Palworld

Palworld, a survival title released in early 2024, presents a demanding workload that scales significantly with both resolution and graphical presets. This analysis examines the measured performance of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H paired with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 across three resolutions and four quality settings. The data indicates a configuration capable of high frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, with 4K Ultra presenting a substantial challenge to this mobile CPU and flagship desktop GPU pairing.

Settings Recommendations

The measured data reveals a clear performance hierarchy across the four presets. At 1920x1080, the Ultra preset delivers an average of 118 FPS, which is fully playable for a survival title, while the High preset provides a significant boost to 156 FPS. The Medium preset reaches 202 FPS, and Low peaks at 250 FPS. For players prioritizing smoothness, the High preset at 1080p offers an optimal balance, providing a 38 FPS improvement over Ultra while maintaining a respectable visual quality level.

Moving to 2560x1440, the Ultra preset drops to 78 FPS, which is still above the 60 FPS threshold but leaves little headroom. The High preset at 1440p delivers 102 FPS, representing a substantial 24 FPS advantage over Ultra while likely offering nearly indistinguishable visual differences in most gameplay scenarios. The Medium preset reaches 133 FPS, and Low achieves 164 FPS. The data suggests that High is the recommended preset for 1440p, as it maintains high frame rates while preserving the visual fidelity that the RTX 4090 is capable of producing.

At 3840x2160, the situation becomes more constrained. The Ultra preset yields only 43 FPS, which is below the ideal smoothness threshold for a fast-paced survival game. The High preset achieves 57 FPS, just under the 60 FPS target, while Medium reaches 74 FPS and Low hits 91 FPS. Given these measurements, the Medium preset at 4K is the recommended choice, as it provides the best experience per the measured rows by maintaining an average above 60 FPS while still offering enhanced visual quality over the Low preset. The High preset at 4K, with 57 FPS, is borderline, but the 17 FPS gain from Medium over High makes Medium the superior choice for consistent gameplay.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 serves as the primary rendering engine in this configuration. Its specifications include 24 GB of GDDR6X memory on a 384-bit bus, yielding a bandwidth of 1.01 TB/s. The GPU operates at a base clock of 2235 MHz and boosts to 2520 MHz, with memory running at 1313 MHz (21 Gbps effective). This hardware is built on the Ada Lovelace architecture with 16,384 shading units and 128 RT cores.

The GPU's memory capacity of 24 GB is particularly relevant for Palworld, a game that features expansive open-world environments. The measured frame rates at 4K demonstrate that the RTX 4090 is the limiting factor at this resolution, as the GPU's rendering capabilities determine the performance ceiling. The data shows a clear progression: at 4K Medium, the configuration achieves 74 FPS, while at 4K Low it reaches 91 FPS. This 17 FPS difference highlights how the GPU's workload scales with preset complexity.

The RTX 4090's benchmark scores, including a 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 score of 9223 and a Passmark G3D score of 38194, position it in the 88th percentile of all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the Intel Arc Pro A60 with a delta of 0% and the AMD Radeon Pro W6600M at -2.5%. However, in Palworld specifically, these synthetic scores do not translate directly to in-game performance, as the measured FPS data shows the RTX 4090 delivering frame rates that range from 43 FPS at 4K Ultra to 250 FPS at 1080p Low.

FAQ

Q: What is the maximum average frame rate achievable with this configuration?

A: The highest measured average frame rate is 250 FPS, achieved at 1920x1080 with the Low preset. The Medium preset at 1080p reaches 202 FPS, while High and Ultra at 1080p deliver 156 FPS and 118 FPS, respectively.

Q: Can this system maintain 60 FPS at 4K resolution?

A: Yes, but only with reduced settings. At 4K Medium, the average FPS is 74, and at 4K Low it is 91. The High preset at 4K falls short at 57 FPS, and Ultra drops to 43 FPS, both below the 60 FPS target.

Q: How does the 1440p High preset compare to 1080p Ultra?

A: The 1440p High preset achieves an average of 102 FPS, while 1080p Ultra reaches 118 FPS. The difference is 16 FPS, indicating that the resolution increase to 1440p costs approximately 13.6% of the frame rate compared to the quality increase from High to Ultra at 1080p.

Q: What is the frame time consistency like at Medium settings?

A: The Medium preset is the only one with measured minimum and maximum FPS values. At 1080p Medium, the range spans from 172 to 233 FPS with an average of 202. At 1440p Medium, the range is 113 to 153 FPS with an average of 133. At 4K Medium, the range is 63 to 85 FPS with an average of 74.

Q: How significant is the performance drop from 1080p to 4K?

A: At the High preset, the average FPS drops from 156 at 1080p to 102 at 1440p and 57 at 4K. This represents a 34.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 63.5% reduction from 1080p to 4K, indicating a strong scaling with resolution.

Q: Is the RTX 4090's 24 GB VRAM sufficient for Palworld?

A: The measured data does not indicate any VRAM-related limitations. The 24 GB memory capacity, combined with the 1.01 TB/s bandwidth, appears adequate for all tested presets and resolutions, as frame rates scale consistently with rendering resolution and settings.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4090 ranks 625 out of 2944 tested combinations in Palworld. This places the configuration in the 78.8th percentile of all tested combos, indicating that it outperforms the majority of systems tested for this game. The rank of 625 suggests that while this is a strong performer, there are 624 other combinations that achieve higher average frame rates in Palworld.

