Palworld

The Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the Intel Arc B390 produces a very specific performance profile in Palworld, one defined by the GPU's severe limitations. The data shows a system that can achieve playable frame rates only at the lowest settings and resolutions, with the graphics card acting as the primary bottleneck across the board. This analysis breaks down the measured FPS, scaling behavior, and component roles to give a clear picture of what this combo can and cannot do.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K reveals a classic GPU-bound scenario. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves 84 FPS average. Moving to 1440p Low drops that to 56 FPS, a 33% reduction. At 4K Low, the average falls to 31 FPS, which is a 63% drop from the 1080p figure. This steep decline with each resolution increase is the signature of a graphics card that is running out of pixel pushing power long before the CPU becomes a factor.

The scaling pattern holds across all settings presets. At High settings, the average FPS goes from 53 at 1080p to 35 at 1440p and finally 19 at 4K. The Medium preset shows the same trend: 68 FPS at 1080p, 45 at 1440p, and 25 at 4K. Ultra settings are the most punishing, with averages of 40, 26, and 15 FPS for 1080p, 1440p, and 4K respectively. The consistent ~50% or greater performance loss at each resolution step confirms that the Arc B390's rendering throughput is the limiting factor, not the i5-12400F's processing capabilities.

What this scaling indicates is that Palworld's demands on the GPU are linear with pixel count, and the Arc B390 simply does not have the raw fill rate or shading power to maintain playable performance as resolution increases. The 4K results are uniformly below 31 FPS even at Low, making that resolution essentially unusable for this game. The 1440p results are marginal at best, with only the Low preset (56 FPS) reaching a comfortable range. The only resolution where this combo shows any viability is 1080p, and even there, only the Low and Medium presets break the 60 FPS threshold.

How This Combo Ranks

In the database of tested combinations for Palworld, this pairing of the Intel Core i5-12400F and Intel Arc B390 ranks 2607 out of 2944 combos. That places it in the bottom 11% of all tested systems, a position that reflects the GPU's performance class rather than any deficiency in the CPU. The CPU itself sits at the 73rd percentile when compared against all processors, showing it is a mid-range part with solid capability. The GPU, however, lands at the 9th percentile against all graphics cards, which is the defining characteristic of this build.

The delta between the two components is stark. The i5-12400F's nearest rivals in the CPU benchmark database include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and the Intel Core i5-1335U, with score differences of 0% and 0.3% respectively. This shows the CPU is competitive with other modern mid-range parts. The Arc B390, on the other hand, sits alongside the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX (1.3% delta), the GeForce 800M (1.5% delta), and the GeForce GT 625 OEM (2.5% delta). These are legacy entry-level graphics solutions, and the comparison makes it clear that the Arc B390 is not in the same performance class as the CPU it is paired with.

This rank of 2607 out of 2944 means that in Palworld, the vast majority of other CPU-GPU combinations will outperform this one. The data indicates that the bottleneck is so severe that even a significantly weaker CPU paired with a mid-range GPU would likely produce better game performance. The ranking is a direct consequence of the GPU's 9th percentile standing, and it underscores that this is a system built around a very specific, low-power integrated graphics solution rather than a balanced gaming platform.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B390 is the decisive factor in this system's Palworld performance. Its architecture is Xe3-LPG, built on a 3 nm process, and it operates as an integrated graphics processor (IGP) with no dedicated memory. The memory configuration is "System Shared," meaning it draws from the same system RAM as the CPU, with bandwidth that is "System Dependent." This shared memory arrangement is a primary reason for the low performance, as the GPU must compete with the CPU for memory bandwidth and latency.

The clocks show a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2500 MHz. While the boost clock is reasonably high, the silicon has only 1536 shading units, 48 texture mapping units, and 24 render output units. The pixel rate is 60.00 GPixel/s and the texture rate is 120.0 GTexel/s. These are the specifications of a low-power part, and they translate directly into the measured frame rates. The FP32 performance of 7.680 TFLOPS sounds respectable on paper, but in practice, the shared memory bottleneck and limited ROP count cripple its ability to deliver playable frame rates in a demanding title like Palworld.

