Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that scales unusually well with hardware, and the measured results from the Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 show a clear hierarchy where resolution and preset choices dramatically alter the playable experience. The data reveals a system that is thoroughly GPU-bound at lower settings, but which transitions into a more balanced state as both resolution and graphical fidelity increase. This combination delivers a broad range of average frame rates, from a highly playable 55.6 FPS at 4K Ultra to a blistering 186.8 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating that the pairing is capable of handling both competitive-speed play and visually demanding simulation.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is significant, but the magnitude of that drop depends heavily on the chosen graphics preset, revealing where the bottleneck lies. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 results in a 59.2 FPS decline (from 186.8 to 127.6), which is a 31.7% reduction. This relatively modest percentage drop, given the 4x pixel count increase, strongly indicates that at Low settings, the system is not purely limited by pixel throughput; the CPU and GPU are still working in a somewhat balanced state, though the GPU is beginning to take on more load. The fact that the frame rate remains above 120 FPS at 4K Low suggests the RTX 4090 has enormous headroom in this title when visual effects are reduced.

However, the scaling becomes much steeper as the preset climbs to Ultra. At the Ultra preset, the frame rate falls from 126.4 FPS at 1080p to just 55.6 FPS at 4K, a drop of 70.8 FPS (56.0%). This far more aggressive decline is classic evidence of the GPU becoming the definitive limiting component. The RTX 4090’s massive processing resources, including its 16,384 shading units and 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, are being saturated by the combination of high resolution and maximum visual effects, such as advanced lighting and shadow calculations. The data shows that while the GPU can brute-force 1080p Ultra with ease, the 4K Ultra workload is a different beast entirely, cutting the playable frame rate nearly in half compared to 1080p.

Examining the scaling at the High preset provides a middle-ground perspective. Moving from 1080p High (149.8 FPS) to 1440p High (129.3 FPS) is a modest 20.5 FPS drop (13.7%), suggesting the GPU is still comfortably ahead of the workload. But pushing further to 4K High (82.2 FPS) incurs a much larger 47.1 FPS penalty (36.4%), signaling that the GPU is now straining under the pixel load. This pattern—a gentle slope from 1080p to 1440p followed by a cliff to 4K—is typical for a high-end GPU that only begins to feel the pressure at the extreme pixel counts. The 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth are sufficient even at 4K, but the sheer number of pixels and the complexity of the effects at High and Ultra ultimately cap the performance.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark measurements clearly indicate that the Low preset offers the highest raw frame rates, but the experience varies wildly by resolution. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves 186.8 FPS, which is extraordinarily fast, yet the jump to Medium (167.4 FPS) and then High (149.8 FPS) shows that the GPU is barely being challenged, losing only about 19.9% of its performance from Low to High. For players with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the High preset is the sweet spot, delivering a smooth 149.8 FPS while presumably offering much better visual fidelity than Low. The Ultra preset at 1080p still manages a very respectable 126.4 FPS, showing that the RTX 4090 can handle maximum settings at this resolution without sacrificing playability.

Moving to 2560x1440, the data suggests that High is the optimal balance. At High, the system produces 129.3 FPS, which is a 16.3% reduction from the 1080p High score. The Medium preset at 141.9 FPS is only 9.9% faster than High, making it a less compelling choice given the likely visual upgrade from High. The Ultra preset at 1440p still hits 109.5 FPS, which is smooth, but the 15.3% penalty over High is noteworthy. For a city builder where you are often zoomed out and looking at large areas, the improved draw distances and object detail of High over Medium are likely worth the modest frame rate cost.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. The High preset at 82.2 FPS is playable, but it is a 36.4% drop from the 1440p High result. The Medium preset at 110.6 FPS is a much more attractive option, retaining a comfortable margin above 60 FPS while still offering a significant visual upgrade over Low (127.6 FPS). The Ultra preset, at 55.6 FPS, falls below the 60 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for a smooth experience in a simulation game. Therefore, the measurements suggest that 4K users should stick to Medium or High to maintain a fluid frame rate, reserving Ultra for cinematic screenshots or slower-paced play where the frame rate is less critical.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400, a six-core, six-thread Coffee Lake processor with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, plays a critical but secondary role in this pairing. With a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 7969 and a single-core score of 1125, the CPU is a capable mid-range part, but it is not in the same performance class as the RTX 4090. The benchmark results show that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 186.8 FPS, which indicates the CPU is able to feed the GPU enough frames to prevent a severe bottleneck at lower settings. However, the gap between 1080p Low and 1080p Medium is only 19.4 FPS (186.8 to 167.4), suggesting that as the GPU load increases with better visuals, the CPU is still keeping pace.

