Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build places the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B370 combo in a challenging position: it ranks 2683rd out of 2924 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 8% of all systems evaluated. The data shows a configuration that can handle the game’s lower presets at 1080p with playable frame rates, but it struggles significantly at higher resolutions and quality settings. The Arc B370’s integrated graphics, with its system-shared memory and 1280 shading units, becomes the primary limiting factor, while the 14-core, 14-thread Core Ultra 5 245 provides ample processing headroom that the game’s city-building simulation can leverage.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this hardware in Steamworld Build?

A: The measured data shows that 1920x1080 with Low settings delivers an average of 95 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this combo. This is the only configuration that exceeds 90 FPS, making it the clear choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 compare to its closest GPU rivals in raw benchmark scores?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. This places it within 0.7% of the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190) and 0.5% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186). It is 1.4% ahead of the AMD FirePro M2000 (1168).

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a strong performer relative to other CPUs?

A: Yes, the CPU sits in the 90th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G, scores 49196, which is only 0.4% higher, indicating the Ultra 5 245 is statistically comparable to that chip.

Q: What frame rates can be expected at 2560x1440 with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 46 FPS, with minimums of 39 FPS and maximums of 53 FPS. This is a playable range for a city builder, though it lacks the headroom of the 1080p Low preset.

Q: Can this combo handle Ultra settings at any resolution?

A: Ultra settings produce 37 FPS at 1920x1080, 23 FPS at 2560x1440, and 12 FPS at 3840x2160. Only the 1080p result approaches playability; the higher resolutions are well below acceptable thresholds.

Q: How does the CPU’s single-thread performance compare to its multi-thread performance?

A: In Cinebench R23, the Core Ultra 5 245 scores 4648 in single-core and 32924 in multi-core. The multi-core score is roughly 7 times higher, reflecting the benefits of its 14 cores, while the single-core score indicates solid per-thread performance for simulation logic.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel’s 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, and its memory configuration is entirely system-shared, with bandwidth described as system dependent. This design means the GPU relies on the same DDR5 memory pool as the CPU, which creates a significant bottleneck in memory-intensive scenarios like high-resolution rendering.

The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster output pipelines. Its pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, and its texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s. With a FP32 performance of 6.144 TFLOPS, the Arc B370 is positioned at the very low end of the performance spectrum, as evidenced by its 5th percentile ranking among all GPUs. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184 confirms this, placing it alongside legacy discrete GPUs like the ATI Radeon HD 5770.

In Steamworld Build, the GPU’s limitations are immediately apparent. At 3840x2160, the highest resolution tested, the combo achieves only 18 FPS on High settings and drops to 12 FPS on Ultra. These numbers indicate that the GPU cannot keep up with the pixel count and shading demands of 4K rendering. Even at 2560x1440, the Ultra preset yields just 23 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable gameplay. The system-shared memory further compounds the issue, as the GPU and CPU compete for bandwidth, potentially causing frame time inconsistencies in complex city scenes.

The boost clock of 2400 MHz provides some headroom, but it cannot compensate for the fundamental lack of compute units. The data suggests that the Arc B370 is best suited for 1080p gaming with reduced settings, where the pixel workload is manageable. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the GPU delivers 95 FPS, showing that it can handle the game when the graphics load is minimal. The transition from Low to Medium at 1080p drops performance by 23%, and moving to High reduces it further to 55 FPS, illustrating a steep scaling curve as settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and Intel Arc B370 ranks 2683rd out of 2924 tested combinations in Steamworld Build. This places it in the bottom 8.3% of all systems, a position that reflects the GPU’s severe performance deficit relative to the CPU’s strength. The rank is a composite measure that weights both components, and in this case, the GPU drags the overall score down substantially.

To contextualize this rank, consider the CPU’s standalone performance. The Core Ultra 5 245 is in the 90th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 48995. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (49196, 0.4% faster), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (49228, 0.5% faster), the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, 0.6% slower), and the Intel Core i5-14600K (48618, 0.8% slower). This indicates that the CPU is a high-performing part that should excel in simulation-heavy games.

In contrast, the Arc B370 is in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184. Its nearest rivals are all legacy parts from over a decade ago, such as the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186) and the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190). This massive disparity between CPU and GPU performance creates an unbalanced system where the processor is frequently idle while waiting for the graphics unit to finish rendering.

The practical implication of this 2683rd rank is that the combo is only suitable for the most undemanding graphics configurations. When compared to other combos in the database, most systems with a dedicated GPU will outperform this pairing in Steamworld Build. The rank serves as a warning that the integrated Arc B370, despite its modern architecture, cannot deliver competitive frame rates in a city builder that scales its visual demands with population and building complexity.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions and four settings presets, providing a comprehensive view of the combo’s capabilities. At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low averages 95 FPS, Medium averages 73 FPS (with a minimum of 62 and maximum of 84), High averages 55 FPS, and Ultra averages 37 FPS. This resolution is the only one where the combo achieves consistently playable frame rates, and even then, only the Low and Medium presets offer comfortable margins above 60 FPS.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance drops significantly. Low averages 61 FPS, which is still playable, but Medium falls to 46 FPS (minimum 39, maximum 53). High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra drops to 23 FPS. The 1440p results show that the Arc B370’s limited pixel throughput becomes a major constraint, as the increase from 1080p to 1440p requires 78% more pixels to be rendered, and the frame rates reflect this burden.

