Palworld

Palworld pairs the Intel Core i5-9400 with the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT, a combination that places 1266th out of 3711 tested combos for this title. The data reveals a system where the GPU’s substantial rasterization power is frequently held in check by a six-core CPU from the Coffee Lake era, producing a scaling pattern that is anything but linear. This analysis interprets the measured FPS rows to understand where the bottleneck lives and what the experience actually looks like across resolutions and presets.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS drop from 1080p to 4K is telling, but not in the way one might expect from a high-end GPU. At High settings, the average frame rate moves from 144 FPS at 1920x1080 down to 95 FPS at 2560x1440, and finally to 53 FPS at 3840x2160. That is a 63% reduction from 1080p to 4K, which initially suggests a GPU-bound scenario. However, the Low settings row complicates this narrative. At Low, the i5-9400 and RX 6800 XT deliver 196 FPS at 1080p, 152 FPS at 1440p, and 84 FPS at 4K. The delta between Low and High at 1080p is 52 FPS (196 vs 144), while at 4K that same settings gap is only 31 FPS (84 vs 53), indicating that the CPU is likely the limiting factor at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom to spare.

Looking at the Medium preset, which includes min and max FPS data, the scaling shows a similar pattern. At 1080p Medium, the average is 182 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS, suggesting the CPU is holding the floor. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 123 FPS, and at 4K Medium it falls to 68 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p at Medium is 59 FPS, while the drop from 1440p to 4K is 55 FPS, which is nearly identical. This consistency across the higher resolutions points to the GPU becoming the primary constraint as pixel count increases, but the fact that 1080p Medium (182 FPS) is so close to 1080p High (144 FPS) versus 1080p Low (196 FPS) suggests the CPU is already near its ceiling for this game’s simulation and draw-call overhead.

The Ultra preset is where the GPU’s limits become stark. At 4K Ultra, the average is just 40 FPS, a 28 FPS drop from High at the same resolution. This is a massive penalty for the last settings tier. At 1440p Ultra, the system manages 72 FPS, and at 1080p Ultra, 109 FPS. The scaling from 1080p Ultra to 4K Ultra is a 63% reduction, mirroring the High preset percentage. This indicates that Ultra settings are pushing the RX 6800 XT’s raw shading and memory bandwidth to its limits, regardless of the CPU. The data implies that the limiting component shifts: at 1080p and 1440p with lower presets, the i5-9400’s six threads are the bottleneck; at 4K with High or Ultra, the RX 6800 XT’s 20.74 TFLOPS and 512.0 GB/s bandwidth are fully saturated.

FAQ

Q: Does the Intel Core i5-9400 bottleneck the AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT in Palworld?

A: At 1080p with Low settings, the combo reaches 196 FPS, but at 1080p Ultra it drops to 109 FPS. The CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, appear to cap performance at lower resolutions, as the FPS difference between Low and Medium at 1080p is only 14 FPS, while the difference between Medium and High is 38 FPS, suggesting the GPU is not the sole limiting factor at lower settings.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Palworld?

A: The data shows 2560x1440 as the sweet spot. At High settings, it delivers 95 FPS, which is a 51 FPS drop from 1080p but still comfortably above 60 FPS. At 4K High, the average falls to 53 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The 1440p High row provides a balance between visual fidelity and frame rate.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from Medium to Ultra at 1440p?

A: The drop is significant. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 123 FPS, while Ultra averages 72 FPS. That is a 51 FPS reduction, or roughly 41% lower performance. The Ultra preset also lacks min/max FPS data, indicating it may be less stable, whereas Medium shows a min of 105 FPS and max of 142 FPS.

Q: Is the RX 6800 XT’s 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld at 4K?

A: The measured data shows 4K High averaging 53 FPS and 4K Medium averaging 68 FPS. The 16 GB GDDR6 memory with 512.0 GB/s bandwidth is not the limiting factor in these results, as the FPS scales consistently with settings changes. The bottleneck at 4K appears to be the GPU’s compute throughput (20.74 TFLOPS) rather than memory capacity.

Q: How does the i5-9400 compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it at the 47th percentile of all CPUs. Its closest rival, the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, scores 2259, which is a 0.2% difference. The AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246, putting the i5-9400 0.4% ahead. These are essentially negligible differences in synthetic tests.

