Palworld

Palworld places this Intel Core i3-12100F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 combination in a middle-of-the-pack position, ranking 2942 out of 3711 tested combos. The data shows a system that can handle the survival title at 1080p and 1440p with significant adjustments, but it struggles to maintain playable framerates at 4K. This is a pairing where the GPU's 6 GB VRAM and the CPU's four cores create a distinct performance ceiling, making settings management critical.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, indicating that the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor beyond 1080p. At High settings, the average framerate drops from 86 FPS at 1920x1080 to 57 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of 29 FPS. Moving to 3840x2160, the average plummets to 32 FPS, which is a 54 FPS drop from the 1080p result. This pattern demonstrates that the RTX 2060's rendering capabilities are heavily taxed by the pixel count at higher resolutions.

The scaling from Low to Ultra settings at each resolution further confirms the GPU bottleneck. At 1080p, the spread between Low and Ultra is 73 FPS (138 vs 65), while at 1440p, the spread narrows to 48 FPS (91 vs 43). At 4K, the spread compresses to just 27 FPS (51 vs 24), showing that even reducing settings to Low cannot overcome the resolution penalty. The 4K Low result of 51 FPS is the only 4K setting that approaches playability, but it remains below the 60 FPS target most builders prefer.

Comparing the 1440p and 4K results at Medium settings, the average drops from 74 FPS to 41 FPS, a 33 FPS loss. The 4K Medium result also shows a minimum FPS of 35, indicating that framerates can dip into stutter territory during demanding scenes. The data suggests that 1440p is the practical ceiling for this combination, with 4K reserved for low-detail scenarios or screenshot purposes rather than consistent gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 features a TU106 chip built on a 12 nm process, with 1920 shading units, 120 texture mapping units, and 48 raster output units. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1365 MHz and a boost clock of 1680 MHz, with memory running at 1750 MHz (14 Gbps effective) across a 192-bit bus. This configuration delivers 336.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth and a pixel rate of 80.64 GPixel/s, which are the key specifications driving the measured results.

The 6 GB GDDR6 memory is a critical constraint in Palworld, as the game's open-world environments and numerous objects can pressure VRAM capacity. The benchmark results at Ultra settings show the GPU struggling, with average FPS dropping to 65 at 1080p, 43 at 1440p, and 24 at 4K. These numbers suggest that the Ultra preset likely exceeds the available memory bandwidth or capacity, causing the GPU to spend time on data swapping rather than rendering frames.

The RTX 2060's compute capabilities, including 240 tensor cores and 30 RT cores, do not directly translate to Palworld performance, as the game does not heavily utilize ray tracing or DLSS features. The FP32 performance of 6.451 TFLOPS provides the raw shading power, but the 12 nm process and 160 W TDP limit how much sustained performance the card can deliver. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 1242 places the GPU in the 58th percentile of all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580 at a 0% deltaPct.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the Medium preset at 1920x1080 offers the best balance of performance and visual quality. The average FPS of 112 with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 129 ensures smooth gameplay without the need for frequent frame drops. This is a significant improvement over High settings, which average 86 FPS, and it retains more visual detail than Low, which averages 138 FPS but may look noticeably degraded.

For 1440p users, Medium settings provide an average of 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 and maximum of 85. This is the only 1440p preset that consistently stays above the 60 FPS threshold, making it the recommended choice for that resolution. High settings at 1440p average 57 FPS, which is playable but may feel less responsive during intense combat or exploration sections.

At 4K, the data shows no preset achieves a comfortable experience. Low settings average 51 FPS, which is the best 4K result, but the minimum FPS is not recorded in the data, leaving uncertainty about stutter potential. Medium settings at 4K average 41 FPS with a minimum of 35, which will feel choppy in action sequences. Builders should avoid Ultra at any resolution, as it yields 65 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, and 24 FPS at 4K, all of which are suboptimal for a game that benefits from responsive controls.

FAQ

Q: Can this system run Palworld at 60 FPS?

