Palworld

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data for Palworld with the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile reveals a clear pattern of resolution-dependent performance scaling. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers an average of 142 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops that to 94 FPS, a reduction of 48 FPS or roughly 34%. Stepping up to 4K High yields just 52 FPS, which is 90 FPS below the 1080p figure — a 63% decline from the starting point. This steep drop-off across resolutions indicates that the rendering load scales heavily with pixel count, which is typical for a game like Palworld that relies on detailed environments and many on-screen entities.

Focusing on the Medium preset, which has the most complete data including min and max FPS, the scaling story becomes even more explicit. At 1080p Medium, the average is 185 FPS, with a minimum of 157 and maximum of 212. Dropping to 1440p Medium, the average falls to 122 FPS, a 63 FPS decrease, while the minimum and maximum shift to 103 and 140 respectively. At 4K Medium, the average plummets to 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 78. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Medium settings is 118 FPS, which represents a 64% reduction. This consistent percentage loss — around 63-64% from 1080p to 4K — regardless of preset suggests the bottleneck is primarily the GPU's rendering throughput rather than any single setting.

The Low preset tells a similar but slightly flatter curve. At 1080p Low, the combo reaches 228 FPS, which is the highest measured value in the entire dataset. At 1440p Low, it drops to 150 FPS, and at 4K Low, it still manages 83 FPS. The reduction from 1080p to 4K at Low is 145 FPS, or 64%. Interestingly, the Ultra preset shows the smallest absolute drop: 1080p Ultra averages 108 FPS, 1440p Ultra averages 71 FPS, and 4K Ultra averages 39 FPS. The total drop from 1080p to 4K Ultra is 69 FPS, or 64%. This uniformity across all four presets — every one showing roughly a 64% decline from 1080p to 4K — strongly indicates that the limiting component is the GPU itself, as the CPU-side workload (16 cores, 32 threads) is unlikely to saturate at any resolution in this title.

The 4K Ultra number of 39 FPS is particularly telling. It falls below the 40 FPS threshold that many users consider a minimum for comfortable play. Meanwhile, 4K High at 52 FPS is playable but noticeably below the smooth 60 FPS target. The data suggests that at 4K, the RTX 4080 Mobile is working near its limits, and any additional graphical overhead from Ultra settings pushes it into marginal territory. The 4K Low result of 83 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU cannot fully overcome the pixel-count penalty, reinforcing that resolution scaling is the dominant factor in this game.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture using the AD104 chip, fabricated on a 5 nm process at TSMC with 35,800 million transistors. Its memory configuration consists of 12 GB of GDDR6 on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 432.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 2250 MHz with 18 Gbps effective data rate. The base clock is 1290 MHz, with a boost clock of 1665 MHz. These specifications place the GPU in the 81st percentile among all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 38135.

In Palworld, the GPU's role is clearly visible in the FPS data. The difference between Low and Ultra settings at the same resolution shows how much headroom the card has. At 1080p, Low produces 228 FPS while Ultra produces 108 FPS — a 120 FPS gap that represents the cost of enabling higher-quality shadows, textures, and post-processing effects. At 1440p, the same comparison shows 150 FPS versus 71 FPS, a 79 FPS gap. At 4K, Low yields 83 FPS and Ultra yields 39 FPS, a 44 FPS gap. The shrinking absolute gap at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is becoming saturated by the raw pixel workload, leaving less room for settings-based performance variations.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB appears sufficient for Palworld across all tested settings, as no memory-related stutters or anomalous min FPS drops appear in the data. The Medium preset min FPS values — 157 at 1080p, 103 at 1440p, and 57 at 4K — are all reasonably close to their respective averages (185, 122, and 67), suggesting consistent frame pacing without VRAM spillover. If the 12 GB buffer were insufficient, the min FPS would likely show more dramatic dips relative to the average.

