Palworld

Palworld with an Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER presents a surprisingly balanced picture, though the data reveals that this pairing is significantly more GPU-bound than CPU-bound at higher resolutions. The combination ranks 822nd out of 3711 tested combos, placing it in the top 22% of all configurations, which is a strong result given the age of the six-core processor. The benchmark results show that while the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is capable of delivering exceptionally high frame rates, the Core i5-9400 begins to show its limitations as resolution drops, creating a dynamic where the CPU becomes the primary bottleneck at 1080p.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking trend in the measured FPS data is how performance scales from 1080p to 4K. At Ultra settings, the average frame rate drops from 139 FPS at 1920x1080 to 91 FPS at 2560x1440, a 34.5% reduction, and then further to 51 FPS at 3840x2160, a 63.3% reduction from the 1080p baseline. This steep decline indicates that the game is heavily reliant on GPU throughput at Ultra settings, as the resolution increase directly taxes the rendering pipeline without a corresponding increase in CPU workload.

At High settings, the pattern is similar but less severe. The average FPS at 1080p is 165, which drops to 120 FPS at 1440p (a 27.3% reduction) and then to 67 FPS at 4K (a 59.4% reduction from 1080p). The fact that the 1440p High result of 120 FPS is still well above 60 suggests that this combo handles high refresh rate gaming at that resolution without issue, but the 4K High result of 67 FPS is right at the edge of what many would consider acceptable for a smooth experience.

The Low and Medium settings tell a different story about the limiting component. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 196 at 1080p to 170 at 1440p (a 13.3% drop) and then to 107 at 4K (a 45.4% drop from 1080p). The relatively small gap between 1080p and 1440p Low settings suggests that the CPU is starting to cap performance in this range; a purely GPU-limited scenario would show a larger percentage drop between these two resolutions. The Medium preset shows the most telling data: 182 FPS at 1080p, 157 FPS at 1440p, and 87 FPS at 4K, with min FPS values of 154, 133, and 74 respectively.

The data indicates that at 1080p with Low or Medium settings, the Core i5-9400 is likely the bottleneck, as the FPS difference between these presets is only 14 FPS (196 vs 182), whereas at 4K the difference between Low and Medium is a much larger 20 FPS (107 vs 87), suggesting the GPU is doing more of the heavy lifting at higher resolutions. For users targeting 4K, the game is clearly GPU-bound, as evidenced by the 67 FPS High result compared to the 51 FPS Ultra result, a 31.4% performance penalty for the extra visual fidelity. At 1080p, the scaling from High to Ultra (165 to 139 FPS, a 15.8% drop) is more moderate, reinforcing that the CPU is not the primary constraint in this scenario.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal setting for this combo depends heavily on the target resolution and frame rate. For 4K gaming, the High preset at 67 FPS average is the best balance of visual quality and playability, as the Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold that most users consider necessary for smooth gameplay. The Medium preset at 4K offers 87 FPS, which is more comfortable, but the visual downgrade from High to Medium is significant in a survival game where spotting distant resources and enemies matters.

At 1440p, the High preset delivers 120 FPS, which is excellent for high refresh rate monitors. The Ultra preset at 91 FPS is also viable, but the 29 FPS penalty (a 24.2% reduction) is substantial for the incremental visual improvements. The Medium preset at 157 FPS is unnecessary unless the user has a 165Hz or higher display, as the High preset already exceeds 120 FPS. The Low preset at 170 FPS offers no meaningful advantage over Medium in terms of smoothness, so it should be avoided.

At 1080p, the High preset at 165 FPS is the clear recommendation, as it provides a near-seamless experience on 144Hz or 165Hz monitors. The Ultra preset at 139 FPS is still above 120 FPSlocked but the 26 FPS drop from High is noticeable in fast-paced combat. The Medium preset at 182 FPS is overkill for most displays, and the Low preset at 196 FPS sacrifices too much visual quality for a marginal gain in frame rate. The data suggests that the High preset is the "sweet spot" across all resolutions, as it offers the best combination of visual fidelity and performance without pushing the system into diminishing returns territory.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing, as evidenced by its benchmark scores and the measured FPS data. The GPU has a boost clock of 2610 MHz and 8448 shading units, which are substantial figures for a 5 nm Ada Lovelace chip with 45,900 million transistors on a 379 mm² die. The 16 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides a bandwidth of 672.3 GB/s, which is more than sufficient for Palworld's texture-heavy environments at 4K resolution.

The GPU's raw compute power is reflected in its 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 5569 and its Passmark G3D score of 31811, placing it in the 76th percentile of all GPUs. The data shows that the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER is not the limiting factor in this game at any resolution tested, as the FPS drops are more attributable to the CPU at lower resolutions and the sheer rendering load at 4K. The GPU's average benchmark score of 31087 places it just 0.4% behind the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 and 1.4% behind the NVIDIA RTX PRO 4500 Blackwell, indicating that it sits in a competitive performance tier.