Q: What is the expected FPS range at 1080p Medium?

A: The measured data shows an average of 182 FPS, with a minimum of 154 FPS and a maximum of 209 FPS. This wide range suggests variability in scenes, likely due to CPU load from the game’s survival mechanics, but the minimum is still well above 144 FPS, indicating a smooth experience.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, running on a 14 nm process with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark results show a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs. In Palworld, these numbers translate to a processor that can handle the game’s world simulation but struggles to feed the RX 6800 XT at lower resolutions. The data shows 1080p Low hitting 196 FPS, which is likely near the CPU’s practical limit for this title, as the gap to 1080p Medium (182 FPS) is only 14 FPS, while the gap from Medium to High (144 FPS) is 38 FPS. This suggests that the GPU has headroom at Low, but the CPU cannot push much beyond 200 FPS.

The CPU’s 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support with 42.7 GB/s bandwidth are modest by modern standards. In Palworld, where many entities and building pieces are tracked, the six threads may become saturated. The nearest rival comparisons are close: the i7-1068NG7 is 0.2% faster in average benchmark score, and the i5-9400 is 0.4% faster than the Ryzen 5 PRO 1500. These synthetic deltas do not directly translate to gaming, but they indicate the i5-9400 is in a performance class with other mid-range parts from its era. The CPU’s 47th percentile ranking means it is outclassed by over half of all CPUs, which aligns with the observed bottleneck at 1080p where the GPU is not the limiting factor.

At 4K, the CPU’s role diminishes. The FPS difference between 4K Low (84 FPS) and 4K High (53 FPS) is 31 FPS, which is a smaller absolute gap than at 1080p (52 FPS). This suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU’s pixel throughput becomes the dominant constraint, and the CPU’s 4.10 GHz boost clock is sufficient to keep the GPU fed, though not to maximize its potential. The data implies that for players targeting 144Hz or higher at 1080p, the i5-9400 will hold back the RX 6800 XT, but for 60 FPS gameplay at 1440p or 4K, the CPU is adequate.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo ranks 1266th out of 3711 tested combinations in Palworld, placing it in the 66th percentile of all tested combos. This is a mid-tier ranking, which is surprising given the GPU’s high standing. The RX 6800 XT alone sits in the 85th percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is in the 47th percentile of CPUs. The discrepancy between the GPU’s percentile and the combo’s rank suggests that the CPU is dragging the overall performance down, particularly in a game like Palworld that is likely CPU-sensitive due to its survival and building mechanics.

The rank of 1266 means there are 1265 combos that perform better, but also 2445 combos that perform worse. This places the i5-9400 + RX 6800 XT in the upper third of all tested systems, which is respectable for a CPU from 2018 paired with a GPU from 2020. The data shows that the combo can achieve over 100 FPS at 1080p with High settings (144 FPS) and 1440p with Medium settings (123 FPS), indicating that it is capable of high-refresh-rate gaming at lower resolutions. However, the 4K Ultra result of 40 FPS is below playable thresholds for many, and even 4K High at 53 FPS is marginal.

When compared to other combos, this ranking suggests that users with newer CPUs (particularly those with higher single-thread performance) would see better results with the same GPU. The i5-9400’s 6 threads and lack of hyper-threading may be a liability in Palworld’s simulation-heavy scenes, as the game likely spawns many AI creatures and tracks player-built structures. The combo’s rank also indicates that the RX 6800 XT is not being fully utilized at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the scaling data—the GPU could push higher FPS at 1080p if the CPU could keep up.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 6800 XT is a RDNA 2.0 architecture GPU on a 7 nm process, featuring 4608 shading units, 288 TMUs, and 128 ROPs. Its boost clock is 2250 MHz, and it has 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 512.0 GB/s of bandwidth. In Palworld, the GPU’s role is to render the voxel-based world and creature models, and its performance is directly tied to resolution and settings. The measured data shows that at 4K, the GPU is the clear bottleneck. The jump from Medium (68 FPS) to High (53 FPS) is a 15 FPS drop, and from High to Ultra (40 FPS) is another 13 FPS drop. This steep decline indicates that the GPU’s 20.74 TFLOPS of FP32 compute is being saturated by the higher preset’s effects, such as shadows, textures, and post-processing.

