Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder from late 2023, presents an interesting case for hardware analysis. The measured performance of the Intel Core i7-12700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 shows that this genre, often less dependent on raw GPU power, still scales dramatically with resolution and settings. The data reveals a system capable of crushing 1080p and 1440p workloads but one that can be brought to its knees by the sheer demand of 4K Ultra. This combination sits at rank 685 out of 3706 tested combos, placing it within the top 20% of all system configurations benchmarked for this title. By dissecting the measured FPS across resolutions and presets, we can determine where the bottlenecks truly lie and what the optimal experience is for the data provided.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Steamworld Build shows that resolution scaling is a brutal mistress, but the pattern is not uniform across all settings presets. At the High preset, performance drops from 190 FPS at 1080p to 121 FPS at 1440p, a decrease of 36%. Moving from 1440p to 4K (3840x2160) sees another drop from 121 FPS to 64 FPS, a further 47% reduction. This steep decline from 1440p to 4K strongly suggests that the system is crossing a threshold where the GPU's rendering capabilities, particularly its fill rate and memory bandwidth, become the primary limiting factor. The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus with 672.0 GB/s bandwidth is substantial, but the sheer pixel count at 4K appears to overwhelm it when effects are at their typical quality.

The scaling at the Medium preset is slightly different in magnitude but similar in slope. At 1080p, the system produces 254 FPS, which drops to 162 FPS at 1440p (a 36% reduction), and then to 85 FPS at 4K (a 48% reduction from 1440p). The fact that the percentage drops are similar between High and Medium presets indicates that the GPU is still the primary constraint when moving up in resolution. Even at the lowest of these settings, the Low preset sees the system produce 332 FPS at 1080p, which is quite high, but this drops to 211 FPS at 1440p and 112 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low figure of 112 FPS is still very playable, but the drop from 211 to 112 is a 47% reduction, consistent with the other presets.

The most telling data point for resolution scaling is the Ultra preset. At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 128 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 82 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it collapses to 43 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K here is a 48% drop, which is in line with the other presets, but the absolute 43 FPS at 4K Ultra suggests the game is hitting a wall of combined GPU and memory pressure. The fact that all presets show roughly a 47-48% performance hit when moving from 1440p to 4K is a strong indicator that the RTX 5070's pixel throughput is the bottleneck, not the CPU, as the CPU's workload would not change as dramatically with resolution. The data implies that for 4K play, the user is always GPU-bound regardless of settings, but the GPU can handle the lower presets if the resolution is the priority.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, which blends performance and efficiency cores. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is to simulate the city's systems, manage agents, and handle the game's logic. The high boost clock is important for single-threaded tasks, and the 12 cores provide the multi-threading headroom that a city builder can use as the population grows and the simulation becomes more complex.

Benchmark data for the i7-12700KF shows a 3DMark 16-thread score of 9282, a max-threads score of 9983, and a single-thread score of 1043. While these are synthetic benchmarks, they indicate a strong multi-threaded performance capability. The CPU's percentile rank against all CPUs is 85, meaning it outperforms 85% of all CPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the Intel Core i7-13700T is nearly identical at -0.1% deltaPct, and the Intel Core i5-13600T is at +0.2% deltaPct. This tells us that the 12th-gen i7 is still a very competitive processor for this game, and the 20 threads are likely sufficient for the title's threading model.

