Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build, the city builder from 2023, is not typically a title that stresses flagship hardware. However, the measured data for the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a performance curve that scales dramatically with resolution and preset. This pairing ranks 15th out of 1730 tested combos in this specific game, placing it in the top 1% of all configurations. The benchmark results show a system that delivers playable frame rates at 4K Ultra, but truly excels at lower resolutions where the CPU's strong multi-threaded performance can push frame rates past 300 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo?

A: The highest recorded average is 396.7 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates a massive performance headroom at the most common resolution.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K?

A: The benchmark data shows the Intel Core i7-14700KF has an average benchmark score of 70104, which is virtually identical to the Intel Core i7-14700K's score of 70074, resulting in a delta percentage of 0.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB of VRAM a factor in this game?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM capacity as a limiting factor. The GPU's 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are far beyond the requirements suggested by the measured frame rates, which remain high even at 4K Ultra.

Q: What kind of performance can be expected at 2560x1440 with High settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo produces an average of 162.4 FPS. This suggests a very smooth experience on high refresh rate monitors.

Q: How significant is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K?

A: The data shows a significant scaling factor. For instance, at High settings, the average FPS drops from 255.8 at 1920x1080 to 162.4 at 2560x1440, and finally to 85.6 at 3840x2160. The 4K resolution is substantially more demanding on the GPU.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking among all tested configurations?

A: The Intel Core i7-14700KF and RTX 4090 combination holds a rank of 15 out of 1730 combos in Steamworld Build. This places it in the 99th percentile of all tested hardware pairings.

Settings Recommendations

For players seeking the optimal balance between visual fidelity and performance, the data suggests that the Medium preset offers a compelling experience at 4K, delivering an average of 110.9 FPS. This is a significant improvement over the 85.6 FPS at High settings and is more than double the 55.3 FPS seen at Ultra. Given that this is a city builder where camera pans and zooming can cause frame rate dips, maintaining a solid margin above 60 FPS is crucial for smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended starting point. The measured 162.4 FPS average provides ample headroom for high-refresh-rate displays, while the visual upgrade from Medium (217.1 FPS) is noticeable. Pushing to Ultra at 1440p drops the average to 107.1 FPS, which is still very playable but begins to approach the territory where dense city builds might cause noticeable stutter.

For 1920x1080, the Ultra preset is the clear choice. The combo achieves an average of 169.4 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any monitor. The performance headroom is so vast at this resolution that even the heaviest settings are easily handled. The user can enable every visual option without sacrificing the high frame rates that make the game feel responsive.

How This Combo Ranks

In the specific context of Steamworld Build, this combination of the Intel Core i7-14700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is elite. With a combo rank of 15 out of 1730 tested configurations, it sits at the very top of the performance hierarchy. This ranking is unsurprising, given that the CPU's 20 cores and 28 threads provide substantial processing power for the game's simulation logic, while the GPU's raw throughput handles the rendering with ease.

The CPU itself sits in the 96th percentile of all processors, with an average benchmark score of 70104. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-14700K, scores a nearly identical 70074, with a deltaPct of 0. The AMD Ryzen 9 9950X is only 0.4% faster, while the Intel Xeon Platinum 8270 is 1.3% slower. This indicates that the i7-14700KF is at the absolute peak of consumer CPU performance.

The GPU, while ranking in the 91st percentile of all graphics cards, has a more complex story. Its average benchmark score of 66473 is actually slightly lower than some rivals like the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 (67097). However, these are workstation cards that perform differently in gaming workloads. In Steamworld Build specifically, the RTX 4090's gaming-oriented architecture and high memory bandwidth ensure that it is not a bottleneck at any resolution tested.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a linear scaling with resolution. At 1920x1080, the combo is clearly CPU-bound at lower presets, achieving 396.7 FPS on Low and 335.6 FPS on Medium. The High preset still delivers a massive 255.8 FPS, while Ultra brings it down to a still-excellent 169.4 FPS. These numbers indicate that the system can easily drive 360Hz monitors in this title.

Moving to 2560x1440, the GPU begins to take on more responsibility. The Low preset yields 280.7 FPS, and Medium produces 217.1 FPS. The High preset drops to 162.4 FPS, which is still exceptional. The Ultra preset records 107.1 FPS, a drop of over 60% from Low, showing the significant cost of the highest quality settings.

At 3840x2160, the load shifts decisively to the GPU. The Low preset still manages an impressive 149.8 FPS, suggesting that even at 4K the system is not fully maxed out. Medium delivers 110.9 FPS, which is the sweet spot for 4K gaming. The High preset drops to 85.6 FPS, which is still comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra, however, records 55.3 FPS, dipping below the ideal target for smooth gameplay. This is the only configuration in the data set that falls below 60 FPS, indicating that Ultra at 4K is the limit for this hardware.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 plays a pivotal role in this combo's performance, particularly at higher resolutions. Its core specifications are formidable: the AD102 chip on a 5 nm process contains 76,300 million transistors, with 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores. The boost clock of 2520 MHz, combined with 512 texture mapping units, allows for a texture fill rate of 1,290.2 GTexel/s.

Memory is a significant strength of this card. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory is connected via a 384-bit bus, providing a massive 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth. This is critical for 4K gaming, where large texture files and high-resolution render targets demand rapid data access. The measured FPS data supports this, showing that the RTX 4090 can maintain high frame rates at 4K even on High settings.

The card's FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is a raw indicator of its compute power, but in this game, the rendering pipeline is more dependent on the rasterization and memory throughput. The 176 ROPs ensure that pixel fill rates remain high, with a pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s. While the card is end-of-life and has a successor, its performance in this title remains top-tier, as evidenced by the 4K High preset producing 85.6 FPS. The data suggests that the GPU is the primary determinant of performance at 4K, while the CPU takes over at lower resolutions.