The GPU's benchmark score in 3DMark Steel Nomad (DX12) is 1482, which places it at the 9th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are the NVIDIA GeForce GT 520MX and GeForce 800M, both of which are over a decade old. The 1.3% to 2.7% delta between these scores shows that the Arc B390 is competing with hardware from a completely different era. In Palworld, this means the GPU cannot handle the game's rendering workload at any resolution above 1080p with acceptable performance, and even at 1080p, only the lowest presets are viable.

Settings Recommendations

Given the measured FPS data, the only sensible configuration for this combo is to prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity. At 1080p, the Low preset delivers 84 FPS average, which is smooth and responsive. The Medium preset at 1080p still manages 68 FPS average with a minimum of 58 FPS, making it a reasonable compromise if some visual improvements are desired. The High preset at 1080p drops to 53 FPS, which is playable but below the 60 FPS target, and the Ultra preset falls to 40 FPS, which is noticeably less fluid.

For 1440p, the situation is more constrained. The Low preset achieves 56 FPS, which is acceptable for casual play, but the Medium preset drops to 45 FPS, and High falls to 35 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1440p is not viable at 26 FPS. At 4K, no preset is recommended, as even the Low setting only produces 31 FPS, and the Medium preset has a minimum of 21 FPS, which will cause stuttering.

The data suggests that the best experience comes from running the game at 1080p with the Low preset. The 84 FPS average provides headroom for dips, and the Low preset minimizes the load on the already strained memory subsystem. For users who want slightly better visuals, the Medium preset at 1080p is a defensible choice, as the 58 FPS minimum is still above the 30 FPS threshold for playability. Anything above Medium at 1080p, or any setting at 1440p except Low, risks dropping into the 20-30 FPS range, which will be a poor experience in a survival game that requires constant awareness and quick reactions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results show a clear hierarchy across presets. The Low preset delivers an average of 84 FPS. The Medium preset averages 68 FPS, with a minimum of 58 and a maximum of 79 FPS. The High preset averages 53 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 40 FPS. The step from Low to Medium costs 16 FPS, while the step from Medium to High costs 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 13 FPS. This linear degradation indicates that each preset level adds a similar amount of rendering workload, and the GPU handles it proportionally.

At 2560x1440, the averages drop significantly. The Low preset averages 56 FPS. The Medium preset averages 45 FPS, with a minimum of 38 and a maximum of 52 FPS. The High preset averages 35 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 26 FPS. The delta between Low and Medium is 11 FPS, between Medium and High is 10 FPS, and between High and Ultra is 9 FPS. The smaller absolute differences at this resolution show that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor, as the pixel count increase has already consumed most of the available headroom.

At 3840x2160, the results are all below playable thresholds. The Low preset averages 31 FPS. The Medium preset averages 25 FPS, with a minimum of 21 and a maximum of 29 FPS. The High preset averages 19 FPS. The Ultra preset averages 15 FPS. The differences between presets shrink further, with only 6 FPS separating Low from Medium, 6 FPS separating Medium from High, and 4 FPS separating High from Ultra. This compression shows that the GPU has hit its absolute ceiling, and changing settings has minimal impact on performance because the resolution itself is the dominant cost.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F is a 6-core, 12-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process. It has a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. The cache configuration includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 18 MB of shared L3. This is a capable mid-range CPU, as evidenced by its benchmark scores. In Cinebench R23, it scores 12380 in multicore and 1680 in single-core. In Geekbench, it scores 9472 multicore and 1964 single-core. Its Passmark multithread score is 19433, and its single-thread score is 3481.

The CPU's percentile ranking at 73rd among all processors shows that it is a solid performer for its class. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS and the Intel Core i5-1335U, with score deltas of 0% and 0.3% respectively. This places it in the same performance tier as those mobile processors, which is reasonable for a desktop part with a 65W TDP. The CPU's 3DMark scores of 5895 for 16 threads and 909 for single-thread further confirm its balanced capabilities.

In Palworld, however, the CPU's role is largely irrelevant to the final frame rates because the GPU is so severely underpowered. The measured data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 84 FPS, but this is still well below what the i5-12400F could deliver if paired with a competent graphics card. The CPU has enough single-thread performance (1680 in Cinebench R23) and multicore throughput (12380 in Cinebench R23) to handle the game's simulation and AI workloads without becoming the limiting factor. The bottleneck is unequivocally the Arc B390, which struggles to maintain even 40 FPS at 1080p Ultra. The CPU is not holding this combo back; the GPU is the sole reason for the low frame rates.