Palworld

Palworld on the AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B570 combination delivers playable frame rates only at lower resolutions and settings, with the data indicating a significant GPU bottleneck as resolution scales. The measured results show that this pairing is best suited for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the CPU's strength is less critical due to the GPU's limitations.

Settings Recommendations

The benchmark data clearly indicates that the Low preset provides the most consistent and fluid experience for this hardware combination in Palworld. At 1920x1080, the Low settings produce an average of 130 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for any settings level at any resolution in this dataset. This represents a 25 FPS improvement over the next best option, the Medium preset at the same resolution, which averages 105 FPS. The Low preset's advantage becomes even more pronounced at higher resolutions, delivering 85 FPS at 2560x1440 and 47 FPS at 3840x2160, both of which are the highest averages at their respective resolutions.

The Medium preset serves as a viable middle ground for users prioritizing visual fidelity over maximum frame rates, but it comes with a measurable performance cost. At 1080p, Medium settings yield 105 FPS average, which is still highly playable, though it reduces the frame rate by 19.2% compared to Low settings. The trade-off becomes more significant at 1440p, where Medium drops to 69 FPS average, and at 4K, where it falls to 38 FPS with a minimum frame rate of 33 FPS, indicating potential stuttering in demanding scenes. The measured minimum of 33 FPS at 4K Medium suggests that this setting is only marginally acceptable for the least demanding scenarios.

The High preset represents a substantial performance penalty that is difficult to justify for most users. At 1080p, High settings produce 81 FPS average, which is a 37.7% reduction from Low settings. The degradation worsens at 1440p, where High averages 53 FPS, and becomes nearly unplayable at 4K, with just 30 FPS average. The Ultra preset is the most demanding and delivers the worst performance across all resolutions, with 61 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and only 22 FPS at 4K. These numbers show that Ultra settings are only suitable for 1080p gaming, and even then, the 61 FPS average may not feel smooth to all users.

For the best experience, the data suggests using Low settings at 1080p as the primary configuration, as this provides the largest performance headroom. If visual quality is a priority, Medium settings at 1080p offer a reasonable compromise, maintaining an average above 100 FPS. Users with 1440p monitors should stick to Low settings to stay above 60 FPS, as the jump to Medium causes a 18.8% frame rate drop that crosses below the 70 FPS threshold.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570 plays the dominant role in limiting performance in Palworld, as evidenced by the frame rate scaling across resolutions. The GPU's specifications are modest, featuring 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus with 380.0 GB/s bandwidth. The card operates at a base and boost clock of 2500 MHz, with 2304 shading units and 80 ROPs, providing 11.52 TFLOPS of FP32 compute. These specifications place the Arc B570 in the 65th percentile of all GPUs, indicating mid-range performance that struggles with demanding titles at high resolutions.

The GPU's memory configuration is particularly relevant for Palworld, which appears to be memory-sensitive based on the performance deltas between presets. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p gaming, but the 160-bit bus width and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth may become a limiting factor at 4K. The measured data supports this observation, as the frame rate drops disproportionately when moving from 1440p to 4K, suggesting that the GPU's memory subsystem is saturated at higher resolutions.

The Arc B570's benchmark scores provide context for its gaming performance. The card achieves a PassMark G3D score of 14195, which is significantly lower than its compute-oriented scores, indicating that its real-world gaming performance is below what its raw compute specifications might suggest. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (0.1% higher average score) and the Intel Arc A750 (0.1% lower average score), confirming that this is a mid-range graphics solution. In Palworld specifically, the GPU's 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 suggests moderate DirectX 12 performance, which aligns with the observed frame rates.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D provides ample processing power for Palworld, but its capabilities are largely underutilized due to the GPU bottleneck. This CPU features 8 cores and 16 threads based on the Zen 5 architecture, with a base clock of 4.70 GHz and a boost clock of 5.60 GHz. The processor includes 96 MB of shared L3 cache, which is substantial and beneficial for gaming workloads that require frequent data access. The CPU's benchmark results confirm its strength, with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 22807 and a single-core score of 2228, placing it in the 92nd percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 58386 places it slightly above the Intel Core i9-14900 (0.5% higher) and slightly below the Intel Xeon w5-2545 (0.2% lower), according to the nearest rivals data. This positions the 9850X3D as a high-end processor that should not bottleneck most gaming scenarios, including Palworld. However, the measured frame rates in this game show that the CPU's potential is not fully realized, as the frame rates are primarily dictated by the GPU's capabilities at all tested resolutions.

