Palworld

Palworld pairs the Intel Core i5-12400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER, and the benchmark data places this combination at rank 308 out of 3711 tested combos in this game. That top-8.3% placement reflects a system that leads the vast majority of tested hardware pairings, though it does not crack the absolute top tier where more extreme CPUs or GPUs reside. The RTX 4080 SUPER sits at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, while the i5-12400 lands at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, indicating the graphics card carries more of the performance weight in this pairing. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings confirm that this combo is built for high-refresh-rate play at 1440p and smooth 4K experiences, with the CPU becoming a more influential factor as resolution drops and frame rates climb.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame value of 308 out of 3711 places this system in the 91.7th percentile of tested Palworld combinations, meaning only about one in twelve tested pairings outperforms it. This rank is driven primarily by the GPU's strength; the RTX 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score of 54209 places it just 0.1% behind the standard RTX 4080 (score 54247), and 1.1% behind the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X (score 54828). The CPU contributes solidly but less spectacularly, with the i5-12400's average score of 18683 sitting 0.1% behind the AMD EPYC 7643 (score 18697) and 0.3% behind the Intel Core i7-1355U (score 18730). Notably, the i5-12400 edges out the Intel Core i3-14100F by 0.9% (score 18519), showing that the six-core Alder Lake part holds its own against newer budget-oriented chips in synthetic workloads.

What the rank does not capture is how the combo behaves specifically in Palworld's open-world survival setting, where draw distances and physics calculations can stress CPUs differently than synthetic benchmarks. The data shows the system delivers playable frame rates even at 4K Ultra, which is a demanding scenario for any hardware, and the rank of 308 reflects that this is a high-end but not extreme configuration. The gap between this combo and the very top ranks likely stems from the CPU's mid-range position; a more powerful processor would push the system higher, but the RTX 4080 SUPER ensures the GPU is rarely the bottleneck in this pairing, particularly at higher resolutions where the graphics card's 16 GB of GDDR6X memory and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth come into play.

GPU Role

The RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications directly explain the measured performance. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz with a boost clock of 2550 MHz, and its memory runs at 1438 MHz with 23 Gbps effective speed. The 16 GB GDDR6X frame buffer on a 256-bit bus delivers 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth, which is ample for Palworld's large open-world textures and streaming geometry. The GPU's 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 raster output units provide the raw compute throughput needed to sustain high frame rates, while 80 ray tracing cores and 320 tensor cores offer features that Palworld does not heavily utilize but remain available for other titles.

In Palworld specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. At 4K, the frame rate drops are consistent with the GPU being the primary limiter; the data shows 115 FPS at Low settings, 94 FPS at Medium, 72 FPS at High, and 55 FPS at Ultra. This 60 FPS spread between Low and Ultra at 4K indicates the graphics card is working progressively harder as quality settings rise, with the 16 GB memory buffer ensuring no texture-related stuttering even at Ultra. The GPU's percentile rank of 86 places it above 86% of all GPUs, and its nearest rival in average score is the RTX 4080 at a 0.1% delta, confirming that the SUPER variant offers essentially identical performance to the non-SUPER version in synthetic tests.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS progression from 1080p to 4K reveals where the bottleneck shifts between CPU and GPU. At 1080p, the system produces 316 FPS on Low, 256 FPS on Medium, 197 FPS on High, and 149 FPS on Ultra. These numbers are extremely high, and the scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 2.1x performance cost, indicating that even at 1080p the GPU is still doing meaningful work. Moving to 1440p, the frame rates drop to 208 FPS on Low, 169 FPS on Medium, 130 FPS on High, and 98 FPS on Ultra. The 1440p numbers are roughly 66% of the 1080p values across all settings, which is a predictable scaling pattern for a GPU-bound scenario.

At 4K, the drop becomes more severe: 115 FPS on Low, 94 FPS on Medium, 72 FPS on High, and 55 FPS on Ultra. The 4K Low result is only 36% of the 1080p Low result, while 4K Ultra is 37% of 1080p Ultra. This consistent ratio across settings indicates that the GPU is the limiting component at every quality level, since the frame rate scales proportionally with pixel count. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see smaller performance differences between 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a steady decline that tracks resolution changes. The i5-12400's 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz are sufficient to feed the RTX 4080 SUPER at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 300 FPS on Low settings, but the CPU's influence diminishes as resolution climbs and the GPU's workload increases.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 316 FPS average, Medium hits 256 FPS with a minimum of 218 and maximum of 294, High reaches 197 FPS, and Ultra drops to 149 FPS. These numbers indicate that 1080p is well within the system's comfort zone, with even Ultra settings maintaining frame rates above 144 Hz for high-refresh-rate monitors. The minimum FPS at Medium (218) stays well above the average of many lower-end systems' maximums, showing consistent frame delivery without severe dips.

At 2560x1440, the performance remains strong but shows the expected reduction. Low settings yield 208 FPS, Medium produces 169 FPS with a minimum of 143 and maximum of 194, High delivers 130 FPS, and Ultra falls to 98 FPS. The 1440p Medium minimum of 143 FPS is noteworthy because it stays above the 144 Hz threshold for most gaming monitors, meaning players can run Medium settings at 1440p with no frame rate drops below refresh rate. High settings at 130 FPS average are also very playable, though the minimum is not recorded in the data.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding. Low settings produce 115 FPS, Medium hits 94 FPS with a minimum of 79 and maximum of 108, High reaches 72 FPS, and Ultra drops to 55 FPS. The 4K Medium minimum of 79 FPS indicates that even during demanding scenes, the system stays above 60 FPS, making Medium the recommended 4K setting for consistent playability. High at 72 FPS average is playable but may dip below 60 FPS in heavy moments, while Ultra at 55 FPS average is borderline for smooth gameplay. The 4K results show the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB memory is sufficient, but the GPU's compute throughput becomes the limiting factor at this resolution with higher settings.

