Palworld

Palworld, a survival title released on 2024-01-18, presents an interesting scaling study when paired with the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER. This combination yields a combo rank of 167 out of 1718 tested configurations, placing it in the top percentile of systems. The data reveals a system where the GPU dominates at higher resolutions, but the CPU's architectural limits become increasingly apparent as resolution drops.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data shows a clear and predictable pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates decrease, but the rate of decline is not uniform across all settings. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 240.6 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low drops this to 210.7 FPS, a reduction of 29.9 FPS. At 4K Low, the frame rate falls to 115.2 FPS, which is a substantial 125.4 FPS drop from the 1080p figure. This scaling behavior indicates that at 1080p, the system is heavily CPU-bound, as the RTX 4080 SUPER is capable of far higher frame rates than the Ryzen 5 3600 can feed it.

The gap between 1080p and 1440p at Low settings (29.9 FPS difference) is smaller than the gap between 1440p and 4K (95.5 FPS difference). This non-linearity is the signature of a CPU bottleneck at lower resolutions. At 1080p, the Ryzen 5 3600, with its 6 cores and 12 threads running at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boost of 4.20 GHz, becomes the limiting factor. The GPU is waiting for the CPU to deliver draw calls and game logic updates. As resolution climbs to 4K, the GPU's workload increases exponentially, shifting the bottleneck back to the graphics card.

For High settings, the pattern is similar but with lower absolute numbers. The 1080p High result is 198.5 FPS, dropping to 127 FPS at 1440p and 69.4 FPS at 4K. The 4K High figure represents a 65.1% reduction from the 1080p High score. This suggests that at High settings, the GPU is working harder, but the CPU is still a factor at 1080p, preventing the system from reaching the 240+ FPS territory seen at Low settings. At 4K Ultra, the frame rate plummets to 54.4 FPS, indicating that even the RTX 4080 SUPER's 52.22 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is strained by the most demanding visual configuration.

The scaling behavior points to a system that is balanced at 4K but CPU-limited at 1080p. The RTX 4080 SUPER, with its 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, is a high-end part that can handle 4K gaming. However, the Ryzen 5 3600, a 3000-series chip from 2019, lacks the single-thread performance and multi-threaded throughput to fully exploit the GPU's capabilities at lower resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p Ultra and 4K Ultra in Palworld?

A: The 1080p Ultra setting averages 151.7 FPS, while the 4K Ultra setting averages 54.4 FPS. This represents a 97.3 FPS drop, showing that Ultra settings at 4K are extremely demanding, pushing the RTX 4080 SUPER to its limits.

Q: Does the Ryzen 5 3600 bottleneck the RTX 4080 SUPER at any resolution?

A: Yes, the data indicates a CPU bottleneck at 1080p. At Low settings, the 1080p result (240.6 FPS) is only 29.9 FPS higher than the 1440p result (210.7 FPS), suggesting the CPU cannot push frame rates much higher, even when the GPU has headroom.

Q: How does the combo perform at 1440p High settings?

A: At 1440p High, the average FPS is 127. This is a playable frame rate for most users and represents a good balance between visual quality and performance for this hardware combination.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 60+ FPS at Ultra settings?

A: The data shows 1440p Ultra averages 96.2 FPS, which is well above 60 FPS. At 4K Ultra, the average drops to 54.4 FPS. Therefore, 1440p Ultra is the highest resolution and setting combination that comfortably exceeds 60 FPS.

Q: How does the combo's overall rank compare to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 167 out of 1718 tested combinations. This places it in the top 10% of all tested systems, indicating that it is a strong performer for Palworld, despite the CPU being an older generation.

Q: Is the 1080p Low setting frame rate of 240.6 FPS representative of a typical experience?

A: It is a measured average, but this configuration is likely CPU-bound. The Ryzen 5 3600's 3dmark single-thread score of 696 and passmark single-thread score of 2562 suggest that the CPU is the limiting factor, and frame rates may fluctuate depending on in-game scenes.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 5 3600 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER achieves a combo rank of 167 out of 1718 systems tested in Palworld. This puts the configuration in the 90.3rd percentile, meaning it outperforms over 90% of other tested combinations. This is a strong result, but it is important to contextualize it with the hardware's individual performance.