The real test of the CPU comes when looking at the scaling from 1440p to 1080p at the same settings. For example, at the High preset, the frame rate improves from 129.3 FPS at 1440p to 149.8 FPS at 1080p, an increase of 20.5 FPS. This improvement shows that the CPU is not a hard limit; it can push more frames when the GPU has less pixel work to do. Yet, the fact that the 1080p Low score (186.8) is only 20.0% higher than the 1080p High score (149.8) indicates that the CPU is starting to become a factor. A more powerful CPU might be able to push the 1080p Low score higher, but the data shows this i5-9400 is sufficient to keep the RTX 4090 well-fed at standard gaming resolutions.

The processor’s 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s are adequate for a game like Steamworld Build, which likely relies on a single primary game thread for simulation logic. The Cinebench R20 single-core score of 472 suggests that the CPU’s per-thread performance is modest by modern standards. In this context, the 50th percentile ranking among all CPUs (percentileVsAllCpus) confirms it is an average performer. The benchmark data shows that while the CPU can keep up with the GPU at lower resolutions, it is likely the limiting factor for achieving the absolute highest frame rates above 150 FPS, as the GPU has significant headroom left on the table.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the database of tested hardware combinations, the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 pairing holds a specific position. The comboRankInGame indicates a rank of 606 out of 1730 tested combos, placing it in the top 35% of all system configurations for this game. This is a strong showing, but it is not a top-tier ranking. The data implies that while the RTX 4090 is a flagship GPU, the older i5-9400 pulls the overall combo ranking down. A system with a more modern, higher-core-count CPU would likely rank much higher, as the GPU is clearly capable of more.

This ranking is particularly interesting because the GPU itself is a top performer. The RTX 4090 sits in the 91st percentile among all GPUs (percentileVsAllGpus) and has an average benchmark score of 66,473. In contrast, the CPU’s 50th percentile ranking illustrates the mismatch. The combo’s 606th place out of 1,730 suggests that many other tested configurations, likely those pairing the RTX 4090 with a more powerful recent processor, achieve better frame rates. The data confirms that this is a case where the GPU is the star, but the CPU is a limiting partner that prevents the system from reaching the absolute top tier of performance in this benchmark database.

The performance gap to other combos is evident in the measured FPS. While the RTX 4090’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks—such as the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (avg score 66,733) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (avg score 67,097)—show it is not the absolute fastest in every test, the in-game results are what matter. The measured FPS data shows that this specific combo can deliver 149.8 FPS at 1080p High, but a combo with a faster CPU might push that number higher. The ranking of 606 suggests that there are roughly 600 other CPU/GPU pairs that produce better overall results in Steamworld Build, likely due to a more balanced pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this system, and the benchmark results show it is responsible for pushing the high frame rates at lower resolutions. With a massive 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s, the GPU has ample resources for even the most detailed cityscapes. Its boost clock of 2520 MHz and 16,384 shading units allow it to process geometry and effects at an incredible rate. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the GPU is barely taxed, achieving 186.8 FPS, which confirms its raw power. The fact that it can still deliver 126.4 FPS at 1080p Ultra, a 32.3% drop from Low, shows how the visual effects start to engage the GPU's compute units.

The GPU’s role becomes even more defined at 4K. At 4K Low, the RTX 4090 produces 127.6 FPS, which is a 31.7% drop from 1080p Low. This is a smaller relative drop than the 56.0% reduction seen at Ultra, showing that the GPU is more sensitive to the combination of high resolution and complex shaders. The Ultra preset at 4K (55.6 FPS) is the only configuration that brings the GPU to its knees, indicating that the 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is fully utilized by the extreme settings. The 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores also contribute to this load, likely handling advanced lighting and any DLSS-related features, although the data does not specify if those are enabled.

The GPU’s performance is also reflected in its synthetic benchmarks. A Passmark G3D score of 38,194 and a Geekbench OpenCL score of 317,684 place it far ahead of typical consumer parts. However, the nearestRivals data shows that in synthetic tests, it is closely matched with professional workstation cards like the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (avg score 66,127) and the Quadro P6000 (avg score 67,320), with deltaPct values of 0.5% and -1.3% respectively. This indicates that while the RTX 4090 is a gaming monster, its raw compute is comparable to some pro-grade cards. In Steamworld Build, the measured FPS proves that this GPU is the engine driving the experience, and its only limitation is the older CPU that precedes it in the pipeline.