In the context of the measured FPS, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at any resolution. The proof lies in the fact that at 1080p Low, the system produces 332 FPS, a number that is so high that it suggests the CPU is keeping up with the GPU's output. If the CPU were a limiting factor, we would see a plateau in FPS at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. Instead, the FPS keeps climbing as resolution drops, which is a clear sign of a GPU-limited system. The CPU's multi-threading capability is likely the reason why the game can reach such high frame rates in less demanding scenarios. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz is also crucial for single-threaded physics and AI calculations that could otherwise stall the frame. The data suggests that the i7-12700KF is a robust partner for the RTX 5070 in this title, providing no meaningful limitation up to 4K Ultra.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data offers clear guidance on the best settings for this combo. For players who want a smooth, high-refresh experience at 1080p, the High preset is the ideal choice. At 190 FPS, it is well above the 144Hz refresh rate, and it looks better than Low. The Ultra preset at 128 FPS is also viable for high-refresh 1080p, but the drop from Medium's 254 FPS to Ultra's 128 FPS is substantial, and the visual improvement may not justify the 50% performance hit. The Medium preset at 254 FPS is actually the most balanced, offering a 216 FPS minimum and a 292 FPS maximum, which is perfect for 144Hz and 240Hz displays, though the visual quality difference between Medium and High is not specified in the data.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 121 FPS, which is good for a 120Hz monitor. The Medium preset gives 162 FPS, which is even better, but the data shows that Medium at 1440p has a minimum FPS of 137 and a maximum of 186, which is a solid range. The Ultra preset at 1440p falls to 82 FPS, which is still playable but may feel less smooth for a 120Hz or 144Hz screen. The Low preset at 1440p is unnecessary for competitive play, but the 211 FPS it produces confirms the system's power.

The 4K data is more complex. For 4K, the High preset produces 64 FPS, which is just around the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset at 4K gives 85 FPS, which is a sweet spot for 4K gaming on a 60Hz or a 75Hz monitor, and it has a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS, indicating a consistent experience. The Ultra preset at 4K drops to 43 FPS, which is not ideal for a smooth experience. The Low preset at 4K gives 112 FPS, but the visual quality is likely too low for a 4K display. Therefore, the best experience for 4K is the Medium preset, as it provides the best balance of visual quality and playability, delivering 85 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS. The High preset is also acceptable, but the Medium preset is the most recommended for 4K, considering the data shows the High preset is only 64 FPS. The data indicates that the player should not attempt Ultra at 4K with this hardware, as it drops to 43 FPS.

How This Combo Ranks

This particular combination of Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks at 685th place out of 3706 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This rank puts the system in the top 18.5% of all configurations tested, which is a strong showing. The percentileVsAllCpus for the CPU is 85, and the percentileVsAllGpus for the GPU is 82, meaning both components are in the top 20% of their respective categories. This suggests that the combo rank is a reflection of two powerful components working together.

The rank is particularly meaningful because it indicates that the system is likely not held back by a weak component. The CPU's nearest rival is the Intel Core i7-13700T, which is only -0.1% away in average score, and the Intel Core i5-13600T is at +0.2%. This means the i7-12700KF is performing at a level essentially identical to these rivals. The GPU's nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, which are 0.1% and 0.8% higher, respectively, and the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 is 1.2% lower. These are all close, indicating that the RTX 5070 is a solid performer. The rank of 685 is a high-water mark for this tier of hardware. The data shows that the combo is well-matched, and the performance is not held back by either the CPU or GPU, but rather by the game's engine or the settings chosen.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is a Blackwell 2.0 architecture GPU with a base clock of 2325 MHz and a boost clock of 2512 MHz. It has 6144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs. The memory configuration is 12 GB of GDDR7 on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This memory bandwidth is a critical factor for a city builder, which often has to stream in textures for the city as the camera moves. The GPU's pixel rate is 201.0 GPixel/s, and the texture rate is 482.3 GTexel/s. The FP32 performance is 30.87 TFLOPS.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role is to render the city, its buildings, and the environment. The data shows that the GPU is the primary bottleneck in this system, especially as resolution and settings increase. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra is only 43 FPS, which is a clear sign of GPU limitation. The 12 GB of GDDR7 memory is likely not a capacity issue at 4K, as the game is not a typical memory hog, but the bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s is being taxed by the 4K resolution. The 192-bit bus width is narrower than some higher-end GPUs, which can limit performance at high resolutions. The RTX 5070's performance is in the 82nd percentile of all GPUs, and its nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, which are close in score, indicating that the RTX 5070 is a standard performer for its class. The GPU's 250 W TDP is a rated power draw, and the peak performance is achieved at 4K Medium, where the 85 FPS is a good number. The boost clock of 2512 MHz likely helps in keeping the frame times consistent, as seen in the Medium preset at 1440p, where the minimum is 137 FPS and the maximum is 186 FPS. The GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores are likely not heavily utilized in this game, which does not appear to be a ray-tracing-heavy title, so the raw pixel pushing power is what matters, and the data shows it is adequate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data is the core of this analysis. At 1920x1080 (1080p), the system delivers 332 FPS on Low, 254 FPS on Medium, 190 FPS on High, and 128 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset at 1080p has a minimum of 216 FPS and a maximum of 292 FPS, which is a very stable frame rate. This shows that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-limited at low settings, but the GPU still has headroom to deliver high frame rates even on Ultra. The gap between Low and Medium is 78 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 64 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 62 FPS, showing a consistent scaling of 1 FPS per setting level.

