Palworld

The pairing of the Intel Core i5-9400 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D in Palworld is a study in extremes. The data shows a GPU that is exceptionally powerful in synthetic benchmarks, paired with a six-core CPU from 2018 that, while still functional, sits at the 47th percentile of all tested processors. The measured frame rates reveal a system that delivers high performance at lower resolutions but struggles to maintain that pace as the resolution increases, clearly indicating where the bottleneck lies.

Resolution Scaling

The most striking trend in the measured data is how average frame rates change with resolution. At 1920x1080, the system produces an average of 196 FPS on Low settings. Moving to 2560x1440, that same Low setting drops to 170 FPS, and at 3840x2160, it falls further to 140 FPS. This pattern holds across all settings, but the magnitude of the drop is telling. For High settings, the transition from 1080p to 1440p costs 21 FPS (165 to 144 FPS), while the jump from 1440p to 4K costs another 57 FPS (144 to 87 FPS). This is a much steeper decline than what a purely GPU-bound system would typically show, suggesting that the CPU is starting to limit performance even at 1080p.

The gap between settings narrows as resolution increases, which is a classic sign of a CPU bottleneck. At 1080p, the difference between Low and Ultra is 47 FPS (196 vs 149 FPS). At 1440p, that spread compresses to 51 FPS (170 vs 119 FPS). But at 4K, the spread grows again to 74 FPS (140 vs 66 FPS). The fact that the 4K Ultra result is so low—66 FPS—while 4K Low hits 140 FPS indicates that the RTX 5090 D is capable of much higher output, but the CPU cannot feed it data fast enough to keep the GPU saturated at lower settings. When the GPU workload increases at 4K Ultra, the GPU becomes more of a limiting factor, but the CPU is still holding back the lower settings.

The data suggests that this combo is heavily CPU-limited at 1080p and 1440p. The RTX 5090 D is likely idling part of its potential, as the Core i5-9400 with its 6 cores and 6 threads cannot issue draw calls quickly enough. At 4K, the situation is more balanced, but the 66 FPS average at Ultra is far below what the GPU alone could achieve. The scaling from 1440p High to 4K High (144 to 87 FPS) is a 39.6% reduction, which is substantial but not necessarily catastrophic. The real story is that this CPU is a bottleneck in every scenario, and the GPU is only fully utilized when the resolution and settings push the pixel workload high enough.

How This Combo Ranks

In Palworld specifically, this combination ranks 418th out of 2944 tested combos. That puts it in the top 14.2% of all pairings tested for this game. This is a strong ranking, but it is important to contextualize it. The RTX 5090 D is in the 92nd percentile of all GPUs, while the CPU is in the 47th percentile. If the pairing were balanced, the combo rank would likely be higher than 418. The number of combos tested (2944) is large, and being in the top 418 suggests that the sheer power of the GPU is carrying the overall result.

The data implies that while this combo is far from the worst, it is also not where it should be. A GPU of this caliber typically pairs with a CPU that can keep up, and this pairing is not that. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (66 FPS) is playable, but the 1080p results (149-196 FPS) suggest that the CPU is the limiting factor, preventing the system from achieving the high refresh rates that the GPU could otherwise deliver. The ranking is respectable, but it is a direct consequence of the GPU’s dominance in synthetic benchmarks, not a sign of a well-matched system.

FAQ

Q: Is the Intel Core i5-9400 a bottleneck for the RTX 5090 D in Palworld?

A: Yes. The data shows that frame rates at 1080p (196 FPS on Low, 165 FPS on High) are lower than what the GPU’s synthetic scores suggest it should achieve. The CPU’s 6 cores and 6 threads, combined with its 47th percentile ranking among all CPUs, indicate it cannot feed the GPU fast enough, especially at lower resolutions.

Q: What is the best resolution for this combo in Palworld?

A: The measured data shows the highest average FPS at 1920x1080, with 196 FPS on Low and 149 FPS on Ultra. However, 1440p is also strong, with 170 FPS on Low and 119 FPS on Ultra. At 4K, performance drops significantly, with 140 FPS on Low and 66 FPS on Ultra.

Q: How does the RTX 5090 D’s memory configuration affect Palworld?

A: The RTX 5090 D has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, providing 1.79 TB/s bandwidth. The 4K Ultra result of 66 FPS, while low compared to other settings, is likely still limited by the CPU, not the memory. The high bandwidth ensures the GPU is not starved for data in most scenarios.

Q: Will the CPU limit performance more at 1080p or 4K?

A: The data shows the CPU limits performance more at 1080p. The spread between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 47 FPS, while at 4K it is 74 FPS. This indicates that at 1080p, the GPU is waiting on the CPU, while at 4K, the GPU is more fully utilized, though still not perfectly.

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

A: It ranks 418th out of 2944 combos tested in Palworld. This is in the top 14.2% of all tested pairings. The ranking is solid, but the CPU’s lower percentile (47th) compared to the GPU’s (92nd) suggests the system is not fully balanced.

Q: Is the 66 FPS at 4K Ultra a stable result?

