Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder where the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination demonstrates a clear shift in bottleneck behavior depending on the resolution. At 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, delivering exceptional frame rates that scale dramatically with graphical settings. As resolution increases to 4K, the load transitions to the GPU, resulting in a significant performance drop that highlights the RTX 4070's capabilities and limitations at higher pixel counts.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic resolution-dependent bottleneck shift. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces an average of 311 FPS, which is an extraordinary figure indicating that the CPU is the limiting factor, as the GPU has ample headroom. Moving to 1440p at the same Low settings, the average drops to 198 FPS, a 36% reduction that still leaves the system far above playable thresholds. At 4K Low, the average falls to 104 FPS, which is still smooth but demonstrates the increasing burden on the GPU.

The High settings profile tells a similar story. At 1080p, the average is 178 FPS, which is a 43% reduction from the Low setting, showing how graphical fidelity impacts the CPU-bound scenario. At 1440p High, the average is 113 FPS, and at 4K High, it drops to 60 FPS. This 60 FPS figure at 4K High is precisely where the GPU begins to be the primary constraint, as the pixel count demands more from the RTX 4070's 12 GB of VRAM and 504.2 GB/s bandwidth.

The most telling data point is the Ultra setting. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 120 FPS, which is still very high. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 76 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to just 40 FPS. This 40 FPS result at 4K Ultra is a 67% reduction from the 1080p Ultra figure, indicating that the RTX 4070 is fully saturated at this configuration. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 64 FPS (104 vs 40), whereas at 1080p the gap is 191 FPS (311 vs 120). This compression of the settings range at 4K confirms that the GPU is the limiting component at higher resolutions.

The data suggests that for a smooth 60 FPS experience, the system can handle 4K High settings but not 4K Ultra. For 1440p, all settings are playable, with even Ultra maintaining an average above 75 FPS. At 1080p, the system is so powerful that the CPU becomes the bottleneck, and the user is likely to be limited by their monitor's refresh rate rather than the hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070, with its 12 GB of GDDR6X memory and 192-bit bus width, provides a memory bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. This is a critical specification for Steamworld Build, as city builders often require large texture buffers and complex scene rendering. The GPU's boost clock of 2475 MHz and base clock of 1920 MHz, combined with 5888 shading units, deliver a peak FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS. These figures explain the GPU's ability to maintain high frame rates at 1440p and its struggle at 4K Ultra.

The VRAM capacity is particularly relevant when examining the 4K results. At 4K Medium, the system achieves an average of 80 FPS with a minimum of 68 FPS and maximum of 92 FPS. This suggests that the 12 GB frame buffer is sufficient for Medium settings, but the jump to Ultra at 4K causes a severe drop to 40 FPS. This halving of performance from Medium to Ultra at 4K indicates a memory bandwidth limitation rather than a pure compute constraint, as the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth becomes the bottleneck when texture sizes and effects increase.

The GPU's 184 TMUs and 64 ROPs contribute to its texture fill rate of 455.4 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 158.4 GPixel/s. These numbers are impressive for a 40-series card, but the data shows that Steamworld Build's Ultra settings at 4K require more than what the RTX 4070 can deliver. The card's percentile rank of 81 among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 37648, places it in the upper tier, but the measured FPS results show that even a top-20% GPU struggles with this game's highest settings at 4K.

The RTX 4070's nearest rivals in terms of average benchmark score include the NVIDIA Tesla P4 (deltaPct 0.1), AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (deltaPct 0.4), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (deltaPct -1.3). These comparisons show that the desktop RTX 4070 is closely matched with a mobile RTX 4080, which is noteworthy given the power and thermal constraints of mobile parts. However, in Steamworld Build specifically, the measured FPS indicates that the card's real-world performance is more nuanced than synthetic benchmarks suggest.

FAQ

Q: Can this system achieve 60 FPS at 4K with the RTX 4070 and i7-12700KF?

A: Yes, at High settings the combo averages 60 FPS at 3840x2160. However, at Ultra settings the average drops to 40 FPS, so users seeking 60 FPS at 4K must stick to High or lower settings.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at Medium settings?

A: At 1080p Medium, the average is 238 FPS, while at 1440p Medium it is 151 FPS. This is a 37% reduction, indicating that even at Medium settings, the resolution increase has a substantial impact on frame rate.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data indicates the CPU is the limiting factor at 1080p. The fact that Low settings produce 311 FPS and Ultra produces 120 FPS suggests the GPU is not fully utilized until the resolution increases, as the CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are handling the game simulation logic.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 compare to its nearest rival, the RTX 4080 Mobile?

