Palworld

Measured FPS Breakdown

The recorded data for Palworld on this combination of Intel Core i5-9400 and Intel Arc B370 shows a clear scaling pattern across resolutions and presets. At 1920x1080, the system produces playable frame rates at Low and Medium settings, with the Low preset averaging 76 FPS and Medium averaging 62 FPS. The Medium preset shows a recorded minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS, meaning the frame rate can dip below the 60 FPS threshold during heavier scenes, but the average remains playable. High settings at 1080p drop the average to 47 FPS, while Ultra falls to 36 FPS, both below the playable threshold.

Moving to 2560x1440, the performance drops considerably. The Low preset averages 50 FPS, which is close to playable but still below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 FPS and a maximum of 47 FPS. High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. None of these resolutions produce playable results according to the verdict data.

At 3840x2160, the system struggles even at the lowest settings. Low averages 28 FPS, Medium averages 23 FPS with a minimum of 19 FPS and a maximum of 26 FPS, High averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 15 FPS, which shows that the GPU has limited headroom even when settings are reduced.

The data indicates that the Arc B370, with its 1280 shading units and 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, becomes the primary bottleneck as resolution increases. The CPU, a 6-core Coffee Lake part with a 4.10 GHz boost clock, appears sufficient for the lower resolution workloads, but the GPU cannot maintain playable frame rates beyond 1080p Medium.

Similar Performance Alternatives

The database places the Intel Arc B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals in the GPU benchmark data are all older discrete and integrated parts. The ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 scores 1186, which is 0.2% higher. The ATI Radeon HD 5770 scores 1190, 0.5% higher. The AMD Radeon HD 7650M scores 1192, 0.7% higher. The AMD FirePro M2000 scores 1168, which is 1.4% lower. These deltas are all within 1.4%, meaning any of these GPUs would produce nearly identical frame rates in Palworld at the same settings and resolution.

For the CPU side, the Intel Core i5-9400 sits at the 47th percentile of all CPUs with an average benchmark score of 2254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 at 2259 (0.2% higher), the Intel Core i7-10710U at 2248 (0.3% lower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 at 2246 (0.4% lower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 at 2264 (0.4% higher). These CPUs would behave nearly identically in Palworld, so if the i5-9400 is not available, any of these parts would deliver essentially the same frame rates.

The practical takeaway is that the GPU is the limiting factor. Swapping the i5-9400 for any of its nearest rivals would change the measured FPS by less than a single frame in most scenarios. Swapping the Arc B370 for a similarly scoring GPU, such as the Radeon HD 5770, would also produce indistinguishable results. The system's overall combination rank of 3423 out of 3711 tested combos confirms that this pairing sits near the bottom of the database, mostly due to the GPU's low relative performance.

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Palworld at 1080p?

A: Yes, at Low and Medium settings. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, and Medium averages 62 FPS. High and Ultra presets fall to 47 FPS and 36 FPS respectively, which are below the 60 FPS playable threshold.

Q: What is the best playable setting at 1080p for this system?

A: Medium is the best setting that maintains an average above 60 FPS. It averages 62 FPS with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS. The recorded data shows Medium as the best playable settings option.

Q: Is 1440p playable with this hardware?

A: No. The highest average at 2560x1440 is 50 FPS on Low settings, which is below the 60 FPS threshold. Medium averages 41 FPS, High averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. None of the settings at this resolution clear the playable threshold.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in terms of performance?

A: The Intel Arc B370 scores 1184 in the database's Steel Nomad DX12 benchmark. Its closest competitors are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 at 1186 (0.2% faster), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 at 1190 (0.5% faster), the AMD Radeon HD 7650M at 1192 (0.7% faster), and the AMD FirePro M2000 at 1168 (1.4% slower). These differences are negligible in real gameplay.

Q: What resolution and settings should I use for the smoothest experience?

A: Use 1920x1080 with Low settings for the highest average frame rate at 76 FPS. If you prefer visual quality, Medium at 1080p offers 62 FPS average and is the best balance of quality and performance according to the verdict data.

Q: Why does the frame rate drop so much when going from 1080p to 1440p?

A: The GPU does not have the compute headroom to handle the additional pixel count. At 1080p Low, the system averages 76 FPS. At 1440p Low, it averages 50 FPS. The Arc B370 has only 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs, which limits its ability to process the larger frame buffer efficiently.

