Palworld

Palworld, released on 2024-01-18, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and quality settings. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core i5-12400F paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti across a matrix of presets and resolutions. The data indicates a configuration capable of high refresh rates at 1080p, but one that requires careful settings management to maintain smooth gameplay at higher resolutions. The RTX 5070 Ti, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 896.0 GB/s bandwidth, proves to be the dominant factor in this pairing, though the 6-core, 12-thread i5-12400F provides a solid foundation without becoming a significant bottleneck in the tested scenarios.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance for optimizing the experience in Palworld. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 141 FPS, which is highly playable, while the Low preset reaches 299 FPS. However, the Medium preset offers a compelling balance, achieving 242 FPS with a minimum of 206 FPS. This indicates that at 1080p, the combination has ample headroom, allowing users to prioritize visual fidelity without sacrificing performance. The High preset at 186 FPS is also excellent, making Ultra the only preset that does not break the 144 Hz barrier at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the performance landscape shifts. The Ultra preset drops to an average of 93 FPS, which is still playable but may not satisfy users with high-refresh-rate monitors. The High preset at 123 FPS and Medium at 160 FPS are both strong options, with Medium providing a 30% performance uplift over High while likely offering marginal visual differences. For the best experience at 1440p, the data suggests that Medium or High settings are optimal, as they maintain frame rates well above 120 FPS, ensuring smooth and responsive gameplay. Pushing to Ultra introduces a significant performance cost that may not be justified by the visual gains.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Ultra preset yields an average of only 52 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay on many displays. The High preset at 68 FPS is borderline, while Medium at 89 FPS (with a minimum of 75 FPS) provides the most consistent playable experience. The Low preset at 109 FPS is the only option that breaks the 100 FPS mark at 4K. Therefore, for 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the recommended choice, offering a playable frame rate of 89 FPS without the severe visual compromises of Low. This configuration demonstrates that while the RTX 5070 Ti is powerful, 4K Ultra is beyond its effective range for this title.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti is the primary driver of performance in Palworld, and its specifications align strongly with the observed results. The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering a bandwidth of 896.0 GB/s. This memory configuration is crucial for a game like Palworld, which features a large, open world with numerous assets. The high bandwidth ensures that texture streaming and geometry data are fed to the GPU efficiently, preventing stuttering and maintaining consistent frame rates. The data supports this, as the minimum FPS figures at Medium settings (75 FPS at 4K, 136 FPS at 1440p, and 206 FPS at 1080p) are reasonably close to the averages, indicating stable performance without major memory-related hitches.

The GPU's clock speeds, with a base of 2295 MHz and a boost of 2452 MHz, are relatively high, and its architecture supports modern APIs including DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. This ensures full compatibility with the game's rendering features. The RTX 5070 Ti's raw compute power, measured at 43.94 TFLOPS FP32, combined with its 8960 shading units, allows it to handle the game's lighting and physics calculations at high resolutions. When comparing to its nearest rivals, the RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 49957, positioning it 3.1% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and 2% behind the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. This competitive standing is reflected in the game's performance, where the GPU consistently delivers high frame rates across all tested settings.

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K clearly demonstrates the GPU's workload. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 141, which drops to 93 at 1440p and further to 52 at 4K. This steep decline—a 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K—indicates that Palworld is heavily GPU-bound at higher resolutions. The GPU's capabilities are the limiting factor at 4K, as the CPU has more headroom to feed frames. The 16 GB VRAM capacity is more than sufficient for this title, as no memory-related performance cliffs are evident in the data, even at the highest settings and resolution.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-12400F serves as the central processor, providing 6 cores and 12 threads with a base clock of 2.50 GHz and a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. This Alder Lake architecture CPU has an 18 MB shared L3 cache and supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In the context of Palworld, a survival game that often involves physics calculations and managing numerous entities, the CPU's performance is relevant. The benchmark results show a 3dmark_max_threads score of 5912 and a cinebench_r23_multicore score of 12380, indicating solid multi-threaded capability. The single-thread performance, with a cinebench_r23_singlecore score of 1680, is also adequate for the game's main logic thread.

