DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The Arc B570 has a 150 W TDP and requires a 450 W power supply, with a dual-slot design and a single 8-pin power connector. It was released in January 2025 with a launch MSRP of 219 USD.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role is dominant in determining frame rates. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is 21 FPS, which is the lowest result in the dataset. This indicates that the GPU's rendering throughput is insufficient for 4K with maximum settings. The 10 GB VRAM capacity may also be a factor at 4K, where texture memory requirements are higher, though the dataset does not provide VRAM usage statistics.

The GPU's benchmark results show a Passmark G3D score of 14195 and a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 83514, and Vulkan score is 96844. These scores place the GPU in the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556. The nearest rival, the Intel Arc A750, scores 20582, showing the B570 is essentially equivalent to its predecessor.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution demonstrates the GPU's workload sensitivity. At 1080p, the difference between Low (162 FPS) and Ultra (63 FPS) is 99 FPS. At 1440p, the gap is 63 FPS (103 to 40). At 4K, the gap is 34 FPS (55 to 21). This decreasing absolute gap with resolution indicates that the GPU is becoming more saturated, and the setting changes have diminishing absolute returns at higher pixel counts.

The memory bandwidth of 380.0 GB/s is modest for a 10 GB buffer, and the 160-bit bus width limits the data transfer rate. At 4K, the GPU must access more texture and geometry data, and the memory subsystem may become a bottleneck. The pixel rate of 200.0 GPixel/s and texture rate of 360.0 GTexel/s are the theoretical limits, and the measured FPS at 4K suggests these limits are approached.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the system produces the following average FPS values:

• Low: 162 FPS
• Medium: 124 FPS (min 106, max 143)
• High: 93 FPS
• Ultra: 63 FPS

The Medium setting at 1080p has a minimum FPS of 106 and a maximum of 143, showing a 37 FPS variance. This variance indicates that frame pacing can fluctuate during intense scene loads, but the average remains well above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the measured averages are:

• Low: 103 FPS
• Medium: 79 FPS (min 67, max 91)
• High: 59 FPS
• Ultra: 40 FPS

The 1440p Medium setting shows a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS, with a 24 FPS variance. This is the only setting at 1440p that stays above 60 FPS for both minimum and average, though the minimum dips close to the threshold. High settings at 1440p produce 59 FPS average, just below 60, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the system achieves:

• Low: 55 FPS
• Medium: 42 FPS (min 35, max 48)
• High: 31 FPS
• Ultra: 21 FPS

The 4K Medium setting has a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS, showing a 13 FPS variance. This is the only 4K setting with min/max data, and it indicates that even Medium settings at 4K struggle to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings at 4K reach 55 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. High and Ultra settings at 4K fall below 31 FPS, which is not suitable for a city builder where camera movement and UI interaction need responsiveness.

The data shows a clear progression: each resolution step halves the pixel count difference, and the FPS scales accordingly. At 1080p, all settings are above 60 FPS except Ultra, which hits 63 FPS. At 1440p, Low and Medium stay above 60 FPS, High dips slightly below, and Ultra falls to 40. At 4K, only Low approaches 60 FPS, and all other settings are below 42 FPS.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured FPS data suggests that Medium settings provide the best balance of visual quality and performance for this combo. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 124 FPS with a minimum of 106 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay with headroom. At 1440p Medium, the average is 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold for acceptable playability. This is the highest setting at 1440p that maintains an average above 60 FPS.

For users with a 1080p monitor, High settings are also viable, with 93 FPS average, but Medium provides a larger safety margin for scene complexity. Ultra at 1080p, at 63 FPS, is borderline and may dip below 60 in dense city areas, so it is not recommended for consistent performance.

For 1440p displays, Medium is the recommended preset. It delivers 79 FPS average, which is 19 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold. Low settings at 1440p reach 103 FPS, which could be considered if higher frame rates are preferred, but Medium offers a significant visual improvement over Low for a 24 FPS cost. High settings at 1440p fall to 59 FPS, which is technically below 60, and Ultra at 40 FPS is not recommended.

At 4K, no setting provides a fully smooth experience. Low settings achieve 55 FPS, which is close to 60 but not above it. Medium drops to 42 FPS, and High and Ultra fall to 31 and 21 FPS, respectively. For 4K users, Low is the only playable option, and even then, frame rates may be inconsistent. The data indicates that this combo is not suited for 4K gaming in Steamworld Build beyond Low settings.

The Medium preset also shows the most consistent frame pacing, with min/max data available at all three resolutions. At 1080p, the min is 106 and max is 143, a 37 FPS spread. At 1440p, min is 67 and max is 91, a 24 FPS spread. At 4K, min is 35 and max is 48, a 13 FPS spread. This consistency suggests that Medium settings allow the GPU to maintain a more stable workload compared to other presets.

Overall, the recommendation is to use Medium settings for the best experience. At 1080p, this gives 124 FPS average with no risk of dropping below 106 FPS. At 1440p, it gives 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. For 4K, users should accept Low settings at 55 FPS or consider lowering resolution. The data does not support Ultra settings at any resolution for this combo, as all Ultra results are below 63 FPS, and at 4K Ultra falls to 21 FPS, which is unplayable.