Steamworld Build

# Steamworld Build with Intel Core i9-14900K + Intel Arc B580

The combination of Intel's flagship Core i9-14900K processor and Intel's Arc B580 graphics card produces a fascinating dataset in Steamworld Build, revealing a system that scales predictably across resolutions but shows clear GPU-bound behavior at higher settings. The measured frames per second range from 184 at 1080p Low down to 24 at 4K Ultra, a spread that indicates the Arc B580's 12 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory interface become the primary constraint as pixel count and graphical fidelity increase. This pairing ranks 2781 out of 3706 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower third of all configurations tested, yet the data reveals nuanced performance characteristics worth examining across each resolution and preset tier.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is steep and consistent across all settings, but the magnitude of that drop varies dramatically depending on the preset. At Low settings, the system delivers 184 FPS at 1080p, 117 FPS at 1440p, and 62 FPS at 4K — representing a 37% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a further 47% reduction from 1440p to 4K. This scaling pattern suggests that even at Low settings, the GPU is doing substantial work, but the CPU remains capable of feeding it frames at lower resolutions.

Moving to Medium settings, the frame rates are 141 FPS at 1080p, 89 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K. The percentage drops are 37% from 1080p to 1440p, then 47% from 1440p to 4K again — a nearly identical scaling ratio to Low settings. This consistency implies that the resolution scaling behavior is not heavily influenced by the settings tier but rather by the inherent rendering load of Steamworld Build's city-building visuals at different pixel counts.

High settings show 105 FPS at 1080p, 67 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K, with drops of 36% and 48% respectively. Ultra settings produce 71 FPS at 1080p, 45 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, with 37% and 47% reductions. The uniformity of these scaling percentages across all four presets strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GPU's raw throughput rather than any settings-specific bottleneck. The Arc B580's 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance and 456.0 GB/s memory bandwidth appear to be the constraining factors, as the CPU's capabilities remain constant regardless of resolution.

The data implies that at 1080p, the CPU still has headroom, but by 1440p the GPU begins to saturate, and at 4K it becomes the clear bottleneck. The fact that Ultra at 4K yields only 24 FPS — barely playable — while Low at 4K achieves 62 FPS suggests that users targeting 4K must make significant preset compromises to maintain smooth gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i9-14900K brings substantial processing power to this pairing, featuring 24 cores, 32 threads, a base clock of 3.20 GHz, and a boost clock of 6.00 GHz. This is a 14th Generation Raptor Lake-R architecture processor built on Intel's 10 nm process node, with 36 MB of shared L3 cache and 2 MB of L2 cache per core. Its benchmark results are impressive: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 39399.5 and single-core score of 2262.5, alongside a Geekbench multicore score of 21697 and single-core score of 2655.

In the context of Steamworld Build, a city builder genre that typically involves simulation logic, unit pathfinding, and resource management, the CPU's role is critical. The data shows the processor sits in the 95th percentile versus all CPUs, and its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i9-14900KF at 0.3% lower average score, the Intel Core Ultra 9 290HX Plus at 0.6% lower, and the AMD EPYC 7413 at 1.2% lower. The AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% higher. These margins are tiny, indicating the i9-14900K is among the top-tier processors available.

However, the measured FPS data reveals that this CPU power is not the limiting factor in Steamworld Build at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 184 FPS, which is high enough that even a weaker CPU might not bottleneck. But the fact that 4K Ultra drops to 24 FPS while the CPU remains constant strongly suggests the GPU is the constraint. The CPU's 32 threads and high boost clock are likely sufficient to handle the simulation overhead of city-building gameplay even at lower frame rates, but the data does not isolate CPU-specific bottlenecks because no CPU-only benchmarks are provided for this game.

The processor's PassMark single-thread score of 4697 and multithread score of 58674 indicate strong per-core performance, which matters for games that rely on a few heavily loaded threads. Steamworld Build's simulation likely benefits from this, but the resolution scaling data indicates that graphical rendering, not simulation, is the primary performance limiter in this specific combo.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B580 is the graphics card in this configuration, built on the Xe2-HPG architecture with the BMG-G21 chip on TSMC's 5 nm process node. It features 2560 shading units, 160 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units, along with 20 ray tracing cores. The GPU runs at a 2670 MHz base and boost clock, with memory clocked at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus, yielding 456.0 GB/s bandwidth and 12 GB of GDDR6 VRAM.

