Palworld

The measured performance data for Palworld pairs an Intel Core i5-14600K with an NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 across three resolutions and four quality presets. The dataset includes average FPS for each combination, along with synthetic benchmark scores for both components. This analysis examines how the CPU and GPU contribute to the game's frame rates, using the provided measurements and benchmark results.

Resolution Scaling

At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 148.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 96.0 at 2560x1440, and then to 54.1 at 3840x2160. A similar pattern appears across all quality presets: Low settings go from 237.0 to 154.7 to 85.4; Medium from 195.7 to 129.5 to 69.8; Ultra from 111.2 to 71.9 to 42.6. The consistency of these drops—each step from 1080p to 1440p and from 1440p to 4K reduces the frame rate by a substantial margin—indicates that the GPU is the primary scaling factor. As resolution increases, the rendering load grows, and the frame rate responds accordingly. At 4K Ultra, the average FPS is 42.6, the lowest value in the dataset. At 4K High, the average is 54.1, still below the level typically considered smooth. To reach a higher frame rate at 4K, the data shows that Medium settings deliver 69.8 FPS, while Low reaches 85.4. At 1440p, even Ultra settings produce 71.9 FPS, and High reaches 96.0. At 1080p, all presets exceed 111 FPS, with Low hitting 237.0. The scaling pattern suggests that the GPU becomes the limiting component as resolution rises, while at 1080p the CPU may play a more significant role.

GPU Role

The RTX 3080 features 10 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 320-bit bus, providing 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth. Its base clock is 1440 MHz with a boost of 1710 MHz, and the memory runs at 1188 MHz (19 Gbps effective). In synthetic tests, the GPU scores 4407 in 3DMark Steel Nomad, 167014 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 145176 in Geekbench Vulkan. Its Passmark G3D score is 25086, and its average benchmark score is 35787, placing it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs. The nearest rivals are the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (avg score 35860, deltaPct -0.2), AMD Radeon 880M (35646, deltaPct 0.4), AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36101, deltaPct -0.9), and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435, deltaPct 1). These deltaPct values range from -0.9 to 1, indicating that the RTX 3080's performance is closely matched to these parts. In Palworld, the GPU's role is evident from the resolution scaling: at 4K Ultra, the frame rate drops to 42.6, showing that the GPU is the limiting factor at that resolution. The 10 GB VRAM and high bandwidth are sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, where the GPU delivers over 70 FPS even at Ultra. The launch MSRP of the RTX 3080 is 699 USD.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-14600K has 14 cores and 20 threads, with a base clock of 3.5 GHz and a boost of 5.3 GHz. Its L3 cache is 24 MB shared. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 32881 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4642 in single-core, 15846 in Geekbench multi-core and 2803 in single-core, and 38682 in Passmark multithread with a single-thread score of 4270. Its average benchmark score is 49166, placing it in the 93rd percentile of all CPUs. The nearest rivals are the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X (avg score 49062, deltaPct 0.2), Intel Core i5-14600KF (49367, deltaPct -0.4), AMD EPYC 4345P (49595, deltaPct -0.9), and Intel Xeon Gold 5318H (48698, deltaPct 1). These deltaPct values range from -0.9 to 1, showing that the i5-14600K is performance-equivalent to these high-end parts. In Palworld, the CPU's contribution is most apparent at 1080p Low, where the frame rate reaches 237.0 FPS. This high value suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at lower resolutions. The strong single-thread performance (Cinebench R23 single 4642) and high boost clock of 5.3 GHz likely help with game logic and physics. However, as resolution increases, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as seen in the resolution scaling. The CPU's 14 cores and 20 threads provide ample multi-threading for background tasks. The launch MSRP of the i5-14600K is $319. The combined rank of this CPU-GPU pair in Palworld is 523 out of 1718 tested combinations, indicating an above-average configuration.