Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder released in late 2023, presents an interesting workload that blends CPU-bound simulation logic with GPU-driven rendering. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i5-13400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D across three resolutions and four quality presets. The data reveals how this combination scales and where the bottleneck lies in this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern as resolution increases. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 322 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 277 FPS, a reduction of 45 FPS (approximately 14%). At 4K Low, the average falls further to 161 FPS, which is a 50% drop from the 1440p result and roughly half the 1080p figure. This scaling suggests that even at low graphical settings, the rendering load at 4K begins to tax the GPU significantly.

The High preset tells a similar story. From 263 FPS at 1080p, the average drops to 175 FPS at 1440p, a decline of 88 FPS (33%). At 4K High, the average is 92 FPS, which represents a 47% reduction from the 1440p number and a 65% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090 D is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions when the graphical detail is increased.

With the Medium preset, the pattern continues with 293 FPS at 1080p, 234 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 59 FPS (20%), while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 110 FPS (47%). The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic scaling: 186 FPS at 1080p, 118 FPS at 1440p, and just 62 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result is exactly one-third of the 1080p Ultra figure, demonstrating that the GPU's rendering workload at this combination of resolution and settings is extremely demanding.

The implication is clear: at 1080p and 1440p, the Core i5-13400F is capable of feeding the RTX 5090 D with enough frames to reach very high averages, particularly at Low and Medium settings. However, at 4K, especially with High and Ultra presets, the GPU becomes the clear bottleneck. The FPS drops are proportionally larger between 1440p and 4K than between 1080p and 1440p for every preset, which aligns with the four-fold increase in pixel count from 1440p to 4K versus the 1.78-fold increase from 1080p to 1440p.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (322 FPS) and Ultra (186 FPS) is 136 FPS. At 1440p, that gap is 159 FPS (277 vs 118). At 4K, the gap grows to 99 FPS (161 vs 62). This widening gap suggests that the GPU's performance headroom shrinks as pixel count increases, making the settings choice more impactful at higher resolutions.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 66th out of 2924 tested combos for Steamworld Build. This places it in the top 2.3% of all configurations tested for this game. The rank reflects the strong overall performance, but the resolution scaling data suggests that the CPU is holding back the GPU at lower resolutions.

The CPU alone sits in the 77th percentile when compared against all processors in the benchmark database. Its average benchmark score is 25292. The GPU performs even better relative to its peers, sitting in the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average benchmark score of 77712. This percentile gap—77 for the CPU versus 92 for the GPU—indicates that the processor is the weaker link in this pairing for most workloads.

For the CPU's nearest rivals, the data shows very tight competition. The AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS has an average score of 25284, which is essentially identical to the Core i5-13400F's 25292, a delta of 0%. The Intel Core 5 120 scores 25362, which is 0.3% higher, and the AMD Ryzen 5 5600X3D also scores 25365, also 0.3% higher. The AMD Ryzen 7 6800H scores 25201, which is 0.4% lower. This clustering indicates that the Core i5-13400F's computational performance is right in line with its direct competitors, with no meaningful advantage or disadvantage.

For the GPU, the nearest rivals show a different picture. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT has an average score of 76904, which is 1.1% lower than the RTX 5090 D's 77712. The AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78940, which is 1.6% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB scores 79396 (2.1% higher), and the NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 16 GB scores 79605 (2.4% higher). These deltas are small, but they show that the RTX 5090 D is positioned in a competitive segment where slight differences in synthetic benchmarks do not necessarily translate to large real-world performance gaps.

The combo's rank of 66 suggests that when paired with a more powerful CPU, the RTX 5090 D could achieve even higher frame rates in Steamworld Build, particularly at 1080p and 1440p where the CPU is more likely to be the limiting factor. The fact that the GPU sits in the 92nd percentile while the combo ranks in the top 2.3% of all combos indicates that the pairing is well-balanced overall, but not perfectly optimized for this specific game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-13400F is built on the Raptor Lake architecture, using Intel's 10 nm process. It features 10 cores and 16 threads, with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. The processor has an L3 cache of 20 MB shared across all cores, with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration and connects via PCIe Gen 5 with 16 lanes.

