Palworld

Palworld with an Intel Core i7-12700K and Intel Arc B370 produces a playable experience only at the lowest settings, and even then, the integrated graphics solution severely limits the system. The measured frame rates show a clear hierarchy: 1080p Low is the only configuration that approaches smooth gameplay, while higher resolutions and settings quickly become slideshows. This combination ranks 2706 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the bottom tier of systems.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data for this Intel Arc B370 (an integrated GPU) with the Core i7-12700K shows a stark performance ceiling. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers an average of 76 FPS, which is the only truly playable result across all tested configurations. The Medium preset at the same resolution drops to 62 FPS average, with a minimum of 52 FPS and maximum of 71 FPS, which remains technically playable but introduces noticeable frame pacing variability. The High preset at 1080p falls to 47 FPS average, and Ultra drops to 36 FPS average, both of which feel sluggish for a survival game that benefits from responsive camera movement.

For users who prioritize smoothness, the 1080p Low preset is the definitive recommendation. It provides a 14 FPS advantage over Medium and a 29 FPS advantage over High at the same resolution. The gap widens dramatically at higher resolutions: 1440p Low averages 50 FPS, which is playable but 26 FPS slower than 1080p Low, while 4K Low averages 28 FPS, which is below the threshold for comfortable play. The Medium preset is the only other option with complete min/max data, and its 1080p figures (52-71 FPS) show that frame times are inconsistent, making it a secondary choice for those who want slightly better visuals without sacrificing too much performance.

The Ultra preset is effectively unplayable at every resolution, with 1080p Ultra averaging 36 FPS, 1440p Ultra averaging 24 FPS, and 4K Ultra averaging 13 FPS. The High preset sits in a middle ground that fails to deliver: at 1440p it averages 31 FPS, and at 4K it averages 17 FPS, both of which are too low for a game like Palworld where building, exploration, and combat require steady input response. The data indicates that the best experience per the measured rows is unambiguously 1080p Low, with 1440p Low as a fallback for users with higher-resolution displays who can tolerate a 26 FPS average drop.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution and settings combination for this system in Palworld?

A: Based on the measured FPS data, 1920x1080 with Low settings provides the highest average frame rate at 76 FPS. This is the only configuration that exceeds 60 FPS, making it the clear choice for smooth gameplay.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B370 perform compared to its nearest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B370 scores 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12. Its nearest rivals are the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186, 0.2% faster), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190, 0.5% faster), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192, 0.7% faster), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168, 1.4% slower). The performance deltas are all within 1.4%, indicating that this integrated GPU sits at the very bottom of the GPU hierarchy, ranking in the 5th percentile of all GPUs.

Q: Is the Core i7-12700K a bottleneck for this game?

A: The CPU data shows strong multi-threaded performance, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 19784 and a single-core score of 1850.5. The 12-core, 20-thread processor ranks in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. However, the system's frame rates in Palworld are limited by the GPU, not the CPU, since the Arc B370's integrated design and low 3DMark score (1184) far below the CPU's capabilities.

Q: What are the FPS differences between Low, Medium, High, and Ultra at 1080p?

A: At 1920x1080, the measured average FPS values are: Low at 76 FPS, Medium at 62 FPS, High at 47 FPS, and Ultra at 36 FPS. This represents a 40 FPS drop from Low to Ultra, with each preset tier costing roughly 10-15 FPS.

Q: Can this system handle 4K resolution in Palworld?

A: No. The 4K data shows 28 FPS on Low, 23 FPS on Medium (with a minimum of 19 FPS), 17 FPS on High, and 13 FPS on Ultra. All 4K configurations fall below 30 FPS, making them unplayable for a game that requires active engagement.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals?

