Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder from 2023, presents an interesting case for the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination. The data shows this pairing is exceptionally strong, delivering high frame rates across all settings, but the performance scaling reveals a clear shift in bottleneck behavior depending on the resolution and preset. This analysis breaks down the measured results to show exactly where this combo excels and where its limits lie.

FAQ

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

A: The High preset offers the most balanced experience, delivering 193.1 FPS at 1080p, 123.7 FPS at 1440p, and a playable 65.5 FPS at 4K. It provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium while maintaining frame rates well above the 60 FPS threshold at all tested resolutions.

Q: How does the RTX 5070's VRAM capacity influence performance?

A: The GPU has 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, yielding 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In this game, the substantial frame rate drop from High to Ultra settings at 4K (65.5 FPS down to 41.8 FPS) suggests that the Ultra preset's demands on memory bandwidth and compute are the limiting factor, as the 12 GB capacity itself is not exceeded based on the data.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the primary bottleneck at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the CPU is likely the limiting component. The data shows a massive jump in performance when lowering settings, with the Low preset hitting 321 FPS compared to 193.1 FPS on High. This indicates that at lower graphical loads, the game becomes more dependent on the CPU's processing power, which has a maximum boost clock of 4.60 GHz across its 10 cores.

Q: What is the performance difference between the Low and Ultra presets at 1440p?

A: The difference is substantial. The Ultra preset delivers 80.9 FPS, while the Low preset reaches 212.9 FPS. This represents a 163% increase in frame rate when switching from Ultra to Low, showing that the Ultra preset imposes a heavy load on the GPU, while the Low preset allows the system to push frame rates far beyond what is necessary for smooth gameplay.

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

A: The combination ranks 342nd out of 1730 tested combos, placing it in the top 20% of all systems. This high percentile reflects the strong synergy between the Core i5-13400F and the RTX 5070 for this specific title.

Q: Can this system handle 4K gaming in Steamworld Build?

A: Yes, but with caveats. On the High preset, it averages 65.5 FPS, which is smooth. However, at the Ultra preset, it drops to 41.8 FPS, which is below the typical 60 FPS target. For a consistent 4K experience, the High preset is the recommended choice.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly indicates that the High preset provides the optimal balance of visual quality and performance for this hardware. At 1080p, the High preset delivers 193.1 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display. Moving to 1440p, it still maintains a very high 123.7 FPS, ensuring a fluid experience on high-refresh-rate monitors. Even at 4K, the High preset achieves 65.5 FPS, crossing the standard threshold for smooth gameplay.

Choosing the Ultra preset is not advisable for this game. While it offers the highest visual fidelity, the performance cost is steep. At 4K, the frame rate drops to 41.8 FPS, which can feel sluggish in a city builder where camera panning and zooming are frequent. The Medium preset, while playable, does not offer a significant enough visual improvement over High to justify the lower frame rates, particularly at 4K where it sits at 88.1 FPS.

Therefore, the recommendation is to use the High preset for all resolutions. It provides the best experience per the measured rows, ensuring that the game remains responsive and visually appealing. For users with 1080p or 1440p monitors, this setting will easily max out high-refresh-rate displays. For 4K users, it offers the only preset that consistently hits the 60 FPS target.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling across resolutions reveals a classic pattern of GPU-bound behavior. At 1080p with High settings, the system produces 193.1 FPS. When the resolution is increased to 1440p, the frame rate drops to 123.7 FPS, a 36% reduction. This significant decrease indicates that the GPU is working much harder to fill the additional pixels. The trend continues at 4K, where the frame rate falls to 65.5 FPS, a further 47% drop from 1440p.

This scaling pattern shows that the RTX 5070 is the primary limiting component at higher resolutions. The 1080p results, especially at Low settings (321 FPS), suggest that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates. However, as resolution increases, the GPU's rendering workload becomes the bottleneck, and the frame rate begins to reflect the GPU's raw pixel-pushing capabilities.