The GPU's compute capabilities, measured at 24.72 TFLOPS for both FP32 and FP16, are substantial for a mobile part. The texture rate of 386.3 GTexel/s and pixel rate of 133.2 GPixel/s contribute to the card's ability to handle Palworld's dense environments. The 58 ray tracing cores and 232 tensor cores are present but Palworld's rasterization-heavy workload means these features are less impactful in the measured results. The nearest rival comparisons show the RTX 4080 Mobile sitting close to the NVIDIA GeForce MX570 (0.4% below), the RTX 5080 Mobile (0.6% below), and slightly ahead of the RTX 4070 (1.3% above) in average benchmark scores, though these synthetic comparisons don't directly translate to Palworld performance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 Mobile achieves a combo rank of 1226 out of 3711 tested combinations in Palworld. This places the pair in the 67th percentile of all tested combos — meaning roughly one-third of all combinations tested in this game outperform it. Given the high-end nature of both components, this ranking might seem modest, but it reflects the game's specific optimization patterns and the fact that many top-ranked combos likely use desktop-class GPUs with higher sustained power budgets.

The CPU's individual standing provides context for the combo's performance. The Ryzen 9 8945HX sits in the 95th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 76212. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% higher score), the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P (0.4% lower), the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (0.4% lower), and the AMD Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% higher). These are all extremely close scores, indicating the CPU is firmly in the top tier of processors. The GPU, at the 81st percentile, is also strong but not as dominant within its own category.

The discrepancy between the CPU's 95th percentile and the GPU's 81st percentile suggests that in Palworld, the GPU is the more limiting factor for this combo's ranking. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect the combo to rank higher relative to its components' individual standings. The fact that the combo lands at the 67th percentile of combos, despite the CPU being near the top, points to the GPU's mid-80s percentile being the constraining element. This aligns with the resolution scaling analysis, which showed GPU-bound behavior across all settings.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest performance across the board. Low settings produce an average of 228 FPS, which is more than sufficient for any high-refresh-rate display. Medium settings average 185 FPS, with a minimum of 157 and maximum of 212 — the tightest min-to-max spread in the entire dataset, indicating stable frame delivery. High settings average 142 FPS, still comfortably above 120 FPS for smooth gameplay. Ultra settings average 108 FPS, which remains playable on 120 Hz panels but shows a significant 120 FPS penalty compared to Low.

Moving to 2560x1440, performance remains strong but the resolution cost becomes apparent. Low settings average 150 FPS, a 78 FPS drop from 1080p Low. Medium settings average 122 FPS, with a minimum of 103 and maximum of 140 — the minimum staying above 100 FPS is noteworthy for maintaining fluidity. High settings average 94 FPS, which is above 60 FPS but requires a 144 Hz monitor to fully exploit. Ultra settings average 71 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold but showing a 79 FPS penalty versus Low at the same resolution.

At 3840x2160, performance drops into more modest territory. Low settings average 83 FPS, which is playable but not ideal for high-refresh displays. Medium settings average 67 FPS, with a minimum of 57 and maximum of 78 — the minimum dipping below 60 FPS could cause occasional perceptible stutter. High settings average 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target but still within a playable range for slower-paced gameplay. Ultra settings average 39 FPS, which falls below the 40 FPS threshold and would likely be considered too choppy for comfortable play by most users. The Medium preset at 4K is the only setting with complete min/max data, and its 57 FPS minimum suggests occasional dips that could be noticeable.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo in Palworld?

A: The highest measured average is 228 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings. At more realistic settings, 1080p High delivers 142 FPS, while 1080p Medium delivers 185 FPS.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming in Palworld?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the average is 83 FPS; at 4K Medium, it drops to 67 FPS with a minimum of 57; at 4K High, it's 52 FPS; and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 39 FPS. Only Low and Medium settings maintain averages above 60 FPS.

Q: How much performance is lost between 1080p and 4K?

A: Across all settings, the drop from 1080p to 4K is approximately 64%. For example, Low goes from 228 to 83 FPS, Medium from 185 to 67 FPS, High from 142 to 52 FPS, and Ultra from 108 to 39 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor in Palworld?

A: The data strongly suggests the GPU is the limiting factor. The CPU ranks in the 95th percentile among all processors, while the GPU ranks in the 81st percentile. Additionally, the uniform 64% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings indicates GPU-bound rendering.

Q: What is the combo's overall ranking in Palworld?

A: This combo ranks 1226 out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the 67th percentile of all tested combos in Palworld.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 Mobile compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: In average GPU benchmark scores, the RTX 4080 Mobile sits 0.4% below the NVIDIA GeForce MX570, 0.6% below the RTX 5080 Mobile, and 1.3% above both the RTX 4070 and the NVIDIA Tesla P4.

