Steamworld Build

The Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers a playable experience in Steamworld Build, but it is heavily dependent on resolution and quality settings. The data indicates this pairing ranks in the bottom quarter of tested configurations, with performance ranging from a smooth 162 FPS at 1080p Low to a slideshow-like 21 FPS at 4K Ultra. The Arc B570’s 10 GB of VRAM and 2500 MHz boost clock are sufficient for the game's demands, while the i9-14900K’s 24 cores and 6.00 GHz boost clock prevent CPU bottlenecks even at lower resolutions.

FAQ

*Q: What is the best resolution to play Steamworld Build with this hardware?*

A: According to the measured FPS data, 2560x1440 is the sweet spot. At High settings, the combo delivers 59 FPS average, which is near the 60 FPS target. At 1920x1080, performance is higher (93 FPS at High), but 1440p offers a better balance of visual fidelity and frame rate.

Q: Is the Intel Arc B570 capable of running the game at 4K?

A: Technically yes, but only at Low settings, where it achieves a 55 FPS average. At Medium, the average drops to 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, and at High/Ultra, the average falls to 31 FPS and 21 FPS respectively, which is not ideal for a city builder.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance in this game?

A: The Intel Core i9-14900K, with 24 cores and 32 threads, is more than adequate for Steamworld Build. The data shows high frame rates at 1080p (162 FPS at Low), indicating the CPU is not a limiting factor. Its 6.00 GHz boost clock ensures single-threaded tasks, common in simulation games, are handled efficiently.

Q: How much VRAM does the GPU have, and is it enough?

A: The Intel Arc B570 has 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. This capacity is sufficient for the game’s textures and assets at the tested settings, as evidenced by the scaling of performance from Low to High settings across all resolutions.

Q: What is the ranking of this CPU+GPU combo compared to others?

A: This combo is ranked 2320 out of 2924 tested combinations. This places it in the 21st percentile, indicating that it is outperformed by the vast majority of other hardware pairings in the database for this specific game.

Q: Should I use High or Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, High settings provide a 93 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 63 FPS. The 30 FPS difference suggests that High is the better choice for maintaining a high refresh rate experience, as the visual jump to Ultra is not worth the significant performance cost.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570’s specifications are central to understanding its performance in Steamworld Build. The GPU operates at a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, which is the same for both, indicating a fixed clock speed. Its 10 GB of GDDR6 memory is paired with a 160-bit bus, delivering 380.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is a critical factor, as city builders often require substantial texture memory for detailed environments.

The data shows a clear correlation between GPU load and resolution. At 3840x2160, the GPU is the primary bottleneck. The average frame rate at High settings is 31 FPS, which is exactly half the 62 FPS needed for a smooth 60 FPS experience. Dropping to Medium yields 42 FPS, and Low improves to 55 FPS. This scaling suggests that the GPU’s compute power, rated at 11.52 TFLOPS FP32, is the limiting factor at 4K. The 200.0 GPixel/s pixel rate and 360.0 GTexel/s texture rate are insufficient for the pixel count at 4K Ultra, resulting in a 21 FPS average.

At lower resolutions, the GPU’s role changes. The performance jump from 4K to 1440p is substantial: 59 FPS at High, 79 FPS at Medium, and 103 FPS at Low. Similarly, at 1080p, the GPU can push 93 FPS at High, 124 FPS at Medium, and 162 FPS at Low. These numbers indicate that the Arc B570 has ample headroom at these resolutions, and the frame rate is likely more dependent on the CPU’s ability to feed it draw calls. The GPU’s 18 ray tracing cores are present, but Steamworld Build does not appear to utilize them heavily, as the performance scaling is linear with traditional rasterization settings.

The GPU’s 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 20556, places it in the mid-range tier. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile, has a score of 20534, a 0.1% delta, indicating near-identical raw performance. However, in this game, the Arc B570’s specific driver optimization and memory bandwidth are what determine the final FPS numbers.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K is a flagship 24-core processor with 32 threads, based on the Raptor Lake architecture. Its base clock is 3.20 GHz, but it can boost up to 6.00 GHz, which is crucial for single-threaded game logic. In Steamworld Build, a city builder, the simulation of thousands of agents and buildings is heavily single-threaded. The CPU’s high boost clock ensures that this logic is processed with minimal latency.

The CPU’s benchmark scores reinforce its strength. Its Cinebench R23 single-core score is 2262.5, and its multi-core score is 39399.5. The Geekbench single-core score is 2655, with a multi-core score of 21697. These numbers indicate a processor that excels in both lightly-threaded and heavily-threaded workloads. The 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB per-core L2 cache provide ample fast storage for game data, reducing the need to access system memory.

In the context of Steamworld Build, the CPU is not a bottleneck at any tested resolution. The evidence is in the frame rates: at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 162 FPS, and at 1440p Low, it reaches 103 FPS. These high frame rates suggest that the CPU can easily keep up with the GPU’s rendering output. Even at 4K, where the GPU is the clear bottleneck (31 FPS at High), the CPU is still capable of generating frames faster than the GPU can render them.

