Steamworld Build

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured FPS data for Steamworld Build reveals a steep and consistent penalty as resolution climbs, which is the classic signature of a GPU-bound workload at higher pixel counts. Starting at 1920x1080 with High settings, the combo delivers 98.2 FPS, but moving to 2560x1440 drops that to 61.5 FPS — a 37.4% reduction. Pushing further to 3840x2160 High yields just 30.8 FPS, which is 68.6% below the 1080p result. That kind of scaling curve indicates that the RTX 2060's rendering throughput is the dominant constraint once pixel count rises, rather than the CPU holding things back.

The pattern holds across every settings tier. At Low settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is from 173.2 FPS down to 58.2 FPS, a 66.4% loss. At Medium, the decline is from 130.8 FPS to 44.9 FPS, a 65.7% loss. Even at Ultra, where the absolute numbers are lower, the relative penalty remains severe: 65.7 FPS at 1080p falls to 21.7 FPS at 4K, a 67.0% reduction. The consistency of that ~66-68% drop across all settings strongly suggests that the limiting component is the GPU's fill rate and memory bandwidth, not the game's logic or draw-call processing.

Interestingly, the CPU in this pairing is far more powerful than what a typical RTX 2060 system would carry. The Intel Core i7-14700K with 20 cores and 28 threads is a high-end desktop part, and its benchmark scores — including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and a single-core score of 6287 — place it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. The fact that FPS still collapses at 4K despite such a capable processor tells you that Steamworld Build's rendering pipeline is heavily pixel-bound. The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU may still have headroom, but at 1440p and especially 4K, the RTX 2060's 6 GB of GDDR6 memory and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are clearly the bottleneck.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 is built on the Turing architecture with a TU106 chip manufactured on a 12 nm process at TSMC. Its base clock is 1365 MHz and boost clock reaches 1680 MHz, with memory clocked at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus. The 6 GB GDDR6 frame buffer and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards, and the benchmark results reflect that. The GPU's average benchmark score is 16074, placing it in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with nearest rivals like the AMD Radeon RX 7600S (15996, deltaPct 0.5) and AMD Radeon Pro 5600M (16351, deltaPct -1.7) showing it sits in a tightly contested mid-range tier.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as settings rise. At 1080p Low, the RTX 2060 can push 173.2 FPS, but that number drops to 65.7 FPS at Ultra — a 62.1% reduction from simply raising the preset. The game's Ultra preset likely increases texture detail, shadow resolution, and post-processing effects, all of which stress the 6 GB VRAM capacity and the 192-bit memory interface. The 4K Ultra result of 21.7 FPS is particularly telling: it's nearly unplayable, and that's with a top-tier CPU feeding it frames. This suggests the RTX 2060's 1920 shading units and 48 ROPs are simply overwhelmed by the combination of high resolution and maxed settings.

The GPU's compute capabilities, including 30 RT cores and 240 tensor cores, are present but not clearly leveraged by a city builder. The FP32 throughput of 6.451 TFLOPS and pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s are the specs that matter more here, and both are modest. The data shows that at 1440p Medium (84.8 FPS) and 1440p High (61.5 FPS), the GPU still provides a playable experience, but the margin for error is thin. The VRAM footprint of Steamworld Build at Ultra settings appears to be a real factor, given the steep drop-off from Medium to Ultra at every resolution — the delta at 1440p is from 84.8 to 44.8 FPS, a 47.2% loss.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

In the global database of tested hardware combinations for Steamworld Build, this pairing of Intel Core i7-14700K with NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 ranks 1420 out of 1730 combos. That places it in the bottom 18% of all tested systems, which is surprising given the CPU's strength but makes sense when you consider the GPU is the weak link. The 58th percentile GPU ranking versus the 96th percentile CPU ranking creates a significant imbalance — the processor is capable of far more, but the graphics card caps the experience.

The combo rank of 1420 is not a reflection of the CPU's potential. The i7-14700K's nearest rivals in CPU benchmarks — the Intel Core i7-14700KF (avgScore 70104, deltaPct 0) and AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (avgScore 70420, deltaPct -0.5) — are essentially tied in synthetic tests, yet in actual game FPS, the GPU determines the outcome. The data implies that swapping in a stronger GPU would dramatically improve this combo's rank, since the CPU has headroom to spare. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (173.2 FPS) suggests the CPU can feed frames well above what the RTX 2060 can render at higher settings, so the rank is likely GPU-limited across the board.

What's notable is that the combo rank is consistent with the GPU's percentile placement. The RTX 2060's 58th percentile means it's an average-to-slightly-below-average card, and a 1420 rank out of 1730 combos reflects that positioning. The CPU doesn't rescue the overall ranking because Steamworld Build's FPS is tied to the GPU at most settings. Only at 1080p Low does the system approach the kind of triple-digit performance that would rank higher, but that's an outlier scenario.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured data provides 12 distinct data points across four resolutions and four settings presets. At 1920x1080, the results are: Low 173.2 FPS, Medium 130.8 FPS, High 98.2 FPS, and Ultra 65.7 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is a 62.1% drop, which is the largest relative spread at any resolution. At 2560x1440, the numbers fall to Low 110.2 FPS, Medium 84.8 FPS, High 61.5 FPS, and Ultra 44.8 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 59.3%, slightly less severe than at 1080p.

