Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build presents an unusual hardware challenge: it is a city builder that is far more demanding on the GPU than the genre typically suggests. This analysis examines the performance of the Intel Core i7-12700K paired with the Intel Arc B370, based on measured frame rate data. The combination yields playable results at lower resolutions, but the integrated graphics solution becomes the definitive bottleneck as resolution and settings increase, revealing a hardware pairing that is severely imbalanced for this specific title.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate data shows a steep and consistent performance cliff as resolution scales upward. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 95 FPS, which drops to 61 FPS at 1440p and further to 32 FPS at 4K. This represents a 36% reduction in performance from 1080p to 1440p, and a 66% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The pattern is not linear, indicating that the rendering workload increases disproportionately with pixel count.

Under High settings, the scaling is even more punishing. The combo achieves 55 FPS at 1080p, but falls to 35 FPS at 1440p and a mere 18 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 4K transition alone cuts frame rate by more than two-thirds, from 55 to 18 FPS. This dramatic drop suggests that the Arc B370, with its system-shared memory and 25 W TDP, is quickly overwhelmed by the fill-rate demands of higher resolutions.

The data reveals that this game is heavily GPU-bound at every resolution above 1080p. At 4K, even the Low preset cannot maintain a consistent 30 FPS, averaging only 32 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K is effectively unplayable at 12 FPS. The scaling behavior indicates that the limiting component is the graphics processor, not the CPU. The Core i7-12700K, with its 12 cores and 20 threads, has ample headroom for a simulation-heavy title, but the Arc B370 cannot translate that CPU capability into higher frame rates at high pixel counts.

The most telling data point is the gap between Low and Ultra settings at each resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 58 FPS (95 vs 37); at 1440p, it is 38 FPS (61 vs 23); and at 4K, it narrows to 20 FPS (32 vs 12). This convergence at higher resolutions confirms that the GPU is saturated, and additional graphical fidelity comes at a steep cost to frame rate. The Arc B370’s 1280 shading units and 20 ROPs simply cannot sustain the pixel throughput required for 4K rendering.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal balance between visual quality and frame rate is found at 1080p with Medium settings. This configuration produces an average of 73 FPS, with a minimum of 62 FPS and a maximum of 84 FPS. The minimum frame rate is above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a consistently smooth experience for a city builder where camera panning and zooming are frequent. The step up to High settings at the same resolution costs 18 FPS (73 to 55), which is a significant trade-off for marginal visual gains.

At 1440p, the Medium preset is the only viable option for playable performance, delivering 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS. This is below the 60 FPS ideal, but acceptable for a genre that does not require twitch reflexes. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 61 FPS, but the visual compromise is substantial. The High preset at 1440p drops to 35 FPS, which feels sluggish for camera movement. The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it only reaches 37 FPS at 1080p and falls to single digits at 4K.

For 4K, the data suggests that this hardware combo is not suitable for the resolution. Even the Low preset struggles to maintain 32 FPS, and the Medium preset dips to 25 FPS with a minimum of 21 FPS. The Ultra preset is a non-starter at 12 FPS. Users with a 4K display should either lower the resolution or accept that the game will run below 30 FPS at all settings. The measured data indicates that the Arc B370 is fundamentally limited to 1080p and, marginally, 1440p gaming for this title.

The recommendation hierarchy is clear: 1080p Medium is the sweet spot, 1440p Medium is a compromise, and 4K should be avoided. The 12 FPS difference between 1080p Medium and 1080p High (73 vs 55) is not worth the visual upgrade, given that the Medium preset already provides a stable frame rate. The 73 FPS average at 1080p Medium also leaves headroom for simulation complexity, which can increase as the city grows.

How This Combo Ranks

The Core i7-12700K and Arc B370 combination ranks 2683 out of 2924 tested combos for Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, a poor showing that reflects the GPU’s limitations rather than the CPU’s capabilities. The ranking is driven almost entirely by the Arc B370’s position in the graphics hierarchy, as the integrated part is not designed for sustained gaming workloads.

The GPU’s standalone benchmark score is 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, placing it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in the benchmark database are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, with a score of 1186 and a delta of -0.2%, and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, with a score of 1190 and a delta of -0.5%. These rivals are over a decade old, underscoring how far behind modern discrete GPUs the Arc B370 sits. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores slightly lower at 1168, a 1.4% delta, but this is a workstation part, not a gaming card.

The CPU, by contrast, is a strong performer. The Core i7-12700K scores 35287 on average across all benchmarks, placing it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-13600T at 35305 (delta -0.1%), the Intel Core i7-12700KF at 35365 (delta -0.2%), and the Intel Core i7-13700T at 35403 (delta -0.3%). The differences are negligible, within 0.4%, indicating that the CPU is well-matched to its peer group. The combo’s low rank is therefore a direct consequence of the GPU’s poor relative performance.

