Palworld

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 paired with the AMD Radeon RX 9060 delivers a 1080p experience that is firmly playable in Palworld, but the data shows significant compromises at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the combo achieves 167 FPS on Low settings and 104 FPS on High, making it a strong performer for standard monitors. However, pushing to 3840x2160 drops the average to 38 FPS on High and 29 FPS on Ultra, indicating that this pairing is not suited for 4K gaming at high presets. The combination ranks 1683 out of 2944 tested combos in this game, placing it in the lower half of the database.

FAQ

Q: What is the best resolution for this CPU and GPU combo in Palworld?

A: The data shows 1920x1080 is the only resolution where all settings presets remain above 60 FPS. At 2560x1440, Low and Medium settings achieve 110 FPS and 89 FPS respectively, but High drops to 69 FPS and Ultra falls to 52 FPS. At 3840x2160, no preset reaches 60 FPS, with Low at 61 FPS being the sole exception.

Q: How does the Ultra preset compare to High in terms of frame rate?

A: The Ultra preset consistently delivers the lowest frame rates across all resolutions. At 1920x1080, Ultra averages 79 FPS compared to High’s 104 FPS, a difference of 25 FPS. At 2560x1440, Ultra averages 52 FPS versus High’s 69 FPS. At 3840x2160, Ultra averages 29 FPS versus High’s 38 FPS.

Q: Is the Radeon RX 9060 capable of handling Palworld at 4K?

A: No, the measured data indicates 4K is not viable for smooth gameplay. At 3840x2160, the average FPS ranges from 29 on Ultra to 61 on Low. Medium settings yield 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, showing that even mid-range presets struggle to maintain a stable 60 FPS at this resolution.

Q: What is the combo’s overall ranking among tested configurations?

A: The combo ranks 1683 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld. This places it in the 57th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning roughly 43% of tested combos perform worse and 57% perform better in this specific game.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its nearest rivals in average benchmark score?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062. Its closest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375, scores 46030, a delta of 0.1%. The Intel Core i9-13900HX scores 46098, which is 0.1% higher than the Ultra 5 235. The AMD EPYC 4364P and AMD EPYC 7303 score 45970 and 45960 respectively, both 0.2% lower.

Q: What are the frame time characteristics at Medium settings?

A: The data includes minimum and maximum FPS for Medium settings. At 1920x1080, Medium averages 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 and maximum of 156. At 2560x1440, Medium averages 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 and maximum of 103. At 3840x2160, Medium averages 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 and maximum of 57.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 5 235 is a 14-core, 14-thread processor from the Core Ultra Series 2, built on the Arrow Lake architecture with a 3 nm process node. Its base clock is 3.40 GHz and boost clock reaches 5.00 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU has 24 MB of shared L3 cache and 3 MB of L2 cache per core. These specifications contribute to a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14769 and a single-core score of 2085. The PassMark multithread score is 37816, and the single-thread score is 4516.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is primarily to manage the game’s simulation and world state, which can be demanding due to the survival genre’s need for tracking many entities. The data indicates that at 1920x1080 with Low settings, the combo reaches 167 FPS, suggesting the CPU is not a bottleneck at lower graphical loads. The single-thread performance, reflected in the Cinebench R23 single-core score of 2085, is adequate for the game’s main logic thread. The multi-core score of 14769 shows the processor can handle background tasks and the game’s threading model, though Palworld is not heavily multithreaded in all scenarios.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score include the AMD Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 with a score of 46030 and the Intel Core i9-13900HX with 46098. These deltas of 0.1% or less indicate that the Ultra 5 235 sits in a performance tier where small differences in raw compute are unlikely to produce meaningful frame rate differences in Palworld. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs further supports its position as a capable mid-range processor.

The PassMark physics score of 2570 and the floating point math score of 117951 provide additional context. Physics calculations are relevant to Palworld’s interactions with the environment and creatures. The integer math score of 87948 and data compression score of 390711 show strong general compute performance. These scores do not directly translate to frame rates, but they indicate the CPU has sufficient headroom for the game’s processing needs.

