Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder that rarely stresses a flagship GPU, but the combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 produces a fascinating dataset. The data shows a system capable of extreme frame rates at lower resolutions, yet one that becomes surprisingly GPU-bound at 4K with maximum settings. This analysis breaks down the measured performance, focusing on where this combo sits among tested hardware, how settings scale, and what the frame rate patterns reveal about the underlying components.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 and RTX 5080 combination ranks 111th out of 2,924 tested combos in Steamworld Build. That places it in the top 4% of all configurations tested, which is a strong result for a game that is not traditionally considered a benchmark powerhouse. The percentile data for the individual components confirms the strength: the CPU sits in the 90th percentile among all processors, while the GPU lands in the 87th percentile among all graphics cards.

What is notable here is that the combo rank is not higher given the caliber of the individual parts. The data suggests that Steamworld Build's engine does not scale perfectly with the sheer compute power of the RTX 5080. For context, the CPU's average benchmark score of 48,995 puts it in a tight cluster with several rivals. The AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G scores 49,196 (0.4% higher), the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 scores 49,228 (0.5% higher), and the Intel Xeon Gold 5318H scores 48,698 (0.6% lower). The closest competitor, the Intel Core i5-14600K, scores 48,618 (0.8% lower). This indicates the Ultra 5 245 is a mid-pack performer relative to its immediate peers, not a standout.

On the GPU side, the RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 56,083 places it in a similar competitive bracket. The AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE leads the nearest rivals with a score of 57,367 (2.2% higher), while the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757, 0.6% higher) and AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, 0.7% higher) trail slightly. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X is the laggard here at 54,828 (2.3% lower). These margins are small, suggesting that in raw synthetic terms, the RTX 5080 is not dramatically ahead of its immediate competition, which helps explain why the combo does not crack the top 100. The game appears to be more sensitive to memory bandwidth and latency than to raw shader throughput, an area where the RTX 5080's 960.0 GB/s of GDDR7 bandwidth is impressive but not always fully utilized.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides a clear hierarchy for settings presets. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers an average of 407 FPS, which is excessive for any display. The Medium preset still hits 315 FPS, and High reaches 236 FPS. The Ultra preset drops to 159 FPS, but this is still far above the refresh rate of most monitors. The data suggests that even at Ultra, the game is playable with massive headroom.

The story changes at 1440p. The Low preset averages 262 FPS, Medium 201 FPS, and High 150 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, which is still smooth for a city builder, but the gap between High and Ultra is significant. At 4K, the differences become more pronounced. Low averages 139 FPS, Medium 106 FPS, and High 79 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 54 FPS, which is the first point where the experience could feel compromised on high-refresh displays.

For the best experience, the data points to the High preset at 1440p as the sweet spot. It delivers 150 FPS average, which is smooth and leaves ample headroom for the complex simulation overhead that city builders often incur as your population grows. The Medium preset at 4K is also viable, with a 106 FPS average and a documented minimum of 90 FPS, which ensures no noticeable stutter. The Ultra preset, especially at 4K, is not recommended for competitive or high-refresh play; the 54 FPS average suggests the GPU is hitting a hard limit. The Low preset, while fast, sacrifices too much visual fidelity for a game that is about watching your city come to life.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the bottleneck characteristics of this combo. At the Low preset, performance drops from 407 FPS at 1080p to 139 FPS at 4K, a reduction of approximately 66%. This steep decline indicates that even at Low settings, the game becomes heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The RTX 5080's 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 256-bit bus are adequate, but the pixel fill rate demands of 4K are immense.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend: 315 FPS at 1080p falls to 106 FPS at 4K, a 66% drop. The High preset drops from 236 FPS to 79 FPS, a 67% reduction. The Ultra preset is the outlier, dropping from 159 FPS to 54 FPS, a 66% decline. The consistency of this ~66% drop across all settings is telling. It suggests that the limiting factor is not the CPU or the settings complexity, but rather the GPU's ability to fill pixels at 4K resolution. The CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, is not the bottleneck here; the data indicates it has ample headroom to feed the GPU at all resolutions.

Interestingly, the scaling from 1080p to 1440p is less severe. The Low preset drops from 407 FPS to 262 FPS (36% reduction), Medium from 315 FPS to 201 FPS (36%), High from 236 FPS to 150 FPS (36%), and Ultra from 159 FPS to 101 FPS (36%). This linear scaling pattern reinforces that the game is primarily GPU-limited, with the CPU maintaining consistent performance. The 1440p to 4K jump is where the GPU starts to struggle, indicating that 4K is the resolution where the RTX 5080's limits are exposed in this title.

