Palworld

Palworld pairs the AMD Ryzen 5 2600, a six-core Zen+ processor from 2018, with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090, an Ada Lovelace flagship. This is a stark generational mismatch on paper, but the measured FPS data reveals a surprisingly playable experience across most settings. The combination ranks 190th out of 1718 tested combos in this game, placing it in the top 11% of all configurations. The data suggests that while the RTX 4090 is doing the heavy lifting for visual fidelity, the older CPU still holds its own in a survival title that appears to scale well with modern GPU hardware.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra settings?

A: At 1920x1080 with Ultra settings, the combo achieves an average of 159.6 FPS. This is a high frame rate that comfortably exceeds the refresh rate of most standard monitors, indicating that the CPU is not a severe bottleneck even at the highest preset.

Q: How does the RTX 4090's benchmark score compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The GPU's average benchmark score is 66473, which places it 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Tesla T4 (66733) and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA Tesla P40 (66127). It also sits 0.9% ahead of the AMD Radeon Pro Vega 56 and 1.3% behind the NVIDIA Quadro P6000.

Q: What is the CPU's multi-threaded performance like in Cinebench R23?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 scores 11186 points in the Cinebench R23 multi-core test. With its 6 cores and 12 threads, this score positions it in the 77th percentile against all CPUs, showing it remains a competent performer for its age.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average FPS drops from 128.4 on Low settings to 62.3 on Ultra. This represents a significant 51.5% reduction in frame rate, highlighting how demanding the Ultra preset is at 4K resolution.

Q: Does the CPU's memory bandwidth impact the game's performance?

A: The Ryzen 5 2600 supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 46.9 GB/s. The data does not include a direct comparison to other memory configurations, so the specific impact on Palworld cannot be quantified, but this bandwidth is standard for the platform.

Q: What is the GPU's VRAM capacity and how does it relate to this game?

A: The RTX 4090 features 24 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 384-bit bus and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth. This large capacity ensures that the game's textures and assets are unlikely to exceed VRAM limits, even at 4K Ultra, allowing the GPU to focus on compute rather than memory swapping.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 190 out of 1718 tested configurations places it in the 89th percentile of all tested setups for Palworld. This is a strong result, especially considering the CPU is from the 2018 era, while the GPU is from 2022. The data implies that the RTX 4090's raw power compensates for the CPU's age in this specific title. The gap between this combo and higher-ranked ones is likely due to CPU limitations in certain scenarios, but the absolute frame rates are still very high.

Benchmark results indicate that this pairing is not a balanced one on paper, yet the in-game performance suggests otherwise. The CPU's average benchmark score is 19616, which is only 0.4% lower than the Intel Core i5-1345U (19691) and 0.6% higher than the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (19508). These close margins show that the Ryzen 5 2600 is still competitive with much newer mobile and desktop chips in synthetic workloads. This consistency carries over to Palworld, where the combo's rank demonstrates that the system as a whole does not fall behind dramatically.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 2600 operates with 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 3.40 GHz and a boost clock of 3.90 GHz. Its 16 MB of shared L3 cache is modest by modern standards, but the data shows it is sufficient for Palworld. The CPU's Cinebench R20 multi-core score of 4698 and single-core score of 663 indicate a balanced workload capability. In a game like Palworld, which involves world simulation and creature AI, the multi-threaded performance is critical. The 12 threads help manage these background tasks, allowing the GPU to render frames without waiting on the CPU.