A: The Core i7-12700K has an average benchmark score of 35287. Its nearest rivals are the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305, 0.1% faster), Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365, 0.2% faster), Intel Core i7-13700T (35403, 0.3% faster), and Intel Core 5 213PE (35428, 0.4% faster). All deltas are under half a percent, showing that this CPU is competitive with its direct peers.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B370 is an integrated graphics processor based on the Panther Lake chip with Xe3-LPG architecture, built on a 3 nm process node. Its clock speeds are modest: a base of 300 MHz and a boost of 2400 MHz. The GPU has 1280 shading units, 40 texture mapping units, 20 render output units, and 10 ray tracing cores. Its theoretical pixel rate is 48.00 GPixel/s, texture rate is 96.00 GTexel/s, and FP32 performance is 6.144 TFLOPS. The memory configuration is entirely system-shared, meaning there is no dedicated VRAM; the bus width and bandwidth are also system-dependent, which directly impacts memory-intensive scenes in Palworld.

The measured 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score for this GPU is 1184, which places it in the 5th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals are all legacy or low-end parts: the ATI Mobility Radeon HD 5570 (1186), ATI Radeon HD 5770 (1190), AMD Radeon HD 7650M (1192), and AMD FirePro M2000 (1168). The performance deltas range from -0.7% to +1.4%, meaning the Arc B370 is effectively on par with GPUs from over a decade ago. This explains why Palworld frame rates are so low: the GPU simply lacks the raw throughput needed for a modern survival game.

In Palworld, the GPU's limitations become apparent in the measured FPS data. At 1080p Low, the system achieves 76 FPS, but this drops to 62 FPS at Medium, 47 FPS at High, and 36 FPS at Ultra. The pattern repeats at 1440p (50/41/31/24 FPS) and 4K (28/23/17/13 FPS). The system-shared memory means that as resolution increases, the GPU competes with the CPU for memory bandwidth, exacerbating the performance decline. The Arc B370's low pixel rate (48.00 GPixel/s) and texture rate (96.00 GTexel/s) are insufficient for high-resolution rendering, and the 25 W TDP suggests severe power constraints that limit sustained performance.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the system delivers its best results. The Low preset averages 76 FPS, which is the only configuration above 60 FPS in the entire dataset. The Medium preset averages 62 FPS, with a minimum of 52 FPS and a maximum of 71 FPS, showing that frame pacing is inconsistent but mostly acceptable. The High preset drops to 47 FPS average, and Ultra falls to 36 FPS average. The step from Low to Medium costs 14 FPS, from Medium to High costs 15 FPS, and from High to Ultra costs 11 FPS, indicating that the GPU struggles most when transitioning from Low to Medium settings.

At 2560x1440, performance degrades significantly. The Low preset averages 50 FPS, which is 26 FPS slower than 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 41 FPS, with a minimum of 35 FPS and maximum of 47 FPS, making it borderline playable but with noticeable stutters. The High preset averages 31 FPS, and Ultra averages 24 FPS. The relative gaps between settings remain consistent with 1080p: Low to Medium costs 9 FPS, Medium to High costs 10 FPS, and High to Ultra costs 7 FPS. However, the absolute numbers are all below the 60 FPS threshold, meaning that 1440p is only viable at Low settings.

At 3840x2160, the system becomes effectively unplayable. The Low preset averages 28 FPS, which is the highest 4K result. The Medium preset averages 23 FPS, with a minimum of 19 FPS and maximum of 26 FPS. The High preset averages 17 FPS, and Ultra averages 13 FPS. No 4K configuration reaches 30 FPS, and the Ultra preset's 13 FPS is barely a slideshow. The data shows that the Arc B370's integrated nature and lack of dedicated VRAM make 4K resolution a non-starter for Palworld, regardless of settings.

The min/max data available only for Medium settings at each resolution provides insight into frame consistency: at 1080p Medium, the range is 52-71 FPS (a 19 FPS spread); at 1440p Medium, it is 35-47 FPS (a 12 FPS spread); and at 4K Medium, it is 19-26 FPS (a 7 FPS spread). This suggests that as resolution increases, the frame rate becomes more stable but at a much lower average, which is typical for a GPU that is consistently bottlenecked rather than occasionally hitting a ceiling.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a steep performance drop as resolution increases from 1080p to 4K. At Low settings, the average FPS goes from 76 at 1080p, to 50 at 1440p, to 28 at 4K. This represents a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p, and a 63% drop from 1080p to 4K. At Medium settings, the averages are 62, 41, and 23 FPS respectively, showing a 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p and a 63% drop to 4K. At High settings, the averages are 47, 31, and 17 FPS, with drops of 34% and 64%. At Ultra settings, the averages are 36, 24, and 13 FPS, with drops of 33% and 64%.

