Steamworld Build

# How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 paired with the Intel Arc B390 ranks 2573rd out of 2924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. That places this configuration in the bottom 12 percent of all tested combinations, a poor showing for a city builder that can tax both CPU and GPU depending on settlement size and simulation load. The data indicates this combo struggles to deliver smooth gameplay at higher resolutions, though it manages acceptable frame rates at 1080p with reduced settings.

The combo rank reflects the Arc B390's position as an integrated graphics solution rather than a discrete GPU. The Arc B390 sits at the 9th percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 1482 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which scores 1463 (1.3 percent lower), the NVIDIA GeForce 800M at 1460 (1.5 percent lower), the NVIDIA GeForce GT 625 OEM at 1446 (2.5 percent lower), and the NVIDIA GeForce GT 710 at 1443 (2.7 percent lower). The Arc B390 beats all of these, but the margins are thin — 1.3 to 2.7 percent — which means the performance class is firmly entry-level.

The CPU side of the combo is far more competitive. The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 sits at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 36938. Its nearest rivals are remarkably close: the AMD Ryzen 5 5600F scores 36945 (0 percent difference), the AMD Ryzen 5 5500X3D scores 37018 (0.2 percent higher), the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450 scores 37093 (0.4 percent higher), and the Intel Core i9-12900T scores 37112 (0.5 percent higher). The Ultra 5 225 is effectively tied with these processors, meaning the CPU is not the bottleneck in this configuration — the GPU is.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process node. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2500 MHz, which is a wide frequency range that allows the GPU to scale up significantly under load. The GPU has 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 raster output units, along with 12 ray tracing cores. Its pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and its texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s, with FP32 performance rated at 7.680 TFLOPS and FP16 at 15.36 TFLOPS (2:1 ratio).

Critically, the Arc B390 uses system shared memory — there is no dedicated VRAM. The memory size, type, bus width, and bandwidth are all listed as "System Shared" or "System Dependent," which means the GPU draws from the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU. The Core Ultra 5 225 supports dual-channel DDR5 with a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s, and the GPU's effective bandwidth is dependent on the system's memory configuration. This shared memory arrangement is a significant limitation for gaming, as the GPU must compete with CPU and system processes for memory access.

The Arc B390's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1482 places it in the bottom tier of GPUs in the database. Its nearest rivals are all legacy or low-end parts: the GT 520MX, 800M, GT 625 OEM, and GT 710 — none of which are considered capable gaming GPUs by modern standards. The 9th percentile ranking confirms that the Arc B390 is among the weakest GPUs tested, and this is reflected directly in Steamworld Build performance.

In Steamworld Build specifically, the GPU's limitations manifest as low average frame rates at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages only 14 FPS average, which is far below playable. Even at 4K Low, the average is 35 FPS — borderline at best for a city builder where camera panning and zooming need to stay smooth. The GPU's boost clock of 2500 MHz helps at lower resolutions, where the 106 FPS average at 1080p Low shows the hardware can deliver when the pixel count is manageable, but the lack of dedicated VRAM and the low shading unit count cap performance as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across resolutions reveals a steep performance drop as pixel count increases. At 1080p Low, the combo averages 106 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 67 FPS — a 36.8 percent reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 35 FPS — a 66.9 percent reduction from 1080p Low. This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-limited scenario, where the render resolution directly impacts the frame rate.

Looking at High settings, the pattern continues. At 1080p High, the average is 60 FPS. At 1440p High, it drops to 38 FPS — a 36.7 percent reduction. At 4K High, it falls to 20 FPS — a 66.7 percent reduction from 1080p High. The consistency of these percentage drops (roughly 37 percent from 1080p to 1440p, and roughly 67 percent from 1080p to 4K) strongly indicates that the GPU is the limiting component across all tested settings. A CPU-bound scenario would show smaller differences between resolutions, but the data shows nearly linear scaling with pixel count.

For Medium settings, the measured frame rates with min/max values provide additional insight. At 1080p Medium, the average is 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 59. At 4K Medium, the average is 27 FPS with a minimum of 23 and maximum of 31. The minimum-to-maximum spread is consistent across resolutions — roughly 24 FPS at 1080p, 15 FPS at 1440p, and 8 FPS at 4K — suggesting that frame pacing remains stable even as the overall performance drops.

The Ultra preset tells the same story with lower absolute numbers. At 1080p Ultra, the average is 41 FPS. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 26 FPS. At 4K Ultra, it falls to 14 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is a 36.6 percent reduction, and from 1080p to 4K it is 65.9 percent. These percentages are nearly identical to the Low and High presets, confirming that resolution — not settings — is the dominant factor in performance variation for this combo.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 106 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate across all resolutions and settings. This is comfortably playable and indicates that the Arc B390 can handle Steamworld Build when the resolution is kept modest. The Medium preset averages 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93, providing a smooth experience with headroom for occasional dips. The High preset averages 60 FPS, which is exactly at the standard 60 Hz refresh rate threshold, meaning gameplay will feel fluid in most scenarios. The Ultra preset averages 41 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but still playable for a city builder where the action is not twitch-based.

