Palworld

The Intel Core i5-9400 paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 produces a highly playable Palworld experience at 1080p and 1440p, but the data shows a sharp performance cliff at 4K Ultra settings. At 1080p, the combination delivers an average of 197.9 FPS on Low settings, which drops by roughly 26% to 145.5 FPS on High and further to 114.7 FPS on Ultra. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is steep: High settings fall from 145.5 FPS to 99.8 FPS, a 31% reduction, while Ultra drops from 114.7 FPS to 76.9 FPS, a 33% reduction. This pattern indicates that the system is still largely GPU-bound at these resolutions, as the RTX 3080’s raw throughput is the primary driver of frame rates.

The transition to 4K reveals the true bottleneck. At 3840x2160, High settings yield only 55.9 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 41.8 FPS—both below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. The delta between 1440p High (99.8 FPS) and 4K High (55.9 FPS) is a 44% loss, which is substantial but expected given the 4x pixel count increase. Interestingly, the gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is massive: 88.7 FPS versus 41.8 FPS, a 53% difference. This shows that while the GPU is the limiting component at 4K, the CPU (with its 6 cores and 6 threads) is not completely idle—it still manages to push frame rates above 40 FPS even at the most demanding preset. The data suggests that for 4K gaming, users should stick to Medium (68.3 FPS) or High (55.9 FPS) presets, as Ultra is not viable for competitive or smooth play.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to maintain 60+ FPS?

A: Both 1080p and 1440p are viable for 60+ FPS across all settings. The lowest recorded average at these resolutions is 76.9 FPS at 1440p Ultra. At 4K, only Low (88.7 FPS) and Medium (68.3 FPS) exceed 60 FPS, while High (55.9 FPS) and Ultra (41.8 FPS) fall short.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Core i5-9400 has an average benchmark score of 2305, placing it in the 50th percentile of all CPUs. It is virtually tied with the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300, deltaPct 0.2%) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299, deltaPct 0.2%). It is slightly ahead of the Intel Xeon E-2134 (2295, deltaPct 0.4%) and slightly behind the Intel Core i7-8809G (2319, deltaPct -0.6%).

Q: Is the RTX 3080’s 10 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld?

A: The measured FPS data suggests yes, as the GPU achieves playable frame rates at all resolutions up to 1440p Ultra. At 4K Ultra, the 41.8 FPS result indicates that the GPU is compute-limited rather than VRAM-limited, since lowering settings (which reduces VRAM pressure) only improves performance when the GPU workload also decreases.

Q: What is the combo’s rank among all tested combinations in Palworld?

A: This specific pairing ranks 599th out of 1718 tested combos, placing it in the top 35% of all configurations. This is a strong showing given the CPU’s 50th percentile standing, indicating that the GPU is doing most of the heavy lifting.

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

A: The RTX 3080 has an average benchmark score of 35787, placing it in the 80th percentile of all GPUs. It is slightly behind the AMD Radeon Pro Duo (35860, deltaPct -0.2%) and the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36101, deltaPct -0.9%), but ahead of the AMD Radeon 880M (35646, deltaPct 0.4%) and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435, deltaPct 1%).

Q: Can the CPU keep up with the GPU at 1080p Low settings?

A: At 1080p Low, the combo hits 197.9 FPS, which is within the range where CPU limitations typically emerge. The i5-9400’s 6 cores and 6 threads, boosting to 4.10 GHz, are sufficient to feed the GPU at this level, but the 31% drop from Low to High at 1080p (197.9 to 145.5 FPS) suggests that the CPU is starting to become a secondary constraint as settings increase.

How This Combo Ranks

The Intel Core i5-9400 + NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 combination ranks 599th out of 1718 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the 65th percentile of all configurations. This is a respectable position, but it undersells the GPU’s capability. The RTX 3080 alone sits in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, while the i5-9400 is only in the 50th percentile of CPUs. The rank disparity reveals that the CPU is the limiting factor in this pairing, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU has headroom to push higher frame rates.

In synthetic benchmarks, the RTX 3080’s average score of 35787 is 1.4% higher than the AMD Radeon 880M (35646) and 1% higher than the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 Ti Mobile (35435), but 0.9% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7900 GRE (36101). The CPU’s average score of 2305 is nearly identical to the Intel Core i3-10305 (2300) and the Intel Core i3-1125G4 (2299), with a deltaPct of 0.2% in both cases. This means the i5-9400 performs like a modern i3 in multi-threaded workloads, which explains why it cannot fully unlock the RTX 3080 at 1080p.