In terms of memory, the 16 GB capacity is never fully utilized in these tests, as even at 4K Ultra settings the game does not appear to exceed the available VRAM, given the stable frame times and lack of stutter in the data. The memory clock of 1313 MHz with 21 Gbps effective speed, combined with the 256-bit bus, ensures that texture streaming at 4K does not introduce a bandwidth bottleneck. The GPU's TDP of 285 W is a consideration for system builders, but the performance per watt is strong given the 44.10 TFLOPS of FP32 compute on offer.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo rank of 822 out of 3711 tested combinations places this configuration in the top 22.2% of all systems tested for Palworld. This is a strong result, but it is important to contextualize it against the age of the Core i5-9400. The CPU has a percentile rank of 47 against all CPUs, meaning it sits in the middle of the pack, while the GPU's percentile rank of 76 is significantly higher. This discrepancy explains why the combo rank is not higher; the CPU is holding back the overall result, particularly in scenarios where the game is not GPU-bound.

The nearest rivals for the CPU include the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 with an average score of 2259 (a 0.2% delta), the Intel Core i7-10710U with 2248 (0.3% delta), and the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 with 2246 (0.4% delta). These scores are nearly identical, indicating that the Core i5-9400's six cores and six threads are competitive with these older mobile and desktop parts. The GPU's nearest rivals, the NVIDIA Quadro M5000 and NVIDIA GRID M60-1Q, have average scores within 0.4% of the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, but these are workstation-class cards that do not represent typical gaming competition.

The rank of 822 suggests that most of the 3711 combos ahead of this one feature newer, higher-core-count CPUs paired with similarly powerful GPUs. The data indicates that for Palworld, the combo rank is disproportionately influenced by the CPU, as the GPU is capable of much higher performance than this specific processor can feed at lower resolutions. When the resolution increases to 4K, the combo's performance becomes more GPU-bound, and the rank would likely improve relative to other configurations, but the overall measurement is an aggregate that includes all tested resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture with a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its benchmark scores are modest by modern standards: a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 6629 and a single-core score of 935, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141. The processor has a 9 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 memory with a bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s, which are adequate for gaming but not exceptional.

In Palworld, the CPU's role becomes evident when examining the FPS data at different resolutions. At 1080p Low settings, the average FPS is 196, but this is likely near the CPU's maximum frame rate capability, as the GPU is far more powerful than necessary for this workload. The fact that the 1080p Low result is only 14 FPS higher than the 1080p Medium result (196 vs 182) suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor in this range, as a GPU-bound scenario would show a larger difference between presets.

The CPU's six cores and six threads are sufficient for Palworld's survival gameplay, which typically involves moderate CPU load for world simulation and NPC AI. However, the lack of hyper-threading means that the processor can struggle in scenarios with heavy background tasks or complex physics calculations. The Cinebench R15 multi-core score of 668 and single-core score of 94 place it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, confirming its mid-range status. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz is respectable for single-threaded performance, which is important for Palworld's core game logic, but the processor's overall throughput is limited by its six threads.

The data suggests that for Palworld, the Core i5-9400 is adequate for 60+ FPS gaming at 1440p and 4K when paired with this GPU, but it cannot fully unlock the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's potential at 1080p. The memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s and dual-channel DDR4 support are not bottlenecks in this game, but the processor's age is evident when comparing its Geekbench single-core score of 1389 to more modern CPUs.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo to achieve 120+ FPS consistently?

A: At 2560x1440 with High settings, the combo averages 120 FPS. At 1920x1080 with High settings, it averages 165 FPS, while the Medium preset at 1080p reaches 182 FPS. The 1440p High setting is the highest resolution where 120 FPS is achieved without dropping below the target.

Q: Can this combo handle 4K gaming smoothly?

A: Yes, but with caveats. At 4K High settings, the average FPS is 67, which is above 60 but not high-refresh-rate territory. At 4K Medium, it reaches 87 FPS with a minimum of 74 FPS, which is more comfortable. The 4K Ultra preset drops to 51 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS threshold for smooth play.

Q: Why is there a smaller FPS gap between Low and Medium at 1080p compared to 4K?

A: At 1080p, the Core i5-9400 becomes the limiting factor, as the FPS difference between Low (196) and Medium (182) is only 14 FPS. At 4K, the GPU is the bottleneck, and the difference between Low (107) and Medium (87) is 20 FPS, indicating that the GPU has more headroom to be taxed by higher settings.

Q: How does this combo rank compared to other tested systems?

A: This combo ranks 822nd out of 3711 tested configurations, placing it in the top 22.2% of all systems. The rank is influenced by the CPU's mid-range standing (47th percentile) versus the GPU's higher standing (76th percentile), meaning the processor holds back the overall ranking.

Q: Is the RTX 4070 Ti SUPER's 16 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld at 4K?

A: The data shows no evidence of VRAM-related stuttering or frame drops at 4K, even at Ultra settings where the average FPS is 51. The 16 GB capacity and 672.3 GB/s bandwidth are sufficient for this game's texture requirements, as the measured minimum FPS values remain stable.

Q: What does the min FPS data tell us about frame pacing?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with min FPS data, showing 74 FPS at 4K, 133 FPS at 1440p, and 154 FPS at 1080p. The minimums are relatively close to the averages, indicating stable frame pacing without significant stutters, especially at 1440p and 1080p where the CPU is less stressed.