The near-rival scores reinforce the CPU's position. It is 0.6% ahead of the AMD Ryzen 5 7530U (avgScore 19508) and 0.7% ahead of the Intel Core i7-10700F (avgScore 19485) in overall benchmarks. However, it trails the Intel Core i5-1345U by 0.4%. These marginal differences suggest that the Ryzen 5 2600 does not significantly bottleneck the RTX 4090 in this game, as the FPS numbers remain high. The PassMark multi-thread score of 13160 further confirms its ability to handle parallel tasks, which is essential for maintaining a stable frame rate when the world is populated with Pals.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the FPS ranges from 209.3 on Low to 159.6 on Ultra. The Medium preset yields 197.3 FPS, and High produces 177.9 FPS. These numbers are exceptionally high, indicating that the combo is well-suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p gaming. The difference between Low and Ultra is 49.7 FPS, a 23.7% drop, which is relatively modest and shows the GPU's headroom at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain impressive: 182.2 on Low, 167.9 on Medium, 143.6 on High, and 111.0 on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra here is 71.2 FPS, a 39.1% reduction. This is a more significant impact, suggesting that the GPU is starting to work harder, but the CPU is still keeping up. At 4K (3840x2160), the numbers are 128.4 on Low, 106.8 on Medium, 80.1 on High, and 62.3 on Ultra. The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that dips below 60 FPS, which is a critical threshold for many players.

The data shows a clear trend: the CPU is not the primary limiter until the resolution and settings push the GPU to its limits. At 4K Ultra, the 62.3 FPS average suggests that the RTX 4090 is finally being taxed, but the Ryzen 5 2600 is still providing enough data to avoid a catastrophic bottleneck.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing. With a boost clock of 2520 MHz, 16384 shading units, and 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, it has immense raw compute power. Its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS confirms its capability. The GPU's PassMark G3D score of 38194 places it in the 91st percentile against all GPUs, and its average benchmark score of 66473 puts it in a close race with the Tesla T4 (66733) and P40 (66127).

In Palworld, the GPU's role is to render the vibrant, open-world environments and handle the visual effects. The data shows that at 1080p, the GPU is not fully utilized, as frame rates exceed 200 FPS on Low. This indicates that the CPU is the limiting factor at lower settings. However, as the resolution increases to 4K, the GPU's workload becomes more substantial. The 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth ensures that texture streaming is not a bottleneck, allowing the GPU to maintain high frame rates even at 4K High (80.1 FPS). The GPU's 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are not directly benchmarked in this game, but they contribute to the overall performance headroom.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the best experience depends on the target resolution. For 1080p, the Ultra preset at 159.6 FPS is the obvious choice, as it offers the highest visual fidelity without sacrificing smoothness. The Medium preset at 197.3 FPS is also viable for players who prioritize frame rate over visuals. At 1440p, the High preset at 143.6 FPS provides a good balance, but Ultra at 111.0 FPS is still highly playable and offers better image quality. The data suggests that Ultra is the recommended setting for 1440p.

At 4K, the choice is more nuanced. The High preset at 80.1 FPS offers a smooth experience with good visuals, but the Ultra preset at 62.3 FPS is on the edge of playability. For a game like Palworld, where frame rate stability is important for exploration and combat, the High preset is the safer recommendation. The Medium preset at 106.8 FPS is another strong option for 4K, providing a significant FPS boost over High while still looking respectable. The Low preset is not recommended at any resolution, as it sacrifices too much visual detail for marginal FPS gains.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the limiting component. At High settings, the FPS drops from 177.9 at 1080p to 143.6 at 1440p (a 19.3% decrease) and then to 80.1 at 4K (a 55.0% decrease from 1080p). This steep drop at 4K indicates that the GPU is becoming the primary bottleneck, as the resolution increases the pixel count exponentially. The CPU's performance remains relatively constant, but the GPU's workload grows, leading to lower frame rates.

At Low settings, the FPS drops from 209.3 at 1080p to 182.2 at 1440p (a 12.9% decrease) and then to 128.4 at 4K (a 38.6% decrease from 1080p). The smaller percentage drop at Low settings suggests that the CPU is more of a limiting factor at lower resolutions, as the GPU is not fully utilized. This pattern is classic: at 1080p, the CPU limits performance, but as resolution increases, the GPU's workload becomes the dominant factor. The data shows that the RTX 4090 is strong enough to push the bottleneck to the CPU at 1080p, but at 4K, the GPU's capabilities are finally stretched, especially on the Ultra preset where the FPS drops to 62.3.