Palworld

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

The Intel Core i5-12600KF is a 10-core, 16-thread processor from the Alder Lake-S generation, built on Intel's 10 nm process. Its base clock is 3.70 GHz, and it boosts up to 4.90 GHz. The processor carries 20 MB of shared L3 cache, with 1.25 MB of L2 and 80 KB of L1 per core. It supports both DDR4 and DDR5 memory through a dual-channel interface, and it connects via PCIe Gen 4 with 20 CPU lanes. This processor sits at the 84th percentile among all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 27827.

In synthetic multi-threaded workloads, the i5-12600KF posts a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 23444 and a Geekbench multicore score of 12373. Its single-thread performance is also strong, with a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 3309 and a Geekbench single-core score of 2529. These figures place it in close competition with several other processors. The nearest rival is the Intel Core i9-10900K with an average score of 27829, a delta of 0%. The i5-12600K scores 27851, which is 0.1% higher. The Intel Core Ultra 5 125H scores 27872, 0.2% higher, while the Intel Core i7-13700H scores 27716, which is 0.4% lower. The differences among these four are negligible, meaning the i5-12600KF's CPU performance is effectively tied with its closest peers.

For a game like Palworld, which is a survival title with a large open world and many dynamic entities, the CPU's thread count and clock speed influence how well the game simulates the world. The 10-core/16-thread configuration provides ample parallel capacity for background simulation tasks. The high boost clock of 4.90 GHz helps maintain responsiveness in single-threaded game logic. In the measured FPS data, the CPU's role becomes more apparent at lower resolutions and settings, where the frame rate ceiling is less likely to be limited by the GPU.

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

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER is based on the Turing architecture, fabricated on TSMC's 12 nm process. The TU104 chip contains 13,600 million transistors on a 545 mm² die. The GPU has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, delivering 448.0 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1605 MHz, with a boost clock of 1770 MHz. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, effectively 14 Gbps. The card has 2560 shading units, 160 TMUs, 64 ROPs, 40 RT cores, and 320 tensor cores. It achieves a pixel rate of 113.3 GPixel/s, a texture rate of 283.2 GTexel/s, and 9.062 TFLOPS of FP32 compute.

The RTX 2070 SUPER ranks at the 65th percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 22206. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A400 (score 22307, delta -0.5%), the NVIDIA GeForce GTX TITAN Z (score 22006, delta 0.9%), the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile (score 22729, delta -2.3%), and the AMD Radeon RX 5700 (score 21670, delta 2.5%). The 8 GB VRAM capacity is a limiting factor at higher resolutions and settings in Palworld, which has a large, detailed world with many textures. The memory bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s is moderate by modern standards, and this becomes evident as resolution increases.

In the measured FPS data, the GPU's role is clear at 4K resolution, where the frame rates drop significantly. At 1080p, the GPU is less stressed, and the CPU can push higher frame rates. The RTX 2070 SUPER's compute power is sufficient for medium settings at 1080p and 1440p, but it struggles at Ultra settings at 4K, where the average FPS falls below 35.

How This Combo Ranks — use comboRankInGame vs other tested combos

This specific combination of the Intel Core i5-12600KF and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER ranks 1035 out of 1718 tested combos in Palworld. That places it in the lower-middle portion of the distribution, around the 40th percentile of all combinations. The rank reflects the collective capability of this CPU-GPU pair for this particular game, considering both components' performance characteristics.

Looking at the CPU's position (84th percentile among all CPUs) and the GPU's position (65th percentile among all GPUs), the combined rank is lower than either individual percentile would suggest. This indicates that in Palworld, the RTX 2070 SUPER is the constraining component for this pair. The i5-12600KF has more headroom than the GPU can utilize, especially at higher resolutions. The benchmark scores corroborate this: the CPU's average score of 27827 is 0.4% higher than the i7-13700H, while the GPU's average score of 22206 is 2.5% lower than the RX 5700 but 0.9% higher than the GTX TITAN Z. The GPU's relative weakness compared to the CPU's strength drags the combo's overall rank down.

The 1035th position out of 1718 means that a substantial number of combinations deliver better performance in Palworld. However, it also means that roughly 40% of tested combos perform worse. The data shows that this pair is a mid-tier option, not a high-end setup, but it is far from the bottom of the range.

Measured FPS Breakdown — resolution by resolution, settings by settings, exact numbers

The measured FPS data covers three resolutions (1920x1080, 2560x1440, and 3840x2160) and four settings presets (Low, Medium, High, Ultra). All values are average FPS, with no minimum or maximum data recorded.

At 1920x1080, the RTX 2070 SUPER delivers 165.4 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings reduce this to 134.2 FPS, a drop of 31.2 FPS or 18.9%. High settings yield 103.1 FPS, which is 31.1 FPS lower than Medium. Ultra settings produce 79.8 FPS, a further reduction of 23.3 FPS from High. The progression from Low to Ultra is a steady decline of roughly 25-30 FPS per step, with the total reduction from Low to Ultra being 85.6 FPS, or 51.7% lower.

