Barony

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X paired with the Intel Arc B580 delivers a clear performance profile in Barony, with results that scale predictably across resolutions and presets. Measured data shows the combo is fully capable of running the game smoothly at 1080p and 1440p, while 4K requires a modest reduction in graphical fidelity to stay fluid.

Measured FPS Breakdown

At 1920x1080, the combo produces its highest frame rates. With Low settings, the average FPS reaches 275.1, providing an enormous margin over the 60 FPS playability threshold. Moving to Medium settings, the average drops to 203, still exceptionally high. High settings yield an average of 177.7 FPS, while the most demanding Ultra preset maintains an average of 128.6 FPS. The data shows no scenario at this resolution where the frame rate approaches the playability floor; even the heaviest settings leave substantial headroom.

At 2560x1440, performance remains strong but shows the expected decline from the 1080p results. Low settings average 173.1 FPS, which is a 37% reduction from the 1080p Low figure. Medium settings average 126.3 FPS, High settings average 110 FPS, and Ultra settings average 77.9 FPS. The gap between High and Ultra at this resolution is 32.1 FPS, indicating that the Ultra preset imposes a significant additional load. Even so, every preset at 1440p clears the 60 FPS threshold by a comfortable margin.

At 3840x2160, the performance picture changes considerably. Low settings average 93.3 FPS, which is still well above 60 FPS. Medium settings average 68.5 FPS, remaining playable but with a reduced margin. High settings drop to 59.7 FPS, just below the playable threshold. Ultra settings fall to 39.7 FPS, a substantial 28.8 FPS below the 60 FPS mark. The scaling from 1440p to 4K is steep: the Ultra preset drops from 77.9 FPS to 39.7 FPS, a 49% reduction. Similarly, High settings fall from 110 FPS to 59.7 FPS, a 45.7% decrease. This indicates that 4K resolution imposes a heavy load on the Intel Arc B580, particularly at higher presets.

The data set includes no minimum or maximum FPS values, only averages. This means the analysis relies solely on average frame rates to assess playability. The absence of minimum FPS data is notable because it prevents assessment of frame time consistency or stutter behavior, but the high average values at most settings suggest the system rarely dips into problematic territory.

Best Settings per Resolution

At 1920x1080, the most demanding preset that stays at or above 60 FPS is Ultra, with an average of 128.6 FPS. This is the highest quality setting available, and it clears the playability threshold by more than double. The data shows no reason to compromise on graphical quality at this resolution.

At 2560x1440, the best settings are also Ultra, averaging 77.9 FPS. This is 17.9 FPS above the 60 FPS threshold, providing a solid margin while running the game at maximum quality. The High preset at this resolution averages 110 FPS, but Ultra remains comfortably playable, making it the recommended choice.

At 3840x2160, the situation requires a trade-off. The best settings that maintain 60 FPS are Medium, with an average of 68.5 FPS. This is 8.5 FPS above the threshold. The High preset falls short at 59.7 FPS, just below playable. Low settings average 93.3 FPS, which provides a much larger safety margin, but Medium offers a better balance of visual quality and performance. Ultra is not viable at 4K, averaging only 39.7 FPS. The verdict data confirms this: Low and Medium are listed as playable at 3840x2160, with Medium identified as the best settings at an average of 68.5 FPS.

CPU and GPU Roles

The scaling between resolutions and presets indicates that the GPU is the primary performance limiter in Barony for this combo. The CPU, an AMD Ryzen 9 5950X with 16 cores and 32 threads, is far more powerful than what this game likely requires. Its benchmark scores reinforce this: the Cinebench R23 multicore score is 26017, and the Passmark multithread score is 45424, with a percentile of 91 against all CPUs. The GPU, an Intel Arc B580, has a percentile of 68 against all GPUs, making it the weaker component in this pairing.

The resolution scaling provides clear evidence of GPU-bound behavior. When moving from 1080p to 1440p, the Ultra preset average drops from 128.6 FPS to 77.9 FPS, a 39.4% reduction. Moving from 1440p to 4K, the Ultra preset drops from 77.9 FPS to 39.7 FPS, a 49% reduction. These large percentage drops are characteristic of a system where the GPU is the bottleneck; if the CPU were the limiting factor, resolution changes would have a smaller impact on frame rates.

Preset scaling further supports this conclusion. At 1080p, Low to Ultra spans from 275.1 FPS to 128.6 FPS, a 146.5 FPS spread. At 1440p, the same range spans from 173.1 FPS to 77.9 FPS, a 95.2 FPS spread. At 4K, the range is from 93.3 FPS to 39.7 FPS, a 53.6 FPS spread. The shrinking spread at higher resolutions indicates that the GPU is increasingly saturated as resolution grows, leaving less headroom for preset changes to affect performance.

The CPU's role appears minimal at all tested resolutions. The Ryzen 9 5950X has a single-thread 3DMark score of 944 and a Cinebench R23 single-core score of 1614, both indicating strong single-threaded performance that is unlikely to bottleneck a game like Barony. The fact that frame rates scale so dramatically with resolution changes suggests the CPU is delivering frames faster than the GPU can render them, particularly at lower resolutions where the GPU is less stressed.

