Steamworld Build

Steamworld Build is a city builder where simulation logic and rendering load interact in ways that can heavily favor one component over the other. The data for this combo — Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus paired with the integrated Intel Arc B390 graphics — shows a system that is dramatically CPU-limited at lower resolutions, but becomes entirely GPU-bound at 4K, with playability hinging entirely on settings choices. The measured FPS reveals a clear pattern: this is not a combo for high-refresh 4K gaming, but it can produce a surprisingly smooth 1080p experience at medium settings, provided you accept the integrated GPU's limitations.

FAQ

Q: How does the Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus perform in synthetic benchmarks relative to its closest rivals?

A: The CPU's average benchmark score is 93,785, which places it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the Intel Xeon 6520P, scores 93,786, a delta of 0%. The AMD EPYC 4564P is 1.5% slower, the EPYC 9175F is 1.9% slower, and the EPYC 4565P is 2.1% slower, meaning the Ultra 7 270K Plus is effectively on par with the Xeon but slightly ahead of the EPYC parts in aggregate.

Q: What is the Intel Arc B390's performance percentile, and how does it compare to discrete GPUs?

A: The Arc B390 sits in the 9th percentile of all GPUs, with an average 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1,482. Its nearest rivals are all older NVIDIA parts: the GeForce GT 520MX (1,463, 1.3% faster), GeForce 800M (1,460, 1.5% faster), GT 625 OEM (1,446, 2.5% faster), and GT 710 (1,443, 2.7% faster). This indicates the Arc B390 is comparable to entry-level discrete GPUs from many years ago.

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

A: Based on the measured FPS, 1920x1080 with Medium settings delivers an average of 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93. This is the only settings/resolution pair that clears 60 FPS average while maintaining a minimum above 60. Lower settings at 1080p hit 106 FPS average, but Medium offers a better visual balance for a city builder.

Q: How does the combo rank among all tested systems in this game?

A: The combo ranks 2,573 out of 2,924 tested combinations, placing it in the bottom 12% of all systems. This low rank is primarily due to the integrated GPU's limited graphics throughput, even though the CPU is in the top 4% of all processors.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K Ultra settings?

A: At 3840x2160 Ultra, the average FPS drops to 14. Given the CPU's high performance (Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253), the GPU is clearly the bottleneck at this resolution. The integrated Intel Arc B390's 7.680 TFLOPS FP32 performance is insufficient for 4K rendering at high quality.

Q: Does the CPU's boost clock help in this game's single-threaded scenarios?

A: The CPU has a boost clock of 5.50 GHz and a single-core Cinebench R23 score of 2,439. While city builders often rely on single-thread performance for simulation logic, the measured FPS differences between settings at the same resolution suggest that graphics load, not CPU single-core speed, is the primary constraint in most tested scenarios.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo shows a wide spread across settings. Low settings produce an average of 106 FPS, which is the highest measured value for this combo. Medium settings average 81 FPS, with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93, making this the most consistent high-FPS option. High settings drop to 60 FPS average, which is exactly at the threshold for smooth play but leaves no headroom. Ultra settings fall to 41 FPS average, which is noticeably less fluid for a game where camera panning and zooming are frequent.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops sharply. Low settings average 67 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 37% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings average 51 FPS, with a minimum of 44 and maximum of 59 — this is borderline for a city builder, as dips below 45 FPS can make scrolling feel stuttery. High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 26 FPS, both of which are too low for comfortable play.

At 3840x2160, the results are largely untenable. Low settings average 35 FPS, Medium averages 27 FPS (minimum 23, maximum 31), High averages 20 FPS, and Ultra averages 14 FPS. None of these are smooth for a game that requires frequent camera movement and constant UI interaction. Even the Low preset at 4K is below the 40 FPS threshold that most builders would consider acceptable for this genre.

The data shows a clear pattern: the integrated GPU cannot handle 4K in any meaningful way, and even 1440p is only viable at Low settings. The 1080p Medium setting is the sweet spot, providing an average that is 35% higher than High and 65% lower than Low, but with a minimum FPS that stays above 60.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 270K Plus is a 24-core, 24-thread processor based on Arrow Lake Refresh, built on a 3 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, boosting to 5.50 GHz, and it has 36 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic tests, it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 44,253 and a single-core score of 2,439, placing it in the 96th percentile of all CPUs.

For Steamworld Build, a city builder that must simulate thousands of agents, resources, and buildings, the CPU's multi-core strength is theoretically valuable. However, the measured FPS data shows that the game's performance is not limited by the CPU in most tested scenarios. At 1080p Low, the 106 FPS average suggests the simulation can be run quickly, but the GPU is still keeping up. At 1080p Ultra, the FPS drops to 41, which is a 61% reduction — this is far too large a drop to be explained by CPU simulation load alone, and points to the GPU's fill rate and shader throughput being the bottleneck.

