Palworld

Palworld presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily balanced, with the GPU becoming the primary constraint at higher resolutions while the CPU holds its own at lower settings. This pairing demonstrates a significant performance spread across the board, from an average of 50 FPS at 4K Ultra to a commanding 276.4 FPS at 1080p Low, indicating a wide operational envelope depending on user preferences.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K showcases a predictable yet steep decline in frame rates, characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher pixel counts. At High settings, the average frame rate drops from 172.1 FPS at 1920x1080 to 112.8 FPS at 2560x1440, a reduction of approximately 34%. Pushing further to 3840x2160 yields an average of 65.8 FPS, which represents a 42% decrease from the 1440p figure and a 62% drop from the 1080p baseline. This steep curve indicates that the RTX 4070 SUPER's rendering pipeline is saturated by the increased pixel workload, with the 12 GB frame buffer and 192-bit memory interface becoming increasingly taxed.

At Low settings, the scaling pattern shifts dramatically. The RTX 4070 SUPER delivers 276.4 FPS at 1080p, 184.4 FPS at 1440p, and 99.6 FPS at 4K. The percentage drop from 1080p to 1440p is 33%, and from 1440p to 4K is 46%. The larger relative drop at 4K Low compared to 4K High suggests that even with minimal graphical load, the sheer number of pixels at 3840x2160 creates a bottleneck that the GPU cannot overcome, though the absolute frame rates remain playable. The data suggests that the limiting component at 4K is unequivocally the GPU, as the CPU's performance headroom cannot compensate for the fixed pixel throughput required.

The gap between Low and Ultra settings widens with resolution. At 1080p, the difference is 147.3 FPS (276.4 vs 129.1), while at 4K, it narrows to 49.6 FPS (99.6 vs 50). This convergence indicates that at higher resolutions, the GPU's compute and memory resources are so fully utilized that reducing settings yields diminishing returns, reinforcing the notion that the RTX 4070 SUPER is the definitive limiting factor at 4K. Conversely, at 1080p, the CPU's role becomes more prominent, as the i7-12700KF's 12 cores and 20 threads can feed frames faster than the GPU can process them at lower settings.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4070 SUPER is built on the AD104 chip using a 5 nm process from TSMC, featuring 35,800 million transistors. Its memory configuration includes 12 GB of GDDR6X on a 192-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 504.2 GB/s. The core clocks are specified at 1980 MHz base and 2475 MHz boost, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). These specifications position the card in the 84th percentile versus all GPUs, with an average benchmark score of 42576.

Benchmark results show the GPU's compute capabilities: 35.48 TFLOPS for FP32 and FP16, a pixel rate of 198.0 GPixel/s, and a texture rate of 554.4 GTexel/s. In Palworld, these translate to strong performance at 1440p, where High settings yield 112.8 FPS and Medium reaches 146.2 FPS. The card's 56 RT cores and 224 tensor cores provide hardware support for advanced rendering features, though the measured data includes only standard rasterization settings. The 220 W TDP and dual-slot design indicate a power-efficient implementation, with a suggested PSU of 550 W.

The VRAM capacity of 12 GB proves sufficient for Palworld's demands, as evidenced by consistent performance across settings. At 4K Ultra, the card still manages an average of 50 FPS, suggesting that memory bandwidth is not catastrophically limiting. However, the 192-bit bus width compared to wider implementations in higher-tier cards may explain the steep scaling drop between 1440p and 4K. The GPU's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA RTX A6000 (0.2% higher score) and the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE (0.3% higher), placing the 4070 SUPER in a tight competitive band, though the data shows it trails the AMD Radeon Pro 580X by 1.4% and the NVIDIA Tesla M40 by 1.6%.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF is an Alder Lake-S part with 12 cores and 20 threads, a configuration that combines performance and efficiency cores. Its base clock of 3.60 GHz can boost up to 5.00 GHz, and it features 25 MB of shared L3 cache. The CPU supports DDR4 and DDR5 memory in a dual-channel configuration, and its unlocked multiplier allows for overclocking. It sits in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355.

In Palworld, the CPU's influence is most apparent at 1080p, where frame rates exceed 200 FPS at Low and Medium settings. The 3dmark 16-thread score of 9282 and max-thread score of 9983 indicate strong multi-threaded capability, which is relevant for a survival game that manages numerous entities and world simulation tasks. The Cinebench R23 multicore score of 28979 and single-core score of 4091 suggest balanced performance that can handle both physics and AI workloads without creating a bottleneck at lower resolutions.

The CPU's nearest rivals are closely matched, with the Intel Core i5-14400 (0.1% higher) and Intel Core i7-13800H (0.2% lower) nearly identical in average score. This means the i7-12700KF provides no significant advantage over these alternatives in synthetic benchmarks, yet its 20 threads and 5.00 GHz boost clock ensure that Palworld's CPU-intensive moments, such as base building and creature AI, do not drag down frame rates. At 4K, however, the CPU's role diminishes, as the GPU becomes the sole limiting factor, with the CPU delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the RTX 4070 SUPER and i7-12700KF combination produces high frame rates across all settings. Low settings yield an average of 276.4 FPS, Medium achieves 223.4 FPS, High reaches 172.1 FPS, and Ultra drops to 129.1 FPS. The scaling from Low to Ultra shows a 53% reduction in frame rate, indicating that graphical effects significantly impact performance even at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages decrease as expected. Low settings produce 184.4 FPS, Medium 146.2 FPS, High 112.8 FPS, and Ultra 87.3 FPS. The relative drop from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings, ranging from 33% at Low to 32% at Ultra, suggesting that the GPU's pixel throughput is the primary determinant. The 1440p Ultra result of 87.3 FPS remains smooth for most displays, while High settings at 112.8 FPS offer a good balance for high-refresh monitors.

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes more demanding. Low settings average 99.6 FPS, Medium 81.5 FPS, High 65.8 FPS, and Ultra 50 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the lowest in the dataset, but it remains playable for a survival title that does not rely on fast-paced reaction times. The gap between 1080p and 4K at Ultra is 79.1 FPS (129.1 vs 50), representing a 61% reduction. The data shows that 4K Low (99.6 FPS) outperforms 1440p Ultra (87.3 FPS), indicating that resolution has a greater impact on frame rate than settings at these extremes.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average frame rate achieved by this combo in Palworld?

A: The highest measured average is 276.4 FPS at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the RTX 4070 SUPER compare to its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU scores 42576 on average, which is 0.2% lower than the NVIDIA RTX A6000 and 0.3% lower than the AMD Radeon RX 7650 GRE, but 1.4% higher than the AMD Radeon Pro 580X and 1.6% higher than the NVIDIA Tesla M40.

Q: What is the difference in average FPS between 1080p High and 4K Ultra?

A: The 1080p High setting produces 172.1 FPS, while 4K Ultra yields 50 FPS, a difference of 122.1 FPS.

Q: Is the CPU or GPU the limiting factor at 4K resolution?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the limiting factor at 4K, as the frame rate drops significantly regardless of settings, with the RTX 4070 SUPER's pixel throughput and memory bandwidth becoming the bottleneck.

Q: What is the Intel Core i7-12700KF's percentile ranking and average benchmark score?

A: The CPU is in the 89th percentile versus all CPUs, with an average benchmark score of 35355.

Q: How does the CPU's performance compare to the Intel Core i5-14400?

A: The i7-12700KF's average score of 35355 is 0.1% lower than the Intel Core i5-14400's score of 35336, making them essentially equivalent in synthetic benchmarks.