Palworld

Palworld places this Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti pairing in a demanding survival-crafting environment where the recorded frame rates show a clear shift in system bottleneck as resolution climbs. The data indicates that at 1080p and 1440p, the GPU has enough headroom to push very high averages, but the CPU begins to constrain upper limits. At 4K, the workload shifts firmly to the graphics card, and the frame rate scaling follows the expected GPU-bound pattern. The measured results confirm a system that can deliver smooth gameplay at most settings, with a few notable exceptions that require careful preset selection.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K produces a substantial reduction in average frame rates across every settings preset. At the High preset, average FPS drops from 165 at 1920x1080 to 120 at 2560x1440, a 27% decrease, and then to 66 at 3840x2160, which is 45% lower than the 1440p result and 60% lower than the 1080p result. This steep decline at 4K is typical of a GPU-bound scenario where the RTX 4070 Ti must render over four times the pixel count of 1080p. The data shows that the gap between 1080p and 1440p is moderate, suggesting that the CPU still has influence at lower resolutions, but the 1440p to 4K step reveals the graphics card as the primary limiting factor.

Looking at the Low preset, the scaling pattern changes. At 1080p Low, the average is 196 FPS, which drops to 170 at 1440p (a 13% reduction) and then to 106 at 4K (a 38% reduction from 1440p). The smaller relative drop from 1080p to 1440p at Low settings indicates that the CPU is holding back the frame rate at these lower resolutions, since the GPU is not fully taxed. The 4K Low result of 106 FPS still represents a playable experience, but the scaling from 1440p shows that the GPU is now doing the heavy lifting. This pattern is consistent with a 6-core, 6-thread processor that lacks hyper-threading, which limits its ability to feed the GPU at low graphical loads.

The Medium preset shows a similar trend. Average FPS goes from 182 at 1080p to 155 at 1440p (a 15% drop) and then to 86 at 4K (a 45% drop from 1440p). The recorded minimum FPS values for Medium settings also scale with resolution: 154 at 1080p, 132 at 1440p, and 73 at 4K. These minimums are important because they indicate that even when the frame rate fluctuates, the system maintains a playable floor at all resolutions, though the 4K minimum of 73 FPS is noticeably lower than the 1080p minimum.

Ultra settings produce the lowest averages across the board. The data shows 138 FPS at 1080p, 91 at 1440p, and 50 at 4K. The 1440p to 4K drop is 45%, which is similar to the High and Medium presets, confirming that at Ultra settings the GPU is consistently the bottleneck regardless of resolution. The 4K Ultra result of 50 FPS is the only measured average that falls below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this preset is not suitable for 4K gameplay with this combination.

The overall scaling behavior indicates that this system is well balanced for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the CPU and GPU share the workload, but at 4K the RTX 4070 Ti becomes the sole limiter. The data suggests that players targeting 4K should avoid Ultra settings and consider High or Medium presets to maintain smooth frame rates.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti is the dominant component in this pairing, especially at higher resolutions. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 192-bit bus, delivering 504.2 GB/s of bandwidth. This memory configuration is sufficient for Palworld at 4K, where the recorded High preset average of 66 FPS indicates that the 12 GB capacity is not a limiting factor. The Ada Lovelace architecture, built on TSMC's 5 nm process with 35,800 million transistors, provides a substantial performance foundation. The GPU's boost clock of 2610 MHz and base clock of 2310 MHz contribute to its throughput, and the measured results show that it can handle the game's rendering load across all tested resolutions.

The RTX 4070 Ti's raw compute capabilities are significant. With 7,680 shading units, 240 TMUs, and 80 ROPs, the GPU delivers 40.09 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. This translates to strong rasterization performance, which is evident in the 1080p Low average of 196 FPS. The pixel rate of 208.8 GPixel/s and texture rate of 626.4 GTexel/s further support high-resolution rendering. The GPU's 60 RT cores and 240 tensor cores provide hardware support for ray tracing and DLSS, though the measured data does not include results with these features enabled.

