Palworld

Palworld pairs the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 with the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER, a combination that ranks 2066th out of 2944 tested hardware combos for this game. The benchmark data shows a system that delivers playable frame rates at 1080p and 1440p, but struggles to maintain smooth performance at 4K, particularly at higher quality presets. The CPU’s 20 cores and 30 MB of L3 cache provide ample headroom, while the GPU’s 8 GB of VRAM and 448.0 GB/s bandwidth become the primary constraint as resolution scales upward.

FAQ

Q: What average frame rate can I expect at 1920x1080 with Medium settings?

A: The measured data shows an average of 123 FPS at 1080p Medium, with a minimum of 105 FPS and a maximum of 142 FPS. This suggests a consistently smooth experience for most gameplay scenarios.

Q: How does the RTX 2060 SUPER compare to its closest rivals in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The GPU’s average benchmark score is 18093, placing it 0.4% behind the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Mobile (18159) and 0.5% behind the AMD Radeon Pro 5700 (18189). It is 1.5% ahead of the AMD Radeon RX 460 (18373) and 1.6% ahead of the Intel Arc A770M (18383).

Q: Is the Intel Core Ultra 7 265’s multi-threaded performance competitive?

A: The CPU achieves a Cinebench R23 multi-core score of 42216, which places it in the 93rd percentile among all CPUs. Its average benchmark score of 64640 is 0.3% behind the AMD EPYC 4464P (64823) and 0.7% behind the AMD EPYC 9124 (65104), while being 0.3% ahead of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F (64438).

Q: What is the best resolution for maintaining a 60+ FPS average across all settings?

A: At 2560x1440, the average FPS ranges from 47 on Ultra to 100 on Low. Only the High and Low presets at 1440p achieve averages above 60 FPS (62 and 100, respectively). At 1920x1080, every preset except Ultra (72 FPS) exceeds 90 FPS on average.

Q: How much VRAM does the RTX 2060 SUPER have and what is its memory bandwidth?

A: The GPU is equipped with 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 256-bit bus, providing a bandwidth of 448.0 GB/s. The memory clock runs at 1750 MHz, which translates to 14 Gbps effective.

Q: Does the CPU’s boost clock play a significant role in this game’s performance?

A: The Core Ultra 7 265 has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz. Given that the GPU becomes the limiting factor at higher resolutions, the CPU’s high boost clock is more relevant for ensuring consistent frame delivery at 1080p, where the system achieves up to 152 FPS on Low settings.

Settings Recommendations

The measured frame rates reveal a clear trade-off between visual fidelity and performance. For players targeting 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering an average of 123 FPS with a minimum of 105 FPS. This stays well above the 60 FPS threshold for most displays and provides a significant improvement over the High preset’s 95 FPS average. The Ultra preset at 1080p drops to 72 FPS, which is still playable but leaves less headroom for demanding scenes.

At 2560x1440, the High preset provides an average of 62 FPS, which is the only setting that combines decent visuals with a playable frame rate. The Medium preset at 1440p averages 81 FPS, making it the superior choice for smoother motion, but it sacrifices some graphical details. The Low preset at 1440p reaches 100 FPS, but the visual downgrade is substantial. For 4K, the data shows that even the Low preset only averages 55 FPS, while Medium drops to 45 FPS with a minimum of 38 FPS. The High preset at 4K averages 35 FPS, which is below the comfort zone for most action-oriented gameplay.

Given the measured results, the optimal experience is at 1080p Medium for high refresh rate monitors, or 1440p High for those prioritizing resolution. The 4K Ultra preset, with an average of 26 FPS, is not recommended for anything other than static scenes or screenshots.

GPU Role

The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER is a Turing-architecture GPU built on a 12 nm process, featuring 2176 shading units and 64 ROPs. Its base clock of 1470 MHz boosts to 1650 MHz, and it supports DirectX 12 Ultimate, OpenGL 4.6, and Vulkan 1.4. The GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory is a critical factor in Palworld, as the game’s open-world environments and creature populations can consume substantial VRAM.

The measured FPS data shows that the GPU becomes the bottleneck at higher resolutions. At 1920x1080, the average FPS scales from 152 on Low to 72 on Ultra, indicating that the GPU has enough headroom to handle the game’s loads. However, at 3840x2160, the average FPS drops to 55 on Low and 26 on Ultra, demonstrating a sharp decline that aligns with the GPU’s memory bandwidth and compute limits. The RTX 2060 SUPER’s 448.0 GB/s bandwidth and 7.181 TFLOPS FP32 performance are adequate for 1080p and 1440p, but they are insufficient for maintaining high frame rates at 4K.

The GPU’s synthetic benchmark scores reflect its mid-range positioning. It scores 2011 in 3DMark Steel Nomad DX12 and 16462 in Passmark G3D, with a percentile rank of 62 among all GPUs. Its nearest rivals in terms of average score are the RTX 3060 Mobile and Radeon Pro 5700, which are within 0.5% of its performance. This places the RTX 2060 SUPER in a competitive tier for 1080p gaming, but not for 4K.

