Palworld

Palworld presents an interesting scaling challenge for the Intel Core i7-12700KF and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER combination. The measured data reveals a system that is heavily influenced by resolution, with the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck as pixel count increases, while the CPU's strength is more evident at lower resolutions. This analysis breaks down the performance metrics from the FACT PACK to provide a clear picture of what this hardware pairing delivers in this survival title.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a significant performance drop that is characteristic of a GPU-bound scenario at higher resolutions. At 1080p with Low settings, the combo achieves an average of 316 FPS, which drops to 208 FPS at 1440p and 115 FPS at 4K. This represents a 64% reduction in average FPS from 1080p to 4K on Low settings, clearly indicating that the rendering workload at higher resolutions is overwhelming the GPU's capabilities.

The scaling pattern changes with settings. On High settings, the average FPS drops from 197 at 1080p to 130 at 1440p and 72 at 4K, a 63% reduction overall. The Medium preset shows a similar trend, with average FPS of 256 at 1080p, 169 at 1440p, and 94 at 4K. Interestingly, the Ultra preset shows the steepest relative decline, falling from 149 FPS at 1080p to 98 at 1440p and just 55 at 4K, a 63% drop from the lowest to highest resolution.

This data suggests that the limiting component shifts as resolution increases. At 1080p, the high frame rates (up to 316 FPS on Low) indicate that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at very high rates, but the GPU cannot maintain those frame rates as the pixel count quadruples at 4K. The gap between Low and Ultra settings at 4K (115 FPS vs 55 FPS) further confirms that the GPU is the primary constraint at higher resolutions, as the additional shading and texture work from higher presets directly impacts performance.

How This Combo Ranks

Within the benchmark database, this specific CPU and GPU pairing achieves a combo rank of 308 out of 3711 tested combinations in Palworld. This places it in the top 8.3% of all tested combos, indicating that it is a high-performing configuration for this game. The percentile data for the individual components supports this: the CPU sits at the 85th percentile among all tested CPUs, and the GPU is at the 86th percentile among all tested GPUs.

The GPU's nearest rivals provide context for its performance level. The RTX 4080 SUPER's average benchmark score of 54209 is nearly identical to the standard RTX 4080, which scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%. The AMD Radeon Pro W5700X scores 54828 (1.1% higher), while the AMD Radeon RX 6750 GRE 12 GB scores 55698 (2.7% higher). Interestingly, the AMD Radeon 8060S scores 55757, which is 2.8% higher, suggesting that some AMD alternatives can outperform this GPU in general benchmarks, though the in-game results for Palworld may differ.

The CPU's nearest rivals show a tight grouping. The Intel Core i7-13700T scores 35403, essentially matching the i7-12700KF's 35365 (a -0.1% delta). The Intel Core i5-13600T scores 35305 (0.2% lower), while the Intel Core 5 213PE scores 35428 (0.2% higher). The Intel Core i7-12700K scores 35287, which is 0.2% lower than the KF variant. These small deltas indicate that the i7-12700KF is positioned within a competitive performance band for its class.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on which settings preset delivers the best experience for different display refresh rates. For 4K displays, the High preset at 72 FPS average is the only option that stays above the 60 FPS threshold, while the Ultra preset drops to 55 FPS, which may be noticeable in a survival game. The Medium preset at 4K averages 94 FPS, making it a strong choice for players with 60Hz or 90Hz displays who want smoother gameplay without sacrificing too much visual quality.

For 1440p displays, the High preset at 130 FPS average is excellent for 120Hz monitors, while the Medium preset at 169 FPS aligns well with 165Hz panels. The Low preset at 208 FPS exceeds the refresh rate of most 1440p monitors, making it an option only for competitive play where frame rate is prioritized over visuals. The Ultra preset at 98 FPS remains playable but may not fully utilize higher refresh rate displays.

At 1080p, all presets deliver playable frame rates, with the Low preset reaching 316 FPS and High at 197 FPS. The Medium preset at 256 FPS is well-suited for 240Hz monitors, while the Ultra preset at 149 FPS still provides smooth gameplay for standard 144Hz displays. Based on the data, the Medium preset offers the best balance between visual fidelity and performance across all resolutions, as it maintains playable frame rates even at 4K (94 FPS) while providing higher average FPS than High or Ultra at every resolution tested.

FAQ

Q: Does the RTX 4080 SUPER's 16 GB VRAM cause any performance issues in Palworld?

A: The data does not indicate VRAM-related bottlenecks. The GPU has 16 GB of GDDR6X memory with a 256-bit bus and 736.3 GB/s bandwidth, and the measured FPS at 4K Ultra (55 FPS) is consistent with GPU compute limitations rather than memory capacity issues.

Q: How does this combo perform at 4K compared to 1080p?

A: The average FPS drops significantly with resolution. On High settings, the average FPS falls from 197 at 1080p to 130 at 1440p and 72 at 4K. On Low settings, the drop is from 316 at 1080p to 208 at 1440p and 115 at 4K.

Q: Is the Intel Core i7-12700KF a bottleneck for the RTX 4080 SUPER?

