Palworld

# How This Combo Ranks

The pairing of the AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D with the Intel Arc B370 lands at rank 2706 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld. That places this configuration in the bottom 8% of all tested combinations, a strikingly low position for a system built around one of the most capable consumer CPUs available. The data suggests that the Intel Arc B370, which sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, is the overwhelming constraint here. The CPU, by contrast, ranks at the 87th percentile among all processors, creating a massive capability gap between the two components.

This rank becomes more telling when considering the CPU's benchmark pedigree. The Ryzen 7 9800X3D posts an average benchmark score of 39768, sitting within 0.8% of the AMD Ryzen 7 7700 (40081) and 0.7% ahead of the AMD Ryzen AI 7 450 (39485). The CPU's nearest rivals in the database are all within a 1.5% band, indicating that the 9800X3D's compute potential is well-established. Yet in Palworld, that potential is largely unrealized because the GPU cannot keep pace. The combo's rank is thus not a reflection of the CPU's capabilities but rather a demonstration of how a severely underpowered GPU can anchor an otherwise exceptional system.

# GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics solution based on the Xe3-LPG architecture, built on Intel's 3 nm process. It operates with a base clock of 300 MHz and a boost clock of 2400 MHz, with a TDP of just 25 W. The GPU's memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning it draws from the same DDR5 pool as the CPU rather than having dedicated VRAM. This shared-memory design has direct implications for Palworld's performance, as the game's open-world survival mechanics demand substantial texture and geometry data that must flow through the system memory bus.

The GPU's raw compute figures are modest: 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, and 20 raster operation units. Its FP32 throughput is 6.144 TFLOPS, with a pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s. These specifications place the Arc B370 in the 5th percentile of all GPUs, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1184. The nearest rivals in the database are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, -0.2%), the ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, -0.5%), and the AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, -0.7%). All of these are legacy or low-end parts, confirming that the Arc B370 is positioned at the very bottom of the GPU performance hierarchy.

In Palworld, the GPU's limitations are immediately visible across all measured resolutions. The highest average frame rate achieved is 76 FPS at 1080p Low settings, but this drops precipitously as resolution and quality increase. At 4K Ultra, the average falls to 13 FPS, which is essentially unplayable. The data indicates that the GPU's 20 ROPs and 40 TMUs are insufficient for the game's rendering demands at higher resolutions, and the system-shared memory bandwidth creates a bottleneck that cannot be overcome by the CPU's capabilities.

# FAQ

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested CPU-GPU pairs in Palworld?

A: This configuration ranks 2706 out of 2944 tested combos, placing it in the bottom 8% of all tested pairings.

Q: What is the CPU's performance percentile compared to the GPU's?

A: The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D sits at the 87th percentile among all CPUs, while the Intel Arc B370 sits at the 5th percentile among all GPUs, creating a significant performance imbalance.

Q: What is the best frame rate achieved with this combo, and at what settings?

A: The highest average frame rate is 76 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: Is there a playable frame rate at 4K resolution?

A: At 3840x2160, the best average is 28 FPS on Low settings, dropping to 13 FPS on Ultra, indicating 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals in the database?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, which is within 0.7% of the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 and the ATI Radeon HD 5770, placing it in the same performance class as those legacy parts.

Q: What memory configuration does the GPU use?

A: The GPU uses system-shared memory with a system-dependent bandwidth, meaning it relies on the CPU's DDR5 memory rather than dedicated VRAM.

# Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured frame rates reveal a consistent pattern that scales with both resolution and quality settings. At the lowest tested configuration, 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 76 FPS. Moving to Medium settings at the same resolution yields 62 FPS (with min/max of 52/71), while High drops to 47 FPS and Ultra falls to 36 FPS. This progression shows a steady decline of roughly 15-20 FPS per quality tier at 1080p.

At 2560x1440, the performance degradation becomes more pronounced. Low settings produce 50 FPS, Medium drops to 41 FPS (min/max 35/47), High yields 31 FPS, and Ultra falls to 24 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 1440p is 26 FPS, a larger absolute drop than the 40 FPS difference seen at 1080p. This suggests that the GPU is becoming increasingly strained as pixel count rises, with the ROP and TMU limitations becoming more evident.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapses. Low settings produce 28 FPS, Medium drops to 23 FPS (min/max 19/26), High yields 17 FPS, and Ultra falls to 13 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 4K is only 15 FPS, indicating that the GPU is hitting a hard performance ceiling. The min frame rates at Medium (19 FPS at 4K) show that even the "playable" settings suffer from stutter-prone dips, making smooth gameplay unlikely at any quality level above Low.

# Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured data, the optimal settings for this combo depend heavily on the target resolution and acceptable frame rate. At 1920x1080, Low settings deliver 76 FPS, which is the only configuration that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold commonly considered smooth for action-oriented games. Medium settings at 1080p produce 62 FPS, which is also above 60 FPS and offers a better visual experience while maintaining playability. High settings drop to 47 FPS, which may be acceptable for slower-paced exploration but will feel less responsive during combat or when traversing dense environments.

At 2560x1440, Low settings provide 50 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. Medium settings at 41 FPS are borderline, and the min frame rate of 35 FPS suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable. High and Ultra settings (31 FPS and 24 FPS respectively) are not recommended for anything beyond static screenshot purposes.

For 3840x2160, no settings combination achieves a consistently playable frame rate. Low settings at 28 FPS are technically the best option, but the experience will be choppy. Medium at 23 FPS is the only other option above 20 FPS, but the 19 FPS minimum makes it risky for any real-time interaction. The data clearly indicates that 4K is outside the practical envelope for this GPU in Palworld, regardless of CPU strength.

The best balance of visual quality and playability is therefore 1920x1080 with Medium settings, offering 62 FPS average with a 52 FPS minimum. This provides a comfortable margin above the 30 FPS baseline while retaining some graphical fidelity over the Low preset.

# CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9800X3D is a Zen 5 architecture processor built on TSMC's 4 nm process, featuring 8 cores and 16 threads. Its base clock is 4.70 GHz with a boost clock of 5.20 GHz, and it carries a 96 MB shared L3 cache. The CPU's memory bandwidth is 89.6 GB/s through a dual-channel DDR5 interface, with ECC support enabled. These specifications make it a formidable gaming processor, as evidenced by its 3DMark 16-thread score of 10081 and Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23230.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is largely secondary to the GPU bottleneck. The game's survival mechanics involve world simulation, creature AI, and resource management, all of which benefit from strong single-threaded performance. The 9800X3D's single-thread score of 1212 in 3DMark and 2080 in Cinebench R23 suggest it can handle these workloads efficiently. However, the measured frame rates do not show any CPU-induced limitations, as the GPU is clearly the constraining factor at every resolution and settings combination.

The CPU's high percentile ranking (87th) and average benchmark score of 39768 indicate that it is not the source of the combo's poor performance. Rather, the data shows that the 9800X3D is being held back by the Arc B370's 5th percentile GPU performance. If paired with a more capable graphics card, this CPU would likely deliver significantly higher frame rates in Palworld, but with the current configuration, its potential is unrealized.

# Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals important insights about the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS drops from 76 at 1920x1080 to 50 at 2560x1440 (a 34% decrease) and then to 28 at 3840x2160 (a 44% decrease from 1440p). This scaling pattern is consistent with a GPU-bound scenario, where the rendering workload increases with pixel count and the GPU's limited ROP count becomes the primary bottleneck.

At Medium settings, the pattern is similar but slightly steeper: 62 FPS at 1080p, 41 FPS at 1440p (a 34% drop), and 23 FPS at 4K (a 44% drop). The High settings show an even more pronounced decline: 47 FPS at 1080p, 31 FPS at 1440p (a 34% drop), and 17 FPS at 4K (a 45% drop). Ultra settings follow the same trend: 36 FPS at 1080p, 24 FPS at 1440p (a 33% drop), and 13 FPS at 4K (a 46% drop).

The consistent ~34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and ~44% drop from 1440p to 4K across all settings indicates that the GPU is fully saturated at each resolution. If the CPU were the limiting factor, the frame rate would show less degradation at higher resolutions, as the CPU workload would remain relatively constant. Instead, the data shows that the Arc B370's 20 ROPs and 6.144 TFLOPS of FP32 throughput are simply insufficient for Palworld's rendering demands at higher pixel counts, regardless of the CPU's ample compute resources.