Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that stresses simulation logic and asset streaming more than raw graphics throughput, and the measured results for the Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the Intel Arc B370 reflect that dynamic. This combination produces a playable experience at lower resolutions and settings, but the data shows a hard ceiling imposed by the GPU as resolution climbs. The following analysis breaks down the performance characteristics of this specific configuration across the tested resolutions and presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and reveals a system heavily constrained by the graphics processor. At High settings, the average framerate falls from 55 FPS at 1920x1080 to 35 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 20 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average drops further to 18 FPS, which represents a 67% loss from the 1080p baseline. This scaling curve is typical of a GPU-limited scenario, where the pixel count increases faster than the render hardware can process.

The Low settings preset shows a similar pattern with higher absolute numbers. At 1080p Low, the system averages 95 FPS, which is excellent for a city builder. Dropping to 1440p Low, the average falls to 61 FPS, a 36% decrease. At 4K Low, the average is 32 FPS, which is a 66% reduction from 1080p. The consistency of the percentage loss between High and Low presets suggests that the relative workload scales linearly with resolution, and the Arc B370's fixed pixel rate and texture rate become the limiting factor.

Medium settings provide the most complete data set, including minimum and maximum framerates. At 1080p Medium, the average is 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS, indicating a stable experience. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 46 FPS with a minimum of 39 FPS. At 4K Medium, the average is 25 FPS with a minimum of 21 FPS and a maximum of 28 FPS. The narrow range between minimum and maximum at 4K suggests the GPU is saturated, leaving little headroom for scene complexity spikes common in city builders.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, and the data shows this combo cannot handle them at higher resolutions. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 37 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 23 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 12 FPS, which is effectively unplayable. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p on Ultra is a 38% drop, while 1440p to 4K is a 48% drop, indicating that the memory bandwidth and fill rate limitations become more pronounced as resolution increases.

The data indicates that the limiting component in this configuration is unequivocally the GPU. The CPU, with its high core count and boost clock, is capable of feeding the render pipeline at these framerates, as evidenced by the fact that even at 4K Low, the system produces 32 FPS, which is above the minimum threshold for interactive play. The resolution scaling pattern is linear and predictable, which points to a pure fill-rate bottleneck rather than a driver or API overhead issue.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, fabricated on a 3 nm process node. Its performance profile in this game is modest, ranking in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, which places it in the entry-level segment. The benchmark data shows a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184, which is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and ATI Radeon HD 5770.

The GPU's clock speeds are set to a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz. The boost clock is the operative figure during gaming, and it allows the 1280 shading units to reach a peak FP32 throughput of 6.144 TFLOPS. This is a modest compute capacity, but for a game like Steamworld Build, which is not graphically intensive, it is sufficient at lower settings. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are the key specifications for this title, as city builders rely heavily on sprite-based rendering and texture sampling for building details and terrain.

The memory subsystem is system shared, meaning the GPU uses a portion of the main system memory rather than dedicated VRAM. The memory type is also system shared, and the bus width is system shared, with bandwidth listed as system dependent. This architecture avoids the cost of dedicated video memory but introduces latency and bandwidth contention with the CPU. In Steamworld Build, where the simulation constantly updates entity states and the renderer draws thousands of individual objects, this shared memory setup can cause hitches when the CPU and GPU compete for the same memory controller.

The data shows that the GPU's limitations manifest most clearly at 4K. At 4K High, the average FPS is 18, and at 4K Ultra, it is 12. These numbers are far below the 30 FPS threshold for a playable experience. The Low preset at 4K yields 32 FPS, which is playable but not smooth. The framerate drop from 1080p Low (95 FPS) to 4K Low (32 FPS) is a 66% reduction, which correlates with the 4x increase in pixel count, confirming that the GPU's fill rate is the bottleneck.

Interestingly, the GPU's FP16 performance of 12.29 TFLOPS (2:1) is double the FP32 rate, but Steamworld Build likely does not utilize FP16 accelerations for rendering. The 10 ray tracing cores are present, but this title does not appear to use ray tracing, as the framerates are consistent with a pure rasterization workload. The API support includes DirectX 12 Ultimate (12_2), OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4, which means the game can run on modern APIs, but the execution is still limited by the physical hardware capabilities.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-14700KF is a high-end desktop processor with 20 cores and 28 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz, which provides substantial single-thread performance for game logic. The 33 MB of shared L3 cache is beneficial for city builders, as the simulation data for thousands of entities can be cached locally, reducing memory latency.

The CPU's benchmark scores are impressive, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44167 and a single-core score of 6235. This places the processor in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, indicating it is among the top 6% of processors available. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, which is 0.2% slower, and the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X, which is 0.9% slower, while the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K is 1% faster. This level of performance is far more than sufficient for Steamworld Build, which is not a highly threaded game.