When considering the 14 threads, note that the CPU does not have hyperthreading, so each core handles one thread. This is sufficient for gaming workloads, where Palworld typically uses fewer than 8 threads. The boost clock of 5.00 GHz provides the single-thread speed needed for the game’s primary game thread, which is often the limiting factor in survival games with complex world simulations. The measured frame rates show that at 1080p Low, the combo achieves 167 FPS, indicating the CPU can feed the GPU effectively at lower resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

The measured FPS data provides clear guidance on settings presets for each resolution. For the best experience, prioritize a balance between visual quality and frame rate stability. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best combination of performance and visual fidelity. It averages 135 FPS with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS. This provides a smooth experience on 144Hz monitors without the visual downgrades of Low settings. High settings at 1080p average 104 FPS, which is still excellent for most displays, but the drop from 135 to 104 FPS is noticeable while the visual difference between Medium and High is less impactful in a survival game.

At 2560x1440, the Medium preset again emerges as the recommended choice. It averages 89 FPS with a minimum of 76 FPS, ensuring gameplay stays above 60 FPS even in demanding scenes. Low settings at 1440p reach 110 FPS, but the reduction in draw distance and texture quality can hinder gameplay in a game where spotting creatures and resources is important. High settings at 1440p average 69 FPS, which is playable but leaves less headroom for drops during intense moments. The minimum FPS of 76 on Medium provides better stability than the average of 69 on High suggests.

For 3840x2160, the data shows that no preset provides a consistently smooth experience. Low settings average 61 FPS, which is marginally above 60 FPS but likely to dip below during combat or when exploring dense areas. Medium settings average 49 FPS with a minimum of 42 FPS, which is below the threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra drops to 29 FPS. Given these numbers, the recommendation for 4K is to use Low settings if the game must run at this resolution, but the data suggests that 2560x1440 with Medium settings provides a far superior experience.

The Ultra preset is not recommended at any resolution. At 1080p, it averages 79 FPS, which is lower than Medium’s 135 FPS and High’s 104 FPS. At 1440p, Ultra averages 52 FPS, which is below the 60 FPS target. At 4K, Ultra averages 29 FPS, making it unplayable. The visual benefits of Ultra over High do not justify the frame rate penalties measured in the data. For the best experience, the data indicates that Medium settings at 1080p or 1440p provide the optimal balance, with 135 FPS and 89 FPS respectively.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo of the Intel Core Ultra 5 235 and AMD Radeon RX 9060 ranks 1683 out of 2944 tested combos in Palworld. This ranking places it in the lower 43% of the database, indicating that many other CPU-GPU pairings achieve higher frame rates in this game. However, the rank does not tell the whole story. The combo’s performance is highly resolution-dependent, as shown by the measured FPS data.

At 1920x1080, the combo’s performance is competitive with mid-range systems. The 104 FPS average on High settings is respectable, and the 167 FPS on Low settings shows the system can handle competitive play. The CPU’s 89th percentile ranking among all CPUs suggests that the processor is not the limiting factor. The GPU’s 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs indicates that the Radeon RX 9060 is a mid-range graphics card, and its performance in Palworld reflects that.

The GPU’s nearest rivals in average benchmark score are the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti with a score of 16129 (0.7% higher than the RX 9060’s 16014), the AMD Radeon R9 370X with 15862 (1% lower), and the AMD Radeon RX 7700 with 15852 (1% lower). These small deltas suggest the RX 9060 performs similarly to these cards in general benchmarks, but Palworld’s specific engine and optimization can shift the balance. The combo rank of 1683 indicates that in Palworld, this pairing does not excel relative to other tested configurations.

The rank also reflects the CPU’s position. The Ultra 5 235 has an average benchmark score of 46062, with rivals like the Ryzen AI 9 HX 375 at 46030 and the Core i9-13900HX at 46098. These differences of 0.1% or less are negligible in gaming scenarios. The combo’s rank is therefore more influenced by the GPU’s mid-range positioning than by the CPU. The data shows that at 1440p and 4K, the GPU becomes the bottleneck, as evidenced by the steep drop in frame rates from 1080p to 1440p and further to 4K.

GPU Role

The AMD Radeon RX 9060 is built on the RDNA 4.0 architecture with the Navi 44 chip, manufactured on a 4 nm process. It has 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, providing 288.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The GPU’s boost clock is 2990 MHz, with a game clock of 2400 MHz. It features 1792 shading units, 112 TMUs, and 64 ROPs. The FP32 performance is 21.43 TFLOPS, and the texture rate is 334.9 GTexel/s.

