Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with Intel Core i5-14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080

The benchmark data for Steamworld Build with this Intel Core i5-14600KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination reveals a clear pattern: this city builder is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions, while the CPU's substantial multi-threaded resources become more relevant at lower settings. The measured FPS ranges from a playable 39.7 at 4K Ultra to a blistering 297.4 at 1080p Low, indicating that the RTX 3080's 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and the i5-14600KF's 14 cores create a balanced pairing that scales predictably with graphical load.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and consistent across all settings, pointing to the GPU as the primary limiting component. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 170.5 at 1080p to 111 at 1440p, then to 59.2 at 4K — a reduction of approximately 35% when moving from 1080p to 1440p, and another 47% when stepping up to 4K. This steep decline suggests that the RTX 3080's 760.3 GB/s memory bandwidth and 29.77 TFLOPS of FP32 compute are being fully utilized as pixel count increases.

The scaling pattern becomes even more telling at Ultra settings. The 4K Ultra result of 39.7 FPS is less than half of the 1440p Ultra score of 76.1, which itself is significantly below the 1080p Ultra figure of 115.4. This non-linear degradation indicates that the game's Ultra preset introduces rendering features that disproportionately tax the GPU at higher resolutions. Conversely, the Low preset shows the most resolution resilience: 297.4 FPS at 1080p drops to 187.4 at 1440p (a 37% decline) and then to 101.4 at 4K (a 46% further drop), suggesting that even with minimal graphical load, the 4K pixel throughput remains the bottleneck.

The data implies that players targeting 4K will need to accept Medium settings at best — the 73.9 FPS at 4K Medium is the only 4K result above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p resolution offers the sweet spot for high refresh rates, with High settings achieving 111 FPS and Medium reaching 147 FPS. At 1080p, all settings except Ultra exceed 170 FPS, making this resolution ideal for competitive or visually unrestricted play.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080, based on the GA102 chip with 8704 shading units and 272 texture mapping units, demonstrates its capability across the measured spectrum. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus delivers 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which proves sufficient for Steamworld Build's city-building demands even at 4K Ultra, where the 39.7 FPS result indicates memory bandwidth is not the primary constraint — rather, the compute load of the Ultra preset is.

The GPU's clock behavior, with a base of 1440 MHz and boost of 1710 MHz, appears well-matched to this workload. The 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are likely underutilized in a city builder, yet their presence contributes to the card's 80th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The RTX 3080's nearest rivals in average benchmark scores include the AMD Radeon Pro Duo at -0.2% delta and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at -0.9%, showing that this card sits in a competitive performance tier.

The VRAM capacity of 10 GB becomes a point of interest when examining the Ultra preset results. The 4K Ultra score of 39.7 FPS, while low, does not suggest VRAM overflow — the game remains functional, and the consistent scaling across resolutions implies that texture streaming is handled within the memory budget. The GDDR6X memory clock of 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective) provides the bandwidth necessary to feed the 96 ROPs at higher resolutions, though the pixel rate of 164.2 GPixel/s appears to be the limiting factor at 4K.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600KF brings 14 cores and 20 threads to the pairing, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and boost clock of 5.30 GHz. This Raptor Lake refresh processor, built on Intel's 10 nm process, offers substantial multi-threaded performance that benefits Steamworld Build's simulation-heavy gameplay. The CPU's L3 cache of 24 MB shared across cores provides the data locality needed for managing the large numbers of entities typical in city builders.

The CPU's benchmark results underscore its capabilities: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32889 and single-core score of 4643, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 15636. The PassMark multithread score of 38697 and floating point math score of 93048 indicate strong computational throughput for the game's logic and pathfinding calculations. The processor's 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs places it firmly in the high-performance tier, with nearest rivals including the Intel Core i5-14600K at 0.4% delta and AMD Ryzen 9 5950X at 0.6% delta.

