Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder released in late 2023, presents a unique scaling challenge for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. The benchmark data reveals a configuration where the CPU and GPU roles shift dramatically depending on the resolution and quality preset selected. This analysis examines the measured frame rates, the balance between the six-core processor and the flagship Blackwell GPU, and the practical settings for playability.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and consistent pattern of performance degradation as resolution increases, but the magnitude of that drop is heavily influenced by the graphics settings. At the Low preset, the transition from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 reduces the average frame rate from 186.3 FPS to 160.4 FPS, a decline of 25.9 FPS. Moving further to 3840x2160 at Low yields 126.7 FPS, representing a total drop of 59.6 FPS from the 1080p baseline. This indicates that even at low graphical fidelity, the engine's rendering load at 4K is substantial, though the frame rates remain exceptionally high.

The scaling behavior changes character at the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the system produces 128.1 FPS, but this falls to 112.9 FPS at 1440p and then plummets to 60.1 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1440p to 4K at Ultra is far more severe than the corresponding drop at Low settings, suggesting a nonlinear relationship between resolution and rendering complexity. The data indicates that the RTX 5090's immense shading throughput, rated at 104.8 TFLOPS, is progressively saturated as pixel count and shader complexity rise, while the i5-9400's six threads become a limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU can otherwise run at very high speeds.

The High preset shows a different inflection point. From 1080p High at 149.3 FPS, the frame rate drops to 126.8 FPS at 1440p, and then to 89.9 FPS at 4K. This pattern suggests that the CPU is the primary constraint at 1080p, as the GPU has ample headroom. At 4K High, the 89.9 FPS result is closer to the 4K Low score of 126.7 FPS than to the 4K Ultra score of 60.1 FPS, indicating that the graphics card is still the dominant factor at this resolution, but the CPU's influence on minimum frame pacing becomes more noticeable.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090, with its 32 GB of GDDR7 memory and a 512-bit bus providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth, is a component with extraordinary capabilities. Its boost clock of 2407 MHz and 21760 shading units allow it to process geometry and pixel data at rates that far exceed what a six-core CPU from 2018 can feed at lower resolutions. The benchmark results indicate that the GPU's role in Steamworld Build is most critical at 4K resolution, where the pixel fill rate and texture rate, measured at 423.6 GPixel/s and 1,636.8 GTexel/s respectively, are heavily utilized.

At 1080p Low, the 186.3 FPS average is likely approaching the engine's simulation or draw-call limit, which is dictated by the CPU's 2.90 GHz base and 4.10 GHz boost clocks. The GPU's utilization is probably not at maximum during these frames, as the processor cannot issue commands fast enough. This is a classic CPU-bound scenario. Conversely, at 4K Ultra, the 60.1 FPS result shows that the GPU is now the bottleneck, as the RTX 5090 must render the full 8.3 million pixels with the highest quality shaders, and the 32 GB frame buffer is not a limiting factor given the game's modest size. The VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for any texture pack or mod, but the raw compute demand at Ultra settings is what drives the frame rate down.

The GPU's memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is a decisive advantage for 4K gaming, yet the measured data shows that Steamworld Build does not consistently exploit it to prevent frame rate drops. The gap between 4K High (89.9 FPS) and 4K Medium (115.3 FPS) is 25.4 FPS, while the gap between High and Ultra is 29.8 FPS, showing that each quality tier adds a substantial load. The GPU's performance percentile of 94 versus all GPUs underscores its top-tier status, but the pairing with a mid-range CPU from the Coffee Lake era creates a system where the GPU is often waiting on the processor.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 holds rank 554 out of 1730 tested combos for Steamworld Build. This places the system in the upper third of all configurations, which is a strong result given the age of the processor. The i5-9400's average benchmark score of 2305 puts it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i3-10305 with a score of 2300 and a delta of 0.2 percent, and the Intel Xeon E-2134 with a score of 2295 and a delta of 0.4 percent.

The ranking suggests that while the CPU is not a top-tier performer, the GPU's raw power compensates for the processor's limitations in this specific title. The combo rank of 554 indicates that many other pairings, likely with newer processors, achieve higher frame rates, but the RTX 5090's presence ensures that this system remains competitive. The CPU's percentile rank of 50 means it sits exactly at the median, but the GPU's percentile of 94 means it is near the top, creating an asymmetric configuration where the graphics card carries most of the performance weight. The delta percentages to the CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.6 percent, showing that the i5-9400 is in a tightly packed cluster of similar processors, none of which would dramatically change the results in this game.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance of visual quality and frame rate is achieved at the High preset across all resolutions. At 1920x1080 High, the system produces 149.3 FPS, which is smooth and leaves headroom for any background tasks. At 2560x1440 High, the 126.8 FPS result is still excellent for a city builder, where camera panning and zoom can show stutter if frame times vary. At 3840x2160 High, the 89.9 FPS is playable and provides a significant visual upgrade over Medium without the steep cost of Ultra.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for 4K use, as the 60.1 FPS result, while technically playable, risks dropping below 60 FPS during heavy simulation moments with many active buildings and citizens. The Medium preset is a viable alternative for 4K, offering 115.3 FPS, which is 25.4 frames higher than High but with reduced shadow and texture quality. For users with 1080p displays, the Ultra preset at 128.1 FPS is a good choice, as it uses the GPU's capacity without being constrained by the CPU. The Low preset is unnecessary on this hardware, as even at 4K it provides 126.7 FPS, which is higher than what most displays can refresh, and the visual fidelity loss is not justified.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the full range of settings yields a spread from 128.1 FPS at Ultra to 186.3 FPS at Low. The Medium preset delivers 170 FPS, while High reaches 149.3 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 16.3 FPS, and between Medium and High is 20.7 FPS, showing that each quality step has a measurable impact. At 2560x1440, the scores are 112.9 FPS at Ultra, 126.8 FPS at High, 143.4 FPS at Medium, and 160.4 FPS at Low. The 4K results show the most significant drops: Ultra at 60.1 FPS, High at 89.9 FPS, Medium at 115.3 FPS, and Low at 126.7 FPS.

The data reveals that the CPU's six cores become a bottleneck at 1080p Low, where the 186.3 FPS is likely near the engine's internal frame cap or simulation thread limit. The 4K Ultra result of 60.1 FPS is the only measured score that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this setting is the edge of the system's capability. The scalability from Low to Ultra at 4K shows a reduction of 66.6 FPS, which is a 52.5 percent decrease from the Low score, highlighting the substantial cost of the highest quality shaders and effects. The 1440p results are the most balanced, with all settings above 110 FPS, making this resolution the sweet spot for the i5-9400 and RTX 5090 combination in Steamworld Build.