Palworld

Palworld presents a demanding open-world workload where the Intel Core Ultra 9 185H and NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4060 Mobile combo demonstrates clear scaling behavior across resolutions. The measured data shows a system that transitions from a CPU-leaning configuration at 1080p to a GPU-bound state at 4K, with each preset tier producing distinct performance characteristics. This analysis examines the measured FPS data, the combo’s standing against other tested configurations, and the specific roles of the processor and graphics card in shaping the final frame rates.

Resolution Scaling

The transition from 1920x1080 to 3840x2160 reveals a consistent and predictable drop in average FPS across all four preset levels. At Low settings, the average frame rate falls from 160 FPS at 1080p to 106 FPS at 1440p, then further to 59 FPS at 4K — a cumulative reduction of 63% from the starting point. The Medium preset follows a similar trajectory: 130 FPS at 1080p, 86 FPS at 1440p, and 47 FPS at 4K, representing a 64% decline. High settings show 100 FPS at 1080p, 66 FPS at 1440p, and 37 FPS at 4K, for a 63% drop. The Ultra preset is the most punishing, starting at 76 FPS and ending at 28 FPS at 4K, a 63% decrease.

The proportional consistency of these drops — all hovering around 63-64% from 1080p to 4K — indicates that the scaling bottleneck shifts uniformly as resolution increases. At 1080p, the gap between Low (160 FPS) and Ultra (76 FPS) is 84 FPS, suggesting the GPU has headroom to render higher settings. By 4K, that gap narrows to 31 FPS (59 FPS on Low versus 28 FPS on Ultra), showing that the RTX 4060 Mobile becomes the limiting factor as pixel count quadruples. The data suggests that at 1080p, the CPU’s 16 cores and 22 threads are capable of feeding the GPU adequately at lower settings, but at 4K, the GPU’s 8 GB of GDDR6 memory and 256.0 GB/s bandwidth are stretched thin, particularly on Ultra where the average drops below 30 FPS.

Interestingly, the Medium preset at 1440p produces an average of 86 FPS with a minimum of 73 FPS and maximum of 98 FPS, which is a tighter variance than the 1080p Medium’s 111-150 FPS range. This narrowing frame-time distribution at higher resolutions further confirms the shift toward GPU-bound operation, where the render pipeline becomes more predictable. The 4K Medium data (40-55 FPS range) shows even tighter consistency, reinforcing this interpretation.

How This Combo Ranks

The combo holds position 2262 out of 3711 tested combinations in Palworld, placing it in the 61st percentile of all configurations. This mid-tier ranking reflects a balanced pairing that is neither at the top of the charts nor struggling to maintain playability. The ranking suggests that while this system can handle the game, many other CPU-GPU pairings deliver higher average frame rates across the tested scenarios.

The CPU’s individual standing provides context for this overall rank. The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H achieves an average benchmark score of 35670, placing it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs. Its nearest rival, the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350, scores 35719, a delta of -0.1%, meaning the Intel chip is essentially tied with that processor. The Intel Core 7 250H (35728, -0.2% delta) and AMD Ryzen 7 PRO 5845 (35802, -0.4% delta) are similarly close, while the AMD Ryzen 7 7700X (35909, -0.7% delta) edges ahead by a small margin. This cluster of rivals all scoring within 0.7% of each other indicates that the Ultra 9 185H is well-positioned in the upper tier of mobile processors, but not a standout leader.

The GPU’s ranking is less impressive. The RTX 4060 Mobile sits in the 67th percentile of all GPUs with an average score of 22729. Its nearest rival, the NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080, scores 22895 (-0.7% delta), while the AMD Radeon RX 7700 XT scores 22549 (0.8% delta) and the Intel Arc B580 scores 23021 (-1.3% delta). The RTX 5060 Mobile trails at 22435 (1.3% delta). This grouping shows the 4060 Mobile is competitive with previous-generation desktop parts and current mid-range options, but it lacks the raw throughput to push the combo into higher percentile rankings for a demanding title like Palworld. The combination of a strong CPU with a mid-tier GPU explains why the overall rank is solid but not exceptional.

GPU Role

The RTX 4060 Mobile’s specifications directly influence the measured FPS data. With 8 GB of GDDR6 memory on a 128-bit bus, the card delivers 256.0 GB/s of bandwidth. The base clock of 1545 MHz and boost clock of 1890 MHz, combined with 3072 shading units, produce a peak FP32 throughput of 11.61 TFLOPS. These figures explain the performance cliff observed at 4K Ultra, where the average drops to 28 FPS — the memory subsystem and compute units are saturated by the game’s asset streaming and rendering demands at that resolution.

The GPU’s 24 RT cores and 96 tensor cores are present but do not appear to provide a decisive advantage in Palworld’s measured results, as the frame rates scale linearly with resolution rather than showing any ray-tracing-related discontinuities. The card’s pixel rate of 90.72 GPixel/s and texture rate of 181.4 GTexel/s are adequate for 1080p and 1440p gameplay, as evidenced by the 100+ FPS results at High and lower settings, but fall short at 4K where the pixel fill requirements outpace the GPU’s capabilities.

The GPU’s benchmark percentile (67th) aligns with its measured gaming performance. It outperforms the RTX 5060 Mobile by 1.3% in average score, which is a marginal difference, yet the in-game results at 4K Ultra (28 FPS) show that neither card would be ideal for that configuration. The 16 Gbps effective memory speed and 2000 MHz memory clock are standard for the segment, and the 115 W TDP indicates this is a full-power mobile implementation, not a Max-Q variant. The lack of a launch MSRP for the GPU, combined with its Active production status, suggests it remains a current-generation option that trades raw performance for efficiency.