A: Yes, but only at 1080p with Medium or Low settings. At 1080p Medium, the average is 112 FPS, and at Low it is 138 FPS. At 1440p, only Medium settings achieve an average of 74 FPS, which is above 60. High settings at 1080p average 86 FPS, but at 1440p they drop to 57 FPS.

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU/GPU combo?

A: The data indicates 1920x1080 is the sweet spot, as all four settings presets are playable. At 1440p, only Medium and Low presets remain viable, with averages of 74 and 91 FPS respectively. 4K is not recommended, as even Low settings only average 51 FPS.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 compare to its nearest rivals in this game?

A: The RTX 2060 has an average benchmark score of 15290, placing it in the 58th percentile. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 580, scores 15283 with a 0% deltaPct, showing near-identical performance. The AMD Radeon 680M scores 15270 with a 0.1% deltaPct, and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3050 OEM scores 15199 with a 0.6% deltaPct.

Q: Is the 6 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld?

A: The data shows that the Ultra preset, which likely demands the most memory, produces the lowest framerates across all resolutions (65 FPS at 1080p, 43 FPS at 1440p, 24 FPS at 4K). This suggests the 6 GB capacity may be a limiting factor at higher settings, as the GPU cannot maintain performance headroom.

Q: What settings should be avoided entirely?

A: Ultra settings should be avoided at all resolutions, as the average FPS never exceeds 65 and drops to 24 at 4K. At 4K, High settings also fail to provide a smooth experience, averaging only 32 FPS. The data supports using Medium or Low presets for the best results.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 4K?

A: At High settings, the average FPS drops from 86 at 1080p to 32 at 4K, a 54 FPS loss. At Medium settings, the drop is from 112 to 41 FPS, a 71 FPS loss. At Low settings, the drop is from 138 to 51 FPS, an 87 FPS loss. The scaling shows diminishing returns as resolution increases.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a 12 MB shared L3 cache and 1.25 MB L2 cache per core. The CPU's single-thread performance is strong, as evidenced by a Geekbench single-core score of 1932 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1674.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is to manage game logic, world streaming, and AI for the numerous creatures and characters. The 3DMark benchmarks show a 4-thread score of 2859 and an 8-thread score of 4026, indicating that the processor scales well up to its thread count. However, the 16-thread score of 4051 is nearly identical to the 8-thread score, confirming that the 8 threads are the ceiling for this chip.

The CPU's percentile ranking of 68 against all CPUs places it above the median, with an average benchmark score of 13494. Its nearest rival, the Intel Core 3 N355, scores 13492 with a 0% deltaPct, while the Intel Core i5-9500 scores 13452 with a 0.3% deltaPct. The Intel Core 5 120UL is slightly faster at 13594 with a -0.7% deltaPct, showing that the i3-12100F is competitive with older mainstream processors.

The measured FPS data suggests that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, as the framerate drops align closely with the GPU's rendering load. At 1080p Low settings, the 138 FPS average indicates the CPU can feed frames quickly, but the GPU limits higher presets. The passmark multithread score of 14015 and single-thread score of 3444 provide context for its ability to handle Palworld's mixed workload of physics, pathing, and world interactions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a full range of playable options. Low settings deliver an average of 138 FPS, Medium averages 112 FPS with a minimum of 95 and maximum of 129, High averages 86 FPS, and Ultra averages 65 FPS. The 1080p results demonstrate that the GPU can handle the resolution with headroom, but the gap between Low and Ultra reveals the settings sensitivity.

At 2560x1440, performance drops noticeably. Low settings average 91 FPS, Medium averages 74 FPS with a minimum of 63 and maximum of 85, High averages 57 FPS, and Ultra averages 43 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is the most consistent, maintaining a minimum above 60 FPS, while High and Ultra fall below the 60 FPS threshold.

At 3840x2160, the results are marginal. Low settings average 51 FPS, Medium averages 41 FPS with a minimum of 35 and maximum of 47, High averages 32 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. The 4K data confirms that this combination is not suited for high-resolution gameplay, with even the lowest preset failing to reach 60 FPS. The minimum FPS values for 4K Medium (35) indicate significant frame pacing issues during demanding scenes, making 4K play feel inconsistent and potentially frustrating.