Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build: Intel Core i7-14700KF + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070

The Intel Core i7-14700KF paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 produces a compelling Steamworld Build experience across all tested resolutions. This combination ranks 685th out of 3,706 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 18.5% of all configurations measured. The data reveals a system that delivers high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K Ultra presents the only significant challenge to smooth gameplay.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear pattern of GPU-bound scaling at higher settings. At High settings, the average FPS drops from 190 at 1080p to 121 at 1440p, a 36.3% reduction, and then to 64 at 4K, an additional 47.1% drop from the 1440p figure. This steep decline at 4K indicates the RTX 5070's 12 GB GDDR7 memory and 192-bit bus become increasingly stressed as pixel count quadruples.

Low settings show even more dramatic scaling, with 332 FPS at 1080p dropping to 211 FPS at 1440p and 112 FPS at 4K. The 1080p Low result suggests the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the frame rate is so high that the Core i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads likely cannot feed the GPU fast enough. The 4K Low figure of 112 FPS demonstrates that even at minimal graphical load, the GPU's 2,325 MHz base and 2,512 MHz boost clocks maintain substantial headroom.

Medium settings provide the most complete data with minimum and maximum FPS readings. At 1080p Medium, the system averages 254 FPS with a minimum of 216 and maximum of 292. At 1440p Medium, the average falls to 162 FPS with a minimum of 137 and maximum of 186. The 4K Medium result shows 85 FPS average with 73 minimum and 98 maximum, indicating playable performance with occasional dips below 75 FPS.

Ultra settings present the steepest scaling curve. The 128 FPS at 1080p drops to 82 FPS at 1440p and 43 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result falls below the 60 FPS threshold often considered the minimum for smooth gameplay, suggesting this configuration struggles with maximum graphical fidelity at native 4K resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 685 out of 3,706 tested combinations places it in the 81.5th percentile of all tested systems for Steamworld Build. This is a strong showing, though it is important to note that the GPU's standalone benchmark percentile is 82, while the CPU achieves a 94th percentile score across all CPUs. The combination's in-game ranking aligns closely with the GPU's relative position, suggesting the RTX 5070 is the primary determinant of Steamworld Build performance.

The CPU's nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks provide context for its contribution. The Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163 average benchmark points, which is 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X. It trails the Intel Core Ultra 7 265K by 1%, a negligible margin that would not meaningfully affect gaming performance.

The GPU's nearest rivals show a more varied picture. The RTX 5070's average benchmark score of 40,377 is 0.1% above the AMD Radeon Pro 580 and 0.8% above the AMD Radeon Pro WX 7100, while sitting 1.2% below the AMD Radeon Pro 5300 and 2% below the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile. These margins are all within 2%, indicating the RTX 5070 sits in a tightly contested performance band among these specific competitors.

GPU Role

The RTX 5070's 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus delivers 672.0 GB/s of bandwidth, a specification that proves adequate for Steamworld Build at 1080p and 1440p but becomes a limiting factor at 4K Ultra. The game's city-building nature likely requires substantial texture memory, and the 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS suggests the memory subsystem is saturated at maximum settings.

The GPU's clock behavior shows a 2325 MHz base and 2512 MHz boost, with memory operating at 1750 MHz, providing 28 Gbps effective throughput. The 6,144 shading units, 192 TMUs, and 80 ROPs deliver the compute resources necessary for the game's rendering workload. The 30.87 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 482.3 GTexel/s texture rate explain why the card handles lower settings so efficiently across all resolutions.

The 4K Medium result of 85 FPS with a 73 FPS minimum demonstrates that the GPU can maintain playable frame rates when settings are moderated. However, the jump from Medium to Ultra at 4K costs 42 FPS, a 49.4% reduction, indicating that the Ultra preset introduces effects or geometry that heavily tax the GPU's 48 RT cores and 192 tensor cores, even if Steamworld Build is not primarily a ray-traced title.

FAQ

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

A: The 1440p High setting provides an excellent balance with 121 FPS average, while 1440p Medium offers 162 FPS. At 4K, only Medium settings maintain playable performance with an 85 FPS average.

