Palworld

Resolution Scaling

Palworld presents a steep performance curve as resolution climbs, and the measured data for this Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combo shows exactly where the bottleneck shifts. At 1080p with High settings, the average frame rate sits at 96.2 FPS. Dropping to Low settings at the same resolution yields 154.8 FPS, while Medium produces 121.8 FPS and Ultra drops to 69.7 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra at 1080p is a substantial 85.1 FPS, indicating that the graphics card's workload scaling is the primary driver of performance changes at this resolution.

Moving to 1440p, the averages compress considerably. High settings deliver 61.3 FPS, Low hits 101.9 FPS, Medium lands at 80.7 FPS, and Ultra falls to 44.8 FPS. The delta between Low and Ultra here is 57.1 FPS, narrower than at 1080p but still significant. At 4K, the picture changes dramatically. High settings produce just 33.4 FPS, Low reaches 55.6 FPS, Medium manages 47.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 27.5 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap at 4K shrinks to 28.1 FPS, a clear sign that the GPU is now the limiting factor, as pixel throughput saturates the RTX 2060 SUPER's capabilities.

The resolution scaling pattern tells a clear story. From 1080p High to 1440p High, the frame rate drops by 34.9 FPS, a 36.3% reduction. From 1440p High to 4K High, the drop is 27.9 FPS, a 45.5% reduction. The proportionally larger hit from 1440p to 4K confirms that the GPU's memory bandwidth and shading resources are being exhausted, not the CPU. At 1080p Low, the 154.8 FPS figure approaches the practical ceiling for this CPU in a survival game with dynamic world streaming, suggesting that the i3-12100F's four cores are keeping up adequately at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i3-12100F is a 4-core, 8-thread processor from the Alder Lake generation, with a base clock of 3.30 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz. Its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel memory support (DDR4 and DDR5) position it as an entry-level desktop part, but the benchmark data shows it holding its own in this pairing. The CPU's percentile ranking against all processors is 72, which means it outperforms nearly three-quarters of the tested CPUs in synthetic workloads. Its average benchmark score of 13516 places it within 0.1% of the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (avg score 13534) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (avg score 13462). This is notable because the Threadripper PRO is a workstation-class part with far more cores, yet the i3-12100F matches it in these aggregate tests, largely due to its strong single-thread performance.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the 154.8 FPS average suggests the processor can feed the GPU without major stalls. The 3DMark single-thread score of 893 and 4-thread score of 2859 indicate that the i3-12100F has solid per-core throughput, which matters for a game that likely relies on a few primary threads for world simulation and AI. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 11912 and single-core score of 1681 further reinforce that this is a CPU with respectable single-thread grunt but limited total throughput. At 4K, however, the CPU's contribution fades into the background, as the 27.5 FPS Ultra result and 33.4 FPS High result are far more indicative of GPU limits than CPU headroom. The 8-thread 3DMark score of 4026, nearly identical to the max-thread score of 4023, shows that the processor's four physical cores are fully utilized, and there is no hidden multi-threading advantage to unlock for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture card with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1650 MHz and 2176 shading units produce 7.181 TFLOPS of FP32 compute, which is modest by modern standards but adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming. The GPU's percentile ranking against all GPUs is 63, and its average benchmark score of 19774 places it 0.3% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN (avg score 19706) and 0.5% ahead of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 (avg score 19680). This near-tie with the RTX 2070 is intriguing, as it suggests the 2060 SUPER's higher memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s versus the 2070's 448.0 GB/s, identical in this data) compensates for fewer shading units in certain workloads.

In Palworld, the GPU's memory capacity and bandwidth become the decisive factors at higher resolutions. At 4K Ultra, the 27.5 FPS average is below playable thresholds, and even 4K Low at 55.6 FPS is marginal for smooth gameplay. The 8 GB VRAM buffer is likely being stressed by Palworld's open-world textures and asset streaming, particularly at 4K where the pixel count quadruples from 1080p. The 448.0 GB/s bandwidth is a bright spot, as it allows the card to maintain decent performance at 1440p Medium (80.7 FPS) and 1080p High (96.2 FPS), where memory throughput is less of a constraint. The GPU's 63rd percentile ranking means it sits above the median but not in the high-end tier, which aligns with the observed frame rates: playable at 1080p and 1440p, but struggling at 4K regardless of settings. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 and Passmark G3D score of 16462 corroborate that this card is a mid-range performer, not a 4K-capable part.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Palworld?

A: The data shows 1440p High at 61.3 FPS and 1080p High at 96.2 FPS as the strongest playable options, with 1440p Medium at 80.7 FPS also viable. 4K is not recommended, as even Low settings only reach 55.6 FPS.

Q: Why does 4K Ultra drop to 27.5 FPS?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are saturated by the 4K pixel workload, and the GPU's 63rd percentile ranking indicates it lacks the raw shading power for that resolution.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1080p Low?

A: At 1080p Low, the 154.8 FPS average suggests the i3-12100F is the limiting factor, as its 4 cores (8 threads) and 3.30 GHz base clock cannot push much higher frame rates when the GPU has ample headroom.

Q: How does this CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic tests?

A: The i3-12100F scores 13516 on average, which is 0.1% behind the AMD Ryzen Threadripper PRO 3975WX (13534) and 0.4% ahead of the Intel Core i7-1250U (13462), showing it punches above its core count.

Q: How does the GPU compare to the RTX 2070 in benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 2060 SUPER's average score of 19774 is 0.5% ahead of the RTX 2070's 19680, despite being a lower-tier card in NVIDIA's lineup, due to identical memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s.

Q: What frame rate can I expect at 1440p Ultra?

A: The measured average is 44.8 FPS, which is below the smooth 60 FPS target but may be acceptable for slower-paced survival gameplay if you prefer visual fidelity over fluidity.

How This Combo Ranks

This Intel Core i3-12100F + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER combination ranks 1220 out of 1718 tested combos for Palworld, placing it in the 71st percentile of all pairings. That means roughly 29% of tested combinations perform worse, while 71% perform better. The ranking reflects the mid-range nature of both components: the CPU sits at the 72nd percentile among all processors, and the GPU at the 63rd percentile among all GPUs. The combo's overall rank is dragged down by the GPU's weaker standing, as the CPU is comparatively stronger relative to its peers.

The measured data confirms this ranking is appropriate. At 1080p High, the 96.2 FPS result is solidly playable but not exceptional, and the 4K Ultra result of 27.5 FPS is firmly in slideshow territory. The combo's rank of 1220 suggests it will handle Palworld comfortably at 1080p and acceptably at 1440p with adjusted settings, but it is not positioned for high-refresh-rate or 4K gaming. The CPU's strong single-thread performance (3DMark single-thread score of 893, Cinebench R23 single-core of 1681) helps maintain playable frame rates in CPU-bound moments, but the GPU's 7.181 TFLOPS and 8 GB VRAM cap the experience at higher resolutions. In the context of all tested combos, this pairing is a balanced middle-ground option that prioritizes 1080p and 1440p gaming over future-proofing or 4K ambition.