The GPU's benchmark results place it in the 68th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 23021. Its nearest rivals paint an interesting picture: the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP is only 0.2% lower, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 is 0.6% lower, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is 0.7% higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 is 1.0% lower. This clustering suggests the Arc B580 performs in a similar ballpark to these older or differently-positioned cards, despite being a newer generation.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU's role becomes evident when examining the FPS scaling. At 1080p, the card delivers 184 FPS on Low, 141 FPS on Medium, 105 FPS on High, and 71 FPS on Ultra. These numbers show a clear degradation as settings increase, with Ultra being roughly 61% slower than Low at 1080p. At 1440p, the range is 117 FPS on Low down to 45 FPS on Ultra, and at 4K it drops from 62 FPS on Low to 24 FPS on Ultra.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB is unlikely to be a direct constraint at these settings, as even 4K textures in city builders typically fit within that allocation, but the memory bandwidth of 456.0 GB/s and the FP32 throughput of 13.67 TFLOPS appear to be the limiting factors. The pixel rate of 213.6 GPixel/s and texture rate of 427.2 GTexel/s also suggest that fill-rate-bound scenarios, common in games with many on-screen objects like city builders, could be the bottleneck at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 5 nm process and 19,600 million transistors indicate a modern design, but its performance relative to the CPU suggests that this pairing is inherently GPU-limited in Steamworld Build. The fact that the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3068 and its PassMark G3D score is 15748 provides context, but the in-game data is more telling: the card simply cannot maintain high frame rates at 4K Ultra in this title.

How This Combo Ranks

This specific combination of Intel Core i9-14900K and Intel Arc B580 ranks 2781 out of 3706 tested combos in Steamworld Build, placing it in the 75th percentile of all tested configurations. This rank indicates that while the CPU is top-tier (95th percentile), the GPU's mid-range positioning (68th percentile) drags the overall combo down relative to other pairings that might use stronger graphics cards.

The rank of 2781 out of 3706 means there are approximately 925 combos that perform worse, and 2780 that perform better. Given that the CPU is near the top of the charts, the rank is almost certainly determined by the GPU's performance ceiling. The data implies that pairing this same CPU with a stronger GPU would yield substantially better results in Steamworld Build, while pairing this GPU with a weaker CPU might not change the outcome much.

Comparatively, the CPU's nearest rivals show negligible performance differences — the i9-14900KF is only 0.3% slower in average benchmark scores, and the AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 is 1.7% faster. This suggests that swapping the CPU for any of these alternatives would not meaningfully change the combo's rank in this game. Conversely, the GPU's nearest rivals show that cards like the RTX 3080 are only 0.7% faster in average benchmarks, which is within the margin of error, so the Arc B580's position is not dramatically worse than its immediate competitors.

The rank data also suggests that for Steamworld Build specifically, the bottleneck is so heavily weighted toward the GPU that the CPU's 32 threads and 6.00 GHz boost clock are largely irrelevant to the final FPS numbers at higher settings. This is a common pattern in city builders, where rendering large populated areas can overwhelm even mid-range GPUs.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The dataset provides average FPS, and in some cases minimum and maximum FPS, for each resolution and settings combination. At 1920x1080, the system achieves 184 FPS on Low settings, with no min/max recorded. Medium settings produce 141 FPS average, with a minimum of 119 FPS and maximum of 162 FPS. High settings deliver 105 FPS average, and Ultra settings drop to 71 FPS average. The spread from 184 to 71 FPS at 1080p represents a 61% reduction from Low to Ultra, indicating that settings have a major impact even at lower resolutions.

At 2560x1440, Low settings yield 117 FPS average, Medium produces 89 FPS average with a range of 76 to 103 FPS, High settings deliver 67 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 45 FPS average. The reduction from Low to Ultra at 1440p is 62%, nearly identical to the 1080p scaling. This consistency reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the system.

