Palworld

Palworld, a survival title released in January 2024, presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination. The measured frame rates across resolutions and settings reveal a system where the GPU is often the dominant factor, but the CPU's capabilities set distinct boundaries at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the measured data to explain how this specific pairing behaves, where its strengths lie, and what settings provide the most balanced experience.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate this combo achieves in Palworld?

A: The maximum measured average frame rate is 325.8 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 5090's performance compare to its closest rivals in general benchmarks?

A: The RTX 5090's average benchmark score is 84306, placing it 0.1% ahead of the RTX 5090 D and 0.2% ahead of the RTX 5050 Mobile, while being 1.6% behind the NVIDIA CMP 40HX.

Q: What is the frame rate difference between Low and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 3840x2160, the average frame rate drops from 135.3 FPS on Low settings to 63.3 FPS on Ultra settings, representing a significant performance cost for maximum visual fidelity.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU at 1080p?

A: The data suggests yes. At 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo hits 325.8 FPS, but the Core i5-12400's single-thread benchmark score of 910 and 16-thread score of 5873 indicate the CPU is likely the limiting factor at such high frame rates, as the GPU has more headroom.

Q: How does the i5-12400 compare to its nearest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-12400 has an average benchmark score of 19850, which is 0.1% higher than the Intel Core i7-9700's score of 19831, and 0.4% higher than the Intel Core i5-11600K's score of 19771.

Q: What is the lowest average frame rate recorded for this combination?

A: The lowest measured average frame rate is 63.3 FPS, occurring at 3840x2160 resolution with Ultra settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data provides a clear picture of how each settings preset scales performance. For players prioritizing a smooth experience, the Medium preset offers the most balanced trade-off between visual quality and frame rate. At 1920x1080, Medium delivers 299.1 FPS, which is only 26.7 FPS lower than Low but represents a substantial visual upgrade. At 2560x1440, Medium produces 196.7 FPS, while at 3840x2160 it maintains 109.1 FPS, all of which are well above playable thresholds.

For those with high-refresh-rate 1080p monitors, the High preset is the recommended choice. It delivers 225.1 FPS at 1920x1080, which is still exceptionally smooth while providing better visual fidelity than Medium. However, at 1440p, High drops to 148.5 FPS, which is still excellent but shows the increasing GPU load. At 4K, High yields 80.2 FPS, which is playable but requires a G-Sync or FreeSync display to smooth out frame pacing.

The Ultra preset is only advisable for players with 4K displays who prioritize visuals over frame rate. The 63.3 FPS average at 3840x2160 is technically playable, but the 26.9 FPS drop from High to Ultra at this resolution suggests diminishing returns. Conversely, Low settings are not recommended for this hardware combination, as the 325.8 FPS at 1080p exceeds the refresh rate of most monitors and sacrifices too much visual quality.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a system that becomes increasingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 225.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 148.5 FPS at 2560x1440, a 34% reduction, and then to 80.2 FPS at 3840x2160, a further 46% reduction. This steep decline indicates that the RTX 5090 is the primary bottleneck once the resolution increases, as the GPU's rendering load grows disproportionately.

The scaling pattern at Low settings is even more revealing. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 325.8 FPS, but this only drops to 242.1 FPS at 2560x1440 and 135.3 FPS at 3840x2160. The relatively smaller percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p (26%) compared to the drop from 1440p to 4K (44%) suggests that at 1080p with Low settings, the Core i5-12400 is limiting performance. The CPU's 3DMark single-thread score of 910 and 2-thread score of 1692 indicate it cannot feed the GPU fast enough at such high frame rates.

At Medium settings, the scaling is more linear: 299.1 FPS at 1080p, 196.7 FPS at 1440p, and 109.1 FPS at 4K. This suggests that Medium settings provide a balanced load where both the CPU and GPU are utilized more evenly. The Ultra preset shows the most dramatic drop, falling from 171.1 FPS at 1080p to 112.2 FPS at 1440p and 63.3 FPS at 4K, confirming that the GPU is the limiting factor under maximum graphical load.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-12400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 combination ranks 22nd out of 1718 tested combos in Palworld. This places it in the top 1.3% of all tested configurations, which is remarkable given that the CPU is a mid-range 12th-generation processor. The ranking suggests that Palworld is heavily GPU-dependent, allowing the RTX 5090 to carry the combination to an elite position despite the relatively modest CPU.

The CPU's synthetic benchmark performance supports this interpretation. The i5-12400 has a percentile rank of 77 among all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 77% of processors, but its nearest rivals are older Intel parts like the Core i7-9700 and i7-8700. In contrast, the RTX 5090 ranks in the 94th percentile among all GPUs, indicating it is near the top of the performance hierarchy. This combination of a strong but not top-tier CPU with an elite GPU is ideal for a game like Palworld that appears to scale well with GPU resources.

However, the ranking also highlights the CPU's limitations. While the combo ranks 22nd overall, the data shows that at 1080p with Low settings, the CPU prevents the system from reaching its full potential. If the CPU were more powerful, the combo might rank higher, but the 22nd position out of 1718 still represents an exceptionally strong showing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 plays a dominant role in this combination's Palworld performance. With 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, the GPU has a memory bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is more than sufficient for the texture and geometry demands of a survival game at any resolution. The GPU's 21760 shading units and 176 ROPs provide substantial raw compute power, evidenced by its FP32 performance of 104.8 TFLOPS.

The GPU's clock speeds are also notable. The base clock of 2017 MHz and boost clock of 2407 MHz, combined with its 5 nm process node, allow it to maintain high frame rates even at 4K. This is reflected in the measured data: at 3840x2160 with Medium settings, the GPU still delivers 109.1 FPS, which is very playable. The GPU's benchmark scores reinforce its capability, with a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 14411 and a Passmark G3D score of 39650.

The GPU's architecture, Blackwell 2.0, supports DirectX 12 Ultimate and Vulkan 1.4, which are relevant for Palworld's rendering pipeline. The 170 RT cores and 680 tensor cores provide headroom for future ray tracing or DLSS features, though the measured data does not specify whether these are utilized. The GPU's 94th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms that it is one of the most powerful consumer graphics cards available, which explains why it is the primary driver of frame rates in this combination.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates. Low settings produce 325.8 FPS, Medium settings yield 299.1 FPS, High settings reach 225.1 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 171.1 FPS. The difference between Low and Medium is 26.7 FPS, while the gap between Medium and High is 74 FPS, indicating that High settings impose a significant load on the GPU.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates are still high but show the GPU working harder. Low settings average 242.1 FPS, Medium settings achieve 196.7 FPS, High settings deliver 148.5 FPS, and Ultra settings produce 112.2 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p at each setting shows a consistent drop, with the largest absolute decrease occurring at Low settings (83.7 FPS).

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become more demanding. Low settings still manage 135.3 FPS, Medium settings reach 109.1 FPS, High settings drop to 80.2 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 63.3 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate that the RTX 5090 is powerful enough to run Palworld at high frame rates even at the highest resolution, but the Ultra preset begins to approach the limits of smooth gameplay.

The data shows a clear pattern: the combination excels at 1080p and 1440p, where frame rates are consistently above 100 FPS even at Ultra settings. At 4K, the combo remains playable, but users must choose between High settings (80.2 FPS) and Ultra settings (63.3 FPS) depending on their preference for visual quality or frame rate stability.