The data points to a system that is well-balanced for 1440p gaming. At this resolution, the frame rates are high enough to take advantage of fast displays, but the GPU is still being challenged. At 4K, the system is clearly GPU-limited, and the performance is more dependent on the preset selected. The scaling from 1080p to 4K shows a 66% reduction in frame rate on High settings, emphasizing the substantial load that 4K rendering places on the graphics card.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system is exceptionally fast. The Low preset produces an average of 321 FPS, which is an extreme frame rate that exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors. The Medium preset delivers 255.2 FPS, and the High preset achieves 193.1 FPS. Even the most demanding Ultra preset manages to hit 129.3 FPS, which is still very smooth. The performance here is so high that the CPU is likely the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain very high but show a clear step down. The Low preset averages 212.9 FPS, which is still excellent. The Medium preset delivers 160.8 FPS, and the High preset provides a very strong 123.7 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, drops to 80.9 FPS. This is the first resolution where the Ultra preset falls below the 100 FPS mark, indicating the increased load on the GPU.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is fully taxed. The Low preset averages 113 FPS, which is still playable. The Medium preset drops to 88.1 FPS, and the High preset delivers 65.5 FPS, which is the target for most 4K displays. The Ultra preset is the only setting that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, averaging just 41.8 FPS. This makes the Ultra preset at 4K the only configuration in the entire dataset that is not recommended for a smooth experience.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is the central component in determining frame rates at higher resolutions. Its 12 GB of GDDR7 memory and 192-bit bus provide a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s, which is crucial for handling high-resolution textures and effects. The GPU's boost clock of 2512 MHz and its 6144 shading units contribute to its strong raw performance, as evidenced by its 83rd percentile ranking among all GPUs.

The data shows that the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck as resolution increases. The performance drop from 1440p to 4K is more pronounced than the drop from 1080p to 1440p, indicating that the GPU's pixel fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated. The difference between the Medium and Ultra presets at 4K (88.1 FPS vs. 41.8 FPS) further highlights how the GPU's compute and memory resources are heavily taxed by the highest quality settings.

The RTX 5070's performance in this game is robust, but its limits are visible at 4K with Ultra settings. The card's strong 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5077 suggests it is a high-performing part, but Steamworld Build's Ultra preset at 4K proves to be a demanding workload. The GPU is the primary reason the High preset at 4K is the recommended ceiling for a stable 60 FPS experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F provides the foundation for the high frame rates seen at lower resolutions. With 10 cores and 16 threads, and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz, the CPU has the processing power to drive the game's simulation and logic. Its strong Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21279 and single-core score of 3004 indicate that it is capable of handling both the game's background calculations and its main thread.

The CPU's role is most evident at 1080p. At this resolution, the GPU is not the limiting factor, and the frame rates are incredibly high. The jump from 193.1 FPS on High to 321 FPS on Low at 1080p suggests that the CPU is able to feed the GPU far more frames than the High preset's graphics load allows the GPU to render. This points to the CPU being the primary bottleneck at 1080p, as the graphical settings are not demanding enough to fully occupy the RTX 5070.

The CPU's performance is also reflected in its benchmark scores. Its 82nd percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 25236, places it just ahead of the Intel Core i7-13620H and behind the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D. This solid processing power ensures that the system does not feel CPU-limited in most scenarios, except for the very high frame rate situations at 1080p.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 342nd out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the top 20% of all systems, a strong result that demonstrates the pairing's overall capability. The high rank is supported by the measured FPS data, which shows excellent performance across all settings and resolutions.

The rank reflects a well-balanced system for this game. The CPU's strong single-threaded performance ensures that the game's core logic runs smoothly, while the GPU's substantial power allows for high-quality visuals at high frame rates. The data shows that the system excels at 1080p and 1440p, where it can deliver frame rates well beyond what is needed for a smooth experience. At 4K, the system is still capable, but it requires a careful selection of graphical settings to maintain a high frame rate.

The 342nd rank out of 1730 reflects the strong synergy of these components. It is not the absolute fastest combination, as more powerful CPUs and GPUs exist, but it provides an excellent balance of performance that places it well above the median system. For a city builder like Steamworld Build, which can be demanding on both the CPU for simulation and the GPU for rendering, this combo proves to be a highly capable and well-rounded choice.