FAQ

Q: Is this combo better suited for 1080p or 4K gaming in Palworld?

A: The data shows the system excels at both, but for different reasons. At 1080p, it produces 316 FPS on Low and 149 FPS on Ultra, making it ideal for maximum refresh rates. At 4K, it maintains 115 FPS on Low and 55 FPS on Ultra, which is playable but not optimal for high-refresh displays. The 1440p results (208 FPS Low, 98 FPS Ultra) offer the best balance of visual quality and performance.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080?

A: The average benchmark scores are nearly identical, with the RTX 4080 SUPER scoring 54209 and the RTX 4080 scoring 54247, a delta of -0.1%. In practical terms, the data shows no meaningful performance difference between the two cards in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the CPU's percentile ranking and what does it mean?

A: The i5-12400 sits at the 72nd percentile among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 72% of processors in the benchmark database. Its average score of 18683 places it just below the AMD EPYC 7643 (18697) and Intel Core i7-1355U (18730), and slightly above the Intel Core i3-14100F (18519).

Q: Which settings give the highest minimum FPS at 4K?

A: The only 4K setting with recorded minimum FPS is Medium, showing a minimum of 79 FPS. This is the only 4K data point with a minimum value, suggesting that Medium settings provide the most consistent frame delivery at 4K resolution.

Q: How much performance is lost from Low to Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p, the drop from Low (316 FPS) to Ultra (149 FPS) is a 52.8% reduction. At 1440p, Low (208 FPS) to Ultra (98 FPS) represents a 52.9% reduction. At 4K, Low (115 FPS) to Ultra (55 FPS) shows a 52.2% reduction. The consistent ratio across resolutions indicates the settings scaling is uniform.

Q: Can this system maintain 60+ FPS at 4K?

A: Yes, according to the data. At 4K Medium, the average is 94 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS. At 4K High, the average is 72 FPS. Only at 4K Ultra does the average drop below 60 FPS, reaching 55 FPS.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400 provides the processing foundation for this combo, and its specifications directly influence Palworld's performance in CPU-light scenarios. The chip features 6 cores and 12 threads, running at a base clock of 2.50 GHz and boosting to 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake-S architecture part is built on Intel's 10 nm process with a 163 mm² die size, and it supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory across a dual-channel bus. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB L1 per core, 1.25 MB L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3 cache, which provides sufficient capacity for Palworld's world streaming and entity management tasks. The 65 W TDP indicates the CPU runs efficiently, and its PCIe Gen 5 support with 16 lanes ensures the RTX 4080 SUPER has full bandwidth available.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where frame rates exceed the GPU's rendering capacity. At 1080p Low, the system produces 316 FPS, which requires the CPU to process game logic and physics at a rate that approaches the single-thread performance limits of the 6-core design. The i5-12400's single-thread score of 910 in 3DMark and 2257 in Cinebench R23 indicate strong per-core performance for a mid-range chip, which is critical for Palworld's single-threaded update loops. The 12 threads handle background tasks like asset streaming and AI for the many creatures in the world, and the 18 MB L3 cache reduces memory latency for frequently accessed data.

The CPU's percentile rank of 72 and its average benchmark score of 18683 place it in the upper-middle tier of processors. Its nearest rivals include the AMD EPYC 7643 (score 18697, -0.1% delta) and the Intel Core i7-1355U (score 18730, -0.3% delta), showing that the i5-12400 is competitive with much more expensive server and mobile parts in synthetic tests. The data suggests the CPU is not the bottleneck at 1440p or 4K, where the RTX 4080 SUPER's workload dominates, but at 1080p the CPU's limitations may prevent the GPU from reaching its absolute maximum potential. The 316 FPS at 1080p Low is likely near the CPU's practical ceiling for this game, as increasing resolution to 1440p only drops the frame rate to 208 FPS, a 34% reduction that tracks closer to GPU scaling than CPU limits.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured frame rates, the optimal settings depend on the target resolution and refresh rate. For 1080p displays with 240 Hz or higher refresh rates, Low settings at 316 FPS provide the smoothest experience, while High at 197 FPS still exceeds 144 Hz and offers better visual quality. Medium at 256 FPS with a minimum of 218 FPS is the best balance for high-refresh 1080p gaming, as the minimum stays above the refresh rate of most 240 Hz monitors. Ultra at 149 FPS is suitable for 144 Hz displays but not for higher refresh rates.

For 1440p, Medium settings at 169 FPS average with a 143 FPS minimum is the recommended choice for 144 Hz monitors, as the minimum stays above the refresh threshold. High at 130 FPS average is acceptable for 120 Hz displays but may dip below 144 Hz in demanding scenes. Ultra at 98 FPS is playable on 60-100 Hz monitors but sacrifices the high-refresh advantage of the 1440p resolution. Low at 208 FPS is excessive for most 1440p displays and unnecessarily reduces visual quality.

For 4K, Medium settings at 94 FPS average with a 79 FPS minimum is the clear recommendation, as it maintains frame rates well above 60 FPS while providing better visuals than Low. High at 72 FPS average is acceptable for 60 Hz displays but may experience occasional dips below 60 FPS in heavy scenes. Ultra at 55 FPS average is not recommended for smooth gameplay, as the frame rate falls below the 60 FPS threshold. Low at 115 FPS is the best choice for 4K 120 Hz displays, though the visual quality reduction is significant. The data indicates that Medium settings provide the most consistent experience across all resolutions, with the minimum FPS staying within 21% of the average at 4K, 15% at 1440p, and 15% at 1080p.