Palworld

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti combination delivers playable performance in Palworld, but the data clearly shows that the graphics card is the primary limiting factor as resolution increases. At 1080p, the combo produces high frame rates across all settings, but 4K Ultra performance becomes a slideshow-like 32 FPS, indicating that the GPU’s 8 GB VRAM and Ampere architecture are stretched to their limits. The benchmark results position this pairing in the middle of the pack, ranking 1843 out of 3711 tested combos, which underscores that while it is capable, it is not a top-tier configuration for this survival title.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance cliff as resolution scales from 1080p to 4K. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 187 FPS, which is excellent for competitive play and indicates that the CPU has ample headroom. Moving to High settings at 1080p, the frame rate drops to 117 FPS, still smooth and well above the 60 FPS threshold. However, the most telling data point is the Ultra preset: at 1080p, it delivers 88 FPS, but at 1440p, that number falls to 58 FPS, and at 4K, it plummets to 32 FPS. This represents a 63.6% performance loss from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra.

The scaling pattern from 1080p to 1440p is relatively gentle for most settings. At High, the drop is from 117 FPS to 77 FPS, a 34.2% reduction. At Medium, the decline is from 151 FPS to 100 FPS, a 33.8% loss. These figures suggest that the GPU is still coping reasonably well at 1440p, but the picture changes dramatically when moving to 4K. The High preset at 4K yields 43 FPS, which is a 44.2% drop from the 1440p result. Even the Low preset struggles to maintain playability at 4K, with 68 FPS—a 44.7% reduction from the 1440p Low score of 123 FPS.

This steep degradation at 4K points to the RTX 3060 Ti’s memory bandwidth and capacity as the bottleneck. With 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth and 8 GB of GDDR6 memory, the card simply cannot feed the frame buffer efficiently at 3840x2160, especially on higher presets. The Ultra preset’s 32 FPS at 4K is particularly telling, as it suggests the GPU is not only bandwidth-limited but also capacity-limited, likely causing assets to spill into system memory. The 68 FPS at 4K Low, while technically playable, is still 36.4% slower than the 1440p High result of 77 FPS, demonstrating that resolution scaling in this game is heavily GPU-bound.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti is the decisive factor in this combo’s performance, and its specifications explain the observed results. The card features 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its boost clock of 1665 MHz and base clock of 1410 MHz are modest by modern standards, but the Ampere architecture’s 4864 shading units provide substantial compute power, rated at 16.20 TFLOPS FP32. The benchmark percentile of 59 versus all GPUs places it in the mid-range, which aligns with the measured FPS data in Palworld.

The GPU’s 8 GB VRAM is the most critical limitation. At 1080p, the card’s memory is sufficient, allowing for smooth frame rates even on Ultra (88 FPS). However, at 1440p and 4K, the game’s texture and geometry demands likely exceed the 8 GB capacity, causing the GPU to rely on slower memory paging. This is most evident in the 4K Ultra result of 32 FPS, which is a 63.6% drop from the 1080p Ultra score—a degradation far steeper than what pixel count alone would predict. The Medium preset at 4K, with a min FPS of 47 and max of 64, shows more stability, but the average of 55 FPS still indicates that the card is working at its limits.

The RTX 3060 Ti’s nearest rivals in the benchmark database include the AMD Radeon RX 9060 with a delta of 0.7%, and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 XT at -1.4%. These close scores suggest that the RTX 3060 Ti is competitively positioned, but in Palworld specifically, the data shows that its 8 GB memory is a hindrance at higher resolutions. The card’s 200 W TDP and 12-pin power connector are typical for its class, but they do not mitigate the VRAM bottleneck. For players targeting 4K, the GPU role is clear: it is the limiting component, and even reducing settings to Low cannot fully compensate for the resolution’s demands.

FAQ

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

A: The measured average FPS is 117, with no minimum or maximum recorded for this configuration.

Q: How does the combo perform at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: The average FPS drops to 32, which is the lowest recorded score across all tested resolutions and settings in the data.

Q: Is the RTX 3060 Ti’s 8 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld at 1440p?

A: At 1440p Medium, the average FPS is 100 with a min of 85 and max of 115, but at 1440p Ultra, the average falls to 58 FPS, indicating that the VRAM capacity is strained on higher presets.

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

A: The Low preset yields the highest average FPS at 4K with 68, followed by Medium at 55, High at 43, and Ultra at 32.