The Verdict

The recorded performance data clearly shows that this system can run Palworld, but only at 1920x1080 with Low or Medium settings. The verdict by resolution lists 1920x1080 as the only resolution with playable settings, specifically Low and Medium. The best settings option is Medium, which delivers an average of 62 FPS. That is just above the 60 FPS threshold, but the minimum recorded frame rate of 52 FPS means there will be moments where the game dips below playable smoothness.

At 2560x1440, no settings are playable. The best case is Low at 50 FPS average, which is short of the threshold. At 3840x2160, the situation is worse, with Low averaging only 28 FPS. The system is simply not capable of driving Palworld at resolutions above 1080p while maintaining 60 FPS.

If you are building a system with these exact components, plan to play at 1080p with Medium settings for the best experience. Lowering to Low will give you more headroom, with an average of 76 FPS, but the visual quality loss is significant. Do not expect playable performance at higher resolutions.

CPU and GPU Roles

The data reveals how the balance shifts between the Intel Core i5-9400 and the Intel Arc B370 as resolution changes. At 1920x1080, the CPU has enough single-thread performance, with a Geekbench single-core score of 1389, to keep up with the GPU's output. The Low preset at 1080p averages 76 FPS, which suggests the GPU is the primary limiter, but the CPU is not holding it back significantly.

At 2560x1440, the GPU becomes the dominant bottleneck. The frame rate drops by 26 FPS from Low at 1080p to Low at 1440p, from 76 to 50. The CPU's workload does not increase proportionally with resolution, so this drop is almost entirely due to the GPU's limited pixel throughput. The Arc B370's 20 ROPs and 48.00 GPixel/s pixel rate are simply not enough for higher resolutions.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is completely overwhelmed. Even at Low settings, the average is only 28 FPS. The CPU has plenty of headroom left, as evidenced by the fact that the frame rate does not scale down smoothly with resolution. The difference between 1440p Low (50 FPS) and 4K Low (28 FPS) is a 44% drop, which aligns with the GPU's inability to handle the 4K pixel count.

The preset scaling also tells a story. At 1080p, going from Low to Medium costs 14 FPS (76 to 62), from Medium to High costs 15 FPS (62 to 47), and from High to Ultra costs 11 FPS (47 to 36). These are large drops for each preset step, indicating that the GPU is sensitive to settings changes. At 1440p, the same pattern holds: Low to Medium drops 9 FPS, Medium to High drops 10 FPS, and High to Ultra drops 7 FPS. The CPU is not the limiting factor in any of these cases.

For this game and this hardware combination, the GPU matters more at every resolution above 1080p Low. At 1080p Medium, the system is balanced enough to hit the 60 FPS average, but the CPU's 6 cores and 6 threads do not provide any advantage over its rivals. The data suggests that upgrading the GPU would yield far larger frame rate gains than upgrading the CPU, regardless of resolution.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and the Intel Arc B370 ranks 3423 out of 3711 tested combos in the database for Palworld. That places it in the bottom 8% of all systems tested, which is consistent with the GPU's low benchmark position. The CPU alone sits at the 47th percentile, meaning it is roughly average among all CPUs. The GPU sits at the 5th percentile, which is extremely low.

The combination rank is driven almost entirely by the GPU. The i5-9400 is a competent mid-range part, but the Arc B370 is a very weak performer for gaming. The nearest GPU rivals, all of which are a decade or more older, score within 1.4% of the Arc B370, confirming that this GPU is not competitive with modern hardware.

In practical terms, this combo ranks below the vast majority of systems in the database. If you are comparing builds, this pairing would be outclassed by almost any system with a discrete GPU from the past several years. The only systems it would beat are those with similarly weak GPUs, such as the ATI Radeon HD 5770 or the AMD FirePro M2000.

The verdict is straightforward: this combo is not a good choice for Palworld beyond 1080p Medium. The rank of 3423 out of 3711 reflects that reality. The CPU is not the problem, but the GPU is too weak to carry the system at higher resolutions or settings. If you already own this CPU, consider a significantly stronger GPU. If you already own this GPU, the i5-9400 is not holding it back, but the overall experience will still be limited.