Palworld

Palworld, a survival game released in January 2024, presents an interesting test for the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 combination. This pairing of a 6-core, 6-thread Coffee Lake CPU from 2018 with a Blackwell 2.0 GPU from 2025 creates a significant generational gap. The measured FPS data across resolutions and settings reveals a system that can deliver high frame rates but also exposes clear performance bottlenecks depending on the workload, making it a compelling case study in component pairing.

FAQ

Q: What is the best average FPS this combo achieves at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the highest average FPS recorded is 196, which occurs with the Low settings preset. The Medium preset also delivers a very high 182 FPS average, showing that the system has substantial headroom at this resolution.

Q: How much faster is the RTX 5070 compared to its nearest rival?

A: Based on the average benchmark score, the RTX 5070 is 2% faster than the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile, which is its nearest rival with a deltaPct of 2. Conversely, it is 1.2% slower than the AMD Radeon Pro 5300, which has a deltaPct of -1.2.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: The data suggests this is possible at lower resolutions. While the GPU is powerful, the i5-9400 has a modest 6 threads. The relatively small FPS jump from 1080p High (165 FPS) to 1080p Low (196 FPS) hints that the CPU may be limiting the GPU's ability to render frames at the highest possible speed.

Q: What is the combo's ranking among all tested combinations for Palworld?

A: The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 ranks 983rd out of 3711 tested combos. This places it in the top 26.5% of all tested systems for this specific game.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded for this system?

A: The lowest minimum FPS recorded is 67, which occurs at 3840x2160 resolution with the Medium settings preset. This indicates that even at 4K, the system can maintain a playable frame rate, though not a high one.

Q: How does the CPU's single-core performance compare to its multi-core performance?

A: The i5-9400's single-core Cinebench R23 score is 935, while its multi-core score is 6629. This shows a performance ratio of about 7 to 1, indicating that while the CPU is adequate for tasks relying on a single core, its multi-threaded performance is a relative weakness, which could impact modern games.

Settings Recommendations

For this specific hardware combination in Palworld, the data suggests a clear preference for the Medium settings preset. At 1920x1080, Medium offers an average of 182 FPS, which is only 14 FPS lower than the Low preset but provides a significantly better visual experience. The High preset at 1080p still achieves an excellent 165 FPS, but the jump from Medium to High costs 17 FPS. At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again appears to be the sweet spot, delivering a smooth 141 FPS average with a minimum of 120 FPS. This frame rate is well-suited for high refresh rate monitors, and the visual uplift from Low is substantial.

The Ultra preset is not recommended for this combination, as it causes significant performance drops. At 1440p, Ultra averages only 83 FPS, and at 4K, it drops to 46 FPS, which is not ideal for a smooth experience. While the High preset is viable, it doesn't offer the same performance headroom as Medium. The data indicates that the RTX 5070 is powerful enough to handle Medium settings with high frame rates across 1080p and 1440p. The performance cost of moving from Medium to High is a 23% decrease in FPS at 1440p, while the cost of moving from Medium to Ultra is a 41% decrease. Therefore, for a balance of visual quality and performance, the Medium preset provides the most consistent and high-FPS experience for this CPU-GPU pairing.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5070 is clearly the dominant component in this pairing. Its raw power is evident in the high average FPS figures, but its performance is modulated by the settings and resolution. The GPU features 12 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 192-bit bus, providing a memory bandwidth of 672.0 GB/s. This substantial bandwidth is crucial for a game like Palworld, which involves streaming large, open-world environments and many on-screen objects. The GPU's base clock is 2325 MHz, with a boost clock of 2512 MHz, and it contains 6144 shading units.

The GPU's 82nd percentile ranking versus all GPUs underscores its high-end placement. However, its benchmark scores show some variability; for instance, its Passmark DirectX 12 score is 108, while its Passmark DirectX 11 score is 277. This suggests that the GPU's performance can be heavily dependent on the API and driver optimization. In Palworld, the RTX 5070's capabilities are demonstrated by the fact that it can achieve an average of 196 FPS at 1080p on Low settings. Yet, the 12 GB VRAM capacity, while sufficient for 1080p and 1440p, could be a limiting factor at 4K Ultra, where the average FPS drops to 46)Skip. The data suggests the GPU is more than capable of handling the game's computational demands, but the CPU often prevents it from reaching its full potential, especially at lower resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a detailed look at how this combo scales with resolution and settings. At 1920x1080, the system is highly performant across the board. The Low preset achieves an average of 196 FPS, while Medium and High follow with 182 FPS and 165 FPS, respectively. The Ultra preset still manages a very respectable 125 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra is 71 FPS, showing that even at the highest settings, the system is not severely challenged at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, there is a noticeable drop in performance. The Low preset hits 170 FPS, Medium 141 FPS, and High 109 FPS. The Ultra preset falls to 83 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p shows a roughly 13-24% decrease in FPS across the different presets. At 3840x2160, the system begins to strain. The Low preset manages 97 FPS, but Medium drops to 79 FPS with a minimum of 67 FPS. High is barely playable at 60 FPS, and Ultra falls to 46 FPS. The data clearly shows a steep performance cliff as resolution increases, particularly at the High and Ultra settings.

