Palworld

Palworld, released in early 2024, presents a demanding open-world survival environment where the combination of Intel Core i7-12700K and AMD Radeon RX 580 yields a specific performance profile. The benchmark data indicates this pairing ranks 1598th out of 1718 tested combinations in this game, placing it in the lower performance tier. Across all tested resolutions and settings, the system struggles to maintain high frame rates, with the data showing a clear pattern of GPU-limited performance at higher settings and resolution-dependent scaling that reveals the hardware's constraints.

CPU Role — cores, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. This desktop processor, released in late 2021, features a 25 MB shared L3 cache and supports dual-channel DDR4 and DDR5 memory. In synthetic benchmarks, the chip scores 29,241 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 4,128 in single-core, while its overall average benchmark score of 35,684 places it in the 89th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (deltaPct -0.3) and Intel Core i7-13700T (deltaPct 0.6), indicating that the i7-12700K sits in a tightly competitive performance band among mid-range processors.

For Palworld, the CPU's role is primarily to handle game logic, world simulation, and the numerous entities that populate the environment. The multi-threaded performance, evidenced by a PassMark multi-thread score of 34,404 and a 3DMark max-threads score of 9,979, suggests the processor has ample headroom for the game's computational demands. However, the measured frame rates indicate that at 1080p Low settings, where the average FPS reaches 78.9, the CPU is not the primary bottleneck. At higher settings and resolutions, the frame rates drop significantly, but this decline is more attributable to the GPU's limits than to CPU performance. The single-thread score of 4,013 in PassMark and 4,128 in Cinebench R23 shows solid per-core performance, which is adequate for Palworld's typical workload distribution. The data suggests that the i7-12700K provides sufficient processing power across all tested scenarios, as the frame rate variations correlate more strongly with GPU load than with CPU capability.

GPU Role — VRAM, clocks, and how they relate to this game's results

The AMD Radeon RX 580, based on the Polaris 20 chip with GCN 4.0 architecture, is an older graphics card released in 2017. It features 8 GB of GDDR5 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU operates at a base clock of 1257 MHz and a boost clock of 1340 MHz, with memory running at 2000 MHz (8 Gbps effective). Its compute capabilities include 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 32 ROPs, delivering 6.175 TFLOPS of FP32 performance. The card occupies the 53rd percentile of all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 13,559, placing it near the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (deltaPct 0) and GTX 950 (deltaPct 0.1).

In Palworld, the RX 580's performance is the defining constraint in this combo. At 1080p Low settings, the card achieves 78.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded for this pairing. However, as settings increase to Medium, High, and Ultra, the average frame rates drop to 66.5, 52.0, and 36.8 FPS respectively at 1080p. This pattern shows that the GPU's processing power, rather than its 8 GB VRAM capacity, limits performance. The VRAM is sufficient for the tested settings, as the frame rate declines are consistent with rendering load increases rather than memory capacity issues. The GPU's 32 ROPs and 6.175 TFLOPS compute are modest by modern standards, and Palworld's UE4-based rendering appears to stress the card heavily, particularly at Ultra settings where the 1080p average of 36.8 FPS represents a significant drop from the Low setting baseline.

Resolution Scaling — how FPS drops from 1080p to 4K and what it says about the limiting component

The measured data shows a clear and consistent pattern of frame rate decline as resolution increases, which is characteristic of GPU-bound scenarios. At High settings, the average frame rate falls from 52.0 FPS at 1080p to 30.5 FPS at 1440p, and further to 15.9 FPS at 4K. This represents a 41% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 69% drop from 1080p to 4K. Similarly, at Low settings, the 78.9 FPS at 1080p declines to 55.8 FPS at 1440p (a 29% reduction) and 32.6 FPS at 4K (a 59% reduction). The proportional decline indicates that the GPU's pixel throughput and fill rate are the limiting factors, as the CPU's performance remains constant regardless of resolution.

