Steamworld Build

The Intel Core i7-14700K and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 combination delivers a highly capable Steamworld Build experience, with the data showing that the High preset offers the most balanced performance across all tested resolutions. The combo ranks in the top 22.7% of all tested configurations, placing it at position 392 out of 1730. This is a strong result for a city builder, where frame rates are less critical than in fast-paced genres, but the measured numbers still indicate that this setup can comfortably handle both high visual fidelity and smooth simulation.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark results clearly indicate that the High preset provides the best overall experience for this combination. At 1080p, the High preset achieves 180.5 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any display, while the Ultra preset only reaches 122.1 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra becomes more pronounced at higher resolutions: at 1440p, High delivers 112.9 FPS versus 77.4 FPS on Ultra, and at 4K, High manages 56.9 FPS while Ultra drops to 42.9 FPS. This suggests that the Ultra preset imposes a significant rendering cost without a proportional visual benefit.

The Medium preset is a viable alternative for users prioritizing higher frame rates, particularly at 4K where it reaches 76.9 FPS. However, the step from Medium to High at 1440p only costs about 40 FPS (152 to 112.9), which is a reasonable trade-off for improved image quality. The Low preset is only recommended for extreme frame rate chasing, as it delivers 313.2 FPS at 1080p and 197.3 FPS at 1440p, but the visual downgrade is substantial for a game that emphasizes building aesthetics. For most users, the High preset at 1440p represents the sweet spot, offering 112.9 FPS with strong visual quality.

GPU Role

The RTX 4070’s 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth, proves adequate for Steamworld Build’s demands. The GPU’s 5888 shading units and 64 ROPs, running at a boost clock of 2475 MHz, provide the raw throughput needed for this game’s rendering. The data shows that the GPU is the primary driver of performance scaling, as evidenced by the significant FPS drops when moving from 1080p to 4K at the same settings. For instance, the High preset drops from 180.5 FPS at 1080p to 56.9 FPS at 4K, a reduction of over 68%, which points to the GPU being fully utilized.

The architecture’s 46 RT cores and 184 tensor cores are present, though Steamworld Build’s workload appears to be more rasterization-focused, as the FP32 performance of 29.15 TFLOPS is the more relevant metric. The GPU’s 81st percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms its mid-to-high-end positioning, and its average benchmark score of 37283 places it slightly below rivals like the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile (which scores 38135, a 2.2% delta) but above the AMD Radeon RX 5300M (36371, a 2.5% delta). This indicates the RTX 4070 is well-suited for 1440p gaming, with 4K being playable but requiring settings adjustments.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU’s 20 cores and 28 threads likely help maintain high frame rates, but the 313.2 FPS on Low settings suggests the GPU is still keeping pace. Moving to 1440p, the Low preset still achieves 197.3 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 77.4 FPS, showing a 60.8% reduction from 1080p’s 122.1 FPS. The 4K results are more telling: the Ultra preset falls to 42.9 FPS, which is a 64.9% drop from 1440p Ultra, indicating that the rendering load at 4K is heavily taxing the GPU.

The scaling pattern between Medium and High is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, High (180.5 FPS) is 75.7% of Medium’s 238.6 FPS. At 1440p, High (112.9 FPS) is 74.3% of Medium’s 152 FPS. At 4K, High (56.9 FPS) is 74% of Medium’s 76.9 FPS. This consistent ratio suggests that the performance hit from increasing settings is proportional, and the GPU is the bottleneck at all resolutions. The 4K High result of 56.9 FPS is just below the 60 FPS target, but with the Medium preset at 76.9 FPS, users have a viable path to smoother gameplay at 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

This combination ranks 392nd out of 1730 tested combos, placing it in the top 22.7% of all systems. This is a strong showing for a mid-to-high-end pairing, indicating that the i7-14700K and RTX 4070 work well together for Steamworld Build. The CPU’s performance relative to other processors is noteworthy: its average benchmark score of 70074 places it 0.3% ahead of the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887) and 0.5% behind the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X (70420). The CPU’s 96th percentile ranking among all CPUs confirms its high-end status.