The ranking reflects the unique nature of this pairing: a mobile CPU with 16 cores and 22 threads paired with a flagship desktop GPU. The RTX 4090 is an end-of-life product in the GeForce 40-series, with its successor being the GeForce 50 series. Despite this, the GPU's performance remains competitive, as evidenced by its position in the 88th percentile of all GPUs.

The CPU component, the Intel Core Ultra 7 165H, has an average benchmark score of 34083 and sits in the 84th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rivals include the Intel Core Ultra 5 338H with a delta of 0.3%, the AMD EPYC 4244P at -0.4%, and the AMD Ryzen 7 3700X at -0.5%. This close grouping indicates that the CPU's performance is comparable to several other mid-range and high-end processors.

In Palworld, the combo rank of 625 out of 2944 suggests that the system performs well but is not at the absolute top tier. The measured frame rates at 1080p High (156 FPS) and 1440p High (102 FPS) are strong, but the 4K Ultra result of 43 FPS shows limitations. The combination's rank is likely influenced by the CPU's mobile nature, which may constrain performance in CPU-bound scenarios at lower resolutions.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 165H is a mobile processor from the Core Ultra Series 1, built on the Meteor Lake architecture using a 7 nm process. It features 16 cores and 22 threads, with a base clock of 3.80 GHz and a boost clock of 5.00 GHz. The CPU has a TDP of 28 W and supports DDR5 memory on a dual-channel interface with a bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s. Its cache hierarchy includes 112 KB of L1 per core, 2 MB of L2 per core, and 24 MB of shared L3 cache.

In Palworld, the CPU's role is most evident at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the configuration achieves 250 FPS, which suggests that the CPU is capable of feeding the GPU at high frame rates. However, the CPU's benchmark scores, including a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 14551 and a single-core score of 1759, indicate that it is not a top-tier processor. Its Passmark multi-thread score of 25933 and single-thread score of 3509 place it in the 84th percentile of all CPUs.

The CPU's performance relative to its rivals is tight. The Intel Core Ultra 5 338H has an average score of 33989, just 0.3% lower than the 165H's 34083. The AMD EPYC 4244P and AMD Ryzen AI 7 350 both have average scores around 34220, which is 0.4% higher. The AMD Ryzen 7 3700X scores 34260, 0.5% higher. These small deltas suggest that the 165H performs on par with these alternatives, but none of them are significantly faster.

In Palworld, the CPU's 16 cores and 22 threads may influence performance in scenarios with many entities or complex physics calculations. The data shows that at 1080p, the frame rates scale from 118 FPS at Ultra to 250 FPS at Low, indicating that the CPU can handle high frame rates. The 4K results, which range from 43 to 91 FPS, are more GPU-bound, suggesting the CPU is not the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across all tested configurations. At 1920x1080, the Low preset achieves an average of 250 FPS, the highest measured value. The Medium preset averages 202 FPS with a range of 172 to 233 FPS. The High preset averages 156 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 118 FPS. These results show a clear progression, with each increase in preset quality reducing the average frame rate by a significant margin.

At 2560x1440, the Low preset averages 164 FPS, a 34.4% reduction from 1080p Low. The Medium preset averages 133 FPS with a range of 113 to 153 FPS. The High preset averages 102 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 78 FPS. The scaling from 1080p to 1440p is consistent, with each preset experiencing a similar proportional drop.

At 3840x2160, the Low preset averages 91 FPS, the Medium preset averages 74 FPS with a range of 63 to 85 FPS, the High preset averages 57 FPS, and the Ultra preset averages 43 FPS. The 4K results demonstrate the significant rendering load at this resolution, with even the Low preset not reaching 100 FPS. The Ultra preset at 4K, at 43 FPS, is the lowest measured value across all configurations.

The data shows that the Medium preset is the only one with complete min/max measurements across all resolutions. At 1080p Medium, the range is 172 to 233 FPS. At 1440p Medium, the range is 113 to 153 FPS. At 4K Medium, the range is 63 to 85 FPS. This provides insight into frame time consistency, with the 4K Medium showing a 22 FPS spread, which is proportionally larger than the 1080p Medium spread of 61 FPS.

Resolution Scaling

The performance scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals important characteristics of this configuration. At the High preset, the average frame rate drops from 156 FPS at 1080p to 102 FPS at 1440p and 57 FPS at 4K. This represents a 34.6% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and an additional 44.1% reduction from 1440p to 4K, totaling a 63.5% drop from 1080p to 4K.

At the Low preset, the scaling is similar: 250 FPS at 1080p drops to 164 FPS at 1440p and 91 FPS at 4K. This is a 34.4% reduction from 1080p to 1440p and a 44.5% reduction from 1440p to 4K. The consistency of these percentages across presets suggests that the scaling is primarily resolution-driven rather than settings-driven.

The Medium preset shows a similar pattern: 202 FPS at 1080p, 133 FPS at 1440p, and 74 FPS at 4K. The reduction from 1080p to 1440p is 34.2%, and from 1440p to 4K is 44.4%. The Ultra preset, with 118 FPS at 1080p, 78 FPS at 1440p, and 43 FPS at 4K, shows reductions of 33.9% and 44.9%, respectively.

The proportional scaling across all presets indicates that the limiting component changes with resolution. At 1080p, the high frame rates (up to 250 FPS) suggest that the CPU may be a factor, as the GPU has ample headroom. However, the consistent percentage drops as resolution increases point to the GPU becoming the primary bottleneck at higher resolutions, particularly at 4K where the RTX 4090's rendering capabilities determine the performance ceiling. The data shows that moving from 1440p to 4K consistently reduces frame rates by approximately 44-45% across all presets, indicating a strong GPU-bound scenario at 4K.