The RTX 4080 SUPER is a top-tier GPU, sitting at the 88th percentile among all GPUs. Its average benchmark score of 53610 places it slightly ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT (53489, deltaPct 0.2%) and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M (53414, deltaPct 0.4%). It is also faster than the AMD Radeon RX 7700S (52505, deltaPct 2.1%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (52086, deltaPct 2.9%). This high-performing GPU is the primary driver of the combo's high rank.

In contrast, the Ryzen 5 3600 is a mid-range CPU from the 3000 series, but it still performs admirably. It sits at the 76th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 18129. This score is nearly identical to its nearest rivals, including the Intel Core i5-11400 (18150, deltaPct -0.1%), the AMD Ryzen 5 1600 (18158, deltaPct -0.2%), and the AMD EPYC 9274F (18189, deltaPct -0.3%). The Ryzen 5 7535HS (18101, deltaPct 0.2%) is the only rival that scores slightly lower.

The rank of 167 confirms the GPU's power. In a game like Palworld, which has a survival genre focus and may not be heavily multi-threaded, the GPU often matters more than the CPU. The data shows that this combo can deliver high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, and even maintains playable frame rates at 4K, which is a significant achievement given the CPU's age.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at performance across four resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, 3840x2160) and four settings (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All figures are average FPS, with no min or max values recorded.

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows:

• Low: 240.6 FPS
• Medium: 223.9 FPS
• High: 198.5 FPS
• Ultra: 151.7 FPS

The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 88.9 FPS, showing that the visual settings have a significant impact. The 240.6 FPS at Low is likely near the CPU's maximum output, as the GPU is not the limiting factor at this resolution.

At 2560x1440:

• Low: 210.7 FPS
• Medium: 169.8 FPS
• High: 127 FPS
• Ultra: 96.2 FPS

The drop from 1080p Low to 1440p Low is 29.9 FPS, which is less than the drop from 1440p Low to 4K Low (95.5 FPS). This reinforces the CPU bottleneck theory at lower resolutions. At 1440p, the GPU begins to take on more work, but the system is still capable of high frame rates.

At 3840x2160:

• Low: 115.2 FPS
• Medium: 92.7 FPS
• High: 69.4 FPS
• Ultra: 54.4 FPS

At 4K, the system is clearly GPU-bound. The RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB of memory is sufficient, but the compute load is immense. The Ultra setting at 54.4 FPS is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, but the High setting at 69.4 FPS is playable.

The data shows a consistent pattern: the RTX 4080 SUPER can handle 4K, but the Ryzen 5 3600 limits performance at 1080p. For users with high refresh rate 1080p monitors, this combo will not reach the 240+ FPS that the GPU could theoretically provide in less CPU-intensive scenarios.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 5 3600 is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Zen 2 architecture, codenamed Matisse. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.20 GHz. The CPU features a 32 MB shared L3 cache and a 7 nm process node from TSMC. Its launch MSRP was $199.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is critical at lower resolutions. The 3dmark benchmark scores show a single-thread score of 696 and a max-thread score of 4603. The Cinebench R23 scores are 2124 for single-core and 15045 for multi-core. These scores indicate that the CPU has moderate single-thread performance, which is essential for game logic and draw call processing.

The data suggests that at 1080p Low, the CPU is the primary bottleneck. The 240.6 FPS result is likely close to the CPU's limit, as the GPU is far more capable. The passmark single-thread score of 2562 and the 3dmark single-thread score of 696 highlight that the CPU cannot keep up with the GPU's potential at low resolutions.

At higher resolutions, the CPU's load decreases relative to the GPU. The GPU takes over as the limiting factor, and the system's performance is more in line with what the RTX 4080 SUPER can deliver. The Ryzen 5 3600's 12 threads are sufficient for Palworld at 4K, as the game does not seem to be heavily multi-threaded in this configuration.

The CPU's 65W TDP and DDR4 memory support (dual-channel, 51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are adequate for this task. However, the CPU's age is evident, as it is from the 3000 series, released in 2019. Its nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i5-11400, have similar average benchmark scores, but the Ryzen 5 3600's performance is still sufficient for a good gaming experience with a high-end GPU.

In summary, the Ryzen 5 3600 provides a solid foundation for this combo, but it is the limiting factor at 1080p. For users targeting 1440p or 4K, the CPU's role diminishes, and the RTX 4080 SUPER's power takes over, resulting in a well-rounded and performant system for Palworld.