The data suggests that the i5-12400F is not the primary bottleneck in this configuration. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS reaches 299, which is exceptionally high. This near-300 FPS figure suggests that the CPU is capable of processing frames at a very high rate, and the GPU is still able to keep up. However, the fact that the FPS does not increase further from Low to Medium (242 FPS) and then to High (186 FPS) indicates that the GPU is becoming the limiting factor as settings increase. The CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the RTX 5070 Ti at all tested settings, as no scenario shows a CPU-imposed cap that would prevent the GPU from reaching its potential.

The CPU's percentile rank of 73 out of all tested CPUs places it in the upper quartile, and its average benchmark score of 19039 is nearly identical to its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 5 7535HS, which scores 19047. This parity in synthetic benchmarks translates to consistent performance in real-world gaming. In Palworld, the 6-core/12-thread configuration is likely well-utilized, but the game does not appear to be heavily multi-threaded in a way that would disadvantage this CPU. The data shows that the performance gap between the 1080p Low and 1080p Ultra settings is substantial (299 FPS to 141 FPS), which is more characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario where the CPU is not the limiting factor.

FAQ

Q: At what settings and resolution does this combo achieve the highest frame rates?

A: The highest average FPS is achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings, reaching 299 FPS. For a more balanced experience, Medium settings at 1080p deliver 242 FPS, while High settings provide 186 FPS.

Q: Can this configuration handle 4K gaming in Palworld?

A: Yes, but with limitations. The average FPS at 4K ranges from 52 FPS on Ultra to 109 FPS on Low. The Medium preset at 89 FPS is the recommended choice for a smooth experience, as the Ultra preset falls below the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: How does the RTX 5070 Ti compare to its nearest rivals in terms of benchmark scores?

A: The RTX 5070 Ti has an average benchmark score of 49957. It is 3.1% faster than the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT and 2% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT. It also shows a -0.1% delta compared to the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 and a 0.4% delta versus the Intel Arc A550M.

Q: What is the role of the CPU in this pairing?

A: The Intel Core i5-12400F provides 6 cores and 12 threads with a boost clock of 4.40 GHz. Its benchmark scores, including a 3dmark_max_threads score of 5912, indicate it is capable of keeping up with the GPU, and the data shows it does not become a bottleneck.

Q: Is the 16 GB of VRAM on the GPU sufficient for Palworld?

A: Yes, the data shows consistent performance without memory-related performance drops. The minimum FPS figures at Medium settings (75 FPS at 4K) are close to the averages, indicating that the 16 GB of GDDR7 memory is not being exhausted.

Q: What is the performance penalty for increasing settings from Medium to Ultra at 1440p?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS drops from 160 FPS on Medium to 93 FPS on Ultra, representing a 42% reduction. This significant penalty suggests that Ultra settings are not optimal for high-refresh-rate gaming at this resolution.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data across the three resolutions provides clear insight into the scaling behavior of this hardware combination. At Medium settings, the performance drops from 242 FPS at 1080p to 160 FPS at 1440p, and further to 89 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34% reduction from 1080p to 1440p, and a 44% reduction from 1440p to 4K. Similar scaling is observed across all settings, with the Low preset showing a drop from 299 FPS at 1080p to 197 FPS at 1440p and 109 FPS at 4K. The consistent and steep decline in frame rates as resolution increases is a hallmark of a GPU-bound workload.

The scaling pattern reveals that the GPU is the primary limiting component. If the CPU were the bottleneck, we would expect to see similar frame rates across different resolutions, particularly at lower settings where the GPU workload is lighter. However, the data shows a clear and inverse relationship between resolution and FPS, with the 4K results being less than half of the 1080p results in most cases. For instance, at High settings, the 1080p average is 186 FPS, which drops to 123 FPS at 1440p and 68 FPS at 4K. This 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K confirms that the RTX 5070 Ti is working at its limits at higher resolutions.

