Palworld

Palworld’s performance with the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 combination reveals a system that is overwhelmingly GPU-bound at higher resolutions, yet surprisingly capable at 1080p. The benchmark data indicates a clear hierarchy: the RTX 4090 provides immense headroom that is progressively constrained as resolution and settings increase, while the mobile CPU holds its own without becoming a bottleneck in most scenarios.

Resolution Scaling

The frame rate scaling from 1080p to 4K demonstrates a classic GPU-limited curve, but with notable deviations at lower settings. At 1080p High, the combo delivers 156 FPS. Moving to 1440p High drops this to 102 FPS, a 34.6% reduction, and then to 57 FPS at 4K High, a further 44.1% drop from 1440p. This steep decline between 1440p and 4K indicates that the game’s visual fidelity at High settings places an exponential load on the GPU’s pixel throughput.

At Low settings, the scaling is more aggressive. The system hits 250 FPS at 1080p, which is the highest measured average in the dataset. Dropping to 1440p Low yields 164 FPS (a 34.4% decrease), and 4K Low produces 91 FPS (a 44.5% decrease from 1440p). The fact that 4K Low (91 FPS) is still higher than 1440p High (102 FPS) is not a typo—it underscores how much of the performance headroom at 4K is tied to shader complexity and texture quality rather than pure pixel count. The RTX 4090’s 24 GB of GDDR6X memory and 1.01 TB/s bandwidth are sufficient to handle the data throughput at 4K, but the rendering pipeline becomes the limiting factor.

Ultra settings present the most demanding scenario. At 1080p Ultra, the average FPS is 118, which is 24.4% lower than High at the same resolution. At 1440p Ultra, it falls to 78 FPS, and at 4K Ultra, it bottoms out at 43 FPS. The 4K Ultra result is the only measured scenario below 50 FPS, indicating that the game’s maximum preset exceeds the RTX 4090’s capacity for consistent 60+ FPS gameplay at this resolution. The scaling from 1440p Ultra (78 FPS) to 4K Ultra (43 FPS) is a 44.9% drop, consistent with the pattern seen at other settings, confirming that the GPU’s compute units are the primary constraint.

The Medium settings provide the only complete data with min and max FPS. At 1080p Medium, the average is 202 FPS with a min of 172 and max of 233. At 1440p Medium, the average drops to 133 FPS (min 113, max 153), and at 4K Medium, it reaches 74 FPS (min 63, max 85). The spread between min and max FPS narrows from 61 FPS at 1080p to 40 FPS at 1440p and 22 FPS at 4K. This tightening range suggests that at higher resolutions, the GPU’s frame pacing becomes more consistent as it saturates, whereas at 1080p, CPU or driver overhead can cause larger fluctuations. Overall, the data shows that this combo is most balanced at 1440p, where High settings deliver 102 FPS, offering a strong compromise between visual quality and smoothness.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 is the dominant component in this pairing, and its specifications align with the measured results. The GPU features 16,384 shading units, 512 TMUs, and 176 ROPs, with a boost clock of 2520 MHz. Its FP32 performance of 82.58 TFLOPS is the raw compute muscle that drives the high frame rates seen at 1080p and 1440p. The 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus provides 1.01 TB/s of bandwidth, which is critical for Palworld’s large open-world environments and texture streaming at 4K.

The GPU’s 128 RT cores and 512 tensor cores are present but play a minimal role in this title, as Palworld does not heavily utilize ray tracing or DLSS based on the data. The measured FPS at 4K Ultra (43 FPS) is the clearest indicator of the GPU’s limits—even with this flagship card, the game’s unoptimized rendering at maximum settings can overwhelm the 176 ROPs. The pixel rate of 443.5 GPixel/s is the theoretical fill rate, and the 4K results show that the actual achieved frame rate is far below what this fill rate could theoretically support, indicating that shader complexity and geometry are the bottlenecks.

The GPU’s percentile ranking of 88 among all GPUs places it in the top tier, but its nearest rivals in the benchmark suite—such as the Intel Arc Pro A60 (0% delta) and AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48 (0.3% delta)—are not consumer gaming cards, suggesting that the RTX 4090’s closest competition in this database is mixed. The RTX 4090’s 450 W TDP and triple-slot design are high, but the performance per frame at 4K High (57 FPS) versus 1080p Low (250 FPS) shows that the card is capable of delivering playable frame rates across a wide range, with the user’s settings choice being the primary determinant of experience.

FAQ

Q: Can this combo run Palworld at 4K 60 FPS?

A: Only at Medium settings, where the average FPS is 74. At High settings, the average drops to 57 FPS, and at Ultra, it falls to 43 FPS. The 4K Medium result is the only 4K setting that exceeds the 60 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the highest FPS this system can achieve in Palworld?

A: The maximum measured average is 250 FPS at 1080p Low settings. At 1080p Medium, it achieves 202 FPS, and at 1080p High, 156 FPS.