Q: How does the CPU’s benchmark score compare to similar processors?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 18683, which is within 0.1% of the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697) and 0.3% of the Intel Core i7-1355U (18730), showing it is competitive in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1843 out of 3711 tested combinations, placing it in the 49.7th percentile of all tested combos.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 + RTX 3060 Ti combination ranks 1843 out of 3711 tested combos in Palworld, which places it almost exactly in the middle of the database. This rank of 1843 means that approximately 50% of tested configurations perform better, and 50% perform worse. The percentile of 49.7% is a stark contrast to the CPU’s individual percentile of 72 versus all CPUs, and the GPU’s percentile of 59 versus all GPUs. This discrepancy indicates that while each component is above average in isolation, their combination in this game does not punch above its weight.

The rank suggests that Palworld’s performance is not purely additive based on component scores. The CPU’s strong synthetic benchmarks (e.g., Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989) and the GPU’s respectable Passmark G3D score of 20349 do not translate into a top-half finish for this game. Instead, the combo’s mid-pack position likely reflects the GPU’s VRAM constraints and the game’s engine scaling behavior. Compared to other combos, this pairing is adequate for 1080p and 1440p gaming but falls behind at 4K, where the GPU’s limitations are most pronounced.

The rank also highlights that the RTX 3060 Ti, despite being end-of-life, remains a viable mid-range option, but it is not future-proof for higher resolutions. The combo’s position at 1843 out of 3711 is a reminder that Palworld’s performance is heavily dependent on the GPU, and players seeking higher 4K frame rates would need to consider configurations with more VRAM or faster memory subsystems. For 1080p and 1440p, however, this rank is more than acceptable, as the measured FPS data shows strong performance in those resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides a solid foundation for this combo, but its role in Palworld is secondary to the GPU. With 6 cores and 12 threads, the CPU has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz, which are competitive for gaming workloads. The CPU’s benchmark scores are robust: a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 15989 and a single-core score of 2257, both of which indicate strong single-threaded and multi-threaded performance. The Passmark single-thread score of 3456 further confirms that the i5-12400 can handle game logic and physics computations without becoming a bottleneck.

In the measured FPS data, the CPU’s influence is most apparent at 1080p with Low settings, where the combo achieves 187 FPS. This high frame rate suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough draw calls to sustain near-maximum performance. However, as resolution increases and the GPU becomes the limiting factor, the CPU’s role diminishes. The 4K Low result of 68 FPS, for instance, is not constrained by the CPU, as the same CPU can produce 187 FPS at 1080p Low. Instead, the GPU’s memory bandwidth and capacity are the bottlenecks.

The CPU’s percentile of 72 versus all CPUs places it well above the average, and its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 at -0.1% and the Intel Core i3-14100F at +0.9%. This indicates that the i5-12400 is a well-rounded processor that does not hold back the RTX 3060 Ti in most scenarios. The 18 MB of L3 cache and dual-channel memory support for DDR4 and DDR5 are adequate for Palworld’s demands, and the 65 W TDP makes it an efficient choice. In summary, the CPU is not the limiting factor in this combo; it provides ample headroom for the GPU to operate at its full potential.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the results are consistently strong: Low settings yield an average of 187 FPS, Medium delivers 151 FPS with a min of 129 and max of 174, High produces 117 FPS, and Ultra manages 88 FPS. These numbers indicate that the combo is well-suited for 1080p gaming, with even the most demanding preset maintaining frame rates above 60 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains playable but shows the GPU starting to strain. Low settings average 123 FPS, Medium averages 100 FPS with a range of 85 to 115, High drops to 77 FPS, and Ultra falls to 58 FPS. The 1440p Medium result is particularly noteworthy, as it offers a good balance of visual quality and performance, staying above the 60 FPS threshold. However, the Ultra preset’s 58 FPS is borderline, and players may need to adjust settings to maintain a smooth experience.

At 3840x2160, the combo struggles to maintain playability on higher presets. Low settings average 68 FPS, which is acceptable, but Medium drops to 55 FPS with a min of 47 and max of 64, High falls to 43 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 32 FPS. The 4K results clearly demonstrate that the RTX 3060 Ti is not powerful enough for this resolution in Palworld, particularly with the Ultra preset delivering a sub-30 FPS experience. The data shows a clear progression: 1080p is excellent, 1440p is good with some caveats, and 4K is only viable on Low settings.