Palworld

# Palworld Performance Analysis: Intel Core i7-13700K + Intel Arc B570

This combination of Intel's 13th-generation 16-core processor and the Arc B570 graphics card delivers playable frame rates across most settings in Palworld, though the data reveals a system that is firmly GPU-limited at higher resolutions. The Core i7-13700K, with its 16 cores and 24 threads boosting to 5.40 GHz, provides ample computational headroom, while the Arc B570's 10 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 160-bit bus becomes the primary constraint as resolution increases. Measured results span from a very smooth 130 FPS average at 1080p Low to a barely playable 22 FPS average at 4K Ultra, indicating that users must make deliberate settings choices to match their display's native resolution.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS rows paint a clear picture of which preset delivers the optimal experience at each resolution. At 1920x1080, the High preset achieves an 81 FPS average, which is comfortably above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay in a survival title where reaction time matters during creature encounters. However, the Medium preset at 105 FPS average with a minimum of 89 FPS offers a more significant performance buffer, ensuring that even intense combat sequences with multiple Pals active on screen will not cause noticeable hitches. The jump from High to Ultra at 1080p costs 20 FPS (from 81 to 61), a substantial 25% reduction for what is typically marginal visual improvement in this genre. For 1080p users, Medium represents the sweet spot—it delivers 105 FPS average, which is 30% higher than High, while the 89 FPS minimum recorded in the data guarantees consistent frame delivery.

Moving to 2560x1440, the situation changes dramatically. The High preset produces a 53 FPS average, which is playable but leaves little margin for demanding scenes. Medium at 69 FPS average with a 59 FPS minimum is the clear recommendation here, as it maintains frame rates above the 60 FPS target while providing the visual fidelity most players expect at this resolution. The Low preset at 85 FPS is viable for competitive play, but the visual compromise in a game like Palworld—where exploring vibrant landscapes is a core activity—makes Medium the better balance. Ultra at 1440p drops to 40 FPS average, which falls below the threshold for comfortable gameplay in a title that involves real-time aiming and dodging.

At 3840x2160, the data becomes more sobering. Even the Low preset only achieves 47 FPS average, while Medium drops to 38 FPS with a 33 FPS minimum. High manages just 30 FPS, and Ultra falls to 22 FPS. For 4K users, the Low preset is the only setting that approaches playability, and even then, the 47 FPS average indicates that users should consider reducing resolution or accepting frame rates below 60. The measured data suggests that 4K gaming with this combo requires significant compromises; Medium at 38 FPS is technically playable for slower-paced exploration but will struggle during combat encounters. The optimal approach for 4K is Low, which provides the highest average FPS while still rendering at native resolution.

GPU Role

The Intel Arc B570's specifications directly explain the measured performance patterns across resolutions. With 10 GB of GDDR6 memory operating at 2375 MHz (19 Gbps effective) on a 160-bit bus, the card delivers 380.0 GB/s of memory bandwidth. This bandwidth figure is modest by modern standards and becomes the limiting factor as resolution increases, since higher resolutions demand more texture data and geometry to be streamed from VRAM. The GPU's 2304 shading units, 144 texture mapping units, and 80 raster output units operate at a fixed 2500 MHz base and boost clock, which means the card's raw compute capability—11.52 TFLOPS FP32—is constant regardless of load.

The benchmark scores for the Arc B570 place it in a specific performance tier. The Passmark G3D score of 14195 and 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 2649 indicate a mid-range GPU, which aligns with the measured Palworld performance. The card's nearest rivals include the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile with a deltaPct of 0.1% and the Intel Arc A750 at -0.1%, suggesting the B570 sits in a competitive position relative to these older or mobile parts. The 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs confirms this positioning.

The relationship between VRAM capacity and resolution becomes evident when examining the FPS drops. At 1080p, the 10 GB frame buffer is more than sufficient, allowing the card to deliver 105 FPS on Medium. At 1440p, the increased memory pressure from higher-resolution textures reduces performance by roughly 34% on the same settings (from 105 to 69 FPS). At 4K, the 10 GB capacity becomes a serious constraint, with the Medium preset falling to 38 FPS—a 64% reduction from 1080p Medium. This pattern strongly suggests that VRAM capacity and bandwidth, rather than raw shading power, are the primary GPU-side limitations in Palworld at higher resolutions.