In Steamworld Build, a city builder, the game's simulation logic—tracking citizens, resources, production chains, and building interactions—places continuous demands on the CPU. The 10 cores and 16 threads provide substantial parallel processing capability for these background tasks. The benchmark scores reflect this: the 3DMark 16-thread test yields a score of 7314, while the max-threads test scores 7307. The 8-thread test scores 5591, and the 4-thread test scores 3459. The single-thread score is 960.

The measured FPS data shows that at 1080p Low, the combo reaches 322 FPS. This high frame rate, combined with the CPU's single-thread score of 960 in 3DMark, suggests that the processor is capable of handling the game's simulation at a very fast pace. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22604 and single-core score of 3191 further illustrate the processor's balanced capabilities.

At 1080p, the difference between Low (322 FPS) and Ultra (186 FPS) shows that the GPU is still the primary factor even at this resolution. However, the gap between Low and Medium at 1080p is 29 FPS (322 vs 293), and between Medium and High it is 30 FPS (293 vs 263). This suggests that the CPU has headroom, as the frame rates remain very high even with increased graphical load.

The PassMark multi-thread score of 25032 and single-thread score of 3634 indicate strong performance in both heavily threaded and lightly threaded workloads. For a city builder, the multi-threaded performance is particularly relevant, as simulation updates often span multiple systems. The data compression score of 311364 and integer math score of 79942 also point to strong general-purpose compute capabilities.

The CPU's 65 W TDP is modest, but the data does not include power draw measurements during gaming. The processor's boost clock of 4.60 GHz provides the single-thread performance necessary for the game's primary simulation thread, while the additional cores handle secondary tasks. The memory support for both DDR4 and DDR5 gives system builders flexibility, though the memory bandwidth is not listed in the data.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are 322 for Low, 293 for Medium, 263 for High, and 186 for Ultra. The Medium preset also reports a minimum FPS of 249 and a maximum of 337. The Low and High presets do not include min or max values in the data. The spread from Low to Ultra is 136 FPS, with the Ultra preset delivering 58% of the Low preset's frame rate.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 277 for Low, 234 for Medium, 175 for High, and 118 for Ultra. The Medium preset shows a minimum of 199 and a maximum of 269. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across presets: 45 FPS for Low, 59 FPS for Medium, 88 FPS for High, and 68 FPS for Ultra. The Ultra preset at 1440p delivers 43% of the Low preset's frame rate at the same resolution.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 161 for Low, 124 for Medium, 92 for High, and 62 for Ultra. The Medium preset reports a minimum of 105 and a maximum of 142. The 4K Ultra result of 62 FPS is the lowest measured average in the entire dataset. The scaling from 1440p to 4K shows drops of 116 FPS for Low, 110 FPS for Medium, 83 FPS for High, and 56 FPS for Ultra.

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions. At 1080p, the range is 249 to 337 FPS, a spread of 88 FPS. At 1440p, the range narrows to 199 to 269 FPS, a spread of 70 FPS. At 4K, the range is 105 to 142 FPS, a spread of 37 FPS. This narrowing range with increasing resolution indicates that the GPU becomes more consistently utilized, reducing frame time variance.

The data shows that the RTX 5090 D can deliver playable frame rates at 4K Ultra (62 FPS), but the experience is significantly smoother at 4K High (92 FPS) or 4K Medium (124 FPS). At 1080p, all presets exceed 186 FPS, making the choice of preset more about visual quality than playability.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is built on the Blackwell 2.0 architecture using TSMC's 5 nm process. It features 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 raster output units. The GPU has 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. Its base clock is 2017 MHz, with a boost clock of 2407 MHz. The memory subsystem consists of 32 GB of GDDR7 on a 512-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 28 Gbps effective.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU handles the rendering of the city, including building models, terrain, lighting, and effects. The game's top-down perspective and detailed environment require substantial pixel throughput. The RTX 5090 D's pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 104.8 TFLOPS.

