Palworld

Palworld pairs a 6-core, 12-thread AMD Ryzen 5 8400F with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in a combination that ranks 32nd out of 2,944 tested combos in this game. The CPU, based on Zen 4 architecture on a 4 nm process, runs at a base clock of 4.20 GHz and boosts to 4.70 GHz, while the GPU, built on Blackwell 2.0 with a 5 nm process, carries 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus. The measured frame rates show a system that can push well beyond 300 FPS at 1080p on lower presets but drops to 66 FPS at 4K Ultra, suggesting a complex balance between CPU and GPU limitations depending on resolution and settings.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads, with a base clock of 4.20 GHz and a boost clock of 4.70 GHz. This processor belongs to the 8000 series, uses the Phoenix codename, and fits into AMD Socket AM5. Its cache configuration includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 16 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, with a memory bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip scores 20,851 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 2,943 in single-core, placing it in the 77th percentile against all CPUs.

The nearest rivals in CPU benchmark averages show how tightly grouped this processor is. The AMD Ryzen 5 7500F scores 24,964, only 0.2% higher than the 8400F’s 25,005 average. The Intel Core i7-11850H and Intel Core i7-13620H sit at 24,935 and 24,911, respectively, with deltas of 0.3% and 0.4%. On the other side, the AMD EPYC 9474F scores 25,103, which is 0.4% lower than the 8400F. These numbers indicate that the 8400F performs almost identically to its closest competitors, with differences of less than half a percent in either direction.

For Palworld, the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread layout appears sufficient to feed the RTX 5090 D at lower resolutions. At 1080p Low, the combo hits 348 FPS average, which is a high enough frame rate that the CPU’s single-thread performance becomes a factor. The 3DMark single-thread score of 951 and Passmark single-thread score of 3,685 suggest decent per-core capability for a 65 W TDP part. The boost clock of 4.70 GHz is modest compared to higher-end desktop chips, but the data shows it does not bottleneck the GPU severely at 1080p, given the 348 FPS result.

The CPU’s 16 MB of shared L3 cache is relatively small for a modern desktop processor, but Palworld’s open-world survival gameplay may not be heavily cache-dependent. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 6,091 and max-thread score of 6,165 indicate that multi-threaded scaling is limited beyond 8 threads, which aligns with the 6-core design. At higher resolutions like 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes because the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, as seen in the frame rate differences between settings.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a massive GPU with 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 2,017 MHz with a boost clock of 2,407 MHz, and memory runs at 1,750 MHz (28 Gbps effective). The chip, designated GB202, contains 21,760 shading units, 680 texture mapping units, and 176 ROPs. It also includes 170 ray tracing cores and 680 tensor cores. The GPU’s pixel rate is 423.6 GPixel/s, texture rate is 1,636.8 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance reaches 104.8 TFLOPS.

In benchmark averages, the RTX 5090 D scores 77,712, placing it in the 92nd percentile against all GPUs. Its nearest rivals show interesting comparisons. The AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT scores 76,904, which is 1.1% lower, while the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT scores 78,940, which is 1.6% higher. The NVIDIA Tesla P100 PCIe 12 GB and 16 GB variants score 79,396 and 79,605, respectively, both about 2% higher than the 5090 D. These deltas are small, suggesting that the 5090 D’s raw compute performance is competitive with these data-center-oriented cards despite being a consumer product.

For Palworld, the GPU’s 32 GB VRAM is far more than the game likely needs, but the memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s is crucial for high-resolution textures. At 4K Ultra, the combo manages 66 FPS average, which is the lowest measured result. This indicates that even the RTX 5090 D struggles with the most demanding settings at 4K. The GPU’s boost clock of 2,407 MHz is relatively high, and the 104.8 TFLOPS FP32 throughput helps maintain frame rates in a game that may have heavy physics or particle effects.