Measured FPS Breakdown

1920x1080: The data shows exceptional performance at this resolution. The Low preset averages 407 FPS, which is the highest measured score in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 315 FPS, with a minimum of 268 FPS and a maximum of 363 FPS. The High preset averages 236 FPS, while the Ultra preset averages 159 FPS. All presets are playable, and even the Ultra preset provides a frame rate that exceeds most 144Hz displays.

2560x1440: Performance remains high but shows the first signs of GPU pressure. The Low preset averages 262 FPS, Medium 201 FPS (min 171 FPS, max 231 FPS), and High 150 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 101 FPS, which is borderline for high-refresh gaming but perfectly smooth for a city builder. The minimum frame rate of 171 FPS on Medium suggests good consistency, with no major stutters.

3840x2160: This is where the combo's limits are clearly defined. The Low preset averages 139 FPS, which is still fast. The Medium preset averages 106 FPS (min 90 FPS, max 122 FPS), providing a solid experience. The High preset averages 79 FPS, which is acceptable but not ideal for fast-paced action. The Ultra preset averages 54 FPS, which is the lowest score measured. The gap between Medium and High at 4K is 27 FPS, and the gap between High and Ultra is 25 FPS, showing that each settings tier has a significant cost.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 5 245 a bottleneck in Steamworld Build?

A: No. The data shows that the CPU, with its 14 cores and 14 threads, is not the limiting factor. Frame rates scale consistently with resolution, dropping by roughly 66% from 1080p to 4K across all settings, which indicates a GPU bottleneck. The CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 32,924 and a single-core score of 4,648, suggest it has ample processing power for this title.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 60Hz 4K display?

A: The Medium preset is the best choice for a 60Hz 4K display. It averages 106 FPS with a minimum of 90 FPS, ensuring the frame rate never dips below the display's refresh rate. The High preset at 79 FPS is also viable, but the Medium preset provides more headroom for complex city simulations.

Q: How does the RTX 5080 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 5080's average benchmark score of 56,083 puts it slightly behind the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE, which scores 57,367 (2.2% higher). It is ahead of the AMD Radeon 8060S (55,757, 0.6% higher) and the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB (55,698, 0.7% higher). The margins are small, indicating the 5080 is not dominant in this specific workload.

Q: Can the combo hit 240 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, at the Low preset it averages 407 FPS, and at Medium it averages 315 FPS. Even the High preset at 236 FPS exceeds 240 FPS. Only the Ultra preset at 159 FPS falls below the 240 FPS threshold.

Q: Does the Ultra preset at 1440p provide a good experience?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1440p averages 101 FPS. This is smooth for a city builder and provides excellent visual fidelity. The data does not include a minimum frame rate for this configuration, but the average suggests it is a stable experience.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K on the Ultra preset?

A: The average frame rate drops from 159 FPS at 1080p to 54 FPS at 4K, a reduction of 105 FPS or approximately 66%. This steep decline highlights the GPU's limitations at 4K with maximum settings.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 245 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake-S architecture, built on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 3.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.10 GHz, with a 65W TDP. The cache hierarchy includes a 192 KB L1 cache per core, 3 MB L2 cache per core, and a shared 24 MB L3 cache. This configuration is well-suited for Steamworld Build, which is a simulation-heavy genre that benefits from multiple cores.

The benchmark data for the CPU shows strong multi-threaded performance. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 32,924, while the single-core score is 4,648. The PassMark multi-thread score is 38,706, and the single-thread score is 4,394. These numbers indicate the CPU can handle the background simulation tasks of a city builder while also feeding the GPU with draw calls. The data shows that the CPU is not the bottleneck in this game; frame rates scale linearly with resolution, which is a classic sign of GPU limitation.

The CPU's nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5755G (0.4% higher average score) and the AMD Ryzen 9 7900 (0.5% higher). The Intel Core i5-14600K is 0.8% lower. This places the Ultra 5 245 in a competitive position, but not at the top of the heap. For Steamworld Build specifically, the 14 cores provide sufficient parallelism for the game's simulation logic, but the results suggest that the game engine does not heavily utilize more than a handful of cores. The high boost clock of 5.10 GHz is likely more important for the game's single-threaded tasks, such as UI rendering and pathfinding, which is reflected in the strong single-core Cinebench score of 4,648. The CPU's 24 MB of shared L3 cache also helps reduce memory latency, which is crucial for the frequent data access patterns of a city builder. Overall, the CPU provides a solid foundation, but the RTX 5080 is the component that determines the final frame rate, especially at higher resolutions.