The CPU’s 95th percentile ranking among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 79097, places it among the top processors available. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core i9-14900KF, scores 79371, a -0.3% delta, indicating they are functionally identical. For a game like this, the CPU’s performance is more than sufficient, and the user is unlikely to see a frame rate increase by upgrading the processor, as the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The overall ranking for this specific combination in Steamworld Build is 2320 out of 2924 tested combos. This is a low ranking, placing the combo in the bottom 21% of all configurations. This does not mean the combo is bad; rather, it reflects the fact that many other tested combos include higher-end GPUs or CPUs that are better suited for this title.

The data shows that the performance is heavily skewed by the GPU’s limitations at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the combo performs admirably, with a 63 FPS average at Ultra settings. This is a playable frame rate. However, the ranking is likely pulled down by the poor 4K performance, where the combo only manages 21 FPS at Ultra. Since the ranking is a single number for the game, it averages across all tested settings and resolutions, penalizing the combo for its 4K weakness.

Compared to the GPU’s standalone ranking (65th percentile), the combo’s in-game ranking is much lower. This suggests that the GPU, while mid-range in general, is relatively weaker in this specific game compared to its peers. The same can be said for the CPU, which is top-tier (95th percentile) but doesn’t help the combo rank higher because the game is not CPU-bound. The combo ranking is a measure of the entire system’s capability, and the GPU’s performance at 4K is a significant drag.

The nearest rival GPUs provide context. The Arc B570’s average benchmark score is 20556, with the Intel Arc A750 scoring 20582 (-0.1% delta) and the RTX 3070 Mobile scoring 20534 (+0.1% delta). These are all within 0.5% of each other, suggesting that swapping between these GPUs would yield nearly identical results in this game. The ranking of 2320 is therefore not a reflection of a single weak component, but rather the combination’s overall profile across all settings.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience is achieved by prioritizing resolution over quality. At 1920x1080, the High preset delivers a 93 FPS average, which is an excellent frame rate for a city builder. The Ultra preset drops to 63 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 32% reduction in performance for marginal visual gains. The Medium preset offers 124 FPS, making it the best choice for users with high refresh rate monitors.

For users targeting 2560x1440, the High preset is the recommended choice. It delivers a 59 FPS average, which is right at the edge of the 60 FPS target. The Medium preset provides a 79 FPS average, offering a smoother experience but with lower visual fidelity. The Ultra preset at 40 FPS is not recommended, as the frame rate dips below the 45 FPS threshold that many players find acceptable.

At 3840x2160, the data suggests that only the Low preset is viable for a consistent experience, with a 55 FPS average. The Medium preset averages 42 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS, which can lead to noticeable stuttering during heavy simulation. The High and Ultra presets (31 FPS and 21 FPS respectively) are not recommended for a playable experience. The best experience at 4K is to stick with Low settings, or to lower the resolution to 1440p to unlock higher quality presets.

The performance gap between Low and High is consistent across resolutions. At 1080p, the difference is 69 FPS (162 vs 93), at 1440p it is 44 FPS (103 vs 59), and at 4K it is 24 FPS (55 vs 31). This scaling indicates that the GPU’s memory bandwidth and shading units are the primary constraints, and users should adjust settings to keep the average FPS above 60 for the smoothest experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The FPS data for this combo is measured across three resolutions and four quality settings. The table below summarizes the average frame rates, with minimum and maximum values where provided.

1920x1080:

• Ultra: 63 FPS average.
• High: 93 FPS average.
• Medium: 124 FPS average, with a minimum of 106 FPS and a maximum of 143 FPS.
• Low: 162 FPS average.

At 1080p, the combo is never below 63 FPS, even at Ultra. The Medium preset’s minimum of 106 FPS indicates that the frame rate stays well above the 60 FPS threshold during intense simulation sequences. The Low preset’s 162 FPS average shows the ceiling of the CPU-GPU pairing.

2560x1440:

• Ultra: 40 FPS average.
• High: 59 FPS average.
• Medium: 79 FPS average, with a minimum of 67 FPS and a maximum of 91 FPS.
• Low: 103 FPS average.

At 1440p, the Ultra preset drops below 45 FPS, which is a noticeable performance hit. The High preset is right at 59 FPS, which is borderline for a 60 Hz display. The Medium preset’s minimum of 67 FPS ensures a consistent experience, making it the safest choice for a smooth frame rate. The Low preset’s 103 FPS shows that the GPU has more headroom at this resolution.

3840x2160:

• Ultra: 21 FPS average.
• High: 31 FPS average.
• Medium: 42 FPS average, with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 48 FPS.
• Low: 55 FPS average.

At 4K, the performance is severely constrained. The Low preset’s 55 FPS is the only setting that approaches a playable frame rate. The Medium preset’s minimum of 35 FPS indicates significant frame time spikes, which can cause stuttering. The High and Ultra presets are not suitable for gameplay, as the average frame rates are below 31 FPS, making the game feel sluggish.

The data shows that the performance delta between Medium and High is consistent across all resolutions: a 20 FPS drop at 1080p (124 to 93), a 20 FPS drop at 1440p (79 to 59), and an 11 FPS drop at 4K (42 to 31). This suggests that the High preset introduces a predictable load increase, regardless of resolution. The jump from High to Ultra is more punishing, with a 30 FPS drop at 1080p (93 to 63) and a 10 FPS drop at 4K (31 to 21), indicating that Ultra settings in this game have a disproportionately high performance cost.