Palworld

Palworld, a Survival title released on 2024-01-18, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphics settings. For the combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and the AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, the measured frame rates reveal a system that is clearly GPU-limited at higher resolutions but becomes increasingly balanced at 1080p. The data indicates a capable pairing for 1440p gaming, with performance that degrades predictably when pushing towards 4K Ultra.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a steep performance curve, which is typical for a graphically intensive title like Palworld. At 1080p High settings, the combo delivers an average of 113.5 FPS. Moving to 2560x1440 High, the average drops to 75.3 FPS, a reduction of approximately 33.7%. The most dramatic change occurs when jumping to 3840x2160 High, where the average FPS falls to 39.9, representing a further 47% decline from the 1440p result. This sharp drop indicates that the RX 6700 XT's 12 GB GDDR6 memory and 384.0 GB/s bandwidth are being saturated by the 4K pixel count.

The scaling pattern across all settings reinforces the GPU-bound nature of the system. At Low settings, the frame rate at 1080p is 185 FPS, which drops to 120 FPS at 1440p and 63.6 FPS at 4K. The 4K Low result is still higher than the 1080p Ultra result of 84.8 FPS, showing that the GPU's compute resources, with a boost clock of 2581 MHz and 13.21 TFLOPS FP32 performance, are the primary constraint. The CPU, with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz and 6 cores/12 threads, appears sufficient to feed the GPU even at lower resolutions where the frame rate ceiling is higher.

The data also shows that the gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference between Low (185 FPS) and Ultra (84.8 FPS) is 100.2 FPS. At 1440p, the gap shrinks to 64.9 FPS (120 vs 55.1), and at 4K, it narrows further to 34.2 FPS (63.6 vs 29.4). This compression suggests that at 4K, the GPU is so heavily loaded that even reducing settings cannot overcome the pixel throughput bottleneck, whereas at 1080p, settings have a more pronounced impact on the frame rate.

For players targeting a smooth 60 FPS experience, the 1440p High setting (75.3 FPS) is the optimal balance. At 4K, only Low settings (63.6 FPS) manage to stay above the 60 FPS threshold, while Medium (51.6 FPS) and High (39.9 FPS) fall below it. The 1080p Ultra setting (84.8 FPS) remains viable for those prioritizing visual fidelity over raw frame rates, but the scaling curve clearly shows diminishing returns at higher resolutions.

FAQ

Q: What is the average frame rate at 1440p High settings?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT achieves an average of 75.3 FPS at 2560x1440 with High settings, which is well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay.

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

A: At 3840x2160, the system delivers an average of 63.6 FPS on Low settings and 39.9 FPS on High settings. Only the Low preset provides a playable frame rate, while Medium (51.6 FPS) and Ultra (29.4 FPS) are below 60 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU performance compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, placing it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs. It is nearly identical to the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, which scores 17189 with a deltaPct of 0, and it trails the Intel Core i7-1260P by a negligible 0.2%.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the average frame rate drops from 185 FPS on Low settings to 84.8 FPS on Ultra, a difference of 100.2 FPS. This indicates that the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p, with the CPU capable of driving higher frame rates.

Q: How does the GPU's benchmark score position it against competitors?

A: The RX 6700 XT has an average benchmark score of 33721, placing it in the 77th percentile of all GPUs. It is 0.7% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 (33493) and 1.3% ahead of the NVIDIA RTX A5000 (33294), but 1% behind the AMD Radeon HD 7950 (34050).

Q: Does the system perform better at 1440p Low or 1080p Ultra?

A: The 1440p Low setting yields an average of 120 FPS, which is higher than the 1080p Ultra average of 84.8 FPS. This shows that the GPU prioritizes resolution scaling over detail settings, making 1440p Low a better choice for high frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor based on the Rocket Lake architecture, built on a 14 nm process node. Its base clock of 2.60 GHz can boost up to 4.40 GHz, and it features a shared 12 MB L3 cache. In the context of Palworld, the benchmark results suggest that the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at most settings, as the frame rates scale predominantly with resolution and graphics quality.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 17181 places it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with a multi-threaded score of 5652 in 3dmark_max_threads and a single-thread score of 868 in 3dmark_single_thread. These figures indicate a balanced performer that can handle the game's simulation and AI workloads without limiting the GPU. The data shows that at 1080p Low, where the GPU load is lowest, the frame rate reaches 185 FPS, suggesting the CPU can still push high frame rates when needed.