At 2560x1440, performance becomes more constrained. The Low preset averages 67 FPS, which is still above 60 FPS and playable, but the margin is thinner than at 1080p. The Medium preset averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 59, placing it below the 60 FPS threshold and potentially noticeable during heavy simulation moments. The High preset averages 38 FPS, which is a significant step down and may cause visible stutter when the city grows large. The Ultra preset averages 26 FPS, which is marginal for a city builder and likely to feel sluggish during camera movements.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely out of its depth. The Low preset averages 35 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target and will be noticeable to most players. The Medium preset averages 27 FPS with a minimum of 23 and maximum of 31, making it difficult to enjoy the game at this resolution. The High preset averages 20 FPS, which is too low for smooth gameplay. The Ultra preset averages 14 FPS, which is essentially a slideshow and not recommended under any circumstances.

The Medium preset measurements are the only ones with min/max data, which provides insight into frame consistency. At 1080p Medium, the 69 to 93 FPS range shows a 24 FPS spread, indicating that the frame rate fluctuates but stays within a tolerable band. At 1440p Medium, the 44 to 59 FPS range shows a 15 FPS spread, which is narrower in absolute terms but represents a larger percentage of the average — about 29 percent variation. At 4K Medium, the 23 to 31 FPS range shows an 8 FPS spread, which is again a large relative variation. This pattern suggests that as the GPU becomes more stressed, the frame rate becomes less stable relative to the average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 225 is a 10-core, 10-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on TSMC's 3 nm process node. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, with a TDP of 65 W. The CPU uses the Intel Socket 1851 platform and supports DDR5 memory in dual-channel configuration with 102.4 GB/s bandwidth. The cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 20 MB of shared L3 cache.

In synthetic benchmarks, the Ultra 5 225 shows strong multi-threaded performance. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 25891, while the single-core score is 3655. In Cinebench R20, the multi-core score is 6317 and single-core is 891. In Cinebench R15, the multi-core score is 2609 and single-core is 368. Passmark results include a multi-thread score of 30459, single-thread score of 4412, physics score of 2342, integer math score of 65345, floating point math score of 92038, data compression score of 302811, data encryption score of 22285, extended instructions score of 27162, find prime numbers score of 358, and random string sorting score of 36590.

The CPU's 85th percentile ranking among all CPUs places it well above the GPU's 9th percentile ranking. This disparity is the key finding for the combo: the CPU is more than capable of feeding the GPU in Steamworld Build, but the GPU cannot keep up with the CPU's output. The nearest CPU rivals — the Ryzen 5 5600F, Ryzen 5 5500X3D, Ryzen AI 7 PRO 450, and Core i9-12900T — all have average benchmark scores within 0.5 percent of the Ultra 5 225, confirming that this processor is competitive with a wide range of mid-range and even some higher-end parts.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU's role is primarily simulation and pathfinding, which are single-threaded or lightly threaded workloads. The Ultra 5 225's high boost clock of 4.90 GHz and strong single-core performance (3655 in Cinebench R23 single-core, 4412 in Passmark single-thread) should handle these tasks well. The 10 cores and 10 threads provide ample parallel processing for background tasks, and the 20 MB L3 cache helps with data locality. However, because the GPU is the limiting factor at all tested resolutions, the CPU's strengths do not translate into higher frame rates — the system is simply waiting on the Arc B390 to finish rendering each frame.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience for this combo is at 1920x1080 with the Medium preset. The average of 81 FPS with a minimum of 69 FPS provides smooth gameplay with enough headroom to handle city growth and simulation spikes. The High preset at 1080p averages 60 FPS, which is also playable, but the Medium preset's higher average and minimum frame rates make it the safer choice for consistent performance. The Low preset at 1080p delivers 106 FPS average, which is excellent, but the visual quality reduction may not be worth the extra frame rate in a city builder where the aesthetic matters to the experience.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset is the only setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS, at 67 FPS. The Medium preset at 51 FPS average is playable but may show dips below 45 FPS during heavy simulation, and the High preset at 38 FPS is likely to feel sluggish. For players who prefer 1440p, the Low preset is the recommended choice, with the understanding that visual fidelity will be noticeably reduced. The Ultra preset at 26 FPS should be avoided.

At 3840x2160, no preset delivers acceptable performance. The Low preset at 35 FPS is the best option, but it is still below the 60 FPS target and may cause eye strain during extended play sessions. The Medium preset at 27 FPS and High at 20 FPS are not recommended, and Ultra at 14 FPS is unplayable. Players with 4K monitors should consider lowering the resolution to 1440p or 1080p to achieve playable frame rates.

The data supports a clear verdict: this combo is best suited for 1080p gaming with medium settings, and any attempt to push higher resolutions or higher presets will result in significant frame rate drops. The Arc B390's integrated nature and shared memory architecture limit its ability to handle the pixel fill requirements of higher resolutions, and the 9th percentile GPU ranking makes this an entry-level configuration by any measure. The CPU is not the constraint — the Ultra 5 225's 85th percentile ranking and strong single-thread performance mean it will not bottleneck the system — but the GPU's limitations are the defining factor in Steamworld Build performance.