Steamworld Build

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 lands at rank 861 out of 1,730 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it squarely in the middle of the database. This is a solid, mid-pack result for a city builder, where the combination of a strong 12-core processor and a current-gen graphics card produces dependable frame rates across most settings. The rank reflects a balanced pairing rather than an outlier; neither component dominates the other in a way that would push this combo dramatically higher or lower.

The CPU itself sits in the 89th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 35,355. Its nearest rivals—the Intel Core i5-14400, Core i7-13800H, Core i9-12900HX, and Core i5-13600T—are all within a 0.3% deltaPct of its score, meaning the i7-12700KF is statistically tied with these chips in raw compute. The GPU, meanwhile, holds the 73rd percentile among all graphics cards, with an average score of 30,109. Its closest competitor, the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT, matches it exactly with a 0% deltaPct, while the RX 570 trails by 0.2% and the RTX 5070 Mobile leads by 0.6%. This tells us the RTX 5060 is a capable but not class-leading card, which aligns with the combo's mid-table placement in this specific game.

GPU Role

The RTX 5060 brings 8 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 128-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock runs at 2280 MHz, boosting to 2497 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). These specs are directly reflected in Steamworld Build's measured results, where the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution and settings. The card's 3,840 shading units, 120 TMUs, and 48 ROPs provide ample throughput for a city builder's rendering demands, which tend to favor fill rate over complex shading.

In this game, the RTX 5060 shows clear signs of being the primary bottleneck at higher settings. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 29.7 FPS, while dropping to 4K High yields 44.2 FPS—a 33% improvement from a single settings tier. The GPU's 19.18 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 119.9 GPixel/s pixel rate are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 4K Ultra result suggests the card's 8 GB frame buffer and 128-bit memory interface are strained by the game's highest preset. The RTX 5060's 30 RT cores and 120 tensor cores support DirectX 12 Ultimate, but Steamworld Build's results indicate rasterization is the dominant workload here.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 5060 in Steamworld Build?

A: No. The i7-12700KF scores in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with a multithreaded 3DMark score of 9,983 and a single-thread score of 1,043. The GPU, in contrast, sits in the 73rd percentile, making it the more likely limiting factor at higher settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5060 compare to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The RTX 5060's average benchmark score of 30,109 is virtually identical to the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT (30,097, 0% deltaPct), slightly behind the RX 570 (30,158, -0.2% deltaPct), and ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla M60 (29,969, 0.5% deltaPct) and RTX 5070 Mobile (29,928, 0.6% deltaPct).

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

A: At 1440p High, the combo delivers 90 FPS, and at 1080p High it hits 138.5 FPS. For a smooth experience, 1440p High is the sweet spot, as 4K High drops to 44.2 FPS and 4K Ultra falls to 29.7 FPS.

Q: Does the i7-12700KF's 12-core configuration help in this game?

A: The CPU's 12 cores and 20 threads provide strong multithreaded performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28,979. Steamworld Build, as a city builder, benefits from this for simulation and AI workloads, though the GPU still governs frame rates at high settings.

Q: How does this combo perform at 1080p across settings?

A: At 1080p, the combo ranges from 236.6 FPS on Low to 92.4 FPS on Ultra, with Medium at 185.1 FPS and High at 138.5 FPS. All presets are playable, but Ultra shows a significant drop from High.

Q: Is the RTX 5060's 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Steamworld Build?

A: The 8 GB frame buffer appears adequate at 1080p and 1440p, where the combo maintains playable frame rates. At 4K Ultra, the 29.7 FPS result suggests VRAM capacity or bandwidth is a limiting factor.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of performance across three resolutions and four settings tiers. At 1920x1080, the combo delivers 236.6 FPS on Low, 185.1 FPS on Medium, 138.5 FPS on High, and 92.4 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 61%, with the largest single-step decline occurring between High and Ultra, a 33% reduction. At 2560x1440, results are 148.6 FPS on Low, 114.7 FPS on Medium, 90 FPS on High, and 58 FPS on Ultra. The step from High to Ultra here is a 36% drop, slightly steeper than at 1080p. At 3840x2160, the combo manages 81.5 FPS on Low, 60.4 FPS on Medium, 44.2 FPS on High, and 29.7 FPS on Ultra. The gap between High and Ultra widens to 33%, but the absolute numbers are low enough that only Low and Medium are truly smooth.

Comparing resolutions at the same settings, the scaling is consistent. At High, moving from 1080p to 1440p reduces frame rate by 35%, and from 1440p to 4K by 51%. At Ultra, the corresponding drops are 37% and 49%. This pattern indicates the RTX 5060's rendering load scales with pixel count, while the CPU maintains sufficient headroom at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on Alder Lake architecture, fabricated on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz boosts to 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The chip's cache hierarchy—80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 25 MB shared L3—supports both single-threaded and multithreaded workloads effectively. Benchmark scores reinforce this: Cinebench R23 multicore hits 28,979, while single-core reaches 4,091. Geekbench shows 13,596 multicore and 2,526 single-core, and PassMark multithread scores 34,092.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is secondary to the GPU at higher settings, but it becomes more relevant at 1080p Low, where the combo reaches 236.6 FPS. At that point, the i7-12700KF's single-thread performance—a 3DMark single-thread score of 1,043 and PassMark single-thread of 3,984—ensures the game's simulation logic doesn't bottleneck frame delivery. The CPU's 89th percentile ranking and near-tie with the Core i5-14400 (0.1% deltaPct) indicate it has ample headroom for this genre, where city-building simulations can tax processor cores during large-scale construction.

Settings Recommendations

The data points to High as the optimal preset for most users. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 138.5 FPS, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold and only 33% lower than Medium's 185.1 FPS. At 1440p High, the 90 FPS result remains smooth, and even at 4K High, the 44.2 FPS is borderline playable but not ideal. Ultra, by contrast, offers diminishing returns: 92.4 FPS at 1080p and 58 FPS at 1440p, but a steep drop to 29.7 FPS at 4K. For 4K users, Medium at 60.4 FPS is the highest preset that maintains playability.

For competitive or high-refresh-rate play, Low at 1080p provides 236.6 FPS, but the visual fidelity loss is significant. The best balance of quality and performance is 1440p High, which retains 90 FPS while offering a substantial visual upgrade over Medium. Given that the combo's rank is mid-pack, these settings align with its capabilities; pushing Ultra at 4K is not recommended based on the measured 29.7 FPS result.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a GPU-bound system. At High settings, performance drops from 138.5 FPS at 1080p to 90 FPS at 1440p (a 35% reduction) and then to 44.2 FPS at 4K (a 51% reduction from 1440p). At Ultra, the same pattern holds: 92.4 to 58 to 29.7 FPS, with reductions of 37% and 49%. This consistent scaling indicates the RTX 5060's rendering throughput is the limiting factor, as resolution increases place proportionally higher demands on the GPU's pixel rate and memory bandwidth.

The CPU's contribution is evident at lower resolutions, where the i7-12700KF's strong single-thread scores allow frame rates to exceed 200 FPS at 1080p Low. However, the GPU's 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 128-bit bus become constraints at 4K, particularly at Ultra where the 8 GB VRAM and 29.7 FPS result suggest the card is saturated. The scaling pattern—nearly linear reductions in frame rate with pixel count—confirms that this combo is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, with 4K reserved for Medium settings or lower.