The data suggests that at low settings, the CPU becomes more influential. The 1080p Low result of 297.4 FPS approaches the practical ceiling for many displays, and the gap between Low and Medium at 1080p (297.4 vs 230.1 FPS) indicates that the CPU can feed frames faster than the GPU can render them at minimal graphical settings. The 14-core configuration with 20 threads allows the game to distribute its simulation tasks effectively, preventing CPU bottlenecks even at high frame rates.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Steamworld Build?

A: The data shows 1440p High at 111 FPS as the strongest balance of visual quality and frame rate, with 1440p Medium reaching 147 FPS for smoother gameplay.

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

A: Yes, but only at Medium settings (73.9 FPS) or Low (101.4 FPS). High settings at 4K drop to 59.2 FPS, while Ultra falls to 39.7 FPS.

Q: Is the RTX 3080's 10 GB VRAM sufficient for this game?

A: The measured results show no VRAM-related crashes or severe drops, indicating the 10 GB GDDR6X memory handles Steamworld Build's requirements across all tested settings and resolutions.

Q: How does the i5-14600KF compare to its closest CPU rivals?

A: The i5-14600KF scores 0.4% above the Intel Core i5-14600K and 0.6% above the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X in average benchmark scores, while trailing the AMD EPYC 4345P by 0.5%.

Q: What frame rate can players expect at 1080p with this setup?

A: At 1080p, all settings exceed 115 FPS, with Low at 297.4 FPS, Medium at 230.1 FPS, High at 170.5 FPS, and Ultra at 115.4 FPS.

Q: Does the game become CPU-bound at any point?

A: The 1080p Low result of 297.4 FPS suggests the CPU can sustain very high frame rates, but the consistent FPS drops with increasing resolution indicate the GPU becomes the limiting factor as pixel count rises.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers exceptional performance across all presets. Low settings produce 297.4 FPS, Medium follows at 230.1 FPS, High drops to 170.5 FPS, and Ultra still manages 115.4 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra represents a 61% reduction in frame rate, highlighting the significant graphical load of the Ultra preset.

At 2560x1440, the results show a predictable step down. Low achieves 187.4 FPS, Medium hits 147 FPS, High reaches 111 FPS, and Ultra falls to 76.1 FPS. The Medium-to-High transition costs 36 FPS, while High-to-Ultra costs 34.9 FPS, demonstrating that each preset tier extracts a similar toll at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more demanding on the GPU. Low delivers 101.4 FPS, Medium drops to 73.9 FPS, High reaches 59.2 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 39.7 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured score below 40 FPS, making it the least playable configuration in the dataset.

Settings Recommendations

For players prioritizing smooth gameplay, the 1440p Medium preset at 147 FPS offers the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, as it exceeds 144 Hz refresh rates while maintaining reasonable graphical quality. At 4K, Medium settings at 73.9 FPS provide the only viable path to playable frame rates, though players with 60 Hz displays may find High at 59.2 FPS acceptable.

The Ultra preset is only recommended for 1080p displays, where 115.4 FPS remains well above playability thresholds. At 1440p, the Ultra setting's 76.1 FPS is functional but the visual gains over High's 111 FPS may not justify the 35 FPS sacrifice. For competitive or simulation-heavy play where frame rate consistency matters, the Low preset at 1080p (297.4 FPS) or 1440p (187.4 FPS) eliminates any potential CPU or GPU bottleneck.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core i5-14600KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 491st out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the 72nd percentile of all configurations. Given the GPU's 80th percentile ranking and the CPU's 93rd percentile ranking, the combo's overall position suggests that Steamworld Build's workload may not fully utilize the CPU's strengths, or that the GPU becomes the limiting factor in most tested scenarios.

The ranking implies that approximately 28% of tested combinations outperform this setup in this specific game, which is notable given the hardware's individual performance tiers. This discrepancy could indicate that Steamworld Build favors configurations with different GPU characteristics — perhaps those with higher memory capacities or different architectural strengths. The RTX 3080's nearest GPU rivals, including the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE at -0.9% delta, show that even small performance differences in synthetic benchmarks can translate to meaningful ranking shifts in gameplay scenarios.