The GPU's 150 W TDP and dual-slot design with a single 8-pin power connector indicate it is not a power-hungry part, which helps maintain consistent clock speeds. However, the measured frame times at 4K Ultra (22 FPS average) suggest that the card is fully saturated and cannot maintain playable performance even with the powerful CPU feeding it frames.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Palworld at 60 FPS at 1080p?

A: Yes, the data shows 81 FPS average on High and 105 FPS on Medium at 1920x1080, both exceeding the 60 FPS threshold. The Low preset achieves 130 FPS average, while Ultra drops to 61 FPS, which is just at the 60 FPS mark.

Q: What is the best settings preset for 1440p gaming?

A: The Medium preset at 2560x1440 provides 69 FPS average with a 59 FPS minimum, making it the only 1440p setting that consistently stays near or above 60 FPS. High falls to 53 FPS, and Ultra drops to 40 FPS.

Q: Is 4K gaming viable with this component combination?

A: Barely, and only on Low settings. The 4K Low preset achieves 47 FPS average, which is playable but not smooth. Medium drops to 38 FPS, High to 30 FPS, and Ultra to 22 FPS, all below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the Arc B570 compare to its closest GPU rivals?

A: The Arc B570's average benchmark score of 20556 is nearly identical to the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Mobile (20534, deltaPct 0.1%) and the Intel Arc A750 (20582, deltaPct -0.1%). It also closely matches the AMD Radeon R9 M390X at -0.5% deltaPct.

Q: Does the CPU bottleneck the GPU in this game?

A: No. The Core i7-13700K's performance data—including a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a Passmark multithread score of 45887—indicates it has substantial headroom. The consistent FPS drops from 1080p to 4K at each settings tier confirm the GPU is the limiting component.

Q: What frame rates can I expect on Ultra settings?

A: At 1080p Ultra, the combo achieves 61 FPS average. At 1440p Ultra, it drops to 40 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it falls to 22 FPS. The Ultra preset is only viable at 1080p for smooth gameplay.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the measured results span a wide range. The Low preset delivers 130 FPS average, representing the maximum performance this combo can achieve in Palworld at 1080p. Medium follows at 105 FPS average, with recorded minimum and maximum of 89 and 121 FPS respectively, showing consistent frame delivery. High drops to 81 FPS average, a 23% reduction from Medium, while Ultra falls to 61 FPS—a 42% reduction from Low. The 1080p data reveals that each settings tier costs approximately 20-25 FPS, with the gap between Medium and High (24 FPS) being the largest single-step difference.

Moving to 2560x1440, the pattern shifts. Low produces 85 FPS average, which is 35% lower than the 1080p Low result. Medium achieves 69 FPS with a 59 FPS minimum and 80 FPS maximum, indicating some frame variance but generally stable performance. High drops to 53 FPS, and Ultra falls to 40 FPS. The percentage reduction from 1080p to 1440p is consistent across settings: Low loses 35%, Medium loses 34%, High loses 35%, and Ultra loses 34%. This uniformity suggests a resolution-based scaling factor rather than settings-specific behavior.

At 3840x2160, the performance collapse becomes apparent. Low achieves 47 FPS, which is 45% lower than 1440p Low and 64% lower than 1080p Low. Medium drops to 38 FPS with a 33 FPS minimum, highlighting the frame rate instability at this resolution. High falls to 30 FPS, and Ultra bottoms out at 22 FPS. The 4K data shows that even the lowest settings cannot maintain 60 FPS, and the gap between Low and Ultra (25 FPS) is the largest of any resolution, indicating that the GPU's memory subsystem is overwhelmed at this pixel count.

Resolution Scaling

The measured FPS data reveals a clear resolution scaling pattern that identifies the limiting component. From 1080p to 1440p, the average FPS across all settings drops by approximately 34-35%. This is a substantial reduction that indicates the GPU is the primary bottleneck, as a CPU-limited scenario would show much smaller differences when pixel count increases. From 1440p to 4K, the drop becomes even more severe, with the Low preset falling from 85 to 47 FPS (45% reduction) and Medium falling from 69 to 38 FPS (45% reduction).