The data shows that the GPU's performance scales predictably with resolution. At 4K, the High preset average of 66 FPS is 40% lower than the 1440p High average of 120 FPS. This scaling is consistent with the GPU being fully utilized at 4K, where the pixel count demands more from the 208.8 GPixel/s fill rate. The 4K Low average of 106 FPS demonstrates that the GPU can deliver high frame rates even at 4K when graphical settings are reduced, indicating that the card has sufficient headroom for players who prioritize frame rate over visual fidelity.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 84th percentile of all GPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 44,795. Its nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 Mobile with an average score of 45,152 (0.8% higher), the AMD Radeon Pro 5500 XT with 45,384 (1.3% higher), and the NVIDIA RTX A6000 with 44,075 (1.6% lower). These comparisons show that the RTX 4070 Ti sits in a competitive position among high-end graphics cards, and the measured Palworld results reflect this standing.

The 285 W TDP and dual-slot design make this a power-hungry card, but the suggested 600 W power supply is adequate for most systems. The PCIe 4.0 x16 interface provides sufficient bandwidth for the GPU's data transfer needs. The 5 nm process node from TSMC allows for high clock speeds and efficiency, which is reflected in the boost clock of 2610 MHz. The GPU's memory clock of 1313 MHz, operating at 21 Gbps effective, ensures that the 504.2 GB/s bandwidth is fully utilized.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, built on Intel's 14 nm process. With a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz, this CPU provides moderate single-thread performance but lacks hyper-threading, which limits its multi-threaded capabilities. The 9 MB of shared L3 cache and 256 KB L2 cache per core are modest by modern standards, but the processor's benchmark results show it performs adequately for gaming workloads.

The CPU's Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6,629 and single-core score of 935 indicate that it can handle modern game logic and physics, but it may struggle in CPU-intensive scenarios. The Geekbench multi-core score of 5,141 and single-core score of 1,389 further confirm this assessment. The CPU sits in the 47th percentile of all CPUs in the database, with an average benchmark score of 2,254. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with a score of 2,259 (0.2% lower), the Intel Core i7-10710U with 2,248 (0.3% higher), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 with 2,246 (0.4% higher).

In Palworld, the CPU's role is most apparent at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the average FPS is 196, which is only 15% higher than the 1440p Low average of 170 FPS. This relatively small difference suggests that the CPU is limiting the frame rate at 1080p, since the GPU could likely render more frames if the CPU could feed it faster. Similarly, the 1080p High average of 165 FPS is only 27% higher than the 1440p High average of 120 FPS, indicating that the CPU is partially responsible for the cap at lower resolutions.

The CPU's 6-thread limitation is evident in the scaling patterns. At 1080p Medium, the average is 182 FPS, which is higher than the 1440p Medium average of 155 FPS, but the gap narrows compared to the GPU-bound scenarios. The data shows that as settings increase and resolution rises, the GPU becomes the dominant factor, and the CPU's influence diminishes. This is typical for a processor with only 6 threads, as modern games often benefit from additional threads for background tasks and physics simulation.

The CPU's lack of hyper-threading means that it cannot handle as many concurrent threads as processors with 12 or more threads. This can lead to frame rate dips in scenarios with many NPCs or complex world simulations, which are common in survival games like Palworld. However, the measured minimum FPS values at Medium settings show that the system maintains playable frame rates even under load. At 1080p Medium, the minimum is 154 FPS, and at 1440p Medium it is 132 FPS, indicating that the CPU can sustain reasonable performance without severe stuttering.

The CPU's memory support is limited to DDR4 with dual-channel configuration and a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. This is lower than what newer CPUs support, but it is sufficient for the game's requirements. The PCIe Gen 3 interface with 16 lanes provides adequate bandwidth for the RTX 4070 Ti, though the GPU is capable of using PCIe 4.0. The 65 W TDP makes this a low-power processor, which is beneficial for system thermals, but it also reflects the CPU's modest performance ceiling.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti ranks 824th out of 3,711 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the top 22% of all system configurations in the database. This ranking reflects a well-matched pairing where the GPU's high-end performance is somewhat moderated by the CPU's mid-range capabilities. The data shows that this combo outperforms many other pairings, but it does not reach the top tier of results, which are typically achieved with more powerful CPUs.

The 824th rank out of 3,711 combos indicates that this system is above average for Palworld, but there is meaningful headroom for improvement if paired with a stronger processor. The RTX 4070 Ti is capable of higher frame rates than what the i5-9400 can deliver at lower resolutions, as evidenced by the 1080p Low average of 196 FPS. If the CPU were more powerful, the GPU could potentially push even higher averages at 1080p and 1440p.

