Palworld

Palworld on the Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7700 delivers a wide performance envelope that scales predictably with resolution and settings, but the shape of that curve reveals a system where the GPU is the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, while the CPU’s strong multi-threaded capacity ensures high frame rates at 1080p. The data set provides 12 measured FPS points across three resolutions and four quality presets, offering a complete picture of how this specific combination handles the Survival title.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 produces a dramatic and consistent drop in average frame rates across every settings preset, which points directly to the Radeon RX 7700 as the limiting factor at higher pixel counts. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 119 at 1080p to 78 at 1440p, and then to 43 at 4K—a reduction of 34.5% from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 44.9% from 1440p to 4K. This steep slope at 4K indicates that the GPU’s fill rate and memory bandwidth are being saturated, rather than any CPU limitation, which would typically show a more plateaued curve as resolution increases.

The Low preset demonstrates the same pattern with higher absolute numbers: 191 FPS at 1080p, 126 FPS at 1440p, and 70 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 34.0%, nearly identical to the High preset’s percentage, suggesting that the scaling penalty is resolution-driven rather than settings-driven. At 4K Low, the 70 FPS average still exceeds the 43 FPS at High 4K, showing that even with the same resolution, reducing graphical load frees up GPU resources substantially. This is a classic sign of a GPU-bound scenario, where the RX 7700’s 16 GB of VRAM and 624.1 GB/s bandwidth are adequate but not overprovisioned for the demands of 4K rendering.

Medium settings offer the only rows with min and max FPS data, which adds nuance to the scaling analysis. At 3840x2160 Medium, the average is 56 FPS with a range of 48 to 65, while at 2560x1440 Medium, the average jumps to 102 FPS with a range of 87 to 117. The 4K average sits near the lower end of the 1440p minimum, which suggests that frame pacing becomes tighter at higher resolutions—when the GPU is under maximum load, the variance between frames compresses, but the average drops. The 1080p Medium range of 131 to 178 FPS shows a much wider spread, indicating that at lower resolutions, the system has headroom that allows occasional spikes, likely tied to CPU-driven frame generation.

Ultra settings produce the lowest averages across the board: 90 FPS at 1080p, 59 FPS at 1440p, and 33 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1440p to 4K here is a 44.1% drop, again mirroring the High preset’s behavior. This consistency across presets—roughly a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 44-45% drop from 1440p to 4K—is a strong indicator that the RX 7700’s performance ceiling is being hit at 4K regardless of how light or heavy the settings are. The data implies that for smooth 4K gameplay, the user would need to accept Low settings (70 FPS) or a variable frame rate, since even Medium at 56 FPS may dip below 48 FPS in demanding scenes.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 7700 brings 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, with a bandwidth of 624.1 GB/s, which is directly relevant to Palworld’s open-world environments that stream in large texture sets. The memory clock runs at 2438 MHz (19.5 Gbps effective), and the GPU has a base clock of 1900 MHz with a boost of 2459 MHz and a game clock of 2041 MHz. These clocks, combined with 2560 shading units and 40 RT cores, put the card in a mid-to-high tier, as evidenced by its percentileVsAllGpus of 58 and an avgBenchmarkScore of 15852.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU’s role becomes clear when comparing Low to Ultra at the same resolution. At 1080p, Low yields 191 FPS while Ultra yields 90 FPS—a 52.9% reduction in average frame rate. At 1440p, the spread is 126 FPS to 59 FPS, a reduction of 53.2%, and at 4K, it is 70 FPS to 33 FPS, a 52.9% drop. This near-constant percentage across resolutions indicates that the GPU’s processing load scales linearly with the settings preset, and that the card is not being stymied by VRAM capacity at any point—if it were, the Low preset would show a smaller gap at 4K where memory pressure is highest. The 16 GB VRAM appears sufficient for Palworld’s needs, as the data does not show a sudden collapse at 4K Ultra that would suggest memory swapping.