The data suggests that swapping the Arc B370 for a discrete GPU from the past decade would likely improve the combo’s rank, as the CPU has substantial headroom. The 2683rd place ranking out of 2924 is a clear signal that this pairing is not optimized for Steamworld Build. The CPU’s 84th percentile standing versus the GPU’s 5th percentile creates a massive imbalance, and the game’s performance reflects the weakest link.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. Low settings produce 95 FPS, Medium 73 FPS, High 55 FPS, and Ultra 37 FPS. The Medium preset’s minimum frame rate of 62 FPS and maximum of 84 FPS indicate a stable frame time distribution. The drop from Low to Medium is 22 FPS, from Medium to High is 18 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 18 FPS. Each settings tier costs roughly 20 FPS, showing a consistent scaling curve at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance falls off sharply. Low settings average 61 FPS, Medium 46 FPS, High 35 FPS, and Ultra 23 FPS. The Medium preset’s range of 39 to 53 FPS shows more variance than at 1080p, suggesting the GPU is working harder to maintain frame pacing. The gap between Low and Ultra is 38 FPS, which is smaller than the 58 FPS gap at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is nearing its ceiling. The High preset at 35 FPS is borderline playable, but the frame rate dips below 30 FPS during complex scenes.

At 3840x2160, the results are mostly unplayable. Low settings average 32 FPS, Medium 25 FPS, High 18 FPS, and Ultra 12 FPS. The Medium preset provides a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS, showing that the GPU cannot sustain 30 FPS even in the best-case scenarios. The Ultra preset’s 12 FPS is a slideshow. The resolution scaling from 1440p to 4K at Medium settings is a 46% drop (46 to 25 FPS), which is steeper than the 1080p to 1440p drop of 37% (73 to 46 FPS).

The data reveals that the Arc B370 has a hard limit around 95 FPS at 1080p Low, and it cannot exceed 61 FPS at 1440p regardless of settings. The 4K results are uniformly poor, with no preset reaching 40 FPS. The measured rows show a clear hierarchy: 1080p is the only resolution where the combo can achieve a consistent 60+ FPS experience, and only at Low or Medium settings.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with system-shared memory of unspecified size and bandwidth. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units, along with 10 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical peak performance is 6.144 TFLOPS for FP32 and 12.29 TFLOPS for FP16, with a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s.

The 25 W TDP is extraordinarily low for a gaming GPU, and the system-shared memory means that bandwidth is dependent on the CPU’s memory controller. The Core i7-12700K supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, but the lack of dedicated VRAM on the Arc B370 means that texture streaming and frame buffer operations compete with system memory traffic. This is a critical limitation for a city builder like Steamworld Build, where large maps and numerous entities demand significant memory bandwidth.

The GPU’s benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, a position that aligns with the measured FPS data. The nearest rival, the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570, is a mobile part from 2010, and the delta of -0.2% shows they are statistically equivalent. The 3DMark result of 1184 is the only benchmark available for this GPU, and it confirms that the Arc B370 is not a gaming-oriented part.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU’s 20 ROPs and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are insufficient for 4K rendering. At 4K Ultra, the 12 FPS average indicates that the pixel fill rate is the bottleneck, as the GPU cannot output frames fast enough to maintain even 15 FPS. The system-shared memory further exacerbates this, as the lack of dedicated VRAM likely causes stuttering and frame drops during texture-heavy scenes, although the measured data does not include min FPS values for all settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. It has 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its 20 PCIe Gen 4 lanes (CPU only) provide connectivity for discrete components. The 125 W TDP is typical for a desktop part, and the unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking.

The CPU’s benchmark results show strong multi-threaded performance. In Cinebench R23, it scores 19784 in multi-core and 1850.5 in single-core. Geekbench scores are 15790 multi-core and 2308 single-core. The 3DMark tests show scaling from 1043 in single-thread to 9276 in 16-thread and 9979 in max-thread tests. The PassMark multi-thread score is 34404, with a single-thread score of 4013. These results place the CPU in the 84th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35287.

For Steamworld Build, a city builder with significant simulation logic, the CPU’s 12 cores and 20 threads are more than sufficient. The game’s performance at 1080p Low (95 FPS) is likely CPU-limited, as the GPU can keep up with the relatively simple rendering workload. However, at higher resolutions, the CPU’s role diminishes as the GPU becomes the bottleneck. The data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo, as the FPS drops are directly correlated with resolution and settings increases.

The CPU’s nearest rivals all score within 0.4% of its average, indicating that the i7-12700K is a mature, well-optimized part. The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305 (delta -0.1%), the i7-12700KF scores 35365 (delta -0.2%), and the i7-13700T scores 35403 (delta -0.3%). These differences are within noise, meaning that swapping to any of these CPUs would not materially change Steamworld Build’s performance. The bottleneck is unequivocally the GPU.