The Verdict

This PC can run Barony, with the playable resolutions and presets clearly defined by the measured data. At 1920x1080, all four presets—Low, Medium, High, and Ultra—are playable, with Ultra averaging 128.6 FPS. This is the optimal experience, providing maximum quality at more than twice the 60 FPS threshold.

At 2560x1440, all four presets are also playable. Ultra averages 77.9 FPS, which is the best balance of quality and performance. The 60 FPS threshold is cleared by 17.9 FPS, offering a comfortable margin. Even the most demanding setting at this resolution does not require any compromise.

At 3840x2160, playability depends on the preset. Low and Medium are playable, with Low averaging 93.3 FPS and Medium averaging 68.5 FPS. High falls just short at 59.7 FPS, and Ultra is not viable at 39.7 FPS. For 4K gaming, the recommended approach is Medium settings, which delivers 68.5 FPS. This is the only resolution where the user must sacrifice visual quality to maintain smooth gameplay.

The verdict data confirms this assessment: 1920x1080 and 2560x1440 list all four settings as playable, while 3840x2160 lists only Low and Medium. The best settings at each resolution are Ultra at 1080p (128.6 FPS), Ultra at 1440p (77.9 FPS), and Medium at 4K (68.5 FPS).

Similar Performance Alternatives

The nearest rivals for the AMD Ryzen 9 5950X provide context for its performance level. The Intel Core Ultra 5 235HX has an average score of 52073, which is 0.2% lower than the Ryzen 9 5950X's average benchmark score of 51947. The AMD EPYC 8124P scores 52121, 0.3% higher. The Intel Core i9-13900F scores 51730, 0.4% lower. The Intel Core i7-14700 scores 52301, 0.7% higher. These deltas are all within a single percentage point, indicating that these CPUs would produce nearly identical performance in Barony for this combo, as the game is GPU-bound in this configuration.

The Intel Arc B580's nearest rivals show a similar tight grouping. The AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP has an average score of 23061, 0.2% higher than the Arc B580's 23021. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, 0.6% lower. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3080 scores 23172, 0.7% higher. The NVIDIA P106-100 scores 23249, 1% higher. These GPUs would deliver frame rates within a few percent of the Arc B580 in Barony, meaning users with any of these alternatives would see nearly identical measured FPS at each resolution and preset.

The GPU rival data is particularly interesting because it includes the RTX 2080 and RTX 3080, both significantly older NVIDIA cards. Their proximity to the Arc B580's average score suggests that in this game, the newer Intel GPU performs at a comparable level to those established cards. The RX 580 2048SP, a much older AMD card, also falls within this range, indicating that Barony's graphics load is not particularly demanding on the GPU.

How This Combo Ranks

The AMD Ryzen 9 5950X and Intel Arc B580 combination ranks 2837 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony. This places it in the 23.7th percentile of all tested combinations, meaning roughly three-quarters of tested combos perform better. This relatively low rank is somewhat surprising given the measured FPS results, which show strong performance at 1080p and 1440p.

The rank reflects the entire combo's standing across all tested hardware pairings, not just the absolute FPS numbers. Many other combos likely include higher-end GPUs that achieve much higher frame rates, particularly at 4K. The Arc B580's percentile of 68 against all GPUs indicates that about a third of GPUs are faster, and those faster GPUs would push the combo higher in the rankings.

However, the rank does not diminish the practical playability. The measured data shows that this combo delivers a playable experience at every resolution with appropriate settings. A rank of 2837 out of 3717 means it is not a top-tier combination, but it is far from the bottom. The combo's position in the lower-middle range of tested combos is consistent with the GPU's mid-range standing (68th percentile) and the CPU's high-end standing (91st percentile).

FAQ

Q: Can this PC run Barony at 4K?

A: Yes, but only at Low or Medium settings. Low averages 93.3 FPS and Medium averages 68.5 FPS at 3840x2160. High settings fall just below the 60 FPS threshold at 59.7 FPS, and Ultra averages 39.7 FPS.

Q: What is the best settings preset at 1440p?

A: Ultra is the best settings at 2560x1440, with an average of 77.9 FPS. This clears the 60 FPS playability threshold by 17.9 FPS.

Q: How does the Intel Arc B580 compare to its nearest rival?

A: The Arc B580's average benchmark score is 23021. Its closest rival, the AMD Radeon RX 580 2048SP, scores 23061, which is 0.2% higher. The NVIDIA GeForce RTX 2080 scores 22895, 0.6% lower.

Q: Is the Ryzen 9 5950X or the Arc B580 the performance bottleneck in Barony?

A: The data indicates the GPU is the primary limiter. Frame rates drop by 39-49% when moving from 1080p to 1440p and from 1440p to 4K, which is characteristic of GPU-bound performance. The CPU's percentile of 91 against all CPUs is much higher than the GPU's percentile of 68.

Q: What is the combo's rank among all tested combinations?

A: This combo ranks 2837 out of 3717 tested combos in Barony, placing it in the lower-middle portion of the field.

Q: Does the game maintain 60 FPS at 1080p on Ultra?

A: Yes, the Ultra preset at 1920x1080 averages 128.6 FPS, which is more than double the 60 FPS threshold. Even the most demanding settings at 1080p provide a large performance margin.