The GPU’s nearestRivals show it performs within 2% of the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (deltaPct -1.7) and the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (deltaPct -1), while sitting 1.1% above the Radeon Pro W5500. This places the RX 7700 in a competitive position, but the measured FPS in Palworld suggest the game leans on raw rasterization throughput rather than ray tracing, as the RT cores are not heavily utilized in this title. The boost clock of 2459 MHz is only 6.9% higher than the game clock, which means sustained load in Palworld likely keeps the GPU near its game clock, explaining why the FPS numbers are stable rather than spiky—the data’s min/max ranges on Medium settings (e.g., 131-178 at 1080p) show a 35.9% spread, but this is more likely CPU-driven at lower resolutions.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i5-12600KF brings 10 cores and 16 threads with a base clock of 3.70 GHz and a boost clock of 4.90 GHz, built on the Alder Lake architecture with a 20 MB shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores are solid: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 23391 and a single-core score of 3302, with a Geekbench multi-core of 12137 and single-core of 2157. The processor sits at the 79th percentile versus all CPUs, with an avgBenchmarkScore of 27799, placing it just 0.3% below the Intel Core i9-10900K and 0.3% above the AMD Ryzen 5 8500GE.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p where the GPU is less stressed, allowing the processor to push frame rates to 191 FPS on Low settings. This high ceiling indicates that the i5-12600KF’s single-thread performance—evidenced by its 3DMark single-thread score of 1016 and PassMark single-thread of 3925—is sufficient to feed the GPU without bottlenecking at lower resolutions. The 16 threads also handle the game’s background simulation tasks, which is typical for Survival titles that manage AI, world state, and physics concurrently with rendering.

The 3DMark multi-thread scores show scaling from 7956 at 16 threads to 7952 at max threads, which is nearly identical, suggesting that the CPU’s performance is consistent across heavy multi-threaded workloads. However, the single-thread score of 1016 compared to the 2-thread score of 1995 indicates that adding a second thread nearly doubles performance, but adding more threads yields diminishing returns—the 4-thread score is 3806, which is 90.8% higher than 2-thread, but the 8-thread score of 6128 is only 61% higher than 4-thread. This pattern suggests that Palworld benefits from a few strong cores more than many weaker ones, which aligns with the CPU’s boost clock of 4.90 GHz being the key driver for high FPS at 1080p.

The nearestRivals for the CPU include the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, which has a deltaPct of -0.3 (meaning the i5-12600KF is 0.3% slower), and the Intel Core i9-10900K at -0.3%. These rivals are within a rounding error of each other, indicating that the i5-12600KF’s performance in Palworld is not uniquely advantaged or disadvantaged by its architecture. The data shows that at 4K, the CPU’s role is minimized—the FPS drops are almost entirely attributable to the GPU, as the i5-12600KF has ample headroom to spare even at Low 1080p where it produces 191 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS achievable with this combo?

A: The highest measured average FPS is 191, which occurs at 1920x1080 resolution with Low settings. This indicates that the system can deliver very high frame rates when graphical fidelity is reduced.

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

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K Low, the average FPS is 70, which is playable, while Medium drops to 56 FPS and High to 43 FPS. Ultra at 4K yields only 33 FPS, which may be too low for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the GPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Radeon RX 7700 has an avgBenchmarkScore of 15852, which is 1.7% slower than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti (score 16129) and 1% slower than the AMD Radeon RX 9060 (score 16014), but 1.1% faster than the AMD Radeon Pro W5500 (score 15679).

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the bottleneck at 1440p?

A: At 1440p, the data shows a 44.9% drop from 1080p at High settings, which suggests the GPU is becoming the limiting factor. The CPU can produce 191 FPS at 1080p Low, so at 1440p’s 126 FPS Low, the CPU still has headroom, but the GPU is working harder.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the data?

A: The only min FPS values are recorded for Medium settings: 48 FPS at 4K, 87 FPS at 1440p, and 131 FPS at 1080p. These represent the lowest frame rates observed during testing at those specific settings.

Q: How does this combo rank among all tested combos?

A: This specific combination ranks 1311 out of 2944 combos in Palworld, placing it in the 44.5th percentile of all tested systems, which is slightly below the median.