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

A: The Core i7-14700KF scores 70,163 average benchmark points, placing it 0.2% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 7 9700F, 0.4% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7940HX, and 0.9% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 9 7950X.

Q: Is the GPU powerful enough for 4K gaming in this title?

A: At 4K Medium, the RTX 5070 delivers 85 FPS average, but 4K Ultra drops to 43 FPS. The GPU can handle 4K only at reduced settings for smooth gameplay.

Q: What frame rates can I expect at 1080p?

A: At 1080p, the combo delivers 332 FPS on Low, 254 FPS on Medium, 190 FPS on High, and 128 FPS on Ultra settings.

Q: How does the GPU rank among all tested GPUs?

A: The RTX 5070 holds an 82nd percentile ranking across all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 40,377.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at any resolution?

A: At 1080p Low, the 332 FPS result suggests CPU limitation, as the Core i7-14700KF's performance ceiling is reached before the GPU's full potential is utilized.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly indicates that Ultra settings are only viable at 1080p and 1440p for this configuration. At 4K, Ultra produces an unplayable 43 FPS average, while 4K Medium delivers a solid 85 FPS with a 73 FPS minimum. Players targeting 4K should select Medium settings to maintain smooth gameplay.

For 1440p, High settings provide 121 FPS average, which is a strong experience. Medium at 1440p offers 162 FPS for those seeking higher refresh rates, while Ultra at 82 FPS remains playable for most users. The 1440p High preset represents the best balance between visual quality and performance in the measured data.

At 1080p, all settings deliver playable frame rates, with even Ultra producing 128 FPS. The 254 FPS at Medium and 190 FPS at High give players substantial headroom for high refresh rate displays. For competitive play or maximum smoothness, Low settings at 332 FPS exceed any monitor's refresh rate capabilities.

CPU Role

The Core i7-14700KF's 20 cores and 28 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture on Intel's 10 nm process, provide substantial processing power for Steamworld Build's simulation and AI workloads. The 3.40 GHz base clock and 5.60 GHz boost clock ensure responsive single-threaded performance, while the 33 MB shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache support the game's data access patterns.

The CPU's synthetic benchmarks demonstrate its capability: 44,167 in Cinebench R23 multi-core, 6,235 in single-core, and 21,462 in Geekbench multi-core. The PassMark multi-thread score of 52,425 and single-thread score of 4,480 further confirm strong performance. These results place the CPU in the 94th percentile of all CPUs, showing it is a high-end processor.

The 1080p Low result of 332 FPS suggests the CPU becomes the limiting factor at very high frame rates, as the GPU's rendering workload decreases enough that the CPU cannot generate frames faster. However, at more realistic settings like 1080p High (190 FPS) and 1440p High (121 FPS), the CPU provides ample headroom, and the GPU becomes the primary constraint.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 3840x2160, the system achieves 64 FPS on High, 112 FPS on Low, 85 FPS on Medium with a 73 minimum and 98 maximum, and 43 FPS on Ultra. The Medium setting provides the only 4K result with complete min/max data, showing a 25 FPS range between minimum and maximum frame times.

At 2560x1440, High delivers 121 FPS, Low achieves 211 FPS, Medium produces 162 FPS with 137 minimum and 186 maximum, and Ultra reaches 82 FPS. The 1440p Medium result shows a 49 FPS range, indicating more variance than the 4K Medium measurement.

At 1920x1080, High records 190 FPS, Low achieves 332 FPS, Medium produces 254 FPS with 216 minimum and 292 maximum, and Ultra delivers 128 FPS. The 1080p Medium shows a 76 FPS range between minimum and maximum, the largest variance in the measured data, suggesting frame pacing fluctuations at high frame rates.

The progression across resolutions shows consistent scaling: High settings lose 36.3% going from 1080p to 1440p and another 47.1% from 1440p to 4K. Low settings lose 36.4% and 46.9% respectively, while Medium loses 36.2% and 47.5%. Ultra settings lose 35.9% from 1080p to 1440p and 47.6% from 1440p to 4K. This consistent scaling pattern indicates the RTX 5070's memory bandwidth becomes progressively more constrained as resolution increases, with each step up costing roughly a third to nearly half the previous frame rate.