The benchmark scores for the GPU show strong compute capabilities. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 test yields a score of 14326. The Geekbench OpenCL score is 310674, and the Vulkan score is 376915. The PassMark G3D score is 44065, with a GPU compute score of 28396. The DirectX 11 score of 371 is notably higher than the DirectX 12 score of 219, which may indicate driver optimization differences for this specific game.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings. At 4K Ultra, the average is 62 FPS, which is the lowest measured result. This suggests that the combination of 4K resolution and Ultra settings pushes the GPU to its limits in this game. The 32 GB VRAM is more than sufficient for Steamworld Build, as the game's textures and geometry are unlikely to exceed even a fraction of this capacity.

The GPU's 92nd percentile ranking among all graphics cards indicates that it is one of the faster options available. However, the nearest rivals in the benchmark database—AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT, RX 6850M XT, and NVIDIA Tesla P100 variants—show that synthetic benchmark scores do not always correlate with gaming performance. The RTX 5090 D's 1.79 TB/s bandwidth and 32 GB memory provide ample headroom for high-resolution textures, but the game's engine may not fully utilize this hardware.

The data suggests that at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU is not the limiting factor for most presets. The frame rates exceed 175 FPS for High at 1440p, and even 4K High reaches 92 FPS. The bottleneck shifts to the GPU primarily at 4K Ultra, where the rendering load becomes substantial.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS measured for this combo in Steamworld Build?

A: The highest average FPS is 322, measured at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

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

A: The Intel Core i5-13400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 66th out of 2924 tested combos for Steamworld Build.

Q: What is the lowest average FPS measured for this combo?

A: The lowest average FPS is 62, measured at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Q: Does the CPU or GPU show a higher percentile ranking?

A: The GPU ranks in the 92nd percentile among all graphics cards, while the CPU ranks in the 77th percentile among all processors.

Q: What is the frame rate range for the Medium preset at 2560x1440?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 has an average FPS of 234, with a minimum of 199 and a maximum of 269.

Q: How does the Core i5-13400F compare to its nearest CPU rival in average benchmark score?

A: The Core i5-13400F has an average benchmark score of 25292, while its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 6900HS, scores 25284, a delta of 0%.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Steamworld Build with this hardware combination. At 1080p, all presets deliver excellent performance, with even Ultra averaging 186 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p offers a balanced experience with an average of 293 FPS, a minimum of 249 FPS, and a maximum of 337 FPS. This preset provides a wide safety margin above typical display refresh rates.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers an average of 175 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate common on many monitors. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 234 FPS, with a minimum of 199 FPS. Both are strong choices. The Ultra preset at 1440p averages 118 FPS, which is still playable but shows a significant drop from High.

At 4K, the High preset provides the best balance of visual quality and performance, averaging 92 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 124 FPS, with a minimum of 105 FPS, making it the safest choice for maintaining high frame rates. The Ultra preset at 4K averages 62 FPS, which may be acceptable for some players but does not provide the headroom needed for consistent smoothness.

The data suggests that the Medium preset is the most versatile option across all resolutions. It delivers 293 FPS at 1080p, 234 FPS at 1440p, and 124 FPS at 4K, with the only recorded min/max values in the dataset showing stable performance. For players prioritizing visual fidelity, the High preset at 4K offers a meaningful improvement over Medium while maintaining 92 FPS. The Ultra preset is only recommended for players with lower refresh rate displays or those who prioritize maximum visual detail over frame rate consistency.

The RTX 5090 D's 32 GB VRAM and high bandwidth ensure that texture quality and memory-intensive effects are not limiting factors at any resolution. The CPU's 10 cores and 16 threads provide sufficient simulation throughput for the game's city-building mechanics. The combination is best utilized at 1440p with High or Medium settings, where the frame rates are high enough to take advantage of fast displays while the visual quality remains strong. At 4K, the Medium preset offers the most consistent experience, with High being a viable alternative for those who accept slightly lower frame rates.