Palworld

The Intel Core i5-10400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER delivers a compelling 1080p experience in Palworld, but the data reveals a clear and predictable scaling pattern as resolution increases. The transition from 1080p to 1440p shows a significant performance cost, with average frame rates dropping by roughly 34-37% across all settings. This is a substantial hit, indicating that the GPU is being pushed harder at the higher pixel count. Moving from 1440p to 4K presents an even steeper cliff, with performance falling by another 49-52%. This dramatic drop at 4K, where even the Low preset only manages an average of 57.5 FPS, strongly suggests that the RTX 2060 SUPER's 8 GB of VRAM and 256-bit memory interface are becoming the primary limiting factors, struggling to feed the massive pixel count of 3840x2160.

This scaling behavior is a classic symptom of a system where the graphics card is the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU has enough headroom to keep the GPU fed, but as resolution climbs, the GPU's workload increases exponentially, and the frame rate plummets accordingly. The data implies that for a smooth 4K experience, a more powerful GPU would be required, while this combo is best suited for high-refresh-rate 1080p or balanced 1440p gaming.

How This Combo Ranks

In the grand scheme of tested hardware configurations for Palworld, this specific pairing of the Intel Core i5-10400F and the RTX 2060 SUPER sits at rank 1265 out of 1718 possible combos. This places it in the 73rd percentile, meaning it outperforms roughly 73% of all other tested CPU-GPU pairings in this game. While this might sound like a solid mid-pack result, it is important to contextualize this ranking. The components themselves have distinct performance profiles; the CPU's average benchmark score places it in the 73rd percentile of all CPUs, while the GPU's average score puts it in the 63rd percentile of all GPUs.

The fact that the combo's rank (1265/1718) is lower than either component's individual percentile suggests that the pairing is slightly less than the sum of its parts in Palworld. This could indicate a minor bottleneck, where the older Comet Lake CPU is holding back the GPU slightly, even at higher resolutions. The GPU's nearest rivals, such as the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070, have a nearly identical average benchmark score (only 0.5% different), yet the RTX 2060 SUPER is the one in this combo. This suggests that within this performance tier, the frame rates achieved are representative of a typical upper-mid-range Turing graphics card from the GeForce 20-series.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is built on the 12 nm TU106 chip with a die size of 445 mm², housing 10,800 million transistors. Its specifications reveal a card designed for solid 1080p and capable 1440p gaming. It operates at a base clock of 1470 MHz and a boost clock of 1650 MHz, with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus providing 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is crucial for Palworld, which features large, open-world environments that require substantial texture data to be streamed in quickly.

The benchmark results confirm this role. The GPU's Passmark G3D score of 16462 and its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2011 are indicative of its performance class. In Palworld, the data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the average FPS reaches 149.5, demonstrating the card's ability to produce very high frame rates when the graphical load is light. However, at 4K Ultra, the average FPS plummets to 25.9, which is unplayable. This stark contrast highlights that while the card has enough raw compute power (7.181 TFLOPS FP32) for lower resolutions, its 8 GB VRAM capacity and bandwidth become a hard ceiling at 4K, causing the significant performance drop observed in the resolution scaling. The card's 272 tensor cores and 34 RT cores are present, but Palworld's rendering load is primarily rasterization, which relies on the shading units (2176), TMUs (136), and ROPs (64).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of this combo's capabilities across three resolutions and four quality presets. At 1920x1080, the performance is excellent. The Low preset delivers an average of 149.5 FPS, which is ideal for high-refresh-rate monitors. Medium settings still provide a very smooth 120.4 FPS average, and High settings remain highly playable at 95.6 FPS. Even the demanding Ultra preset manages to stay above 60 FPS with an average of 71.7 FPS, making 1080p Ultra a viable option for a fluid experience.

Moving to 2560x1440, the frame rates remain respectable but show the expected decline. The Low preset averages 101.1 FPS, which is still excellent. Medium settings yield an average of 81.6 FPS, and High settings drop slightly to 63 FPS. The Ultra preset, however, falls to an average of 49.3 FPS, which may feel less smooth for some players. At 3840x2160, the GPU's limitations become stark. The Low preset averages 57.5 FPS, which is borderline playable, but Medium drops to 42.8 FPS, High to 31.5 FPS, and Ultra to a stutter-prone 25.9 FPS. This data clearly shows that 4K is not a practical target for this combo in Palworld.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS rows, the optimal experience varies by target resolution. For 1080p, the High preset at 95.6 FPS provides the best balance of visual fidelity and performance, offering a significant upgrade over Medium while still maintaining a frame rate well above 60 FPS. For players with high refresh rate monitors, the Medium preset at 120.4 FPS is the sweet spot for maximizing smoothness without sacrificing too much visual quality.

At 1440p, the High preset at 63 FPS is the recommended choice for a quality experience, as it stays just above the 60 FPS threshold. The Ultra preset is not recommended here, as its 49.3 FPS average is a noticeable step down in fluidity. For 4K, none of the presets offer a truly smooth experience. The Low preset at 57.5 FPS is the only option that approaches playability, but users should expect to make significant visual compromises. The data suggests that for this game and this hardware combination, 1080p High or 1440p High are the most sensible targets.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-10400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Comet Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.30 GHz, with a shared 12 MB L3 cache. Its synthetic benchmark scores are moderate; it achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 10297 and a single-core score of 1453. The Passmark single-thread score of 2541 and multithread score of 12115 further outline its standing as a solid mid-range CPU.

In Palworld, the CPU's role appears to be secondary to the GPU at higher resolutions. The massive frame rate drops from 1080p to 4K are characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. However, the combo's rank (1265/1718) suggests that the CPU might be a limiting factor at 1080p, where frame rates are high. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 149.5, which is a very high frame rate that could expose CPU limitations in CPU-intensive scenes, such as when many Pals are active or when the game has to process complex physics. The CPU's 3DMark multi-thread score of 4748 and 8-thread score of 3929 indicate that it can handle a moderate amount of parallel work, but its aging architecture might not be able to keep up with the GPU's output in all scenarios, preventing it from achieving even higher frame rates.

FAQ

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

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the best resolution. At this resolution, the High preset delivers an average of 95.6 FPS, and even Ultra averages 71.7 FPS, both providing a smooth experience.

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

A: No, not effectively. At 3840x2160, even the Low preset only averages 57.5 FPS, while the High and Ultra presets drop to 31.5 FPS and 25.9 FPS respectively, which are not playable.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rival, the RTX 2070?

A: According to the data, the RTX 2060 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 19774, while the RTX 2070 has a score of 19680. This makes the RTX 2060 SUPER 0.5% faster in synthetic benchmarks.

Q: What is the performance difference between 1080p and 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 95.6 FPS at 1920x1080 to 63 FPS at 2560x1440. This represents a performance decrease of 34.1%.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the main bottleneck at 4K in Palworld?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the main bottleneck at 4K. The frame rate drops dramatically from 1080p to 4K, which is a classic sign of GPU limitations, specifically its 8 GB VRAM and memory bandwidth being overwhelmed.

Q: What average FPS can be expected at 1440p with Medium settings?

A: At 2560x1440 with Medium settings, the measured average FPS is 81.6. This provides a very smooth experience and is a good balance between visual quality and performance.