Steamworld Build

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-14400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a rank of 106 out of 1730 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places the setup comfortably within the top 6.1% of all tested hardware configurations for this title, indicating a strong pairing that should handle the game's city-building simulation demands without becoming a bottleneck at most settings.

Given the CPU's percentile ranking of 88 among all processors and the GPU's matching 88th percentile among all graphics cards, this combination represents a well-balanced pairing where neither component dramatically outclasses the other. The data suggests that users of this combo are positioned near the upper echelon of what the benchmark database has recorded for this game, with only 105 other configurations achieving higher average frame rates across the tested scenarios.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER brings substantial graphics horsepower to Steamworld Build. Its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is particularly relevant for a city builder where texture streaming and draw calls for numerous structures and citizens can tax memory subsystems. The GPU's base clock runs at 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and its memory operates at an effective 23 Gbps.

The card's 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units deliver a theoretical FP32 performance of 52.22 TFLOPS. In the context of Steamworld Build, which is not an exceptionally demanding title in terms of raw pixel throughput, this GPU sits well above what the game typically requires. The benchmark results confirm this: at 1080p Low settings, the combo produces 329.7 FPS, indicating the GPU is nowhere near its limits in lighter scenarios.

The GPU's nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT with a delta of 0.2% higher average score, and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at 0.4% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti trails by 2.9%, and the AMD Radeon RX 7700S lags by 2.1%. These narrow margins suggest that in synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4080 SUPER is competitive with its peers, but the actual in-game performance will be more telling about its suitability for Steamworld Build's specific rendering characteristics.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14400F is a 10-core, 16-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel's 10 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and can boost up to 4.70 GHz. The CPU features 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core and 80 KB of L1 cache per core. This configuration supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel mode, and includes ECC memory support, which is uncommon for consumer desktop parts.

For Steamworld Build, a city builder that involves simulation logic, pathfinding for citizens, and economic calculations, the CPU's multi-threaded performance is critical. The processor's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 21914 and single-core score of 3093 indicate robust computational capabilities. The PassMark multi-thread score of 25783 and single-thread score of 3723 further corroborate this. The CPU's average benchmark score of 32508 places it at the 88th percentile among all CPUs, with its nearest rivals being the Intel Core i7-12800H (delta 0%), AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 7645 (delta 0.2% higher), AMD Ryzen 7 250 (delta 0.2% lower), and Intel Core i7-13705H (delta 0.2% lower).

In the context of this game, the CPU's 16 threads allow for smooth handling of the simulation thread while leaving headroom for background tasks. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz ensures that single-threaded game logic, which often dominates city-building titles, runs at high speed. The data shows that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU's role becomes more prominent, as the GPU finishes its work quickly and the frame rate becomes dependent on how fast the CPU can process the game's simulation and issue draw commands.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 329.7 FPS on Low settings, 299.2 FPS on Medium, 224.4 FPS on High, and 155.4 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that even at the most demanding settings, the system maintains a frame rate far above what most displays can show, with Ultra still producing over 155 FPS. The transition from Low to Ultra costs approximately 47% of the frame rate, but the absolute values remain exceptionally high.

Moving to 2560x1440, the measured averages are 248.5 FPS on Low, 189.6 FPS on Medium, 144.6 FPS on High, and 95.3 FPS on Ultra. The Ultra setting at 1440p drops below the 100 FPS threshold, but it remains playable on high-refresh-rate monitors. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a typical reduction: Low loses 24.6% of its frame rate, Medium loses 36.7%, High loses 35.5%, and Ultra loses 38.7%.

At 3840x2160, the results are 131.6 FPS on Low, 103.9 FPS on Medium, 77.4 FPS on High, and 51.9 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Ultra setting is the only configuration that drops below 60 FPS, which may be a concern for users with 60 Hz 4K displays who want maximum visual fidelity. The Low setting at 4K still produces over 130 FPS, demonstrating the GPU's headroom in this title.

Resolution Scaling

The data reveals a clear pattern in how frame rates scale with resolution. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS drops by roughly 25-39% depending on the settings preset. From 1440p to 4K, the drop is more substantial: Low falls from 248.5 to 131.6 FPS (a 47% reduction), Medium from 189.6 to 103.9 (45% reduction), High from 144.6 to 77.4 (46.5% reduction), and Ultra from 95.3 to 51.9 (45.5% reduction).

These consistent percentage drops across all settings presets indicate that the GPU is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller FPS differences at higher resolutions since the CPU's workload remains relatively constant. The near-uniform ~45% reduction when moving from 1440p to 4K suggests that the RTX 4080 SUPER's pixel throughput is the constraining resource at these resolutions.

However, the fact that at 1080p Low the system achieves 329.7 FPS, which is likely near the CPU's maximum frame generation capability for this game, suggests that at lower resolutions and settings, the CPU does impose a ceiling. The gap between 1080p Low (329.7 FPS) and 1440p Low (248.5 FPS) is smaller proportionally than the gap between 1440p Low and 4K Low, reinforcing that the CPU handles the lower-resolution scenarios while the GPU takes over as the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the user's display resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays, even Ultra settings at 155.4 FPS provide ample performance for any refresh rate up to 144 Hz, and users with 240 Hz panels can still use High settings at 224.4 FPS. There is little reason to drop below High at 1080p given the comfortable margins.

At 1440p, High settings at 144.6 FPS offer the best balance for 144 Hz monitors, while users with 165 Hz or 240 Hz panels should consider Medium at 189.6 FPS, which provides a significant frame rate boost with a moderate visual quality reduction. Ultra at 95.3 FPS is suitable for 60-90 Hz displays but falls short for high-refresh-rate gaming.

For 4K resolution, Medium settings at 103.9 FPS provide the smoothest experience above 100 FPS, while High at 77.4 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz displays and still delivers good visual quality. Ultra at 51.9 FPS is the only measured configuration that dips below 60 FPS, and users seeking maximum fidelity should be prepared for sub-60 performance or consider reducing resolution. Low settings at 4K (131.6 FPS) are viable for competitive play or for users who prioritize frame rate over visual detail.

Given that Steamworld Build is a city builder where visual clarity for reading city layouts matters, the recommendation is to favor Medium at 4K and High at 1440p, as these settings provide both smooth frame rates and sufficient detail for gameplay. The Ultra preset's modest visual gains over High do not justify the 33% frame rate penalty observed at 1080p (224.4 to 155.4 FPS) or the 33% penalty at 4K (77.4 to 51.9 FPS).