How This Combo Ranks

The comboRankInGame for this Intel Core i5-12600KF and AMD Radeon RX 7700 pairing is 1311 out of 2944 total combos tested, which places it in the 44.5th percentile of all systems. This rank suggests that the combination is slightly below the median performer in Palworld, despite the individual components having respectable benchmark scores—the CPU is at the 79th percentile versus all CPUs, and the GPU is at the 58th percentile versus all GPUs. The discrepancy between component percentiles and the combo rank indicates that Palworld may not be fully utilizing the CPU’s strengths, likely because the game is more GPU-intensive at higher resolutions.

The data supports this interpretation: at 1080p, the combo can reach 191 FPS, which is excellent, but at 4K, it drops to 70 FPS on Low settings, which is a 63.4% reduction from the 1080p Low result. The rank of 1311 implies that many other combos achieve higher FPS at 4K, possibly due to more powerful GPUs, since the CPU is unlikely to be the limiting factor at that resolution. The i5-12600KF’s nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X3D, has an avgScore of 27896, which is 0.3% higher, but the RX 7700’s rivals like the RTX 3060 Ti have scores up to 16129, which is 1.7% higher, suggesting that GPU choices among similar combos may shift the rank more significantly.

Given that the combo sits at 1311, users should expect middle-of-the-pack performance in Palworld. The data’s measured FPS at 1440p Medium (102 FPS) and 1080p High (119 FPS) are solid, but not top-tier, which aligns with a rank just below the median. To improve the rank, a GPU upgrade would likely yield more benefit than a CPU upgrade, given the GPU-bound behavior at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal settings preset depends heavily on the target resolution and desired frame rate. For 1080p, High settings at 119 FPS provides a smooth experience that balances visual quality with performance, and it is a better choice than Ultra (90 FPS) for most users, as the 24.4% FPS increase is worth the minor visual compromise. If the user prioritizes maximum frame rates for competitive play, Low at 191 FPS is available, but the jump from High to Low is a 60.5% increase, which may not be necessary for a Survival game.

At 1440p, Medium settings at 102 FPS is the sweet spot, as it sits comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold and offers a 30.8% improvement over High (78 FPS). The min FPS of 87 on Medium ensures that frame drops are unlikely to be noticeable, while High’s lack of min/max data suggests it may have more variance. Ultra at 1440p (59 FPS) is marginal and should be avoided unless the user has a variable refresh rate monitor, as it falls below the 60 FPS mark.

For 4K, the recommendations become more constrained. Low settings at 70 FPS is the only preset that maintains a playable frame rate, while Medium at 56 FPS with a min of 48 FPS may be acceptable for users who tolerate occasional dips. High and Ultra at 4K (43 and 33 FPS respectively) are not recommended for smooth gameplay, as they fall well below the 60 FPS target. The data suggests that for 4K, users should either stick to Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS data for this combo is as follows:

1920x1080:

• Low: 191 FPS average
• Medium: 155 FPS average (min 131, max 178)
• High: 119 FPS average
• Ultra: 90 FPS average

2560x1440:

• Low: 126 FPS average
• Medium: 102 FPS average (min 87, max 117)
• High: 78 FPS average
• Ultra: 59 FPS average

3840x2160:

• Low: 70 FPS average
• Medium: 56 FPS average (min 48, max 65)
• High: 43 FPS average
• Ultra: 33 FPS average

The Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max data across all three resolutions, which provides insight into frame pacing. At 1080p, the range is 47 FPS (131 to 178), at 1440p it is 30 FPS (87 to 117), and at 4K it is 17 FPS (48 to 65). This narrowing range as resolution increases indicates that frame times become more consistent when the GPU is under heavier load, but the average FPS drops correspondingly. The 4K Medium min of 48 FPS is the lowest recorded frame rate in the entire data set, which suggests that even at Medium settings, 4K can produce stutters in demanding scenes. Overall, the data shows a system that is capable of high refresh rate gaming at 1080p and 1440p, but requires significant settings compromises to achieve playable frame rates at 4K.