The 575 W TDP and suggested 950 W PSU reflect the GPU’s power appetite, but the measured FPS data shows that this power translates into performance. At 1440p High, the combo achieves 157 FPS, and at 1080p High, it reaches 239 FPS. The GPU’s compute benchmarks, such as Geekbench OpenCL score of 310,674 and Vulkan score of 376,915, confirm its general compute strength. However, the Passmark DirectX 12 score of 219 is notably lower than DirectX 11 (371) or DirectX 9 (434), which could imply driver or API overhead in certain workloads, though Palworld’s measured results do not show obvious DX12 penalties.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

Examining the measured FPS across resolutions reveals a clear pattern of scaling. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 348 at 1080p to 252 at 1440p, then to 140 at 4K. This represents a 28% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a further 44% decrease from 1440p to 4K. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is about 60%. For High settings, the progression is 239 FPS at 1080p, 157 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K. That is a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 45% drop from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 64% reduction.

Medium settings show a similar trend: 311 FPS at 1080p, 205 FPS at 1440p, and 114 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 34%, and from 1440p to 4K is 44%, for a total of 63%. Ultra settings have the steepest absolute decline: 181 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% drop to 1440p and a 45% drop to 4K, totaling 64%. The consistency of these percentage drops across settings—roughly one-third from 1080p to 1440p and nearly half from 1440p to 4K—suggests that resolution scaling is governed primarily by the GPU’s pixel throughput.

The fact that the percentage drops are similar regardless of settings points to the RTX 5090 D being the limiting factor at higher resolutions. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect smaller percentage drops at lower settings where frame rates are higher, because the CPU would cap performance before the GPU’s resolution-dependent workload becomes dominant. Instead, the frame rate declines proportionally with pixel count, indicating that the GPU is doing the heavy lifting at 1440p and 4K. At 1080p, the CPU may start to become more relevant, but the 348 FPS Low result suggests it still has headroom.

The scaling data also implies that Palworld is not particularly VRAM-limited, since the 32 GB GDDR7 memory does not cause stutters or frame rate anomalies at 4K. The min FPS values for Medium settings—96 FPS at 4K, 174 FPS at 1440p, and 264 FPS at 1080p—are relatively close to the averages, indicating consistent frame pacing. This consistency further supports the GPU-bound interpretation at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce an average of 348 FPS, Medium settings average 311 FPS with a minimum of 264 and maximum of 357, High settings average 239 FPS, and Ultra settings average 181 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 167 FPS, which is the largest absolute range across all resolutions. This suggests that at 1080p, settings have a substantial impact on performance, likely because the GPU is not fully saturated and CPU or memory bandwidth can influence the upper bounds.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates drop meaningfully. Low settings average 252 FPS, Medium averages 205 FPS with min/max of 174 and 235, High averages 157 FPS, and Ultra averages 119 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra here is 133 FPS, still significant but less than at 1080p. The Medium setting’s min FPS of 174 is notably higher than the Ultra average of 119, indicating that even at 1440p, dropping from Ultra to Medium provides a large performance cushion.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more moderate. Low settings average 140 FPS, Medium averages 114 FPS with min/max of 96 and 131, High averages 87 FPS, and Ultra averages 66 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 74 FPS, which shows that at 4K, the GPU’s raw throughput dominates and settings tweaks yield smaller relative gains. The Medium min FPS of 96 is still above the Ultra average, reinforcing that Medium is a playable option at 4K, while Ultra dips below 60 FPS territory with an average of 66.

The measured data includes no min or max values for Low, High, or Ultra settings, so only averages are available for those presets. The Medium preset is the only one with full min/max data across all resolutions, which provides a useful reference for frame time consistency. At 4K Medium, the 96 FPS minimum means the 1% lows are likely above 60 FPS, which is a key consideration for smooth gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

The AMD Ryzen 5 8400F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D combination ranks 32nd out of 2,944 tested combos in Palworld. This places it in the top 1.1% of all combinations, which is an elite position. The rank reflects the raw power of the RTX 5090 D, since the CPU is a mid-range 6-core part. The fact that this combo sits at 32nd despite the CPU’s modest benchmark scores suggests that Palworld is more GPU-bound at the resolutions tested, allowing the 5090 D to shine.

Given the CPU’s 77th percentile ranking and the GPU’s 92nd percentile, the combo overperforms what one might expect from a simple average of their positions. The CPU’s nearest rivals—Ryzen 5 7500F, Core i7-11850H, Core i7-13620H—all have similar average scores within 0.4%, so swapping in any of these would likely yield nearly identical results. The GPU’s rivals, such as the RX 6650M XT and RX 6850M XT, show deltas of around 1-2%, but those are mobile or data-center parts, not direct desktop competitors.