The GPU’s ranking is less impressive but still respectable, with an 81st percentile placement. The RTX 4070’s average benchmark score of 37283 is 0.6% below the AMD Radeon RX Vega 56 (37507) and 1.9% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 A (38008). However, these delta percentages are small, and the actual gaming performance in Steamworld Build is more dependent on the CPU-GPU balance, which this combo handles well. The ranking data suggests that while the GPU is not top-tier, the CPU’s strength helps boost the overall combo performance in this CPU-light but GPU-sensitive game.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700K’s 20 cores (8 performance and 12 efficiency cores) and 28 threads provide substantial multi-threading capability, which is beneficial for city builders that need to simulate many entities. With a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, the CPU delivers strong single-thread performance, as evidenced by its Cinebench R23 single-core score of 6287 and Geekbench single-core score of 2932. These scores are relevant because Steamworld Build’s simulation logic likely benefits from high single-thread performance, even if the rendering is GPU-bound.

The CPU’s multi-core scores are equally impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44534 and a Geekbench multi-core score of 18896. The PassMark multithread score of 52392 and integer math score of 182876 further demonstrate the CPU’s capability to handle complex calculations. However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck in this game, as the frame rates scale predictably with resolution changes. The CPU’s 33 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache likely help reduce memory latency, which is beneficial for maintaining consistent frame times during busy city simulation.

FAQ

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

A: The Medium preset at 3840x2160 achieves 76.9 FPS, which is smoother than the High preset’s 56.9 FPS and significantly better than Ultra’s 42.9 FPS.

Q: How does this combo compare to other tested systems?

A: It ranks 392nd out of 1730 combos, placing it in the top 22.7% of all tested configurations.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the GPU appears to be the limiting factor, as the Low preset achieves 313.2 FPS, but the Ultra preset drops to 122.1 FPS, showing a 61% reduction from settings changes.

Q: What is the CPU’s single-thread performance?

A: The CPU scores 6287 in Cinebench R23 single-core and 2932 in Geekbench single-core, indicating strong single-thread capability.

Q: What is the GPU’s memory configuration?

A: The RTX 4070 has 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, with 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth.

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

A: The i7-14700K’s average benchmark score of 70074 is 0% different from the Intel Core i7-14700KF (70104) and 0.3% higher than the AMD EPYC 9115 (69887).

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers 313.2 FPS, Medium achieves 238.6 FPS, High reaches 180.5 FPS, and Ultra drops to 122.1 FPS. These numbers show a clear hierarchy where each settings tier reduces performance by roughly 25-32% from the previous tier. The 1080p results are excellent for any display, with even Ultra exceeding 120 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Low preset hits 197.3 FPS, Medium reaches 152 FPS, High achieves 112.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 77.4 FPS. The 1440p results indicate that High is still very playable, but Ultra requires some compromise. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a 37% reduction for Low (313.2 to 197.3), a 36.3% reduction for Medium (238.6 to 152), a 37.5% reduction for High (180.5 to 112.9), and a 36.6% reduction for Ultra (122.1 to 77.4).

At 3840x2160, the Low preset achieves 103.3 FPS, Medium reaches 76.9 FPS, High drops to 56.9 FPS, and Ultra falls to 42.9 FPS. The 4K results show that the GPU is heavily taxed, with even Low barely exceeding 100 FPS. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is more severe: Low drops by 47.6% (197.3 to 103.3), Medium by 49.4% (152 to 76.9), High by 49.6% (112.9 to 56.9), and Ultra by 44.6% (77.4 to 42.9). This consistent ~50% reduction across settings confirms that the RTX 4070’s rendering capabilities are the primary constraint at 4K, while the i7-14700K provides sufficient CPU headroom to avoid becoming a bottleneck.