At 3840x2160, the numbers become more constrained. Low settings achieve 62 FPS average, Medium produces 47 FPS average with a range of 40 to 54 FPS, High settings deliver 35 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 24 FPS average. The Low-to-Ultra reduction at 4K is 61%, again matching the pattern. The minimum FPS recorded at 4K Medium is 40, which is still above the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable playability, but the Ultra preset's 24 FPS average suggests stutter and slowdown during busy scenes.

The minimum and maximum values provided for Medium settings at each resolution give insight into frame time consistency. At 1080p Medium, the range is 119 to 162 FPS, a 36% variance. At 1440p Medium, the range is 76 to 103 FPS, a 36% variance as well. At 4K Medium, the range is 40 to 54 FPS, a 35% variance. This consistency in variance percentage across resolutions suggests that the frame pacing is stable regardless of pixel count, which is a positive sign for the CPU's ability to maintain steady simulation updates.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. At 1080p, all presets are playable — even Ultra achieves 71 FPS average, which is smooth for a city builder. The data suggests that at 1080p, players can safely use High or Ultra settings without sacrificing playability, with High delivering 105 FPS and Ultra delivering 71 FPS.

At 1440p, the picture becomes more nuanced. Low settings at 117 FPS and Medium at 89 FPS are both excellent, but High at 67 FPS and Ultra at 45 FPS are still above the 30 FPS threshold for acceptable playability. For players who prioritize visual fidelity, High at 67 FPS is likely the sweet spot, offering a substantial improvement over Medium while maintaining smooth gameplay. Ultra at 45 FPS might be acceptable for slower-paced city building, but the data shows it is a significant drop from High.

At 4K, the recommendations shift drastically. Low settings at 62 FPS and Medium at 47 FPS are both playable, but High at 35 FPS and Ultra at 24 FPS fall below the 30 FPS threshold that most players consider the minimum for a playable experience. The data clearly indicates that 4K Ultra is not viable with this combo, and even 4K High is borderline. For 4K play, Medium settings at 47 FPS appears to be the best balance, offering decent visual quality while staying above 30 FPS average. Players with lower frame rate tolerance might accept High at 35 FPS, but the margin is thin.

The Medium preset's recorded minimum FPS values provide additional guidance: at 4K, the minimum is 40 FPS, indicating that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate does not collapse below playability. This makes Medium the safest recommendation for 4K. At 1440p, Medium's minimum of 76 FPS ensures smooth performance, making it a safe default, though High at 67 FPS average is also viable. At 1080p, the data supports using Ultra for the best visual experience without compromising frame rate.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1080p is the only resolution where all presets exceed 60 FPS, with Ultra achieving 71 FPS. At 1440p, Low and Medium exceed 89 FPS, but Ultra drops to 45 FPS. At 4K, only Low and Medium stay above 47 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Core i9-14900K compare to its nearest rival, the i9-14900KF?

A: The i9-14900KF has an average benchmark score of 79371, which is 0.3% lower than the i9-14900K's score of 79097. This difference is negligible, and both CPUs would perform identically in Steamworld Build given the GPU-bound nature of the game.

Q: Is the Arc B580's 12 GB VRAM sufficient for 4K gaming in this title?

A: The measured data shows the GPU achieves 62 FPS at 4K Low and 47 FPS at 4K Medium, indicating that VRAM is not the limiting factor. The bottleneck appears to be raw GPU throughput, as the 456.0 GB/s bandwidth and 13.67 TFLOPS FP32 performance are the constraining specs.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p High settings?

A: The measured average FPS at 2560x1440 High is 67 FPS. This is above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay and represents a good balance between visual quality and performance.

Q: Why does the combo rank only 2781 out of 3706 despite having a top-tier CPU?

A: The CPU is in the 95th percentile versus all CPUs, but the GPU is only in the 68th percentile. In Steamworld Build, the GPU is the limiting factor at higher resolutions, so the combo's rank is determined primarily by the Arc B580's performance ceiling.

Q: Is the Arc B580's performance close to the RTX 3080 in this game?

A: The GPU benchmark data shows the RTX 3080 has an average score of 23172, which is 0.7% higher than the Arc B580's score of 23021. This small difference suggests the two GPUs would produce very similar frame rates in Steamworld Build, despite the RTX 3080 being a higher-tier card in other contexts.