In this specific game, the CPU's role is to manage the simulation tick, pathfinding, and entity updates. The 20 cores and 28 threads allow the operating system to dedicate cores to background tasks while the main game thread runs on a single high-clocked core. The boost clock of 5.60 GHz is critical for maintaining a consistent frame time, as city builders can have unpredictable spikes in CPU load when the population grows or when construction projects complete.

The measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 95 FPS, which is a high framerate that requires the CPU to submit draw calls efficiently. If the CPU were weak, the framerate would cap at a lower value regardless of resolution or settings. The fact that the framerate scales inversely with resolution proves that the CPU can provide data faster than the GPU can render it.

The CPU's memory support for DDR4 and DDR5, with a dual-channel bus, means that the system shared GPU memory can potentially benefit from high-bandwidth DDR5. However, the actual bandwidth is system dependent, and in this case, the game's performance at 4K suggests that the memory bandwidth is insufficient for the GPU to access textures and geometry at that resolution efficiently. The CPU's 80 KB L1 and 2 MB L2 per core are standard for this architecture, and they help reduce memory traffic for frequently accessed simulation variables.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and the Intel Arc B370 ranks 2683 out of 2924 tested combos for Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 8% of all tested configurations, which is a poor showing for a system that includes a top-tier CPU. The ranking is heavily skewed by the GPU's performance, as the CPU is one of the strongest available, but the GPU is one of the weakest.

The discrepancy between the CPU's 94th percentile ranking and the GPU's 5th percentile ranking is stark. This combo is a classic example of a bottlenecked system, where the CPU's potential is wasted because the GPU cannot keep up. In games that are less GPU-intensive, this combo would rank higher, but Steamworld Build's rendering requirements at higher resolutions expose the GPU's limitations.

The nearest rivals for the GPU, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770, have similar benchmark scores, but those are older discrete cards. The Arc B370 is an integrated solution, which explains its low ranking. The combo rank of 2683 indicates that most other tested combos, even those with older CPUs, likely pair them with more capable discrete GPUs, resulting in higher average FPS in this game.

For context, the CPU's nearest rivals, like the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X or the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K, would typically be paired with high-end dedicated graphics cards, pushing their combo rankings much higher. This specific pairing of a 125 W TDP desktop processor with a 25 W integrated GPU is unusual, and the benchmark results reflect that mismatch. The data suggests that the CPU is not the limiting factor, and any improvement in the GPU would dramatically improve the combo's ranking.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings for this combo are the Low preset at 1920x1080, which yields an average of 95 FPS. This provides a smooth, responsive experience that is well above the 60 FPS threshold for fluid gameplay in a city builder. The Medium preset at 1080p also performs well, with an average of 73 FPS and a minimum of 62 FPS, which is acceptable for players who prefer better visual fidelity over maximum framerate.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only viable option for a smooth experience, with an average of 61 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 46 FPS, which is playable but may feel slightly less responsive during large-scale construction or when scrolling across the map. The High and Ultra presets at 1440p, with averages of 35 FPS and 23 FPS respectively, are not recommended for a comfortable experience.

At 3840x2160, only the Low preset is marginally playable, with an average of 32 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K averages 25 FPS, which is below the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable gameplay. The High and Ultra presets at 4K, with averages of 18 FPS and 12 FPS, are not recommended due to poor responsiveness and potential for simulation stutter.

The data indicates that the best experience per the measured rows is achieved at 1080p Low, as it provides the highest framerate with the largest margin above the minimum requirement. For players who prioritize visual quality, 1080p Medium is a reasonable compromise, offering a 73 FPS average while improving shadows and texture detail. The Medium preset at 1080p also has a minimum FPS of 62, which means the framerate rarely dips below the 60 FPS threshold.

Measured FPS Breakdown

3840x2160 (4K)

• Ultra: 12 FPS average
• High: 18 FPS average
• Medium: 25 FPS average, 21 FPS minimum, 28 FPS maximum
• Low: 32 FPS average

2560x1440 (1440p)

• Ultra: 23 FPS average
• High: 35 FPS average
• Medium: 46 FPS average, 39 FPS minimum, 53 FPS maximum
• Low: 61 FPS average

1920x1080 (1080p)

• Ultra: 37 FPS average
• High: 55 FPS average
• Medium: 73 FPS average, 62 FPS minimum, 84 FPS maximum
• Low: 95 FPS average

The data shows a clear hierarchy of performance across resolutions and settings. At each resolution, the framerate drops by roughly 30-40% when moving from Low to Medium, and another 30-40% from Medium to High, with Ultra adding a smaller incremental penalty. The minimum FPS values for the Medium preset indicate good frametime consistency, with the 1080p value of 62 FPS being the most stable. The 4K Medium minimum of 21 FPS reveals the GPU's inability to maintain a consistent frame rate under high pixel load, which can lead to noticeable stutter in a simulation-heavy game. The 1440p Medium range of 39 to 53 FPS shows acceptable variance, but the average of 46 FPS is close to the edge of what is considered smooth. The 1080p Low setting, at 95 FPS average, is the standout result for this combo, proving that the CPU can push high framerates when the GPU is not overloaded.