At 4K, the combo's ranking is more favorable because the GPU becomes the primary bottleneck, and the CPU's limitations are less impactful. The 4K High average of 66 FPS and 4K Medium average of 86 FPS show that the system can handle 4K gaming, but the Ultra preset at 4K drops to 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. This suggests that the combo is best suited for 4K gaming at High or Medium settings, where the GPU's performance is fully utilized.

The combo's position in the database reflects a common pairing scenario: a high-end GPU with a mid-range CPU that was released several years earlier. This configuration is often chosen by players who prioritize GPU performance for high-resolution gaming but may not have budgeted for a newer CPU. The measured results show that this trade-off is acceptable for most gaming scenarios, but the CPU does hold back the GPU at lower resolutions and settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings presets deliver the best experience for this system. At 1080p, all four presets produce average frame rates well above 60 FPS, with Low at 196 FPS, Medium at 182 FPS, High at 165 FPS, and Ultra at 138 FPS. The Ultra preset at 1080p still delivers 138 FPS, which is smooth, but the jump from High to Ultra costs 27 FPS (16% reduction) for what may be marginal visual gains. The High preset at 1080p offers a strong balance of visual quality and performance, with 165 FPS average.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 120 FPS, which is excellent for this resolution. The Medium preset offers 155 FPS, providing even more headroom for high-refresh-rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 1440p drops to 91 FPS, which is still playable but represents a 24% reduction from High. The Low preset at 1440p achieves 170 FPS, but this comes at the cost of visual fidelity. For 1440p, the High preset is the recommended choice, as it provides a smooth experience while maintaining good graphical quality.

At 4K, the situation changes significantly. The Ultra preset produces only 50 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold and may result in noticeable stuttering. The High preset delivers 66 FPS, which is playable but close to the edge. The Medium preset offers 86 FPS, providing a comfortable margin above 60 FPS. The Low preset achieves 106 FPS, which is very smooth but sacrifices visual quality. For 4K gaming, the Medium preset is the best option, as it balances performance and visuals, with 86 FPS average and a minimum of 73 FPS.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the most versatile choice across all resolutions. At 1080p, it delivers 182 FPS, at 1440p it delivers 155 FPS, and at 4K it delivers 86 FPS. The Medium preset also has recorded minimum FPS values, which are 154 at 1080p, 132 at 1440p, and 73 at 4K, providing confidence that the system will maintain playable frame rates during intense scenes. The High preset is a strong alternative for players who prioritize visual quality over frame rate, especially at 1080p and 1440p.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data for this system in Palworld shows a clear progression across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset produces an average of 196 FPS, the Medium preset produces 182 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS and a maximum of 209 FPS, the High preset produces 165 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 138 FPS. These results indicate that the system is capable of very high frame rates at 1080p, with even the most demanding preset exceeding 130 FPS.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset achieves 170 FPS, the Medium preset achieves 155 FPS with a minimum of 132 FPS and a maximum of 179 FPS, the High preset achieves 120 FPS, and the Ultra preset achieves 91 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is most pronounced at the High preset, which loses 45 FPS (27% reduction), while the Low preset loses 26 FPS (13% reduction). This indicates that the CPU is more involved at lower settings, while the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset produces 106 FPS, the Medium preset produces 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS and a maximum of 99 FPS, the High preset produces 66 FPS, and the Ultra preset produces 50 FPS. The 4K results show a significant drop from 1440p, with the High preset losing 54 FPS (45% reduction) and the Medium preset losing 69 FPS (45% reduction). The Ultra preset at 4K is the only configuration that falls below 60 FPS, making it unsuitable for smooth gameplay.

The recorded minimum FPS values at Medium settings provide insight into the system's consistency. At 1080p, the minimum of 154 FPS is 85% of the average, indicating stable performance. At 1440p, the minimum of 132 FPS is 85% of the average of 155 FPS, showing similar stability. At 4K, the minimum of 73 FPS is 85% of the average of 86 FPS, which is still a playable floor. These minimums suggest that the system does not experience severe frame drops, even when the game loads new areas or spawns many creatures.

The maximum FPS values at Medium settings are 209 at 1080p, 179 at 1440p, and 99 at 4K. These maximums show that the system can occasionally achieve higher frame rates than the averages, but the gaps between average and maximum are modest, indicating that the frame rate is relatively consistent. The data as a whole confirms that this system is well-suited for Palworld at 1080p and 1440p across all settings, and at 4K with Medium or High presets. The Ultra preset should be avoided at 4K due to the sub-60 FPS average.