In Palworld, the GPU’s role is to render the game’s environments, creatures, and effects. The 8 GB VRAM is sufficient for 1080p and 1440p at most settings, as indicated by the measured frame rates. At 1920x1080, the GPU delivers 167 FPS on Low, 135 FPS on Medium, and 104 FPS on High. These numbers show the GPU is not heavily constrained at this resolution. The 79 FPS on Ultra indicates that the highest preset places significant load on the GPU, but it remains playable.

At 2560x1440, the GPU’s limits become more apparent. Low settings achieve 110 FPS, but Medium drops to 89 FPS, High to 69 FPS, and Ultra to 52 FPS. The drop from Low to Medium is 21 FPS, and from Medium to High is 20 FPS, showing that each preset tier has a substantial impact on GPU load. The Ultra preset’s 52 FPS is below the 60 FPS target, indicating that the GPU cannot sustain high visual quality at this resolution.

At 3840x2160, the GPU is clearly the bottleneck. Low settings average 61 FPS, Medium averages 49 FPS, High averages 38 FPS, and Ultra averages 29 FPS. The 8 GB VRAM and 288.0 GB/s bandwidth are insufficient for 4K at high presets, as the data shows a steady decline in frame rates with each increase in preset quality. The GPU’s 59th percentile ranking among all GPUs reflects its mid-range positioning, and Palworld’s performance at 4K confirms that this is not a 4K-capable card for demanding titles.

The GPU’s benchmark scores provide additional context. The 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score is 3322, the PassMark G3D score is 17631, and the Geekbench OpenCL score is 88183. These scores indicate the GPU’s raw compute capabilities, but Palworld’s specific engine characteristics, including its use of DirectX and the game’s optimization, determine the actual frame rates. The data shows that the GPU performs well at 1080p, adequately at 1440p with medium settings, and poorly at 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of the combo’s performance across resolutions and settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 167 FPS, which is the highest measured frame rate in the entire dataset. Medium settings at 1080p average 135 FPS, with a minimum of 115 FPS and a maximum of 156 FPS, showing good frame time consistency. High settings average 104 FPS, and Ultra settings average 79 FPS. The progression from Low to Ultra shows a steady decline, with each preset tier costing approximately 30 FPS on average.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 110 FPS, which is still highly playable. Medium settings average 89 FPS, with a minimum of 76 FPS and a maximum of 103 FPS. The minimum of 76 FPS indicates that even in demanding scenes, the frame rate stays above 60 FPS. High settings average 69 FPS, which is playable but closer to the 60 FPS threshold. Ultra settings average 52 FPS, falling below the threshold for smooth gameplay. The data shows that 1440p Medium is the sweet spot, balancing visual quality with performance.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 61 FPS, just above the 60 FPS target. Medium settings average 49 FPS, with a minimum of 42 FPS and a maximum of 57 FPS. The minimum of 42 FPS indicates significant frame drops during intense gameplay. High settings average 38 FPS, and Ultra settings average 29 FPS. The data shows a clear trend: Palworld at 4K is only playable on Low settings, and even then, the average of 61 FPS leaves little headroom for drops.

Comparing resolutions, the drop from 1920x1080 to 2560x1440 costs approximately 57 FPS on Low (167 to 110), 46 FPS on Medium (135 to 89), 35 FPS on High (104 to 69), and 27 FPS on Ultra (79 to 52). The drop from 1440p to 4K costs 49 FPS on Low (110 to 61), 40 FPS on Medium (89 to 49), 31 FPS on High (69 to 38), and 23 FPS on Ultra (52 to 29). These numbers show that the GPU’s performance scales as expected with resolution, but the absolute frame rates at 4K are too low for a smooth experience.

The Medium settings data includes minimum and maximum FPS, which provides insight into frame time stability. At 1080p, the minimum of 115 FPS and maximum of 156 FPS show a range of 41 FPS, indicating some variance but generally smooth performance. At 1440p, the minimum of 76 FPS and maximum of 103 FPS show a range of 27 FPS, which is tighter and indicates more consistent frame pacing. At 4K, the minimum of 42 FPS and maximum of 57 FPS show a range of 15 FPS, but the low absolute values mean even small drops are noticeable. The data suggests that Medium settings provide the most stable experience relative to their average frame rates.