Palworld

Palworld pairs a six-core Intel Core i5-9400 with the flagship NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080, and the benchmark data shows a system that is heavily constrained by its processor at lower resolutions while the GPU takes over at 4K. The RTX 5080, with its 16 GB of GDDR7 memory and 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, is clearly the dominant component in this pairing, but the older Coffee Lake CPU limits how much of that performance can be accessed at 1080p and 1440p. The measured FPS numbers reveal a predictable scaling pattern that shifts the bottleneck from the CPU to the GPU as resolution increases.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate progression from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic case of diminishing returns as the GPU becomes the primary limiting factor. At 1080p with High settings, the combo produces 165 FPS, which drops to 135 FPS at 1440p and further to 75 FPS at 4K. This represents a 54.5% reduction in frame rate from 1080p to 4K, which is a substantial hit but not as severe as what a purely GPU-bound system might show. The gap between 1440p and 4K is particularly telling, with a 44.4% drop from 135 FPS to 75 FPS, indicating that the RTX 5080 is being pushed hard at the highest resolution.

The Low settings row shows a different scaling pattern that highlights the CPU's role. At 1080p Low, the system hits 196 FPS, only dropping to 170 FPS at 1440p and 120 FPS at 4K. The 1080p to 1440p drop of just 13.3% is remarkably small, suggesting that the CPU is holding the system back at the lower resolution. When settings are reduced, the GPU has less work to do, but the frame rate does not scale proportionally, confirming that the Core i5-9400 is the ceiling in these scenarios. The 4K Low result of 120 FPS is still respectable, but it is only 38.8% higher than the 4K High result, showing that even at 4K, the CPU still exerts some influence.

The Medium settings row provides the most complete data with min and max FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the average is 182 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS and maximum of 209 FPS. Moving to 1440p Medium yields 158 FPS average with a range of 134 to 182 FPS, and 4K Medium shows 97 FPS average with a range of 83 to 112 FPS. The minimum FPS values are particularly interesting, as they show that the system maintains playable frame rates even in demanding moments, with the 4K Medium minimum of 83 FPS staying well above the 60 FPS threshold. The scaling from 1080p to 4K Medium is a 46.7% drop, which is consistent with the High settings pattern.

Ultra settings show the most severe scaling, with 149 FPS at 1080p dropping to 102 FPS at 1440p and 57 FPS at 4K. The 4K Ultra result of 57 FPS is the only measured point below 60 FPS, indicating that this is the first combination of resolution and settings that overwhelms the RTX 5080. The drop from 1440p Ultra to 4K Ultra is 44.1%, which is in line with the other settings tiers, but the absolute numbers show that Ultra at 4K is not a viable option for smooth gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 is the star of this pairing, and its specifications explain why it can deliver such high frame rates in most scenarios. With 10752 shading units, 336 TMUs, and 112 ROPs, the GPU has the raw compute power to handle Palworld's demanding environments. The boost clock of 2617 MHz, combined with the base clock of 2295 MHz, provides the processing speed necessary to maintain high frame rates across all tested resolutions. The 16 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 256-bit bus delivers 960.0 GB/s of bandwidth, which is crucial for texture streaming and asset loading in a large open-world survival game.

The GPU's benchmark scores place it in the 87th percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 56083. Its nearest rivals in the database include the AMD Radeon 8060S with an average score of 55757 (0.6% slower), the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB at 55698 (0.7% slower), and the AMD Radeon Pro W5700X at 54828 (2.3% slower). The only rival that outperforms it is the AMD Radeon RX 9070 GRE with a score of 57367, which is 2.2% faster. These small deltas suggest that the RTX 5080 is very competitive at the top end of the GPU market, though the 87th percentile ranking indicates there are still faster options available.

In Palworld specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced at 4K resolution. The 4K High result of 75 FPS and the 4K Medium result of 97 FPS show that the RTX 5080 has sufficient headroom to handle the game's graphical demands at high settings. The 4K Low result of 120 FPS demonstrates the GPU's ability to push very high frame rates when the graphical load is reduced, but the fact that this is only 38.8% higher than the 4K High result suggests that the CPU is still a factor even at 4K. The GPU's 16 GB of VRAM is more than adequate for Palworld's needs, as no memory-related performance degradation is visible in the measured data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a six-core, six-thread processor from the Coffee Lake architecture, running at a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. Its 9 MB of shared L3 cache and dual-channel DDR4 memory support provide adequate bandwidth for most tasks, but its age is evident in the benchmark results. The processor scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 5141 and single-core score of 1389. These scores place the CPU in the 47th percentile of all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 2254.

The CPU's nearest rivals show how close it is to other mid-range processors. The Intel Core i7-1068NG7 scores 2259 (0.2% faster), the Intel Core i7-10710U scores 2248 (0.3% slower), the AMD Ryzen 5 PRO 1500 scores 2246 (0.4% slower), and the Intel Core i3-10305 scores 2264 (0.4% faster). These tiny deltas indicate that the i5-9400 is right in the middle of its performance class, neither significantly ahead nor behind its direct competitors.

