Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build with the Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B580 presents a fascinating dataset, particularly for a city builder where simulation logic and rendering load can interact unpredictably. The measured frames per second across resolutions and presets reveal a component pairing that is capable but requires careful settings management to hit smooth gameplay targets. The data indicates that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p play, with 4K proving to be a significant challenge outside of the lowest preset.

Settings Recommendations

Analyzing the measured rows, the most balanced experience for this hardware combination in Steamworld Build is the High preset at 2560x1440, which delivers an average of 65.8 FPS. This hits the sweet spot for smooth strategy gameplay while retaining visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, the High preset yields 104.4 FPS, providing a very comfortable margin above 60 FPS, while the Medium preset at 1080p achieves 139.1 FPS for users with high-refresh-rate displays. The data suggests that the Ultra preset is not advisable, as it drops average framerates to 70.4 FPS at 1080p and falls to 48.1 FPS at 1440p, which introduces noticeable stutter in a genre that benefits from consistent frame pacing. For 4K displays, the only viable option is the Low preset at 60.5 FPS; stepping up to Medium at 4K drops to 45 FPS, which is below the ideal threshold for this type of game.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580’s 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus with 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth is a defining factor in these results. The benchmark data shows a steep performance cliff between the Low and Ultra presets at 4K: the average FPS halves from 60.5 to 33.9 when moving from Low to High, and then plummets to 23.1 at Ultra. This pattern strongly indicates that memory bandwidth and fill rate are being saturated by higher-detail settings, particularly at 3840x2160, where the GPU’s 2560 shading units and 80 ROPs are tasked with rendering far more pixels. The GPU’s boost clock is listed at 2670 MHz, and the pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s appears insufficient for Ultra settings at 4K, as the 23.1 FPS average suggests the render pipeline is the primary bottleneck. At 1440p and 1080p, the B580 shows more headroom, with the 1440p High result of 65.8 FPS indicating that the 12 GB frame buffer is adequate for this game’s assets at those resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution to play Steamworld Build with this CPU and GPU combo?

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 on High settings provides the best balance at 65.8 FPS, while 1920x1080 on High offers a higher 104.4 FPS for smoother scrolling.

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

A: Only at the Low preset, which averages 60.5 FPS. The Medium preset drops to 45 FPS, and High drops to 33.9 FPS, making 4K Ultra impractical at 23.1 FPS.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High at 1440p?

A: The performance cost is significant. Ultra averages 48.1 FPS, which is 17.7 FPS lower than High’s 65.8 FPS, a 27% reduction in average framerate for presumably marginal visual gains.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM of the Arc B580 sufficient for this game?

A: The data suggests yes, as the framerate drops at higher settings are more consistent with compute and bandwidth limits rather than VRAM capacity errors. The 1440p High result of 65.8 FPS indicates the memory is not a hard constraint.

Q: What is the framerate jump from Low to Medium at 1080p?

A: Moving from Low to Medium reduces the average from 179.7 FPS to 139.1 FPS, a drop of 40.6 FPS, which is a substantial hit but still leaves a very playable result.

Q: At which settings does the combo fail to maintain 60 FPS?

A: At 4K High (33.9 FPS) and 4K Ultra (23.1 FPS), as well as 1440p Ultra (48.1 FPS). All other tested combinations exceed the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific configuration of the Intel Core i5-14400F and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1345 out of 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the database, which is surprising given the individual component scores. The CPU’s percentile is strong at 88, and its average benchmark score of 32508 is nearly identical to rivals like the Intel Core i7-12800H (32513) and AMD Ryzen 7 250 (32584). The GPU, however, sits at the 66th percentile, with an average score of 23021 that is roughly on par with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 (23181) and the AMD Radeon 760M (22999). The low in-game rank suggests that Steamworld Build’s engine is sensitive to the specific combination of this CPU’s architecture and the B580’s driver overhead, or that the game’s simulation logic does not scale well with the 10-core CPU’s multithreaded performance (Cinebench R23 multicore score of 21914). The data implies that while each part is mid-tier, their synergy in this specific title is below average, ranking in the 22nd percentile of tested combos.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F, with its 10 cores and 16 threads, provides a strong foundation for the simulation aspects of Steamworld Build. Its base clock of 2.50 GHz and boost clock of 4.70 GHz, combined with a 20 MB shared L3 cache, are key for the game’s logic. The benchmark results show that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in most scenarios, as the FPS scales heavily with resolution and GPU settings. For instance, at 1080p Low, the combo hits 179.7 FPS, suggesting the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently at high frame rates. The CPU’s Passmark multithread score of 25783 and Geekbench multicore score of 11209 indicate strong parallel processing capability, which is crucial for city builders that simulate thousands of entities. However, the notable drop to 70.4 FPS at 1080p Ultra hints that the CPU’s single-thread performance (Geekbench single-core score of 2333) may be a limiting factor when the game’s simulation tick rate increases with higher complexity settings, even though the GPU is also heavily loaded.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete dataset paints a clear picture of scaling. At 1920x1080, the averages are: Low 179.7, Medium 139.1, High 104.4, and Ultra 70.4. This shows a consistent ~25% drop between each preset tier, with the gap widening from Low to Medium (40.6 FPS drop) compared to High to Ultra (34 FPS drop). At 2560x1440, the averages are: Low 116, Medium 90.8, High 65.8, and Ultra 48.1. The drop from High to Ultra here is 17.7 FPS, but the more significant story is the 25.2 FPS drop from Medium to High, indicating the GPU is starting to struggle with the higher preset’s effects. At 3840x2160, the averages are: Low 60.5, Medium 45, High 33.9, and Ultra 23.1. The gaps here are dramatic: 15.5 FPS from Low to Medium, 11.1 FPS from Medium to High, and 10.8 FPS from High to Ultra. The 4K results show that every preset increase incurs a near-linear penalty, which is characteristic of a GPU that is completely saturated by pixel throughput requirements.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the resolution scaling from 1080p to 4K on the High preset reveals a steep decline: 104.4 FPS at 1080p, 65.8 FPS at 1440p, and 33.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and another 48% drop from 1440p to 4K. On the Low preset, the trend is similar but less severe: 179.7 FPS at 1080p, 116 FPS at 1440p, and 60.5 FPS at 4K. The fact that the 4K Low result (60.5 FPS) is nearly identical to the 1080p Ultra result (70.4 FPS) suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at 4K, as it cannot sustain higher framerates regardless of CPU headroom. The scaling pattern implies that the B580’s 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth is the key constraint at higher resolutions, as the 192-bit bus struggles to feed the shader cores with enough texture data. The CPU’s role diminishes as resolution increases, evidenced by the 1080p Low score of 179.7 FPS, which is likely CPU-bound, while the 4K Low score of 60.5 FPS is clearly GPU-bound. This indicates that for 4K play, users must accept Low settings, while 1440p offers a much better compromise between visual quality and performance.