Q: How does the CPU affect performance at 1080p?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H has 14 cores and 18 threads with a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. At 1080p, the GPU is not fully saturated, allowing the CPU to push frame rates higher, as seen with the 250 FPS result at Low settings. However, the CPU’s single-thread score of 1700 in Cinebench R23 suggests it can keep up with the GPU’s demands.

Q: Is the RTX 4090 overkill for Palworld at 1440p?

A: The data suggests yes for most settings. At 1440p High, the system achieves 102 FPS, and at Medium, 133 FPS. The GPU’s 24 GB VRAM is not fully utilized at this resolution, but the high frame rates indicate ample headroom.

Q: What is the performance difference between High and Ultra settings at 4K?

A: At 4K, High settings yield an average of 57 FPS, while Ultra yields 43 FPS. This is a 24.6% reduction in frame rate for the visual upgrade, which may not be worth the drop for smooth gameplay.

Q: Does the combo rank high compared to other tested systems?

A: The combo ranks 625 out of 2944 tested combinations, placing it in the top 21.2% of all tested combos. This is a strong position, but not top-tier, indicating that other systems with different CPU-GPU pairings can outperform it.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The complete measured FPS dataset for Palworld is as follows:

At 1920x1080 resolution:

• Low settings: 250 FPS average
• Medium settings: 202 FPS average, with a min of 172 and max of 233
• High settings: 156 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 118 FPS average

At 2560x1440 resolution:

• Low settings: 164 FPS average
• Medium settings: 133 FPS average, with a min of 113 and max of 153
• High settings: 102 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 78 FPS average

At 3840x2160 resolution:

• Low settings: 91 FPS average
• Medium settings: 74 FPS average, with a min of 63 and max of 85
• High settings: 57 FPS average
• Ultra settings: 43 FPS average

The data reveals a consistent pattern: each step up in settings reduces the average FPS by roughly 20-30% at a given resolution. The only exception is the jump from High to Ultra at 1080p, where the drop is 24.4% (from 156 to 118 FPS), which is slightly less severe than at other resolutions. The Medium settings are the only ones with complete min/max data, and the spread narrows as resolution increases, from 61 FPS at 1080p to 22 FPS at 4K. This indicates that the GPU becomes the sole bottleneck at higher resolutions, reducing frame time variance.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 5 135H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 625th out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld, placing it in the 78.8th percentile of all tested systems. This rank is influenced by both components, but the RTX 4090’s high percentile (88) versus the CPU’s lower percentile (81) suggests that the GPU is the primary driver of this ranking. The combo’s rank is better than the CPU’s individual standing, indicating that the GPU compensates for the CPU’s relative weakness.

Compared to other tested combos, this pairing performs well in absolute terms, as evidenced by the 4K High result of 57 FPS, which is playable but not ideal. The rank of 625 means there are 624 combos that achieve higher average FPS in Palworld, likely consisting of systems with more powerful desktop CPUs or multiple GPU configurations. However, the data shows that this mobile CPU and top-tier GPU combination is capable of delivering high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, making it a strong choice for high-refresh-rate gaming.

The CPU’s nearest rivals, such as the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X (-0.1% delta) and Intel Core i5-13500HX (-0.6% delta), have similar average benchmark scores, but the RTX 4090’s nearest rivals (Intel Arc Pro A60, AMD Radeon Pro Vega 48) are not gaming-focused cards. This mismatch in the benchmark database means the combo’s rank is more reflective of the GPU’s gaming strength than the CPU’s, as the RTX 4090’s performance in Palworld is far beyond what professional-grade cards can achieve in gaming workloads.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 135H plays a supporting role in this combo, and its specifications provide context for the measured FPS. The CPU has 14 cores and 18 threads, with a base clock of 3.60 GHz and a boost clock of 4.60 GHz. Its 18 MB of shared L3 cache and 7 nm process node (Meteor Lake architecture) are adequate for gaming, but its mobile design and 28 W TDP limit its sustained performance compared to desktop parts.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is most evident at lower resolutions and settings. At 1080p Low, the system reaches 250 FPS, which is a clear indicator that the CPU can feed the GPU enough data to avoid bottlenecking. However, the CPU’s single-thread performance (1700 in Cinebench R23) is modest, and at 1080p High (156 FPS), the frame rate is still high but not at the level of the Low setting. The CPU’s multi-thread score of 11875.5 in Cinebench R23 suggests that Palworld’s world simulation, which involves many concurrent entities, can utilize the 18 threads effectively.

The CPU’s 89.6 GB/s memory bandwidth is sufficient for the GPU’s needs, and the dual-channel DDR5 support ensures data can flow without major stalls. The CPU’s percentile of 81 places it above average, but its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen 7 5800X, has a nearly identical average benchmark score (29123 vs 29123, -0.1% delta), indicating that the 135H is competitive with older desktop parts. The data shows that the CPU does not become a limiting factor until the GPU is fully saturated, which happens at 4K Ultra where the system drops to 43 FPS—a scenario where the GPU’s 16,384 shading units are maxed out, and the CPU has idle capacity. Thus, the CPU’s role is to enable high frame rates at lower resolutions, while the GPU dictates performance at higher resolutions.