In Palworld, the CPU's limitations are most visible at 1080p where frame rates plateau. The 1080p Low result of 196 FPS and the 1080p High result of 165 FPS are both high numbers, but they show only a 15.8% difference despite the significant reduction in graphical settings. This suggests that the CPU is the bottleneck at 1080p, as the GPU has plenty of headroom to render more frames but is limited by the processor's ability to feed it data. The 1080p Ultra result of 149 FPS is only 9.7% lower than the 1080p High result, further confirming that the CPU is the limiting factor at this resolution. The six-core, six-thread configuration is sufficient for Palworld's gameplay logic, but the lack of hyperthreading means the processor cannot fully utilize its resources in heavily threaded scenarios.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core i5-9400 and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5080 ranks 678th out of 3711 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the top 18.3% of all configurations. This ranking is notable because it puts the combo in the top fifth of all tested systems, but it also reveals the mismatch between the high-end GPU and the mid-range CPU. The RTX 5080 alone ranks in the 87th percentile of GPUs, while the i5-9400 ranks in the 47th percentile of CPUs. If the combo were perfectly balanced, it would likely rank higher than 678th, but the CPU's lower percentile drags the overall performance down.

The rank of 678 out of 3711 means that there are 677 combos that perform better in Palworld, but also that there are over 3000 combos that perform worse. This places the system in a strong position overall, as it can handle the game at high settings in most scenarios. The combo's ranking is likely boosted by the GPU's excellent performance at 4K, where the CPU's limitations are less impactful. At 1080p, the combo would likely rank lower relative to other systems with newer CPUs, as the frame rates are constrained by the processor's capability.

The data shows that the combo is well-suited for Palworld at 1440p and 4K, where the GPU's power can be fully utilized. The 1440p High result of 135 FPS and the 4K High result of 75 FPS are both strong numbers that would provide smooth gameplay experiences. The ranking of 678th out of 3711 suggests that while there are better combos available, this particular pairing offers a compelling balance of performance for most players, especially those prioritizing visual quality over maximum frame rates.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its highest frame rates across all settings. Low settings produce an average of 196 FPS, Medium produces 182 FPS with a minimum of 154 FPS and maximum of 209 FPS, High produces 165 FPS, and Ultra produces 149 FPS. The 1080p results show a clear progression where each step up in settings reduces performance by approximately 8-10%, with the gap between Low and Ultra being 24.0%. The minimum FPS of 154 FPS at Medium settings ensures that even the most demanding moments in Palworld remain smooth, with no noticeable stuttering or frame drops.

At 2560x1440, the frame rates remain high but show a more significant drop from 1080p. Low settings produce 170 FPS, Medium produces 158 FPS with a range of 134 to 182 FPS, High produces 135 FPS, and Ultra produces 102 FPS. The 1440p results demonstrate a 13.3% drop from 1080p at Low settings, and a 31.5% drop at Ultra settings. The Medium settings minimum of 134 FPS is still excellent, providing a comfortable margin above the 60 FPS threshold. The 1440p Ultra result of 102 FPS is particularly notable, as it shows that the combo can handle the highest settings at this resolution without dropping below 100 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the frame rates drop more substantially, but the combo still delivers playable performance in most configurations. Low settings produce 120 FPS, Medium produces 97 FPS with a range of 83 to 112 FPS, High produces 75 FPS, and Ultra produces 57 FPS. The 4K results show a 38.8% drop from Low to High settings, and a 52.5% drop from Low to Ultra. The Medium settings minimum of 83 FPS is the only 4K result that remains above 60 FPS in all scenarios, while the Ultra result of 57 FPS dips below the 60 FPS threshold, indicating that this is the only configuration where performance becomes marginal.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the Medium settings preset provides the best overall experience across all three resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the combo delivers 182 FPS average with a minimum of 154 FPS, which is more than sufficient for smooth gameplay on any display. At 1440p Medium, the 158 FPS average and 134 FPS minimum ensure a consistently high frame rate that takes full advantage of high refresh rate monitors. Even at 4K Medium, the 97 FPS average and 83 FPS minimum provide an excellent experience that balances visual quality with performance.

The Low settings preset is the best choice for players who prioritize maximum frame rates, particularly at 1080p and 1440p. The 196 FPS at 1080p Low and 170 FPS at 1440p Low are the highest measured results in the entire dataset, making this the optimal configuration for competitive play or for users with 240 Hz or higher refresh rate displays. The 120 FPS at 4K Low is also impressive, showing that the RTX 5080 can deliver high frame rates even at the highest resolution when graphical settings are reduced.

The High settings preset offers a middle ground that is suitable for most players. The 165 FPS at 1080p High and 135 FPS at 1440p High are both strong results, while the 75 FPS at 4K High remains above the 60 FPS threshold for a playable experience. The Ultra settings preset is only recommended for 1080p and 1440p gaming, where the 149 FPS and 102 FPS results respectively are still smooth. At 4K Ultra, the 57 FPS average dips below the 60 FPS threshold, making this the only configuration where the combo struggles to maintain consistent performance. Players who want to play at 4K with the highest visual fidelity should consider dropping to High settings to gain a 31.6% performance boost from 57 FPS to 75 FPS.