The 32nd rank out of 2,944 means there are 31 combos that perform better in Palworld. These likely include CPUs with higher single-thread performance paired with the same or similar GPUs, or possibly configurations with faster memory. The CPU’s 83.2 GB/s memory bandwidth and 4.70 GHz boost clock are not top-tier, so combos with CPUs like a Ryzen 7 or Core i7 with higher clocks could edge out slightly in CPU-bound scenarios at 1080p Low. However, the overall rank shows that this combo is exceptionally well-suited for Palworld, especially at higher resolutions where the GPU dominates.

The data also indicates that the CPU is not a significant liability. At 1080p Low, the 348 FPS average is high enough that most monitors cannot display it, so the CPU’s limitations are irrelevant for practical use. At 4K Ultra, the 66 FPS average is more likely constrained by the GPU’s ability to render the scene, not the CPU’s ability to issue draw calls. Thus, the combo rank of 32 reflects a well-balanced pairing for this specific game, with the GPU carrying most of the weight.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium preset appears to offer the best balance between visual quality and performance across all resolutions. At 1080p, Medium averages 311 FPS with a minimum of 264 and maximum of 357, which is far beyond any display’s refresh rate and provides headroom for future content. At 1440p, Medium averages 205 FPS with min/max of 174 and 235, which is excellent for high-refresh-rate monitors. At 4K, Medium averages 114 FPS with min/max of 96 and 131, which is above 60 FPS and smooth for most players.

High settings are also viable but show a notable performance cost. At 4K, High averages 87 FPS, which is still playable but 27 FPS lower than Medium. The gap between Medium and High is consistent across resolutions: at 1080p it is 72 FPS (311 to 239), at 1440p it is 48 FPS (205 to 157), and at 4K it is 27 FPS (114 to 87). This suggests that High settings introduce a significant GPU load, likely from shadows, textures, or post-processing effects, that may not be worth the visual improvement for many players.

Ultra settings are the most demanding, with averages of 181 FPS at 1080p, 119 FPS at 1440p, and 66 FPS at 4K. At 1080p and 1440p, Ultra still provides high frame rates, but at 4K, the 66 FPS average is close to the edge of 60 FPS and may dip below in busy scenes. The lack of min/max data for Ultra makes it hard to judge frame pacing, but the average suggests that 4K Ultra is borderline. Low settings, while achieving the highest frame rates (348 at 1080p, 252 at 1440p, 140 at 4K), sacrifice too much visual fidelity for a game that already runs well on Medium.

For players with a 1440p or 4K monitor, Medium is the recommended preset because it maintains high average FPS and has the only documented min/max values, indicating reliable frame delivery. At 1080p, Medium also makes sense, as the 311 FPS average is overkill for any display, and the visual uplift from Low to Medium is substantial. Ultra should be reserved for players who prioritize image quality over frame rate, particularly at 1080p or 1440p where it remains above 119 FPS.

FAQ

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

A: The combo achieves an average of 311 FPS at 1920x1080 with Medium settings, with a minimum of 264 FPS and a maximum of 357 FPS.

Q: Does the RTX 5090 D’s 32 GB VRAM matter for Palworld?

A: The 32 GB GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus with 1.79 TB/s bandwidth is far more than Palworld likely requires, but the measured frame rates show no VRAM-related stutters, even at 4K Ultra where the average FPS is 66.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This CPU and GPU pairing ranks 32nd out of 2,944 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the top 1.1% of all configurations.

Q: What is the best preset for 4K gaming?

A: Medium settings at 3840x2160 provide an average of 114 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS, making it the best balance for smooth 4K gameplay. Ultra at 4K drops to 66 FPS average, which is less consistent.

Q: How much faster is 1080p compared to 4K at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average FPS is 239 at 1920x1080 and 87 at 3840x2160, meaning 1080p delivers roughly 2.7 times the frame rate of 4K.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in this game?

A: The data shows that frame rates drop by about 34% from 1080p to 1440p and 44-45% from 1440p to 4K across all settings, indicating the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p Low with 348 FPS, the CPU may start to matter, but the GPU still dominates overall.