Comparing to its nearest rivals, the i5-11400F's average score of 17181 is within 0.2% of the Intel Core i7-1260P (17212) and the Intel Core Ultra 7 164U (17215). This tight grouping indicates that the CPU's performance is competitive with newer mobile and low-power parts, though its desktop-oriented 65 W TDP and DDR4 memory support (with 51.2 GB/s bandwidth) are notable characteristics. The CPU's 3dmark_16_threads score of 5619 and 3dmark_2_threads score of 1691 show a scaling efficiency that aligns with its 6-core/12-thread design.

In Palworld specifically, the measured FPS data implies that the CPU's 12 threads are sufficient to maintain frame pacing, as the GPU is consistently the limiting factor. The lack of min/max FPS data prevents a full analysis of frame time consistency, but the average FPS figures indicate that the CPU does not cause a significant performance ceiling. At 1080p Ultra (84.8 FPS), the CPU still has headroom, as the same GPU at 1080p Low produces 185 FPS, which is over double the frame rate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-11400F and AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT holds a combo rank of 976 out of 1718 tested combinations in Palworld. This places it in the lower-middle portion of the ranking, which is notable given the individual component percentiles: the CPU sits in the 75th percentile and the GPU in the 77th percentile. The discrepancy between the component rankings and the combo rank suggests that Palworld is particularly demanding on the GPU, and the pairing, while balanced, does not push into the top tier of systems.

The rank of 976 out of 1718 means that approximately 56.8% of tested combos perform better in this game. This is a data-driven observation that reflects the game's optimization and the specific hardware requirements. The RX 6700 XT's nearest rivals, such as the RX 6800 (0.7% higher average score), do not show a massive performance gap, but in a game like Palworld, even small differences in GPU compute can translate to several FPS at higher resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals, including the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U (deltaPct 0) and Intel Core i5-1240U (deltaPct 0.2), are close in synthetic benchmarks, but their impact on Palworld's frame rates is likely minimal given the GPU-bound nature of the workload. The combo rank is therefore more indicative of the GPU's position relative to other tested cards, rather than a reflection of CPU deficiency. For context, the system's 4K Ultra performance of 29.4 FPS and 1080p High performance of 113.5 FPS are consistent with a mid-range GPU that excels at 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for Palworld with the i5-11400F and RX 6700 XT shows a clear hierarchy across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the lowest setting of Low yields an average of 185 FPS, which is the highest recorded frame rate for this combo. Medium settings produce 145.7 FPS, High settings produce 113.5 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 84.8 FPS. This represents a 54.2% drop from Low to Ultra at 1080p, showing that the GPU has ample compute headroom at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are 120 FPS on Low, 96.9 FPS on Medium, 75.3 FPS on High, and 55.1 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Ultra is 64.9 FPS, which is a 54.1% reduction, nearly identical to the percentage drop at 1080p. This consistency suggests that the GPU's scaling is uniform across these two resolutions, with the absolute numbers shifting lower due to the increased pixel count.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more constrained. Low settings average 63.6 FPS, Medium averages 51.6 FPS, High averages 39.9 FPS, and Ultra averages 29.4 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 34.2 FPS, a 53.8% reduction, again matching the pattern seen at lower resolutions. However, the absolute values indicate that 4K is only playable at Low settings, with Medium and High falling below 60 FPS.

The data reveals that the RX 6700 XT, with its 12 GB of GDDR6 memory and 192-bit bus, maintains a linear scaling pattern across settings. The 4K Low result of 63.6 FPS is the only 4K preset above 60 FPS, while the 1440p Ultra result of 55.1 FPS is the only sub-60 FPS result at that resolution. For 1080p, all settings are above 84 FPS, providing a comfortable margin for high-refresh-rate displays. The lack of min/max FPS values means that frame time consistency cannot be assessed, but the average FPS figures provide a reliable baseline for expected performance.