How This Combo Ranks

The combination of the Intel Core Ultra 7 265 and the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER ranks 2066th out of 2944 tested combos for Palworld. This places it in the lower third of all configurations, which is expected given the GPU’s age and the game’s demanding nature at higher resolutions. The CPU is a high-end part with a 93rd percentile ranking among all CPUs, but the GPU’s 62nd percentile ranking drags the overall combo down.

In practice, this ranking means that many other GPU pairings will outperform this setup, particularly at 1440p and 4K. The combo’s strength lies in 1080p gaming, where the CPU’s 20 cores and 5.30 GHz boost clock can fully feed the GPU. At 4K, the GPU’s limitations are exposed, and the combo falls behind configurations with more powerful graphics cards. The data shows that the combo is well-balanced for 1080p but underpowered for 4K, which is consistent with the GPU’s synthetic benchmark position.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 7 265 is a 20-core, 20-thread processor based on the Arrow Lake architecture, manufactured on a 3 nm process by TSMC. It has a base clock of 2.40 GHz and a boost clock of 5.30 GHz, with a 65 W TDP. The CPU’s cache hierarchy includes 192 KB of L1 per core, 3 MB of L2 per core, and 30 MB of shared L3 cache. It supports DDR5 memory with a dual-channel bus and 102.4 GB/s bandwidth.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is less critical than the GPU at higher resolutions, but it still matters for maintaining frame consistency. The benchmark data shows that at 1080p Low, the system achieves 152 FPS on average, which is likely CPU-bound given the GPU’s capabilities. The CPU’s high single-thread performance, evidenced by a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 5960, ensures that game logic and physics calculations are handled efficiently. Its multi-core score of 42216 in Cinebench R23 indicates that it can handle background tasks and complex simulations without impacting frame rates.

The CPU’s nearest rivals in synthetic benchmarks include the AMD EPYC 4464P and the Intel Core Ultra 7 265F, with performance deltas of -0.3% and +0.3%, respectively. This shows that the Core Ultra 7 265 is a capable processor, but its performance is not the deciding factor in this game. At 4K, where the GPU is the bottleneck, the CPU’s headroom goes unused, as evidenced by the sharp FPS drops from 1080p to 4K.

Measured FPS Breakdown

The measured FPS data provides a comprehensive view of performance across three resolutions and four settings. At 1920x1080, the Low preset delivers the highest average at 152 FPS, followed by Medium at 123 FPS (min 105, max 142), High at 95 FPS, and Ultra at 72 FPS. This shows a linear progression where each settings tier reduces performance by roughly 20-25%.

At 2560x1440, the averages are 100 FPS on Low, 81 FPS on Medium (min 69, max 93), 62 FPS on High, and 47 FPS on Ultra. The drop from 1080p to 1440p is significant, with the Low preset losing 52 FPS and the Ultra preset losing 25 FPS. This indicates that the GPU is starting to become the limiting factor at 1440p, especially at higher settings.

At 3840x2160, the performance takes a substantial hit. The Low preset averages 55 FPS, Medium averages 45 FPS (min 38, max 52), High averages 35 FPS, and Ultra averages 26 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra at 4K is 29 FPS, which is larger than the 20 FPS gap at 1080p, highlighting the GPU’s struggle with the increased pixel count. The minimum FPS at 4K Medium (38 FPS) suggests that even the Medium preset can experience noticeable stutters.

Resolution Scaling

The FPS scaling from 1080p to 4K reveals the system’s bottleneck characteristics. At 1080p Low, the average is 152 FPS. Moving to 1440p Low, the average drops to 100 FPS, a 34% reduction. At 4K Low, the average is 55 FPS, a 64% reduction from 1080p. This steep decline indicates that the GPU is the primary limiting factor, as the CPU’s performance is not scaling with resolution.

For the Medium preset, the averages are 123 FPS at 1080p, 81 FPS at 1440p, and 45 FPS at 4K. The drop from 1440p to 4K is 44%, which is more severe than the 34% drop from 1080p to 1440p. This suggests that the GPU’s memory bandwidth (448.0 GB/s) and compute capabilities are insufficient for 4K rendering, even at Medium settings.

The High preset shows averages of 95 FPS at 1080p, 62 FPS at 1440p, and 35 FPS at 4K. The scaling from 1080p to 4K is a 63% reduction, which is consistent with the Low preset’s scaling. The Ultra preset averages 72 FPS at 1080p, 47 FPS at 1440p, and 26 FPS at 4K, a 64% reduction from 1080p to 4K. The consistent ~60% FPS loss from 1080p to 4K across all settings confirms that the RTX 2060 SUPER is the bottleneck, as the CPU’s strong single-thread performance cannot compensate for the GPU’s limited pixel throughput.