The scaling behavior becomes even more telling when examining the settings impact at each resolution. At 4K, the difference between Low (32.6 FPS) and Ultra (15.6 FPS) is a 52% reduction, while at 1080p, the same settings range shows a 53% reduction (from 78.9 to 36.8 FPS). This consistent percentage drop across resolutions suggests that the GPU is equally stressed by settings changes regardless of pixel count, reinforcing that the RX 580 is the primary bottleneck. The CPU, with its 89th percentile ranking and robust multi-threaded scores, is not constraining performance at any resolution; if it were, we would expect to see frame rates plateau at lower resolutions rather than continue to increase. The data supports that Palworld at 1080p Low is the only configuration where this combo approaches playable frame rates, with all other settings and resolutions falling below 67 FPS.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and setting combination for this hardware in Palworld?

A: The data shows that 1080p Low settings provides the highest average frame rate at 78.9 FPS. The next best option is 1080p Medium at 66.5 FPS, followed by 1080p High at 52.0 FPS. All 1440p and 4K configurations fall below 56 FPS, with only 1440p Low (55.8 FPS) approaching playable levels.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700K holding back performance in Palworld?

A: Benchmark results indicate the CPU is not the limiting factor. The i7-12700K scores in the 89th percentile of all CPUs with a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 29,241, and the frame rate scaling pattern across resolutions shows a GPU-bound workload. The CPU's performance is sufficient to feed the RX 580 at all tested settings.

Q: How does the RX 580 compare to its nearest GPU rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The RX 580 has an average benchmark score of 13,559, which is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 570 (13,564, deltaPct 0) and GTX 950 (13,549, deltaPct 0.1). It slightly outperforms the AMD Radeon Pro 455 (13,416, deltaPct 1.1) but trails the NVIDIA P106-090 (13,716, deltaPct -1.1).

Q: Can this system run Palworld at 4K with any playable frame rates?

A: At 4K, the highest average frame rate achieved is 32.6 FPS on Low settings. Medium settings drop to 23.1 FPS, while High and Ultra produce 15.9 and 15.6 FPS respectively. These results are below typical playability thresholds, and the data suggests 4K is not viable for this combo.

Q: How much performance is lost when moving from 1080p to 1440p at High settings?

A: At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 52.0 FPS at 1080p to 30.5 FPS at 1440p, a 41% reduction. This substantial decline indicates that the RX 580's rendering resources are heavily taxed by the increased pixel count, reinforcing the GPU-bound nature of the workload.

Q: What does the combo rank of 1598 out of 1718 indicate about this pairing?

A: The rank places this combination in the bottom 7% of all tested CPU-GPU pairings in Palworld. This low ranking is primarily attributable to the RX 580's age and limited compute capabilities, as the CPU itself ranks in the 89th percentile of all processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1080p resolution, the system delivers its best results. Low settings produce an average of 78.9 FPS, which is the highest frame rate recorded in any configuration. Medium settings achieve 66.5 FPS, High settings reach 52.0 FPS, and Ultra settings fall to 36.8 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra represents a 53% reduction in frame rate, demonstrating the significant impact of graphical fidelity settings on this GPU.

Moving to 1440p, the performance drops notably. Low settings average 55.8 FPS, which is a 29% reduction from the 1080p Low result. Medium settings achieve 42.9 FPS, High settings produce 30.5 FPS, and Ultra settings drop to 27.3 FPS. The gap between 1080p and 1440p widens at higher settings, with Ultra showing a 26% reduction from its 1080p counterpart.

At 4K resolution, the system is heavily taxed. Low settings yield an average of 32.6 FPS, which is the only 4K configuration exceeding 30 FPS. Medium settings produce 23.1 FPS, High settings achieve 15.9 FPS, and Ultra settings average 15.6 FPS. The difference between 1440p and 4K is substantial across all settings, with High settings showing a 48% reduction and Ultra showing a 43% reduction. The data reveals that this pairing is only suitable for 1080p gaming, with playable frame rates achievable at Low through High settings, while 1440p and 4K configurations consistently fall below standard playability thresholds.