At 2560x1440 (1440p), the performance drops to 211 FPS on Low, 162 FPS on Medium, 121 FPS on High, and 82 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset's minimum is 137 FPS and the maximum is 186 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 121 FPS for Low, 92 FPS for Medium, 69 FPS for High, and 46 FPS for Ultra. The percentage drops are 36%, 36%, 36%, and 36%, respectively, which is a uniform scaling. This is a clear sign that the GPU is the limiting factor, as the cost of rendering more pixels is consistent across settings. The 1440p High preset is still a playable 121 FPS, but the Medium preset at 162 FPS is the best for high refresh rates.

At 3840x2160 (4K), the performance is 112 FPS on Low, 85 FPS on Medium, 64 FPS on High, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The Medium preset has a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 98 FPS. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 99 FPS for Low, 77 FPS for Medium, 57 FPS for High, and 39 FPS for Ultra. The percentage drops are 47%, 48%, 47%, and 48%, respectively, which is again uniform. The 4K Medium preset is the most balanced, offering 85 FPS, while the 4K High preset is only 64 FPS, and the 4K Ultra is not playable with 43 FPS. The data clearly shows that the user must choose between resolution and settings, and the recommended path is to use Medium settings at 4K or High at 1440p.

FAQ

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming with this combo?

A: The Medium preset is the best for 4K, delivering 85 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS. The High preset is only 64 FPS, which is close to 60 FPS but less smooth, and Ultra is a 43 FPS, which is not playable.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck in Steamworld Build?

A: The GPU is the primary bottleneck, especially as resolution increases. The FPS drops from 1080p to 4K are about 47-48% for all presets, a consistent sign of a GPU limitation. The CPU, with a 5.0 GHz boost clock and 12 cores, is not limiting the frame rate.

Q: How does this combo rank among tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 685th out of 3706 tested combinations, placing it in the top 18.5% of all systems tested for this game. This is a strong performance, both CPU and GPU are in the 80th percentile of their respective categories.

Q: What is the frame rate at 1080p Ultra?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 128 FPS. This is still above 60 FPS, but the Medium preset at 1080p gives 254 FPS, and the High preset gives 190 FPS, making the Ultra preset the least efficient.

Q: Are the rival CPUs from the same generation or newer?

A: The nearest rivals to the i7-12700KF are the Intel Core i7-13700T (newer) with a -0.1% deltaPct, and the Intel Core i5-13600T (newer) with a deltaPct of +0.2%. This shows that the 12700KF is still competitive with newer 13th-gen chips.

Q: Is the 12 GB VRAM enough for this game at 4K?

A: The data shows that at 4K, the system is not VRAM-limited, as the performance scales consistently with settings. The 12 GB is sufficient for Steamworld Build, but the memory bandwidth is the key factor, and the 672 GB/s is enough for the 4K Medium preset at 85 FPS.