A: The data only provides an average FPS for 4K Ultra (66 FPS). For 4K Medium, the average is 114 FPS with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS. This suggests that 4K Ultra may have more variability, but exact min and max values are not listed for that setting.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured data provides a clear picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best raw numbers. On Low, the average FPS is 196. On Medium, the average is 182 FPS, with a minimum of 154 FPS and a maximum of 209 FPS. High settings produce an average of 165 FPS, and Ultra drops to 149 FPS. The difference between Low and Ultra at 1080p is 47 FPS, indicating a strong scaling with settings.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease but remain high. Low settings yield 170 FPS. Medium produces 158 FPS, with a minimum of 134 FPS and a maximum of 182 FPS. High settings average 144 FPS, and Ultra averages 119 FPS. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, with the Low setting losing 26 FPS and the Ultra setting losing 30 FPS.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a significant hit. Low settings average 140 FPS. Medium averages 114 FPS, with a minimum of 96 FPS and a maximum of 131 FPS. High settings average 87 FPS, and Ultra drops to 66 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 74 FPS, which is the largest spread across all resolutions. This indicates that at 4K, the GPU is being taxed more heavily, but the CPU is still a limiting factor for the lower settings.

The data shows that the 4K Medium result has a minimum FPS of 96, which is higher than the 4K High average of 87 FPS. This suggests that the transition from Medium to High is a significant jump in workload. The 1080p Medium result has a minimum of 154 FPS, which is higher than the 1440p High average of 144 FPS, reinforcing that lower resolutions are less demanding on the GPU but more exposed to CPU limitations.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5090 D is a massive piece of hardware. It is built on a 5 nm process at TSMC, with a die size of 750 mm² and 92,200 million transistors. The GPU has 32 GB of GDDR7 memory on a 512-bit bus, which provides a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s. The clock speeds are listed at 2017 MHz base and 2407 MHz boost. This is the kind of hardware that dominates synthetic benchmarks, achieving a 92nd percentile ranking among all GPUs.

In Palworld, the GPU’s role is to render the game at high resolutions and settings. The data shows that at 4K Ultra, the system averages 66 FPS. This is a low number for a GPU of this caliber, and it is likely due to the CPU bottleneck. The GPU’s high bandwidth and 32 GB memory are not the limiting factors in this game. The memory size is more than sufficient for Palworld, and the bandwidth is unlikely to be a constraint at any resolution tested.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores are extraordinary. It scores 14326 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12, 310674 in Geekbench OpenCL, and 376915 in Geekbench Vulkan. These figures place it far above many rivals, but the measured FPS in Palworld do not reflect the same margin of dominance. The data implies that the RTX 5090 D is waiting for the CPU to provide it with work. The GPU has a high pixel rate of 423.6 GPixel/s and a texture rate of 1,636.8 GTexel/s, but these are theoretical maximums. In practice, the CPU cannot issue enough instructions to keep these units busy.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD Radeon RX 6650M XT (which scores 76904, a 1.1% difference) and the AMD Radeon RX 6850M XT (which scores 78940, a -1.6% difference). This indicates that the RTX 5090 D is in a performance class of its own. However, in Palworld, the measured FPS suggest that this power is being underutilized due to the CPU pairing.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i5-9400 is a 6-core, 6-thread processor based on the Coffee Lake architecture. It has a base clock of 2.90 GHz and a boost clock of 4.10 GHz. It is built on a 14 nm process and supports DDR4 memory on a dual-channel bus, with a memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s. The CPU has 9 MB of shared L3 cache. In synthetic benchmarks, it scores 6629 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 935 in single-core. Its average benchmark score is 2254, placing it in the 47th percentile of all CPUs.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is to handle the game’s logic, physics, and draw calls. The data shows that it struggles to keep up with the GPU. At 1080p Low, the system produces 196 FPS, but this is likely well below what the GPU could achieve if fed properly. The CPU’s 6 threads are a limitation in a game that can use more. The boost clock of 4.10 GHz helps, but the lack of hyper-threading means that the CPU can only handle a limited number of tasks simultaneously.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks are the Intel Core i7-1068NG7 (average score 2259, -0.2% difference) and the Intel Core i7-10710U (average score 2248, 0.3% difference). These are all in the same performance tier, which is to say, they are all mid-range processors. The data suggests that the CPU is the primary limiting factor in this combo. The measured FPS at 1080p are high in absolute terms, but they are not as high as they would be with a more powerful CPU.

The CPU’s memory bandwidth of 42.7 GB/s is also a potential bottleneck. The GPU has a bandwidth of 1.79 TB/s, which is over 40 times higher. While the CPU does not need to transfer as much data, the disparity suggests that the CPU cannot quickly feed the GPU with the necessary instructions. The CPU’s PCIe Gen 3 interface (16 lanes) is also older than the GPU’s PCIe 5.0 interface, which could further limit data transfer speeds. In this context, the CPU is a clear bottleneck, and the GPU’s potential is not fully realized in Palworld.