At 2560x1440, the pattern continues but with lower absolute values. Low settings achieve 110.8 FPS. Medium settings drop to 91.3 FPS, a decrease of 19.5 FPS. High settings yield 69.5 FPS, which is 21.8 FPS lower than Medium. Ultra settings produce 52.8 FPS, a drop of 16.7 FPS from High. From Low to Ultra, the total reduction is 58.0 FPS, or 52.3% lower. The relative decline is similar to 1080p, but the absolute frame rates are roughly two-thirds of what they were at 1080p for each setting.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates become challenging for smooth gameplay. Low settings reach 59.4 FPS, just above the 60 FPS threshold. Medium settings drop to 50.2 FPS, a decrease of 9.2 FPS. High settings yield 39.1 FPS, which is 11.1 FPS lower than Medium. Ultra settings produce 32.0 FPS, a drop of 7.1 FPS from High. From Low to Ultra, the total reduction is 27.4 FPS, or 46.1% lower. The relative decline is slightly less steep than at lower resolutions, but the absolute values are all below 60 FPS except for Low.

Comparing across resolutions, the 1080p Low setting of 165.4 FPS is the highest recorded value, while the 4K Ultra setting of 32.0 FPS is the lowest. The spread between the best and worst measured results is 133.4 FPS.

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

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals a clear GPU-bound pattern. At Low settings, the FPS drops from 165.4 at 1080p to 110.8 at 1440p, a decline of 54.6 FPS or 33.0%. From 1440p to 4K, the FPS drops from 110.8 to 59.4, a decline of 51.4 FPS or 46.4%. The total drop from 1080p to 4K at Low settings is 106.0 FPS, meaning the 4K frame rate is only 35.9% of the 1080p frame rate.

At Medium settings, the corresponding values are 134.2 at 1080p, 91.3 at 1440p, and 50.2 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 42.9 FPS (32.0%), and from 1440p to 4K is 41.1 FPS (45.0%). The 4K frame rate is 37.4% of the 1080p frame rate.

At High settings, the values are 103.1 at 1080p, 69.5 at 1440p, and 39.1 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33.6 FPS (32.6%), and from 1440p to 4K is 30.4 FPS (43.7%). The 4K frame rate is 37.9% of the 1080p frame rate.

At Ultra settings, the values are 79.8 at 1080p, 52.8 at 1440p, and 32.0 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 27.0 FPS (33.8%), and from 1440p to 4K is 20.8 FPS (39.4%). The 4K frame rate is 40.1% of the 1080p frame rate.

The pattern is consistent: the largest relative drop always occurs between 1440p and 4K, regardless of the settings preset. This is characteristic of a GPU-limited scenario, where the additional pixel count at 4K (2.25 times the pixels of 1440p) overwhelms the RTX 2070 SUPER's bandwidth and compute resources. The CPU's performance does not scale with resolution, so the fact that frame rates drop so steeply indicates that the GPU is the primary constraint at all resolutions. The i5-12600KF's 10 cores and 4.90 GHz boost clock are sufficient to feed the GPU at 1080p, as evidenced by the 165.4 FPS at Low settings, and the GPU becomes the bottleneck as resolution increases.

Settings Recommendations — which preset gives the best experience per the measured rows

The measured data provides a clear guide for choosing settings based on the target resolution and desired frame rate. The RTX 2070 SUPER has 8 GB of VRAM, which is adequate for 1080p and 1440p but may struggle with the highest textures at 4K.

At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers 79.8 FPS, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play. High settings at 103.1 FPS provide additional headroom for frame time variance. Medium settings at 134.2 FPS and Low at 165.4 FPS are well above any practical refresh rate target for most monitors. For 1080p, the High preset offers a good balance, with 103.1 FPS being smooth and visually detailed. Ultra at 79.8 FPS is still playable, but the additional visual fidelity may not justify the 23.3 FPS loss from High.

At 2560x1440, High settings yield 69.5 FPS, which is above the 60 FPS threshold and represents the best balance of quality and performance. Medium settings at 91.3 FPS provide a smoother experience with less visual detail. Ultra settings at 52.8 FPS dip below 60 FPS, which may result in noticeable stutter in a fast-paced survival game. Low settings at 110.8 FPS are the fastest but sacrifice significant visual quality. For 1440p, High is the recommended preset, as it stays above 60 FPS while offering good detail.

At 3840x2160, the situation is more constrained. Low settings achieve 59.4 FPS, just below the 60 FPS target. Medium settings at 50.2 FPS are playable but not ideal. High settings at 39.1 FPS and Ultra at 32.0 FPS are below the threshold for smooth gameplay. For 4K, Low settings are the only preset that comes close to 60 FPS, and even then, it falls slightly short. Users prioritizing 4K should accept Low settings or consider lowering the resolution to 1440p for a better experience.

Overall, the data suggests that the optimal experience for this combo is at 1440p with High settings, yielding 69.5 FPS. At 1080p, High settings (103.1 FPS) provide a very smooth experience. At 4K, only Low settings (59.4 FPS) approach playability, and the frame rates drop precipitously with each increase in preset quality. The RTX 2070 SUPER's 8 GB VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for high-quality 4K rendering in Palworld, making 1440p the practical ceiling for this combination.