The CPU's PassMark multi-thread score of 68,574 and integer math score of 175,986 indicate strong computational ability, but these capabilities do not translate into higher FPS for this game because the integrated Arc B390 cannot render frames fast enough. In fact, the gap between CPU and GPU performance is enormous: the CPU ranks in the 96th percentile while the GPU ranks in the 9th percentile. This mismatch means the CPU sits idle waiting for the GPU in nearly every resolution/settings combination tested, except possibly at 1080p Low where the 106 FPS result hints at a more balanced workload.

The CPU's 24 threads are more than sufficient for the game's logic; the bottleneck is clearly graphics. Even at 1080p Medium, the 81 FPS average is likely constrained by the GPU's 60.00 GPixel/s pixel rate and 120.0 GTexel/s texture rate, not by the CPU's ability to compute the simulation.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combos for Steamworld Build, this system ranks 2,573 out of 2,924, putting it in the 88th percentile from the bottom. This is a very low rank, driven almost entirely by the integrated GPU. To contextualize, the CPU alone is in the 96th percentile of all processors, but the GPU is in the 9th percentile. The combo rank reflects the weakest link, which is the graphics solution.

The nearest GPU rivals give a sense of where the Arc B390 stands: it is within 1.3% of the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX, which was a low-end mobile GPU from over a decade ago. In a city builder that requires rendering detailed building sprites, UI elements, and terrain, this level of GPU performance is simply inadequate for high resolutions or quality settings. The combo's rank of 2,573 means that 351 other tested combos scored worse, but the vast majority of systems (2,573 of them) outperformed this one.

For a builder who primarily cares about simulation depth and city complexity, the CPU's high multi-core score (44,253 in Cinebench R23) could theoretically support a massive city. However, the game's FPS will collapse as the city grows because the GPU cannot keep up with the increased draw calls and texture work. The data suggests that this combo is only suitable for small to medium cities at 1080p Medium settings, and even then, the user must accept that the experience is borderline.

Resolution Scaling

Examining the FPS drops from 1080p to 4K reveals a textbook GPU-bound scaling pattern. At Medium settings, the average FPS goes from 81 at 1080p, to 51 at 1440p, to 27 at 4K. This represents a 37% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 47% drop from 1440p to 4K. These are very large reductions that cannot be explained by CPU load; they are consistent with a GPU that has limited pixel throughput.

At Low settings, the scaling is similar: 106 FPS at 1080p, 67 at 1440p, and 35 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 37%, and from 1440p to 4K is 48%. High settings show 60 FPS at 1080p, 38 at 1440p, and 20 at 4K — again, roughly a 37% and 47% drop respectively. These consistent percentage drops across settings indicate that the limiting factor is the GPU's rasterization and shading capability, not the CPU.

The fact that the CPU's performance is essentially constant across resolutions (since it is not the bottleneck) means that the FPS scaling is purely a function of the GPU's workload. The Arc B390's memory is "System Shared" with bandwidth described as "System Dependent," which likely contributes to the steep performance degradation at higher resolutions, as memory bandwidth becomes a more critical factor. The 4K results (14-35 FPS across settings) are unusable for a game that requires constant interaction, confirming that this combo should not be used above 1440p.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data clearly points to 1920x1080 with Medium settings as the best experience for this combo. The average FPS of 81 with a minimum of 69 and maximum of 93 provides a smooth, responsive experience that is essential for a city builder where you are constantly panning, zooming, and placing buildings. The minimum FPS of 69 ensures that even during heavy simulation moments, the game does not stutter below the 60 FPS threshold.

If you prefer higher fidelity, High settings at 1080p average exactly 60 FPS, but this leaves no headroom — any city growth or complex scene could push it below 60. Ultra at 1080p averages 41 FPS, which is too low for comfortable play. Low settings at 1080p average 106 FPS, but the visual trade-off is significant, and the extra FPS is unnecessary given the Medium result.

At 1440p, only Low settings (67 FPS average) are playable, but even that is marginal. Medium at 1440p averages 51 FPS with a minimum of 44, which will feel sluggish during city management. High and Ultra at 1440p (38 and 26 FPS) are not recommended. At 4K, no settings are recommended, as even Low (35 FPS) is below acceptable playability for this genre.

For the best balance of visual quality and performance, the 1080p Medium preset is the clear winner. It offers a 35% FPS advantage over High while maintaining a minimum above 60, and it is only 24% slower than Low, which is a reasonable cost for the visual upgrade. This is the only settings/resolution combination in the entire measured dataset that provides both an average and minimum FPS above 60, making it the definitive recommendation for this hardware pairing.