CPU Role

The AMD Ryzen 9 8945HX is a 16-core, 32-thread processor based on the Zen 4 architecture with the Dragon Range codename, built on a 5 nm process at TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 5.40 GHz, with a TDP of 55 W. The cache hierarchy includes 64 KB of L1 per core, 1 MB of L2 per core, and 64 MB of L3 cache. Memory support is DDR5, dual-channel, with a bandwidth of 83.2 GB/s. The CPU sits in the 95th percentile among all processors, with an average benchmark score of 76212.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is best understood through its synthetic benchmark scores and the observed FPS behavior. The Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42713 and single-core score of 6030 indicate strong multi-threaded and single-threaded capabilities. The PassMark multi-thread score of 51405 and single-thread score of 3907 reinforce this picture. For a survival game like Palworld, which often involves many AI-driven creatures and complex world simulations, the 16-core configuration provides substantial headroom.

However, the measured FPS data suggests that at no point does the CPU become the primary bottleneck. The consistent 64% FPS drop from 1080p to 4K across all settings is a hallmark of GPU-bound rendering. If the CPU were limiting, the FPS would plateau at lower resolutions (e.g., 1080p and 1440p would show similar FPS), but instead we see 228 FPS at 1080p Low versus 150 FPS at 1440p Low — a 78 FPS difference that indicates the GPU is still able to scale with resolution. The CPU's 95th percentile ranking, relative to the GPU's 81st percentile, further supports the notion that the processor has ample performance headroom in this title.

The CPU's nearest rival comparisons show it is essentially tied with the Intel Core Ultra 9 285HX (0.1% higher average score), while slightly outperforming the AMD EPYC Embedded 8224P and Ryzen Threadripper PRO 9945WX (both 0.4% lower) and the Ryzen 9 9950X3D (0.6% higher). This clustering within a 1% band indicates that the 8945HX is at the very top of the CPU performance hierarchy, making it unlikely to be the limiting factor in a gaming workload like Palworld.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and the user's frame rate preferences. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset stands out as the best balance: it delivers 185 FPS average with a minimum of 157 FPS, which is well above any practical refresh rate threshold. The High preset at 142 FPS is also excellent, and the 43 FPS difference between Medium and High suggests users with 144 Hz displays could comfortably choose High for better visuals without dropping below refresh-rate parity. Ultra at 1080p, at 108 FPS, is the only 1080p setting that falls below 120 FPS, so it's best reserved for users prioritizing visual fidelity over frame rate smoothness.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again provides the most robust experience: 122 FPS average with a minimum of 103 FPS. This keeps the lowest frames above 100 FPS, ensuring smooth gameplay on 120 Hz and 144 Hz monitors. High at 94 FPS is acceptable for 60 Hz or 120 Hz displays but requires a 144 Hz panel to fully utilize its potential. Low at 150 FPS is the best choice for competitive play if maximum frame rate is the priority. Ultra at 71 FPS is playable on 60 Hz panels but the 71 FPS average leaves little headroom for demanding scenes, making Medium the safer recommendation.

At 3840x2160, the choices become more constrained. The Medium preset at 67 FPS average with a 57 FPS minimum is the only setting that stays near the 60 FPS target, though the minimum dipping to 57 FPS could cause occasional perceptible hitches. Low at 83 FPS offers more comfortable headroom above 60 FPS and is the recommended choice for 4K gaming if consistent frame delivery is prioritized. High at 52 FPS and Ultra at 39 FPS are both below the 60 FPS threshold, and while High might be tolerable for slower exploration, Ultra's 39 FPS average falls below playable standards for most users. For 4K, the data supports using Low or Medium presets, with Low being the safest for maintaining smoothness.

Across all resolutions, the Medium preset consistently offers the best combination of visual quality and performance stability, as evidenced by the complete min/max data showing tight frame pacing. Users with 1080p displays can push to High or even Ultra, while 1440p users should stick with Medium or High, and 4K users should favor Low or Medium to stay above 60 FPS. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p, where it still maintains 108 FPS average, but at higher resolutions it sacrifices too much frame rate for marginal visual gains.