The ranking data shows that this combo is best suited for 1440p gaming, where the GPU is more fully utilized. At 1440p High, the combo delivers 99.8 FPS, which is 45% higher than the 4K High result (55.9 FPS). The 599th rank out of 1718 is solid, but users with higher-end CPUs (e.g., those in the top 20th percentile) would likely see this combo rank significantly higher, especially at 1080p where the CPU bottleneck is most pronounced.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest performance. Low settings produce an average of 197.9 FPS, Medium drops to 182.2 FPS, High falls to 145.5 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 114.7 FPS. The delta from Low to Ultra is 42%, indicating that the GPU is still the primary driver at 1080p, but the CPU’s 6 threads are beginning to limit scaling at higher presets.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong. Low hits 159.4 FPS, Medium reaches 125.2 FPS, High drops to 99.8 FPS, and Ultra falls to 76.9 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra is 52%, which is steeper than at 1080p, confirming that the GPU is becoming more stressed. The 1440p High result (99.8 FPS) is just shy of 100 FPS, making it an excellent target for high-refresh-rate monitors.

At 3840x2160, the data reveals a clear performance ceiling. Low settings yield 88.7 FPS, Medium drops to 68.3 FPS, High falls to 55.9 FPS, and Ultra plummets to 41.8 FPS. The Low to Ultra delta is 53%, and the gap between Medium and Ultra (68.3 vs 41.8 FPS) is 39%. This suggests that the RTX 3080’s 10 GB of GDDR6X memory and 760.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient, but the GPU’s 8704 shading units are overwhelmed at 4K Ultra.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications explain the measured results. The GPU features 8704 shading units, 272 TMUs, and 96 ROPs, with a boost clock of 1710 MHz. Its 10 GB of GDDR6X memory runs at 19 Gbps effective, delivering 760.3 GB/s of bandwidth over a 320-bit bus. These figures place the GPU in the 80th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35787.

In Palworld, the GPU’s role is most evident at 4K. The 41.8 FPS result at 4K Ultra aligns with the GPU’s 29.77 TFLOPS FP32 performance, which is insufficient for 60 FPS at this resolution with max settings. However, the 88.7 FPS at 4K Low demonstrates that the GPU has ample headroom when the workload is reduced. The RTX 3080’s 68 RT cores and 272 tensor cores are present but not heavily utilized in this game, as Palworld is not a ray-tracing showcase.

The GPU’s memory configuration is also relevant. The 10 GB VRAM capacity is adequate for Palworld at 1440p, as evidenced by the 76.9 FPS at 1440p Ultra. At 4K, the 55.9 FPS at High settings suggests that VRAM is not the bottleneck, as dropping to Medium (68.3 FPS) and Low (88.7 FPS) improves performance without hitting a memory ceiling. The GPU’s 465.1 GTexel/s texture rate and 164.2 GPixel/s pixel rate are the key drivers of the measured frame rates.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It has 9 MB of shared L3 cache and a 65W TDP, but its lack of hyper-threading limits its multi-threaded throughput. The CPU’s average benchmark score of 2305 places it in the 50th percentile, and its Cinebench R23 scores (7969 multi-core, 1125 single-core) show that it is a mid-range part by modern standards.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is most apparent at 1080p. The combo hits 197.9 FPS at Low settings, which is close to the practical limit for a 6-thread CPU. The drop to 145.5 FPS at High (a 26% reduction) is steeper than the 1440p drop from Low (159.4 FPS) to High (99.8 FPS, a 37% reduction), suggesting that at 1080p, the CPU is starting to bottleneck the GPU as settings increase. At 4K, the CPU is less of a factor, as the GPU becomes the clear limiting component.

The CPU’s 6 threads are sufficient for Palworld’s survival gameplay, but they do not provide the headroom needed to fully saturate the RTX 3080 at lower resolutions. The 4.10 GHz boost clock helps with single-threaded performance, but the lack of additional threads means that frame rates above 200 FPS are not achievable. For users targeting 1440p, the CPU is adequate, as the 99.8 FPS at High settings is respectable and the 76.9 FPS at Ultra is playable.

Settings Recommendations

For 1080p gaming, the Medium preset (182.2 FPS) offers the best balance of visual quality and performance, with a 7.9% improvement over High (145.5 FPS) and a 37% improvement over Ultra (114.7 FPS). Low (197.9 FPS) is only 8.6% faster than Medium, so the visual gains from Medium are worth the small FPS cost.

At 1440p, High settings (99.8 FPS) are the recommended choice for a 100 Hz monitor, as they deliver near-triple-digit frame rates while maintaining good visual fidelity. Ultra (76.9 FPS) is still playable but leaves 23% of performance on the table compared to High. Medium (125.2 FPS) is an excellent option for competitive play, offering 25% more FPS than High with only a moderate visual downgrade.

For 4K, the data strongly recommends Medium settings (68.3 FPS), as this is the only preset that combines 60+ FPS performance with reasonable visual quality. High (55.9 FPS) is 18% slower and falls below the 60 FPS threshold, while Ultra (41.8 FPS) is not recommended for any scenario. Low (88.7 FPS) is viable for players who prioritize frame rate over graphics, but the visual compromise is significant. The 53% difference between Low and Ultra at 4K shows that the RTX 3080 is the limiting factor, so users should adjust settings rather than resolution to hit their target frame rate.