Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, a city builder released in 2023, shows a clear and predictable scaling pattern across resolutions when paired with the Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B580. The measured data reveals that the game is highly sensitive to both resolution and graphics settings, with the gap between Low and Ultra presets widening dramatically as pixel count increases. At 1080p, the combo delivers a playable experience across all settings, but the demands of 4K expose the limits of this hardware configuration.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate drop from 1080p to 4K is substantial and follows a consistent trajectory. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 106.2 at 1920x1080 to 66.8 at 2560x1440, a reduction of 39.4 FPS, and then to 36.5 at 3840x2160. This represents a 65.6% decline from 1080p to 4K, indicating that the rendering load scales heavily with resolution. The pattern is even more pronounced at Ultra settings, where the average drops from 70.2 at 1080p to 44.8 at 1440p and finally to 20.3 at 4K — a 71.1% reduction from the starting point.

Low settings show the steepest absolute decline, falling from 184.2 FPS at 1080p to 114.7 at 1440p and 61.7 at 4K. This 122.5 FPS difference between the lowest and highest resolution suggests that even at minimal graphical load, the pixel throughput requirement becomes the limiting factor at 4K. Medium settings land between these extremes, with 142 FPS at 1080p, 89.6 at 1440p, and 47 at 4K.

The data indicates that the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to push frame rates well above 100 FPS on all presets, but the Arc B580’s rendering capacity is exhausted as resolution increases. The 4K Ultra result of 20.3 FPS is particularly telling — it shows that this combination cannot handle the most demanding configuration, and even 4K High at 36.5 FPS falls below the generally accepted threshold for smooth gameplay. For a playable 4K experience, users must drop to Medium (47 FPS) or Low (61.7 FPS), with the latter providing the only comfortable margin.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is equipped with 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 456.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base and boost clocks are both set to 2670 MHz, with memory running at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective). The GPU is built on TSMC’s 5 nm process with 19,600 million transistors on a 272 mm² die, and it offers 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 render output units.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU’s role is most evident in the resolution scaling data. The 12 GB VRAM capacity is not stressed by this title at any tested configuration, as even 4K Ultra does not appear to hit memory limits — the frame rate collapse from 47 FPS at Medium to 20.3 FPS at Ultra is more likely due to compute and memory bandwidth constraints. The 456.0 GB/s bandwidth is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gameplay, where the card delivers 70.2 and 44.8 FPS at Ultra respectively, but at 4K the sheer pixel fill rate (213.6 GPixel/s) becomes the bottleneck.

The GPU’s texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s and FP32 performance of 13.67 TFLOPS are moderate figures for a desktop card. The benchmark results place the Arc B580 in the 66th percentile of all GPUs, with an average score of 23021. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060, scores 23181, a delta of -0.7%, meaning the two cards are nearly identical in overall performance. However, Steamworld Build’s specific workload seems to favor the Arc B580 at lower resolutions, where it achieves 184.2 FPS at 1080p Low — a strong result that suggests the card is well-optimized for this engine.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, with 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration, and it features UHD Graphics 770 as integrated graphics.

Benchmark results for the i7-14700K are strong across the board: it scores 44534 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 6287 in single-core, 18704 in Cinebench R20 multi-core, and 18896 in Geekbench multi-core. Its average benchmark score of 70074 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700KF, scores 70104 with a delta of 0%, indicating near-identical performance. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is slightly ahead at 70420 (-0.5% delta), while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 lags behind at 71056 (-1.4% delta).

In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU’s at higher resolutions, but it still matters at 1080p. At that resolution with Low settings, the combo reaches 184.2 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s frame delivery limit for this title. The 20 cores and 28 threads are more than sufficient for a city builder, which typically relies on single-thread performance for simulation logic and only scales partially across cores. The 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures that the primary simulation thread has ample headroom, and the 33 MB L3 cache helps reduce memory latency during large city rendering.