At 3840x2160, the results become marginal: Low 58.2 FPS, Medium 44.9 FPS, High 30.8 FPS, and Ultra 21.7 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra spread is 62.7%, maintaining the same pattern. Looking at resolution scaling within each preset, the data shows that 1440p represents a sweet spot for this combo. At Medium settings, 1440p delivers 84.8 FPS, which is 64.8% of the 1080p result but still comfortably playable. At High settings, 1440p yields 61.5 FPS, which is 62.6% of 1080p. The 4K results are uniformly below 60 FPS except for Low (58.2 FPS), making 4K viable only at the lowest settings.

The internal consistency of the data is strong. For each resolution, the relative ordering of presets is preserved: Low > Medium > High > Ultra. The gaps between Medium and High are consistent — roughly 30-40% at every resolution — while the gap between High and Ultra is smaller, around 30-33%. This suggests that the Ultra preset adds settings that are disproportionately expensive relative to their visual impact, which is useful information for players seeking the best balance.

FAQ

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

A: Based on the measured data, 2560x1440 at Medium settings (84.8 FPS) offers the best combination of image quality and performance. At 1440p High, the system still manages 61.5 FPS, which is acceptable, but 4K is only playable at Low settings (58.2 FPS).

Q: Is the RTX 2060 the bottleneck in this system?

A: Yes. The CPU is in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU is in the 58th percentile. The FPS drops by roughly 66-68% when moving from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which is characteristic of a GPU-bound workload. The i7-14700K has ample headroom that the RTX 2060 cannot utilize.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 16074. Its closest competitor is the AMD Radeon RX 7600S at 15996, which is 0.5% faster. The AMD Radeon Pro 5600M and Radeon Pro 5700 both score 16351, which is 1.7% faster, while the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 scores 15786, putting it 1.8% slower.

Q: Can this system handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the system delivers 65.7 FPS, which is playable. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 44.8 FPS, which is borderline. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 21.7 FPS, which is not a smooth experience. The data suggests Ultra is only viable at 1080p.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p?

A: At High settings, the drop is from 98.2 FPS to 61.5 FPS, a 37.4% reduction. At Medium settings, it's from 130.8 FPS to 84.8 FPS, a 35.2% reduction. At Low settings, it's from 173.2 FPS to 110.2 FPS, a 36.4% reduction.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in this game?

A: This combination ranks 1420 out of 1730 tested combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 18% of systems, primarily due to the GPU's mid-range performance relative to the CPU's high-end capabilities.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the best experience with this hardware, the measured data points to 2560x1440 with Medium settings as the optimal configuration. The 84.8 FPS at 1440p Medium provides smooth gameplay while maintaining reasonable visual fidelity. At this preset, the system has enough headroom to handle city-building scenes with many entities without dropping below 60 FPS. The 1080p Medium result of 130.8 FPS is also excellent and would be preferable for competitive or high-refresh-rate displays.

If visual quality is the priority, 1080p High at 98.2 FPS is a strong choice. The jump from Medium to High at 1080p costs 32.6 FPS (from 130.8 to 98.2), but the visual improvements are likely noticeable. However, pushing to Ultra at 1080p (65.7 FPS) sacrifices 33.1% of the High preset's performance for what may be diminishing returns. The data shows that Ultra is consistently 30-33% slower than High at every resolution, suggesting the preset includes expensive effects that don't proportionally improve the experience.

At 4K, the only viable option is Low settings (58.2 FPS). Medium at 4K (44.9 FPS) and High at 4K (30.8 FPS) are below the 60 FPS threshold and may cause noticeable stutter in a city builder with complex simulations. The 1440p High setting (61.5 FPS) is the highest resolution/settings combo that stays above 60 FPS, making it the ceiling for smooth performance. For a more stable experience with headroom for large cities, 1440p Medium is the safest recommendation.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-14700K is a 20-core, 28-thread processor based on the Raptor Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. Its 33 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 are substantial, and the CPU's benchmark results confirm its strength: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and single-core score of 6287, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 18896. The CPU's average benchmark score of 70074 places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs, with nearest rivals showing it's essentially tied with the i7-14700KF (70104, deltaPct 0) and slightly behind the Ryzen 9 9950X (70420, deltaPct -0.5).

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is to handle the simulation logic — city building games are known for taxing single-thread performance due to entity updates, pathfinding, and resource management. The i7-14700K's single-core score of 6287 in Cinebench R23 and 4472 in Passmark single-thread tests suggest it should excel at this. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (173.2 FPS) indicates the CPU can drive frame rates well above what most displays can show, meaning it's unlikely to be the limiting factor in this game at standard resolutions.

However, the data reveals an interesting nuance. At 1080p, the drop from Low (173.2 FPS) to Medium (130.8 FPS) is 24.5%, which is a larger relative penalty than the drop from Medium to High (25.0% from 130.8 to 98.2). This suggests that even at 1080p, the GPU is already struggling as settings increase, and the CPU's headroom isn't being fully utilized. The 20-core, 28-thread configuration with a 125 W TDP is overkill for this game's apparent CPU demands, but it also means the system won't be CPU-bound in any scenario. The data implies that regardless of settings or resolution, the RTX 2060's 6 GB VRAM and 336.0 GB/s bandwidth are the hard limits, and the i7-14700K's power is simply waiting for a more capable GPU to unlock its full potential.