FAQ

Q: What is the highest average FPS recorded for this combo in Palworld?

A: The highest average FPS is 160, achieved at 1920x1080 with Low settings.

Q: How does the CPU compare to its closest rival in synthetic benchmarks?

A: The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H scores 35670 on average, which is 0.1% lower than the AMD Ryzen AI 7 PRO 350 at 35719, making the two effectively equivalent.

Q: At which resolution does the combo fail to maintain 30 FPS on any setting?

A: At 3840x2160 with Ultra settings, the average FPS drops to 28, which is below the 30 FPS threshold.

Q: What is the minimum FPS recorded in the entire dataset?

A: The lowest minimum FPS is 40, observed at 3840x2160 with Medium settings (average 47 FPS, maximum 55 FPS).

Q: How does the RTX 4060 Mobile compare to the RTX 2080 in GPU benchmarks?

A: The RTX 4060 Mobile scores 22729 on average, which is 0.7% lower than the RTX 2080’s 22895.

Q: What percentage of all CPUs does the Ultra 9 185H outperform?

A: The CPU is in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, meaning it outperforms 85% of tested processors.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo delivers its strongest results. Low settings produce an average of 160 FPS, which is the highest figure in the entire dataset. Medium settings average 130 FPS with a minimum of 111 FPS and maximum of 150 FPS. High settings average 100 FPS, while Ultra settings average 76 FPS. The spread from Low to Ultra is 84 FPS, indicating significant GPU headroom at this resolution.

Moving to 2560x1440, the averages drop substantially. Low settings average 106 FPS, Medium averages 86 FPS (with a range of 73-98 FPS), High averages 66 FPS, and Ultra averages 50 FPS. The gap between Low and Ultra narrows to 56 FPS, reflecting increased GPU load. The Medium preset’s frame range (73-98) shows a 25 FPS spread, which is tighter than the 1080p Medium range of 39 FPS (111-150).

At 3840x2160, the performance becomes marginal for smooth gameplay. Low settings average 59 FPS, Medium averages 47 FPS (with a range of 40-55 FPS), High averages 37 FPS, and Ultra averages 28 FPS. The Low-to-Ultra gap is now just 31 FPS. The 4K Medium range of 40-55 FPS (15 FPS spread) is the most consistent in the dataset, suggesting the GPU is fully saturated and frame times are stable but low. None of the 4K results reach 60 FPS, and only Low settings manage to stay above 50 FPS on average.

CPU Role

The Intel Core Ultra 9 185H is a 16-core, 22-thread processor based on the Meteor Lake architecture, manufactured on Intel’s 7 nm process. Its base clock of 3.90 GHz and boost clock of 5.10 GHz, combined with a 24 MB shared L3 cache, provide strong single-thread and multi-thread performance. The CPU’s benchmark scores — 17984.5 in Cinebench R23 multi-core and 1810.5 in single-core — place it in the 85th percentile of all CPUs, which is a high standing for a mobile part.

In Palworld, the CPU’s role is most evident at 1080p, where the GPU is less stressed. At 1080p Low, the 160 FPS average suggests the CPU can feed the GPU efficiently, but the drop to 76 FPS at Ultra indicates that the game’s physics and world simulation — which rely on CPU throughput — become more demanding as settings increase. The 22 threads allow the processor to handle background tasks and game logic without bottlenecking the render pipeline at lower resolutions. At 1440p and 4K, the CPU’s influence wanes as the GPU takes over as the primary limiter, evidenced by the proportional FPS drops across all settings.

The CPU’s nearest rivals all score within 0.7% of the Ultra 9 185H, which means in CPU-bound scenarios (like 1080p Low), swapping to an AMD Ryzen 7 7700X would yield nearly identical frame rates — a delta of -0.7% translates to roughly 1 FPS difference at 160 FPS. The memory bandwidth of 89.6 GB/s and dual-channel DDR5 support are adequate for feeding the GPU, but the integrated Arc Xe-LPG Graphics 128EU is irrelevant for this discrete-GPU configuration. The 45 W TDP classifies this as a high-performance mobile chip, and the data shows it does not hold the combo back at higher resolutions.

Settings Recommendations

Based on the measured FPS data, the optimal experience depends on the target resolution. At 1920x1080, the Medium preset offers the best balance, delivering 130 FPS average with a minimum of 111 FPS — well above the 60 FPS threshold for smooth gameplay. High settings (100 FPS) are also viable, but the 30 FPS difference between Medium and High does not justify the visual upgrade for most users. Ultra at 76 FPS is playable but begins to approach the lower boundary for high-refresh displays.

For 2560x1440, the Medium preset is the clear recommendation. Its 86 FPS average with a 73 FPS minimum ensures consistent frame delivery, while High (66 FPS) and Low (106 FPS) either dip below the 70 FPS comfort zone or sacrifice visual quality unnecessarily. The Ultra preset at 50 FPS is below ideal for fast-paced gameplay, making it unsuitable for a survival game where reaction times matter.

At 3840x2160, none of the presets achieve 60 FPS. The Low preset’s 59 FPS average is the only option that approaches playability, but it does so at the cost of visual fidelity. Medium (47 FPS) and High (37 FPS) are borderline, while Ultra (28 FPS) is not recommended. For 4K, the data suggests reducing the resolution to 1440p and using Medium for a playable experience, or accepting Low settings at 4K for a cinematic but less responsive game. The Medium preset at 4K, with its tight frame range of 40-55 FPS, could be acceptable for a slower-paced playstyle, but the 47 FPS average leaves little margin for demanding in-game scenes.