The most complete data is available for the Medium preset, which includes minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p, it ranges from 154 to 209 FPS; at 1440p, from 120 to 163 FPS; and at 4K, from 67 to 90 FPS. This data suggests that even at 4K, the frame pacing is relatively stable, with the minimum FPS not falling too far from the average. The gap between resolutions also widens at higher settings, indicating that the system is becoming more GPU-bound as the visual load increases.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo's rank of 983 out of 3711 tested combinations places it in the upper-middle tier of all systems tested in Palworld. This ranking confirms the RTX 5070's power, but it is also held back by the older i5-9400. The CPU has a percentile ranking of 47 against all CPUs, which means it is exactly average. This average CPU performance is likely what prevents the combo from ranking higher, as many other systems will feature more modern processors with higher thread counts and clock speeds.

The GPU, on the other hand, is in the 82nd percentile, a significant difference. This discrepancy suggests that the GPU is capable of performing like a top-tier component, but it is being constrained by the CPU. The combo's rank of 983 indicates that while it is a strong performer, it is not at the very top of the leaderboard. The data implies that if this GPU were paired with a more powerful CPU, the combo's ranking would be substantially higher. The performance delta between the CPU and GPU's respective percentiles is a clear indicator of a bottleneck.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. Its base clock is 2.90 GHz, with a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. In 2025, this is an older, entry-level processor, and its benchmark scores reflect that. Its Cinebench R23 multi-core score is 6629, and its single-core score is 935. It has an average benchmark score of 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's role in Palworld is significant, as the game involves complex simulation and AI logic. The data shows that at 1080p, the FPS difference between Low (196) and High (165) is only 31 FPS. This relatively small margin suggests that the CPU is the limiting factor, as a more powerful GPU would typically show a larger performance gap between these settings. The CPU's 6 threads are a potential bottleneck, as modern games often benefit from more threads. This is evidenced by the fact that the CPU's nearest rivals, such as the Intel Core i7-1068NG7, have a similar average score but may offer better multi-threading capabilities. The data suggests that while the i5-9400 is capable of feeding the RTX 5070 enough data to achieve high frame rates, it is not capable of unlocking the GPU's full potential, especially in scenarios with lower graphical demands.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K is a clear indicator of where the bottleneck lies. At the Low settings preset, the average FPS drops from 196 at 1080p to 170 at 1440p and then to 97 at 4K. This is a drop of 13% from 1080p to 1440p, and a further 43% drop from 1440p to 4K. This pattern suggests that the system is initially CPU-bound at lower resolutions, but becomes more GPU-bound as resolution increases.

At the High settings preset, the drop is more consistent: from 165 FPS at 1080p to 109 FPS at 1440p (a 34% drop), and then to 60 FPS at 4K (a 45% drop). This shows that at higher settings, the GPU is more consistently the limiting factor. The most telling data is at the Ultra preset. The FPS drops from 125 at 1080p to 83 at 1440p, and then to 46 at 4K. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33%, but the drop from 1440p to 4K is 45%. This indicates that the GPU's workload is scaling as expected, and the CPU is no longer the primary constraint at 4K Ultra.

The data implies a hybrid bottleneck. At 1080p, the CPU is the primary limiter, preventing the system from achieving even higher frame rates. As resolution and settings increase, the GPU becomes the more significant bottleneck. The 4K High result of 60 FPS is particularly telling; it shows that the system can handle 4K but only at the lower end of playable frame rates. The scaling curve points to a system where the RTX 5070 is held back by the i5-9400 at lower resolutions, but at 4K, the GPU's own limits are reached. This makes the combination ideally suited for 1440p gaming, where the balance between CPU and GPU load appears to be most efficient, as evidenced by the strong 141 FPS average on Medium settings.