Palworld

The Intel Core i5-11400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 delivers a striking performance profile in Palworld, one where the GPU’s immense power is frequently held back by the CPU’s 6-core/12-thread architecture. The measured frame rates reveal a system that excels at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain consistency as graphical load increases. This analysis examines the resolution scaling, CPU dependency, and practical settings for this specific combination.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is dramatic and reveals the shifting bottleneck. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo produces 283.9 FPS, but at 4K Low, that number falls to 125.6 FPS — a reduction of 158.3 FPS (55.7%). This indicates that at 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, as the RTX 4090 has ample headroom to render frames faster than the i5-11400F can feed it. The GPU’s 82.58 TFLOPS of FP32 compute and 1.01 TB/s memory bandwidth are simply waiting for more data.

Moving to 1440p, the scaling is more moderate. High settings drop from 218.6 FPS at 1080p to 142.0 FPS at 1440p, a 35.0% reduction. This suggests the GPU is starting to become more relevant, but the CPU still imposes a ceiling. The Ultra preset at 1440p produces 108.3 FPS, which is a 35.3% drop from the 167.4 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The pattern is consistent: the i5-11400F’s 4.40 GHz boost clock helps, but its 12 MB of shared L3 cache and 6 physical cores cannot sustain the frame rates the RTX 4090 is capable of at lower resolutions.

At 4K, the GPU finally becomes the dominant factor. The difference between 4K Low (125.6 FPS) and 4K Ultra (63.7 FPS) is 61.9 FPS, showing that the RTX 4090 is now fully engaged. The 4K High result of 82.7 FPS is notable — it is only 19.0 FPS higher than 4K Ultra, indicating that the most demanding preset still leaves the GPU with substantial work. The scaling from 1440p to 4K at High settings shows a 41.8% drop (142.0 to 82.7 FPS), which is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario where the 4090’s 24 GB GDDR6X memory and 384-bit bus are being pushed to their limits.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-11400F is a 6-core, 12-thread Rocket Lake processor with a base clock of 2.60 GHz and a boost of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores place it in the 75th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 17181. The nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U, scores 17189, a delta of 0%, meaning the i5-11400F is effectively tied with that mobile chip in synthetic tests. This is a crucial data point: the i5-11400F is a mid-range desktop part, not a high-end enthusiast CPU.

In Palworld, this CPU limitation manifests clearly. At 1080p Low, the 283.9 FPS result is likely near the CPU’s absolute maximum frame output. The 3dmark single-thread score of 868 and passmark single-thread score of 2981 show decent per-core strength, but the 3dmark 16-thread score of 5619 and max-thread score of 5652 indicate that scaling beyond 8 threads yields almost nothing (4691 for 8-thread vs 5652 for max). Palworld, like many survival games, appears to rely heavily on a few cores for game logic and physics. The i5-11400F’s 6 cores are sufficient for 60 FPS gameplay, but they cannot drive the RTX 4090 to its full potential at high refresh rates.

The cinebench r23 multicore score of 14372 and single-core of 2029 further illustrate the CPU’s position. The 12 MB shared L3 cache is small by modern standards, which may cause cache misses in a game with many entities. The memory bandwidth of 51.2 GB/s (dual-channel DDR4) is another limiting factor, as the RTX 4090 can generate data faster than the CPU can transfer it back. The data shows that at 1080p, the CPU is the bottleneck; at 4K, the GPU takes over. The crossover point appears to be around 1440p, where neither component is fully saturated.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p with High settings?

A: The measured average FPS is 218.6, which is the second-highest result at 1080p after Low settings (283.9 FPS). This suggests High settings are well within the CPU’s capability.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core i5-11400F has an average benchmark score of 17181, while the AMD Ryzen 7 5700U scores 17189, a delta of 0%. The Intel Core i7-1260P and Core Ultra 7 164U both score 17212 and 17215 respectively, showing a delta of -0.2% relative to the i5-11400F.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 fully utilized at 1080p in Palworld?

A: No. The data indicates a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p Low, the combo produces 283.9 FPS, but the RTX 4090’s 82.58 TFLOPS compute suggests it could render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. The 4K Low result of 125.6 FPS is 158.3 FPS lower, showing the GPU has significant headroom at 1080p.

Q: What is the best 4K preset for this combo?

A: The data shows 4K Low at 125.6 FPS, 4K Medium at 103.5 FPS, 4K High at 82.7 FPS, and 4K Ultra at 63.7 FPS. For a 60 FPS target, Ultra is acceptable, but High offers a 19.0 FPS improvement over Ultra.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combinations in Palworld?