A: In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 4070 scores 37648 on average, which is 1.3% lower than the RTX 4080 Mobile's score of 38135. This indicates they are nearly identical in raw compute performance, though the desktop card may have different thermal behavior.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this combo in Steamworld Build?

A: The only minimum FPS values provided are for Medium settings. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 202 FPS; at 1440p Medium, it is 129 FPS; and at 4K Medium, it is 68 FPS. No minimum FPS data is available for Low, High, or Ultra settings.

Q: Does the CPU's performance in Steamworld Build match its synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i7-12700KF has an average benchmark score of 35365, which is 85th percentile among all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the i7-13700T, scores 35403 with a deltaPct of -0.1, indicating they are statistically tied. The measured FPS in Steamworld Build confirms the CPU's strength, as it maintains high frame rates at 1080p across all settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 ranks 818th out of 3706 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the top 22% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the game's city-building genre that typically favors CPU performance. The rank of 818 out of 3706 means that roughly 2888 other combos are slower, while 817 are faster.

This ranking is particularly impressive when considering the CPU's percentile of 85 and the GPU's percentile of 81. The fact that the combo ranks higher than the arithmetic average of these individual percentiles suggests that the pairing is well-balanced for this specific game. The i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads provide ample processing power for the simulation-heavy aspects of Steamworld Build, while the RTX 4070's 12 GB VRAM handles the graphical load efficiently.

The rank also indicates that while there are faster combos, they likely consist of more expensive or newer hardware. For a 12th-generation CPU and 40-series GPU, achieving a top-22% ranking in a 2023 city builder is a commendable result. The data shows that this combo is not the absolute fastest, but it is more than capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and it can handle 4K at reduced settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF 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. Its 25 MB of shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB per-core L2 cache provide fast access to game data, which is crucial for city builders where many entities are simulated simultaneously. The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071 demonstrate its strong multi-threaded and single-threaded performance.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is most evident at 1080p resolution. The data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 311 FPS, which is a 57% increase over the 4K Low result of 104 FPS. This massive difference at Low settings, where the GPU is less taxed, indicates that the CPU is capable of driving very high frame rates when the pixel count is low. The CPU's Passmark multi-thread score of 34092 and single-thread score of 3984 support this, as they show strong performance in both threaded and single-threaded workloads.

The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads are particularly well-suited for Steamworld Build's simulation logic. The game likely uses multiple threads for pathfinding, resource management, and building placement, which would benefit from the i7-12700KF's hybrid architecture of performance and efficiency cores. The CPU's 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 indicate that it scales well with multi-threaded workloads, which is essential for maintaining high frame rates as the player's city grows.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the i7-13700T and i5-13600T, with deltaPct values of -0.1 and 0.2 respectively. This means the i7-12700KF is essentially tied with these newer 13th-generation parts, showing that for this game, the older CPU is still highly competitive. The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs further confirms that it is a high-performance part that does not bottleneck the RTX 4070 in most scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Steamworld Build with the i7-12700KF and RTX 4070 is as follows:

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 104 FPS average
• Medium: 80 FPS average, with a minimum of 68 FPS and maximum of 92 FPS
• High: 60 FPS average
• Ultra: 40 FPS average

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 198 FPS average
• Medium: 151 FPS average, with a minimum of 129 FPS and maximum of 174 FPS
• High: 113 FPS average
• Ultra: 76 FPS average

At 1920x1080:

• Low: 311 FPS average
• Medium: 238 FPS average, with a minimum of 202 FPS and maximum of 274 FPS
• High: 178 FPS average
• Ultra: 120 FPS average

These numbers reveal a consistent pattern of frame rate scaling. At each resolution, the difference between Low and Ultra is substantial. At 1080p, the range is 191 FPS (311 to 120), at 1440p it is 122 FPS (198 to 76), and at 4K it is 64 FPS (104 to 40). This narrowing range at higher resolutions underscores the GPU becoming the limiting factor.

The Medium settings provide the most detailed data, as it is the only profile with minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 238 FPS with a 72 FPS swing between minimum and maximum. At 1440p Medium, the average is 151 FPS with a 45 FPS swing. At 4K Medium, the average is 80 FPS with a 24 FPS swing. This decreasing variance at higher resolutions indicates more consistent frame pacing as the GPU workload becomes more uniform.

The High settings profile shows a 60 FPS average at 4K, which is exactly the threshold for smooth gameplay. This suggests that users targeting 4K should use High settings for the best balance of visual quality and performance. The Ultra profile at 4K, with its 40 FPS average, is likely to feel choppy for most players, especially in a city builder where camera movement can exacerbate frame rate drops. For 1440p and 1080p, all settings are playable, with even Ultra at 1440p maintaining a 76 FPS average and Ultra at 1080p hitting 120 FPS.