The GPU’s memory bandwidth of 512.0 GB/s is ample for 16 GB of VRAM at 4K, as the data does not show any signs of texture thrashing or stuttering that would indicate a memory bottleneck. The min FPS at 4K Medium is 58 FPS, which is close to the average of 68 FPS, suggesting consistent frame pacing. At 1440p, the GPU provides 95 FPS on High and 123 FPS on Medium, which are strong results. The RX 6800 XT’s 85th percentile ranking among all GPUs is reflected in these numbers, but the combo’s overall rank of 1266 is lower than the GPU alone would suggest.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the NVIDIA RTX A1000 Mobile (1.5% slower), the Intel Arc A550M (2.5% faster), and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti (3% faster). These deltas are small, indicating that the RX 6800 XT is in a performance class with recent mid-range and older high-end parts. In Palworld, the GPU’s raw power is evident at 1080p, where it can push 196 FPS on Low, but the CPU prevents it from reaching its full potential. At 4K Ultra, the GPU’s limits are clear, with only 40 FPS, making it unsuitable for 60 FPS gaming at that preset without upscaling technologies.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the data shows a wide spread across presets. Low averages 196 FPS, Medium averages 182 FPS with a min of 154 and max of 209, High averages 144 FPS, and Ultra averages 109 FPS. The step from Low to Medium is 14 FPS, from Medium to High is 38 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 35 FPS. This pattern suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor at Low and Medium, as the GPU has significant headroom. The jump from Medium to High is large, indicating that the High preset introduces GPU-heavy effects that start to shift the bottleneck.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 152 FPS on Low, 123 FPS on Medium (min 105, max 142), 95 FPS on High, and 72 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 29 FPS, from Medium to High is 28 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 23 FPS. Here, the scaling is more uniform, suggesting that both CPU and GPU are sharing the load. The min FPS at Medium (105) is still above 100, indicating a playable experience. The 1440p High result of 95 FPS is a good target for high-refresh-rate monitors with adaptive sync.

At 3840x2160, the averages are 84 FPS on Low, 68 FPS on Medium (min 58, max 79), 53 FPS on High, and 40 FPS on Ultra. The drop from Low to Medium is 16 FPS, from Medium to High is 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra is 13 FPS. This consistent ~15 FPS drop per preset tier indicates a purely GPU-bound scenario. The 4K Medium result of 68 FPS is the only 4K preset that exceeds 60 FPS, and even then, the min FPS of 58 dips below it. The 4K High and Ultra results are below 60 FPS, making them less suitable for smooth gameplay without frame generation or upscaling.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data suggests that the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual quality and frame rate for this combo. At 1080p, Medium delivers 182 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS, which is well above the 144 Hz refresh rate commonly found on gaming monitors. At 1440p, Medium averages 123 FPS with a min of 105 FPS, providing a smooth experience that exceeds 100 FPS consistently. Even at 4K, Medium is the only preset that averages above 60 FPS (68 FPS), though the min of 58 FPS means it will occasionally dip below that threshold.

High settings are also viable, particularly at 1440p where the average is 95 FPS. However, the drop from Medium to High at 1440p (28 FPS) is substantial, and the visual gains may not justify the performance cost for players prioritizing frame rate. At 1080p, High’s 144 FPS is still excellent, but Medium’s 182 FPS provides more headroom for dips. Ultra is not recommended for this combo, as it only achieves 109 FPS at 1080p, 72 FPS at 1440p, and 40 FPS at 4K. The Ultra preset appears to tax the GPU heavily without a proportional visual benefit, as evidenced by the 28 FPS drop from High to Ultra at 4K.

For players targeting 1080p, Low or Medium settings will maximize the CPU’s potential, but Medium is preferable for visual fidelity. For 1440p, Medium is the sweet spot, delivering over 120 FPS. For 4K, Medium is the only playable preset, but users should expect occasional dips below 60 FPS. The data implies that this combo is best suited for 1080p or 1440p gaming on Medium to High settings, with 4K reserved for those who can tolerate sub-60 FPS averages or are willing to use upscaling technologies not measured in this data.