Palworld

Palworld, a survival game released in January 2024, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with resolution. The combination of an Intel Core i7-12700K and an AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT delivers a wide range of frame rates across presets and resolutions, as measured in the benchmark data. This analysis examines the measured FPS, the role of each component, and how this combo ranks among 1718 tested configurations.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS reveals a clear pattern: as resolution increases, frame rates drop sharply, indicating a GPU-bound workload at higher pixel counts. At High settings, the average FPS falls from 156.5 at 1920x1080 to 104.1 at 2560x1440, and further to 54.6 at 3840x2160. The decline is steep, with the 4K figure less than half of the 1080p value. This trend holds across all presets. At Low settings, the numbers are 245.3 at 1080p, 163.8 at 1440p, and 87.8 at 4K. Medium yields 199.4, 133.3, and 75.4 respectively, while Ultra produces 115.3, 79.6, and 43.5.

The consistency of the drop from 1080p to 4K—roughly a 60–70% reduction in FPS—suggests that the GPU is the primary limiting factor at higher resolutions. At 1080p, the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU with enough data to reach very high frame rates, as evidenced by the 245.3 FPS at Low settings. However, the GPU's rendering load dominates as pixel count increases, causing the frame rate to plummet. The data implies that for 4K gaming, the RX 9070 XT is the bottleneck, while at 1080p the CPU's performance is sufficient to avoid limiting the frame rate.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured rows, the optimal preset depends heavily on the target resolution. At 3840x2160, Medium is the highest preset that maintains a playable frame rate, delivering 75.4 FPS. High drops to 54.6, and Ultra to 43.5, both of which may feel sluggish for fast-paced gameplay. At 2560x1440, High provides 104.1 FPS, while Ultra still manages 79.6, making Ultra a viable option for those who prioritize visual fidelity. At 1920x1080, even Ultra reaches 115.3 FPS, so players can max out settings without sacrificing smoothness.

The data suggests that for a balanced experience, Medium at 4K, High at 1440p, and Ultra at 1080p are the recommended presets. At 4K, the jump from Medium to High costs 20.8 FPS (from 75.4 to 54.6), a significant loss for a modest visual gain. At 1440p, the difference between High and Ultra is 24.5 FPS (104.1 vs 79.6), which may be acceptable for those with high-refresh-rate displays. At 1080p, the gap between Ultra and High is 41.2 FPS (115.3 vs 156.5), but Ultra still exceeds 100 FPS, making it the best choice for image quality.

CPU Role

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. It features 25 MB of shared L3 cache and supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory. Its benchmark scores are strong: Cinebench R23 multicore reaches 29241, single core 4128, and Geekbench multicore 13892, single core 2561. The CPU sits in the 89th percentile among all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35684. Its nearest rivals are all within 1% of this score: the AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 is 0.3% ahead, the Intel Core i7-13700T is 0.6% behind, the Intel Core i5-14500HX is 0.7% ahead, and the Intel Core i7-13800H is 0.8% behind. The launch MSRP for this CPU is $409.

In Palworld, the CPU's high boost clock and 20 threads are well-suited for a survival game that may involve many AI entities, physics calculations, and world simulation. The measured FPS at 1080p Low (245.3) suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower resolutions, as the frame rate is extremely high. However, the steep drop at 4K indicates that the GPU becomes the limiting factor, not the CPU. The data implies that the i7-12700K provides ample headroom for this game, even at high frame rates.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the i7-12700K and RX 9070 XT ranks 460th out of 1718 tested combos in Palworld. This places it in the upper portion of the ranking, outperforming the majority of tested configurations. The rank reflects the overall performance across all measured settings and resolutions, and the data shows that this combo delivers consistently high frame rates, especially at 1080p and 1440p. While it does not reach the very top of the list, the 460th position out of 1718 indicates a strong, well-balanced pairing that can handle demanding survival gameplay.

FAQ

Q: What is the average FPS at 1080p Ultra?

A: The average FPS at 1920x1080 with Ultra settings is 115.3.

Q: How much VRAM does the RX 9070 XT have?

A: The GPU features 16 GB of GDDR6 memory.

Q: What is the CPU's boost clock?

A: The Intel Core i7-12700K has a boost clock of 5.00 GHz.

Q: What is the combo's rank among tested configurations?

A: This combo ranks 460th out of 1718 tested combos in Palworld.

Q: What is the GPU's memory bandwidth?

A: The RX 9070 XT has a memory bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s.

Q: What is the CPU's L3 cache size?

A: The i7-12700K has 25 MB of shared L3 cache.

Measured FPS Breakdown

| Resolution | Settings | Avg FPS |

|------------|----------|---------|

| 3840x2160 | High | 54.6 |

| 3840x2160 | Low | 87.8 |

| 3840x2160 | Medium | 75.4 |

| 3840x2160 | Ultra | 43.5 |

| 2560x1440 | High | 104.1 |

| 2560x1440 | Low | 163.8 |

| 2560x1440 | Medium | 133.3 |

| 2560x1440 | Ultra | 79.6 |

| 1920x1080 | High | 156.5 |

| 1920x1080 | Low | 245.3 |

| 1920x1080 | Medium | 199.4 |

| 1920x1080 | Ultra | 115.3 |

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with a 4 nm process, featuring 4096 shading units, 256 texture mapping units, and 128 ROPs. It has 64 ray tracing cores and a boost clock of 2970 MHz, with a base clock of 1660 MHz and a game clock of 2400 MHz. The GPU is equipped with 16 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 644.6 GB/s. Its FP32 performance is 48.66 TFLOPS, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, Vulkan 1.4, and OpenGL 4.6. The GPU sits in the 82nd percentile among all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 39647. Its nearest rivals are all within 1%: the AMD Radeon Pro 575 is 0.1% ahead, the NVIDIA RTX A500 Mobile is 0.2% behind, the AMD Radeon Pro 575X is 0.5% ahead, and the AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 is 0.6% ahead. The launch MSRP for this GPU is 599 USD.

In Palworld, the GPU's high memory bandwidth and 16 GB VRAM are beneficial for a large open world with many assets. The FPS scaling data shows that the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as frame rates drop significantly from 1080p. The 82nd percentile ranking indicates strong overall performance, and the measured FPS at 1080p and 1440p confirms that the RX 9070 XT can handle high refresh rates at those resolutions. The GPU's 128 ROPs and 64 RT cores contribute to its ability to render complex scenes, though the game's performance at 4K suggests that even this powerful GPU struggles to maintain high frame rates at maximum settings.