A: The data suggests the CPU is not a bottleneck at higher resolutions, as frame rates scale with resolution as expected. At 1080p Low (316 FPS), the CPU is likely the limiting factor, but at 4K, the GPU becomes the constraint, as evidenced by the larger FPS differences between settings presets.

Q: What is the best settings preset for a 144Hz 1440p monitor?

A: The High preset at 1440p averages 130 FPS, which is below 144Hz. The Medium preset averages 169 FPS, which exceeds 144Hz and provides headroom. The Low preset at 208 FPS offers even more headroom but sacrifices visual quality.

Q: How does the RTX 4080 SUPER compare to the standard RTX 4080?

A: The RTX 4080 SUPER has an average benchmark score of 54209, while the RTX 4080 scores 54247, a delta of -0.1%. This indicates they perform nearly identically in general benchmarks, though the SUPER variant has a higher boost clock of 2550 MHz compared to the base clock of 2295 MHz.

Q: Can this combo achieve 60 FPS at 4K with Ultra settings?

A: No, the measured average FPS at 4K Ultra is 55 FPS, which falls below the 60 FPS threshold. The High preset at 4K averages 72 FPS, making it the highest quality preset that maintains 60 FPS at 4K.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080 SUPER is the dominant component in this pairing at higher resolutions. Its specifications include 10240 shading units, 320 texture mapping units, and 112 render output units, with 80 RT cores and 320 tensor cores. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2295 MHz and boosts to 2550 MHz, with memory running at 1438 MHz (23 Gbps effective). The 16 GB GDDR6X memory on a 256-bit bus provides 736.3 GB/s of bandwidth.

The GPU's compute capabilities are substantial, with FP32 performance rated at 52.22 TFLOPS and texture rate at 816.0 GTexel/s. The pixel rate of 285.6 GPixel/s helps explain why the GPU handles 4K rendering reasonably well, though the data shows that Ultra settings at 4K push it to 55 FPS average. The GPU's average benchmark score of 54209 places it at the 86th percentile among all GPUs, with its nearest rival being the RTX 4080 at 54247 (-0.1% delta).

In Palworld specifically, the GPU's role becomes more pronounced as resolution increases. The measured FPS differences between Low and Ultra settings grow from 167 FPS at 1080p (316 vs 149) to 60 FPS at 4K (115 vs 55). This pattern confirms that the RTX 4080 SUPER is the limiting factor at 4K, as the increased pixel count and shading complexity from higher presets directly reduce frame rates. The GPU's memory bandwidth of 736.3 GB/s appears sufficient for the game, as no VRAM-related performance anomalies are visible in the data.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-12700KF provides the processing foundation for this combo, with 12 cores and 20 threads based on the Alder Lake architecture. It runs at a base clock of 3.60 GHz and boosts up to 5.00 GHz, with a 125 W TDP. The CPU features 80 KB of L1 cache per core, 1.25 MB of L2 cache per core, and 25 MB of shared L3 cache. Its benchmark scores include a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 28838 and single-core score of 4071, with a Geekbench multi-core score of 14367.

The CPU's average benchmark score of 35365 places it at the 85th percentile among all CPUs, just slightly below its nearest rival, the Intel Core i7-13700T, which scores 35403 (-0.1% delta). The CPU's single-thread performance is notable, with a PassMark single-thread score of 3984, which is important for games that rely on one or two primary threads. The 3DMark 2-thread score of 2065 and 4-thread score of 4011 indicate strong low-thread-count performance.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions. The 1080p Low preset achieves 316 FPS average, which suggests the CPU can feed the GPU at very high frame rates. However, the gap between Low and Ultra at 1080p (316 vs 149 FPS) indicates that the CPU also handles the additional game logic and draw calls associated with higher settings. At 4K, the CPU's influence diminishes, as the frame rates across all presets (55-115 FPS) are primarily determined by GPU rendering capability. The CPU's 20 threads and high boost clock of 5.00 GHz provide sufficient headroom for Palworld's simulation and world-generation tasks, as evidenced by the stable frame rates at 1440p High (130 FPS) and 4K High (72 FPS).

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a complete picture of performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 316 FPS, followed by Medium at 256 FPS, High at 197 FPS, and Ultra at 149 FPS. The Medium preset at 1080p shows a minimum of 218 FPS and maximum of 294 FPS, indicating some frame time variance but generally smooth performance.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 208 FPS, Medium averages 169 FPS, High averages 130 FPS, and Ultra averages 98 FPS. The Medium preset at 1440p has a minimum of 143 FPS and maximum of 194 FPS, providing a playable range for high refresh rate displays. The Ultra preset at 1440p (98 FPS average) remains above 60 FPS but shows the expected performance cost of higher visual fidelity.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 115 FPS, Medium averages 94 FPS with a minimum of 79 FPS and maximum of 108 FPS, High averages 72 FPS, and Ultra averages 55 FPS. The Medium preset at 4K is notable for maintaining a minimum above 60 FPS, making it the only preset at this resolution that guarantees a 60 FPS floor. The High preset at 4K averages 72 FPS but does not have a recorded minimum, while the Ultra preset drops below 60 FPS, which may result in noticeable stuttering in a survival game where consistent frame times are important.