A: The combo ranks 84th out of 1718 tested combinations, placing it in the top 4.9% of all tested systems. This rank reflects the GPU’s strength, but the CPU prevents a higher placement.

Q: What is the FPS difference between Medium and Ultra at 1440p?

A: Medium produces 189.6 FPS, while Ultra produces 108.3 FPS. The difference is 81.3 FPS, or 42.9% lower performance on Ultra. This is a significant drop that players should consider when choosing settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 84th out of 1718 tested combinations in Palworld, placing it in the top 4.9% of all systems. This is an excellent overall position, driven almost entirely by the RTX 4090’s raw power. The GPU alone holds a 91st percentile ranking among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 66473. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA Tesla T4, scores 66733 (a delta of -0.4%), while the Tesla P40 scores 66127 (a delta of 0.5%). These are professional workstation cards, not gaming GPUs, which highlights the 4090’s dominance in consumer hardware.

The CPU’s 75th percentile ranking is the weaker link. The i5-11400F’s 17181 average score is respectable, but it lags behind more modern CPUs in gaming scenarios. The rank of 84 suggests that the combination is well-balanced enough to beat most systems, but it is not in the top 10 or 20 where you would find newer high-core-count CPUs paired with the same GPU. The data implies that in Palworld, the CPU is the limiting factor for achieving the highest possible frame rates, especially at 1080p and 1440p. The 84th rank confirms the GPU’s ability to compensate for the CPU’s shortcomings in most scenarios, but it also shows that this is not an optimal pairing for maximizing the 4090’s potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the results are as follows: Low settings produce 283.9 FPS, Medium 259.2 FPS, High 218.6 FPS, and Ultra 167.4 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is a 24.7 FPS drop (8.7%), while the step from High to Ultra is a 51.2 FPS drop (23.4%). This indicates that Ultra settings impose a heavy cost, likely due to increased draw distances and shadow complexity that stress the CPU’s 6 cores.

At 2560x1440, the numbers are: Low 230.8 FPS, Medium 189.6 FPS, High 142.0 FPS, and Ultra 108.3 FPS. The drop from Low to Ultra is 122.5 FPS (53.1%), showing that at this resolution, both CPU and GPU are contributing to the performance curve. The Medium to High drop is 47.6 FPS (25.1%), which is the largest single-step reduction at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the results are: Low 125.6 FPS, Medium 103.5 FPS, High 82.7 FPS, and Ultra 63.7 FPS. Here, the GPU is the clear bottleneck, as the RTX 4090 is working at its limits to render 4K frames. The step from High to Ultra is 19.0 FPS (23.0%), which is a notable reduction but still leaves the game playable above 60 FPS. The 4K Low result of 125.6 FPS shows that even at the lowest settings, the GPU cannot exceed this frame rate, confirming that the 4090 is the limiting component at this resolution.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific combo, the optimal settings depend heavily on the target resolution and refresh rate. At 1080p, the High preset (218.6 FPS) is the best choice for most players, as it offers a 51.2 FPS improvement over Ultra while still delivering well above any standard 60 Hz or 144 Hz monitor’s refresh rate. The Ultra preset at 167.4 FPS is only worthwhile if the display supports 165 Hz or higher, and the visual quality difference is worth the 23.4% performance penalty.

At 1440p, the Medium preset (189.6 FPS) strikes the best balance. It is 47.6 FPS faster than High (142.0 FPS) and 81.3 FPS faster than Ultra (108.3 FPS). For a 144 Hz monitor, High is the maximum viable setting, as it stays slightly above the 144 FPS threshold. For 165 Hz or 240 Hz displays, Medium is recommended to maintain a higher frame rate. The Ultra preset at 108.3 FPS is only suitable for 100 Hz monitors or lower.

At 4K, the High preset (82.7 FPS) is the recommended choice for a 60 Hz display, as it provides a 19.0 FPS cushion over Ultra (63.7 FPS). The Ultra preset is playable at 63.7 FPS, which is above 60 FPS, but the margin is thin. For 120 Hz or higher 4K displays, the Medium preset (103.5 FPS) is the only viable option, as High and Ultra fall below the refresh rate. The Low preset at 125.6 FPS is not recommended for 4K, as the visual quality loss is substantial and the performance gain over Medium is only 22.1 FPS. The data shows that this combo is best utilized at 1440p with Medium or High settings, where the CPU and GPU are more evenly matched.