The data shows that at 1080p, the i7-14700K is not the bottleneck — the Arc B580 is still capable of pushing frame rates above 100 FPS on High and Medium settings, and even 70.2 FPS on Ultra. The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking means it outperforms the vast majority of processors, so pairing it with a mid-range GPU like the Arc B580 is a balanced match for this game.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700K and Intel Arc B580 ranks 1335 out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, which is surprising given the individual components’ strong benchmark scores. The CPU is in the 96th percentile, and the GPU is in the 66th percentile, yet the combo ranks in the 23rd percentile of all combos (1335/1730 = 0.772, so it beats 77.2% of combos).

This discrepancy suggests that Steamworld Build is more GPU-bound than CPU-bound, and the Arc B580’s moderate performance relative to other GPUs drags the combo down in the rankings. The data confirms this: at 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 20.3 FPS, which is unplayable, and even at 1080p Ultra it reaches just 70.2 FPS. While these numbers are acceptable for a city builder, they are not exceptional compared to what higher-end GPU pairings achieve.

The combo’s ranking also reflects the Arc B580’s position relative to its rivals. The GPU’s nearest rival, the AMD Radeon 760M, scores 22999 with a delta of 0.1%, meaning the Arc B580 is essentially tied with an integrated graphics solution in overall benchmarks. This is not a criticism of the card — it simply indicates that the Arc B580 is positioned at the entry-level of discrete GPUs, and its performance in Steamworld Build aligns with that positioning.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows that 1440p High (66.8 FPS) or 1080p Ultra (70.2 FPS) provide the best balance of visual quality and frame rate. At 4K, only Low settings (61.7 FPS) or Medium (47 FPS) are playable.

Q: Is 4K playable with this hardware?

A: Yes, but only at lower settings. The 4K Low result of 61.7 FPS is smooth, while 4K Medium at 47 FPS is acceptable. 4K High (36.5 FPS) and 4K Ultra (20.3 FPS) fall below playable thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700K scores 70074 on average, while the Intel Core i7-14700KF scores 70104, a delta of 0%. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is 0.5% ahead, and the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 1.4% behind.

Q: Is the GPU the bottleneck at 1080p?

A: The data suggests not entirely. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 184.2 FPS, which is likely approaching the CPU’s limit. At 1080p Ultra, the GPU is more constrained, delivering 70.2 FPS.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The Intel Arc B580 has 12 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 192-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s and memory clock of 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective).

Q: Is the CPU overkill for this game?

A: The i7-14700K’s 96th percentile ranking and 20 cores are more than Steamworld Build requires. The GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, so a less powerful CPU could achieve similar results.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings vary by resolution. At 1080p, the High preset (106.2 FPS) is the best choice — it offers a significant visual upgrade over Medium (142 FPS) while still maintaining a very high frame rate. Ultra at 1080p (70.2 FPS) is also playable and provides the best visual fidelity, but the 36 FPS drop from High to Ultra may not justify the graphical gains.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (89.6 FPS) is the sweet spot, providing smooth gameplay with a 22.8 FPS improvement over High (66.8 FPS). Ultra at 1440p (44.8 FPS) is borderline, and Low (114.7 FPS) is only recommended if frame rate is the absolute priority. The data suggests that 1440p Medium offers the best balance for most players.

At 4K, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset (61.7 FPS) is the only configuration that delivers a consistently smooth experience, while Medium (47 FPS) is acceptable for a city builder where precise timing is less critical. High (36.5 FPS) and Ultra (20.3 FPS) should be avoided, as the frame rate drops below playable levels. For 4K users, the recommendation is to start with Low and only increase to Medium if the visual quality is insufficient, as the performance cost of High is too steep.

For the best overall experience, 1080p Ultra (70.2 FPS) provides the highest visual quality at a playable frame rate, while 1440p Medium (89.6 FPS) is the most balanced configuration. The Arc B580’s 12 GB VRAM is sufficient for all tested settings, so memory is not a limiting factor in any configuration.