The CPU's high single-thread performance, evidenced by its PassMark single-thread score of 4704, is particularly relevant for Palworld, which likely has significant single-threaded game logic. The 5.60 GHz boost clock ensures that the CPU can handle the game's physics and AI calculations without becoming a limiting factor. The data shows that even at 1080p Low settings, where the CPU would be most stressed, the system maintains 130 FPS average, suggesting that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this configuration.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 7 9850X3D and Intel Arc B570 combination ranks 2362 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the bottom 19.8% of all configurations. This low ranking is surprising given the CPU's high performance, but it accurately reflects the GPU's limitations in this game. The ranking suggests that while the CPU is among the top 8% of processors, the GPU's mid-range position (65th percentile) drags the overall combination down significantly.

The discrepancy between the component rankings and the combo ranking highlights the GPU-bound nature of Palworld. The CPU's percentile rank of 92 indicates that it is a top-tier processor, but the combo's rank of 2362 out of 2944 shows that the GPU's performance is the determining factor in this game. This is consistent with the frame rate data, which shows that even the best-case scenario (1080p Low) only achieves 130 FPS, a figure that many higher-end GPUs could exceed with the same CPU.

The combo's ranking also implies that users with this CPU would benefit more from a stronger GPU than from any CPU upgrade. The data suggests that pairing the 9850X3D with a higher-tier GPU would yield substantial improvements in Palworld, as the CPU has significant headroom to support higher frame rates. However, the current combination is limited by the Arc B570's performance ceiling, which is evident in the frame rate scaling across resolutions and settings.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p Low settings, the system achieves 130 FPS, but this drops to 85 FPS at 1440p and 47 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34.6% decrease from 1080p to 1440p and a further 44.7% decrease from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 63.8% reduction from 1080p to 4K. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as a CPU-bound scenario would show less dramatic scaling with resolution changes.

The scaling pattern is consistent across all settings presets. For Medium settings, the frame rates are 105 FPS at 1080p, 69 FPS at 1440p, and 38 FPS at 4K, showing a 63.8% total reduction. High settings show 81 FPS at 1080p, 53 FPS at 1440p, and 30 FPS at 4K, a 63.0% reduction. Ultra settings demonstrate the same trend with 61 FPS at 1080p, 40 FPS at 1440p, and 22 FPS at 4K, a 63.9% reduction. The consistency of these percentages across different settings confirms that resolution scaling is entirely dependent on the GPU's processing power.

The 4K performance is particularly weak, with even Low settings only achieving 47 FPS average. This suggests that the Arc B570's 10 GB VRAM and 380.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K gaming in Palworld. The minimum frame rate recorded at 4K Medium is 33 FPS, which indicates that the game can experience significant frame drops in this configuration. Users targeting 4K gaming should avoid this GPU and consider higher-tier options.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best performance across all settings. Low settings provide an average of 130 FPS, which is the highest measured in this dataset. Medium settings average 105 FPS with a minimum of 89 FPS and a maximum of 121 FPS, showing good frame time consistency. High settings average 81 FPS, and Ultra settings average 61 FPS. All 1080p configurations achieve playable frame rates, with even Ultra staying above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, performance becomes more variable. Low settings average 85 FPS, which remains smooth for most users. Medium settings average 69 FPS with a minimum of 59 FPS and a maximum of 80 FPS, placing the minimum right at the edge of playability. High settings drop to 53 FPS average, and Ultra settings average 40 FPS. The data shows that only Low and Medium settings are recommended at 1440p, with High and Ultra falling below comfortable frame rates.

At 3840x2160, all settings struggle to maintain playable frame rates. Low settings average 47 FPS, which is borderline acceptable for slower-paced gameplay. Medium settings average 38 FPS with a minimum of 33 FPS and a maximum of 44 FPS, indicating noticeable frame drops. High settings average 30 FPS, and Ultra settings average 22 FPS. None of the 4K configurations provide a consistently smooth experience, with even the best option (Low) failing to reach 50 FPS average.