Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that scales surprisingly hard with GPU load, and the Intel Core i5-13400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 pairing shows a clear performance ceiling shift as resolution climbs. At 1080p, the combo is heavily CPU-bound in the best case, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the dominant constraint, producing a dramatic drop in frame rates that defines the playable envelope for this configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a steep, predictable decline as resolution increases, but the shape of that curve is more revealing than the raw numbers. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo delivers 258.1 FPS, which is exceptionally high for a city builder. Moving to 1440p drops that to 162.5 FPS, and at 4K it falls to 84 FPS. That represents a 67.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low settings, indicating that the engine is scaling almost linearly with pixel count.

The situation is more extreme at Ultra settings. At 1080p, the combo manages 99.4 FPS, which is still very playable. At 1440p, that drops to 64.6 FPS, and at 4K it collapses to 35.9 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 63.5 FPS, a 63.9% decrease. This pattern strongly suggests that the RTX 3070’s 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth are being saturated at higher resolutions, particularly with the demanding Ultra preset.

The limiting component shifts across the resolution spectrum. At 1080p Low, the 258.1 FPS result is far beyond what most displays can show, and the CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are likely the bottleneck at that point, especially given the game’s simulation logic. However, the 4K results tell a different story: the gap between Low (84 FPS) and Ultra (35.9 FPS) at 4K is 48.1 FPS, which is a 57.3% performance penalty purely from settings. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is the clear limiting factor, as the CPU has enough headroom to push higher frame rates if the graphics hardware could keep up.

GPU Role

The RTX 3070’s specifications directly explain the observed scaling behavior. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, the card offers 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. That bandwidth is a critical resource for a city builder like Steamworld Build, where large maps with many entities can quickly consume memory. The base clock of 1500 MHz and boost clock of 1725 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the Ampere architecture’s 5888 shading units and 184 texture mapping units provide substantial raw compute for the game’s rendering tasks.

The FP32 throughput of 20.31 TFLOPS is the headline number here, and it explains why the card performs so well at 1080p and 1440p. At 1080p Medium, the combo hits 193.9 FPS, and at 1440p Medium it still manages 126.9 FPS. These are strong results that suggest the GPU is not fully utilized at those settings. However, the 4K Ultra result of 35.9 FPS reveals the card’s limitations. The pixel rate of 165.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 317.4 GTexel/s are respectable, but they are insufficient for 4K Ultra in this title, which likely requires more than 8 GB of VRAM for high-resolution textures.

The GPU’s benchmark scores corroborate this analysis. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 3162 places the card in the 72nd percentile of all GPUs, which is solid but not elite. The PassMark G3D score of 22214 and the Geekbench OpenCL score of 123479 confirm that the card is a mid-to-high-range performer. The nearest rivals include the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (with a deltaPct of 0.9) and the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti (deltaPct of 1.0), which are older or lower-tier cards. That positioning is consistent with the 4K Ultra struggles, as the RTX 3070 is not designed to be a 4K max-settings card in demanding titles.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Steamworld Build at 4K Ultra settings?

A: Yes, but just barely. The measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 35.9 FPS, which is below the common 60 FPS target. For a smoother experience, dropping to High settings at 4K yields 48.5 FPS, but that is still not ideal for action-heavy moments.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo in this game?

A: The data shows that 1440p is the sweet spot. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 93.4 FPS, and at 1440p Medium it reaches 126.9 FPS. These are high frame rates that maintain visual quality without overloading the GPU.

Q: How much performance is lost between 1080p and 4K?

A: The loss varies by settings. At Low settings, the drop is from 258.1 FPS to 84 FPS, a 174.1 FPS difference. At Ultra settings, the drop is from 99.4 FPS to 35.9 FPS, a 63.5 FPS difference. The relative penalty is larger at Ultra due to GPU memory constraints.

Q: Is the RTX 3070 the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: No. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 258.1 FPS, which is extremely high. The CPU’s 10 cores and 16 threads are likely the limiting factor at this resolution, as the game’s simulation logic becomes more demanding than the graphics rendering.

Q: How does the RTX 3070 compare to its nearest rival in terms of raw performance?

A: The RTX 3070’s average benchmark score is 28238. Its nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT, has an average score of 27985, which is 0.9% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 Ti is 1% lower at 27956. This places the RTX 3070 slightly ahead of both.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Low, the combo delivers 162.5 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 64.6 FPS. That is a 97.9 FPS difference, which is a 60.2% reduction in performance from the lowest to the highest settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 779th out of 1730 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. That places it in the 45th percentile of all tested systems, which is a mid-pack result for a city builder that is not extremely demanding on hardware. The rank reflects the balance between the CPU and GPU, where the RTX 3070 is a strong mid-range card but not a top-tier 4K performer.