The impact of resolution on the minimum FPS is also telling. At Medium settings, the minimum FPS scales from 206 at 1080p to 136 at 1440p and 75 at 4K. This indicates that the consistency of frame delivery also degrades with resolution, though the minimums remain relatively stable, suggesting that the game does not experience sudden spikes in GPU load. The performance scaling strongly suggests that users with 4K monitors should select a lower preset, while those at 1080p or 1440p can enjoy higher quality settings with frame rates well above 100 FPS. The data supports a strategy of adjusting settings based on resolution to maintain a target frame rate.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset provides a detailed view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the results show a clear hierarchy: Low settings yield an average of 299 FPS, Medium averages 242 FPS (with a minimum of 206 FPS and maximum of 279 FPS), High averages 186 FPS, and Ultra averages 141 FPS. This spread of 158 FPS between the lowest and highest settings demonstrates the significant impact of quality presets on performance at this resolution. Even at Ultra, the frame rate is sufficient for high-refresh-rate monitors, making 1080p the most versatile resolution for this combo.

Moving to 2560x1440, the average FPS figures are 197 for Low, 160 for Medium (minimum 136, maximum 184), 123 for High, and 93 for Ultra. The Medium preset at 1440p offers a minimum FPS of 136, which is still above the 120 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay, making it a strong recommendation. The High preset at 123 FPS is also acceptable, but the drop to Ultra at 93 FPS shows a clear boundary for maintaining high refresh rates. At 3840x2160, the averages are significantly lower: 109 for Low, 89 for Medium (minimum 75, maximum 102), 68 for High, and 52 for Ultra. The data at 4K shows that only the Low and Medium presets maintain an average above 60 FPS, with Ultra falling below 60 FPS and thus not being suitable for a smooth experience.

The minimum FPS values, available only for Medium settings, are 206 at 1080p, 136 at 1440p, and 75 at 4K. These figures are crucial for understanding frame time consistency. The ratio of minimum to average FPS is 85% at 1080p, 85% at 1440p, and 84% at 4K. This consistency indicates that the hardware provides a stable experience without sudden drops, which is a positive sign for gameplay. The maximum FPS values at Medium settings (279 at 1080p, 184 at 1440p, and 102 at 4K) show that there is headroom above the average, but the minimums are the most important for gauging playability.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-12400F and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti holds a rank of 394 out of 3711 tested combos in Palworld. This places the configuration in the top 10.6% of all tested systems, indicating that it offers above-average performance for this game. The rank is a composite measure that takes into account the performance across all tested resolutions and settings. Given the strong results at 1080p and 1440p, where the combo consistently achieves high frame rates, the high ranking is not surprising.

The rank of 394 suggests that while this combo is powerful, there are 393 other configurations that deliver even higher performance in Palworld. These likely include setups with more powerful CPUs and GPUs, such as those with higher core counts or top-tier graphics cards. However, the data shows that this specific pairing is well-balanced, with neither component significantly bottlenecking the other. The GPU's strong performance, as evidenced by its 86th percentile ranking among all GPUs, is the primary driver of this high combo ranknews. Similarly, the CPU's 73rd percentile ranking among all CPUs ensures it can keep pace.

In the context of the entire database, a rank of 394 out of 3711 is a strong result. The combo's performance is competitive, and the measured data confirms that it is capable of delivering a high-quality gaming experience in Palworld. The fact that it achieves over 140 FPS at 1080p Ultra and over 120 FPS at 1440p High puts it in a favorable position for most gamers. The primary weakness is at 4K Ultra, where the frame rate drops below 60 FPS, but this is a common limitation for even high-end hardware in demanding titles. Overall, this combo ranks highly due to its balanced capabilities and strong performance in the majority of tested scenarios.