The consistency of these percentage drops across all settings is revealing. From 1080p to 1440p, the average drop is roughly one-third of the original FPS, and from 1440p to 4K, the drop is nearly half of the 1440p value. This linear scaling pattern indicates that the GPU is the limiting component, as a CPU bottleneck would typically show smaller percentage drops at higher resolutions (since the CPU work stays constant while GPU work increases). The fact that the FPS scales almost directly with pixel count (1080p has 2.07 million pixels, 1440p has 3.69 million, and 4K has 8.29 million) confirms that the Intel Arc B370 is saturated at every resolution.

The absolute FPS values further reinforce this conclusion. At 4K Ultra, the system averages 13 FPS, which is a 76% reduction from 1080p Ultra's 36 FPS. Even at Low settings, 4K only reaches 28 FPS, which is 63% lower than 1080p Low. The pixel rate of 48.00 GPixel/s and texture rate of 96.00 GTexel/s are simply inadequate for feeding the 8.29 million pixels at 4K with any meaningful detail. The system-shared memory also means that the GPU cannot offload data efficiently, as the memory bus width and bandwidth are system-dependent, adding latency at higher resolutions where more texture data must be accessed.

The scaling data suggests that the Core i7-12700K is not a factor in these results. A CPU-limited system would show smaller FPS drops at 4K because the GPU would be the bottleneck, but here the drops are proportional to pixel count, meaning the GPU is always the limiting factor. The 12-core, 20-thread processor with a 5.00 GHz boost clock is more than capable of feeding a GPU that scores only 1184 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700K is a 12-core, 20-thread processor based on the Alder Lake architecture, built on Intel's 10 nm process node. It has a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz, with a TDP of 125 W. The cache hierarchy includes 80 KB of L1 per core, 1.25 MB of L2 per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. This CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and it uses the Intel Socket 1700 platform with Gen 4 PCIe (20 lanes from the CPU). The integrated graphics are UHD Graphics 770, and the launch MSRP was $409.

Benchmark data shows that this CPU is a strong performer. In 3DMark tests, it scores 1043 in single-thread, 2065 in 2-thread, 4011 in 4-thread, 7202 in 8-thread, 9276 in 16-thread, and 9979 in max-thread tests. Cinebench results include R15 multicore of 3325 and singlecore of 272, R20 multicore of 12229 and singlecore of 1726, and R23 multicore of 19784 and singlecore of 1850.5. Geekbench shows 15790 multicore and 2308 singlecore. PassMark tests show multithread at 34404, single-thread at 4013, floating point math at 88035, integer math at 114264, extended instructions at 28885, data encryption at 23408, data compression at 446595, physics at 1790, find prime numbers at 114, and random string sorting at 45805. The average benchmark score is 35287, and the CPU ranks in the 84th percentile of all CPUs.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is to feed the GPU with draw calls, physics calculations, and game logic. The measured frame rates show that the CPU is not the bottleneck: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 76 FPS, which suggests that the CPU can sustain frame rates well above what the GPU delivers at higher settings. The 20 threads handle Palworld's multi-threaded workloads, which include world simulation, creature AI, and building physics, without issue. However, the GPU's 5th percentile ranking means that even the CPU's strong single-thread performance (1850.5 in R23 single-core) cannot compensate for the Arc B370's lack of rasterization power.

The CPU's nearest rivals are all within 0.4% of its average score: the Intel Core i5-13600T (35305), Intel Core i7-12700KF (35365), Intel Core i7-13700T (35403), and Intel Core 5 213PE (35428). This indicates that the i7-12700K is not a performance outlier; it is a solid mid-range-to-high-end CPU from the 12th Gen family. In Palworld, this CPU's capabilities are wasted because the integrated Arc B370 cannot utilize the available processing power. The 84th percentile CPU ranking versus the 5th percentile GPU ranking shows a massive imbalance, meaning that any Palworld performance improvements would require a discrete GPU, not a faster CPU. The data confirms that the Core i7-12700K is more than adequate for this game; the Intel Arc B370 is the definitive limiting factor.