The CPU’s average benchmark score of 25236 places it in the 82nd percentile of all CPUs, which is much higher than the GPU’s 72nd percentile standing. That discrepancy suggests the CPU has more headroom than the GPU in this pairing. The nearest CPU rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (with a deltaPct of 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (with a deltaPct of -0.5), which are closely matched in raw compute. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 6600 XT (deltaPct of 0.9), is slightly slower, meaning the combo is well-balanced but not optimized for extreme resolutions.

The rank of 779 out of 1730 is respectable for a system with a mid-range GPU and a high-end mid-range CPU. It indicates that this combo can handle the vast majority of the game’s scenarios at high frame rates, but it will struggle at the absolute highest settings and resolutions. The data suggests that the combo’s performance is more limited by the GPU than the CPU, which is typical for a city builder with heavy simulation loads.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings levels. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 258.1 FPS at Low, 193.9 FPS at Medium, 145.3 FPS at High, and 99.4 FPS at Ultra. The spread between Low and Ultra is 158.7 FPS, which shows how much headroom exists at this resolution. Even the lowest result, 99.4 FPS at Ultra, is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

At 2560x1440, the results are 162.5 FPS at Low, 126.9 FPS at Medium, 93.4 FPS at High, and 64.6 FPS at Ultra. The spread narrows to 97.9 FPS, and the Ultra result is still above 60 FPS, making 1440p a viable resolution for all settings. The High setting at 93.4 FPS is particularly strong, offering a good balance between visual quality and performance.

At 3840x2160, the results are 84 FPS at Low, 63.4 FPS at Medium, 48.5 FPS at High, and 35.9 FPS at Ultra. The spread narrows to 48.1 FPS, and the Ultra result drops below 40 FPS, which is marginal for a city builder where camera panning and zooming need to stay fluid. The Medium setting at 63.4 FPS is the only 4K setting that consistently maintains a 60 FPS average, while Low at 84 FPS offers a very playable experience with reduced visual fidelity.

The progression across resolutions follows a consistent pattern: each step from 1080p to 1440p reduces FPS by roughly 35-40%, and each step from 1440p to 4K reduces FPS by another 40-45%. This is a predictable scaling curve that indicates the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The optimal settings depend on the target resolution. At 1080p, the High preset at 145.3 FPS is the best choice, as it offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium (193.9 FPS) while still maintaining a frame rate that far exceeds display refresh rates. The Ultra preset at 99.4 FPS is also excellent, but the 45.9 FPS difference between High and Ultra may not justify the visual boost on smaller screens.

At 1440p, the High preset at 93.4 FPS is the clear recommendation. It provides a smooth experience with good visual quality. The Medium preset at 126.9 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize frame rate, but the 33.5 FPS difference between Medium and High is worth the performance cost. The Ultra preset at 64.6 FPS is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but it leaves little headroom for complex scenes with many buildings and citizens.

At 4K, the Medium preset at 63.4 FPS is the only option that consistently maintains playable frame rates. The High preset at 48.5 FPS is playable but may feel sluggish during heavy simulation moments, and the Ultra preset at 35.9 FPS is not recommended for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 84 FPS offers the best performance at 4K, but the visual downgrade is substantial. For most players, 1440p High is the best overall experience, as it balances visual fidelity with a 93.4 FPS average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.60 GHz are modest, but the 20 MB of shared L3 cache and the 10 nm process node provide solid single-thread and multi-thread performance. The CPU’s benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 21279, and Geekbench multicore hits 10971. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 7314 and the max-thread score of 7307 are nearly identical, indicating that the CPU scales well with thread count.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role is primarily in the simulation logic, which includes pathfinding, resource management, and citizen behavior. The 10 cores and 16 threads are well-suited for this workload, as the game can distribute simulation tasks across multiple threads. The CPU’s 82nd percentile ranking versus all CPUs indicates that it is a high-performing processor for this type of game.

The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 4K Low, the combo hits 84 FPS, which is likely GPU-limited. At 1080p Low, the 258.1 FPS result is so high that the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes the limiting factor, as the game’s main thread cannot process frames faster than that. The PassMark single-thread score of 3634 and the Geekbench single-core score of 2301 are competitive, but they are not top-tier, which explains the 1080p ceiling.

The CPU’s nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-13620H (deltaPct of 0.1) and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D (deltaPct of -0.5). These are closely matched in average benchmark score, but the i5-13400F’s 10-core configuration gives it an edge in multi-threaded workloads. For Steamworld Build, the CPU provides ample headroom for the GPU at 1440p and 4K, but at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU becomes the primary constraint, capping the frame rate at 258.1 FPS.