At 3840x2160, the combo is largely unplayable. Low averages 32 FPS, Medium averages 25 FPS (minimum 21, maximum 28), High averages 18 FPS, and Ultra averages 12 FPS. These numbers are all below the 30 FPS threshold that many consider the minimum for playable performance, and the Ultra preset at 12 FPS is a slideshow. The 4K data confirms that this hardware is not designed for high-resolution gaming, as the system-shared memory and low compute capacity cannot handle the workload.

The scaling between settings at each resolution is consistent. At 1080p, the drop from Low to Medium is 22 FPS (23%), from Medium to High is 18 FPS (25%), and from High to Ultra is 18 FPS (33%). At 1440p, the drops are 15 FPS (25%), 11 FPS (24%), and 12 FPS (34%) respectively. At 4K, the drops are 7 FPS (22%), 7 FPS (28%), and 6 FPS (33%). This pattern indicates that the GPU’s performance scales roughly linearly with the rendering load, with no unexpected bottlenecks or thermal throttling visible in the data.

The minimum and maximum FPS figures for Medium settings at 1080p (62-84) and 1440p (39-53) show a variance of about 30%, which is typical for a city builder where the camera can reveal large portions of the map. The lack of minimum FPS data for Low, High, and Ultra presets in the fact pack means that the variance for those settings is unknown, but the averages suggest that Low settings provide the most stable experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a desktop processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, built on TSMC’s 3 nm process. It features 14 cores and 14 threads, with a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz. The CPU has a 65 W TDP and supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 102.4 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In Steamworld Build, the CPU’s role is to manage the game’s simulation logic, including resource extraction, production chains, and citizen needs. The 14 cores provide substantial multi-threading capability, which is reflected in the Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32924. This score places the CPU in the 90th percentile, and its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 9 7900, scores only 0.5% higher. The single-core score of 4648 in Cinebench R23 is also strong, ensuring that the main game thread runs efficiently.

The CPU’s performance in other benchmarks further underscores its capabilities. In Passmark, it scores 38706 in multithread, 4394 in single-thread, 120548 in floating point math, and 91187 in integer math. The data compression score of 400942 and encryption score of 30236 indicate strong throughput for background tasks, which is relevant for a city builder that may have many concurrent AI agents and pathfinding calculations.

However, the measured FPS data shows that the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo. At 1080p Low, the combo achieves 95 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s frame rate ceiling for this game. When the resolution increases or settings are raised, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the steep FPS drops. For example, at 4K Ultra, the CPU is likely idling while the GPU struggles to render even 12 FPS.

The CPU’s boost clock of 5.10 GHz provides excellent single-thread performance for the game’s primary simulation thread, while the 14 cores handle secondary tasks like pathfinding and resource management. The 24 MB of shared L3 cache helps reduce memory latency, which is important for the frequent data access patterns in simulation games. The dual-channel DDR5 memory support provides sufficient bandwidth for the CPU, though the GPU shares this same memory, creating a potential contention point.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal configuration for this combo is 1920x1080 with Low settings, which delivers an average of 95 FPS. This preset provides the smoothest experience, with enough headroom to maintain frame rates above 60 FPS even during heavy simulation scenes with large populations and complex production chains. The Low preset sacrifices visual fidelity, but the game’s isometric art style and UI remain fully functional, and the performance gain is substantial.

For players who prioritize visual quality over raw frame rate, 1920x1080 with Medium settings is a viable alternative, averaging 73 FPS with a minimum of 62 FPS. This preset offers moderate improvements in shadow quality, texture filtering, and object detail while still maintaining playable performance. The variance between minimum and maximum (62-84 FPS) is within acceptable bounds, though players may notice occasional dips during camera pans across large industrial areas.

The High preset at 1080p, averaging 55 FPS, is borderline playable but not recommended for a city builder where smooth scrolling and zooming are essential. Similarly, the Ultra preset at 1080p (37 FPS) is too demanding for this GPU, as the frame rate drops below the 40 FPS threshold where input lag becomes noticeable. At 2560x1440, only the Low preset (61 FPS) is recommended, while Medium (46 FPS) is playable but with frequent stutters. The 1440p High and Ultra presets, along with all 4K presets, should be avoided entirely due to frame rates below 35 FPS.

The data suggests a clear scaling pattern: each resolution step up halves the effective frame rate for the same settings. For example, Low goes from 95 FPS at 1080p to 61 FPS at 1440p to 32 FPS at 4K. This means that players should prioritize lower resolutions over lower settings, as the performance penalty for resolution increases is more severe than for quality settings. The Medium preset at 1080p (73 FPS) outperforms the Low preset at 1440p (61 FPS), indicating that resolution reduction is the more effective lever for improving frame rates.

For the best overall experience, the recommendation is to lock the resolution at 1920x1080 and use the Low preset as the default, with Medium as an option for players who prefer better visuals and can tolerate occasional frame rate dips. The game’s simulation depth is unaffected by graphics settings, so the CPU’s strong performance ensures that city management remains responsive regardless of the visual preset chosen.