This scaling behavior is characteristic of a GPU that is constrained by memory bandwidth. The Arc B570's 380.0 GB/s bandwidth is spread thinner as resolution increases, since each frame requires more texture fetches and pixel writes. The 10 GB VRAM capacity also becomes a factor at 4K, where large texture sets may exceed the available memory, forcing the card to use slower fallback paths. The fact that the FPS drops are proportionally similar across all settings tiers (Low, Medium, High, Ultra) suggests that the limitation is fundamental to the GPU's architecture rather than specific to any rendering feature.

The data implies that for this combo, 1080p is the resolution where the CPU and GPU achieve the best balance. At 1080p Medium, the 105 FPS average indicates the system is not severely bottlenecked by either component. At 1440p, the 69 FPS Medium result shows the GPU is working harder but still delivering acceptable performance. At 4K, the 38 FPS Medium result demonstrates that the GPU is overwhelmed, and the 33 FPS minimum recorded suggests frame time spikes that would be noticeable during gameplay.

CPU Role

The Intel Core i7-13700K brings substantial processing power to this combination. With 16 cores (likely 8 performance and 8 efficiency cores based on the architecture) and 24 threads, it can handle Palworld's simulation and AI workloads without breaking a sweat. The 3.40 GHz base clock boosting to 5.40 GHz provides excellent single-thread performance, as evidenced by the 3DMark single-thread score of 1136 and Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2116. The 30 MB of shared L3 cache helps keep frequently accessed game data close to the cores.

The CPU's benchmark results place it in the 89th percentile among all tested processors, with an average benchmark score of 46881. Its nearest rivals include the AMD Ryzen 9 5900 (deltaPct -0.2%) and the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX PRO 375 (deltaPct -0.3%), showing that it trades blows with high-end AMD parts. The multi-threaded performance is particularly strong, with a Cinebench R23 multicore score of 30745 and a Passmark multithread score of 45887, indicating that Palworld's background simulations—such as Pal AI, world state updates, and physics calculations—will not be CPU-bound.

In the context of Palworld, the CPU's role is to maintain consistent frame delivery by ensuring that game logic never becomes the bottleneck. The measured FPS data confirms this is the case: the frame rate scales almost perfectly with resolution and settings, which would not happen if the CPU were limiting. The 3DMark 16-thread score of 10717 and 8-thread score of 8193 show that the CPU scales well with thread counts, meaning that even if Palworld is not perfectly optimized for many cores, the high single-thread performance (Passmark single thread score of 4333) ensures responsive gameplay.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of Intel Core i7-13700K and Intel Arc B570 ranks 2362 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the bottom 20% of all configurations. This ranking reflects the GPU's mid-range positioning rather than any deficiency in the CPU, which is among the top 10% of processors. The combo's position suggests that while the CPU is capable of driving much higher frame rates, the Arc B570 holds the system back, particularly at higher resolutions where the GPU's memory constraints become critical.

The rank implies that many other GPU pairings with this CPU would deliver better Palworld performance. The GPU's 65th percentile ranking among all GPUs, combined with its close competitive positioning to the RTX 3070 Mobile and Arc A750, indicates that this combo is suited for 1080p and modest 1440p gaming rather than high-refresh or 4K scenarios. The 2944 total tested combos include both older and newer hardware, and the 2362 rank places this system in the lower third, meaning users should temper expectations for demanding titles like Palworld at high settings.

Given the CPU's strength, upgrading the GPU would likely result in a substantial rank improvement, as the i7-13700K has demonstrated it can feed much faster graphics cards. The measured FPS data supports this analysis: at 1080p Low, the system achieves 130 FPS, which suggests the CPU can handle even higher frame rates if the GPU were faster. For users of this combo, the practical takeaway is that Palworld performance is entirely GPU-bound, and the ranking reflects the Arc B570's position in the market rather than any systemic issue with the pairing.